This past week, Qantas created quite a buzz. On Monday, CEO Alan Joyce offered a grovelling apology via a pre-recorded video.
To pacify angry customers and Frequent Flyers who have endured months of cancelled flights, lost bags and downright pathetic customer service (if they were lucky enough to reach someone), Joyce played Santa Claus and doled out freebies in the form of status extension, lounge passes, flight credit and a bunch of Qantas points.
He also promised to make available up to 50% more redemption seats at Classic Flight Reward prices over the next 12 months. True to his word, within hours Qantas opened up the flood gates. Loyal customers sitting on mountain of points needed no invitation, they piled on en masse crashing the website and the Qantas app.
Qantas B-737 at Sydney Airport
The frenzy lasted for around 48 hours and ended with punters cashing-in a massive 1.2 Billion Qantas points. That’s 25 million points per hour, which more than anything is evidence of how near impossible it has been to use points in recent times.
Then on Thursday, Qantas announced a June 2023 launch of its Sydney – New York 3x weekly service. This wasn’t the non-stop, Project Sunrise flight that Joyce has been touting for years, rather, the plane will make a brief stop in Auckland for refuelling before continuing to the Big Apple.
And as we have come to expect, the first two flights on 14th June 2023 (QF3 Sydney – New York and QF4 New York – Sydney) were declared Points-Plane with every seat in every cabin offered at the Classic Flight Reward prices.
Last I heard, it took all of 10 minutes for the Business Class to sell out on QF3. At the time of writing, I can still see some availability in Premium Economy & Economy Class for 16th June, so giddy-up if you want in on the action.
Fly Qantas Premium Economy to New York for $108,400 Points
However, if you would much rather fly to New York in the comfort of Business Class, here are 4 non Qantas options to consider.
Cathay Pacific for 85,000 Asia Miles
Cathay Pacific is perhaps the hardest Covid-hit airline in the world. Under China’s somewhat perplexing covid-zero policy, it has been rendered a shell of its former glorious self. Of late though, it has been ramping up operations and there is hope that come 2023 we will see a lot more Cathay planes in the sky.
You can fly Cathay Pacific Business Class from anywhere in Australia to New York for 85,000 Asia Miles.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Seat
Earning Asia Miles
It is fairly easy to earn Asia Miles in Australia, the program is a transfer partner with most major banks as well as American Express Membership Rewards Program.
My personal feeling is that Cathay Pacific’s unlikely to deliver operational reliability in 2022, so if you do plan to travel with them, play it safe and only book flights for mid-late 2023.
Fiji Airways for 55,000 Alaska Miles
Fiji is a long time favourite with Australian holiday makers. It’s flag carrier Fiji Airways operates scheduled flights from it’s Nadi base to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane & Adelaide.
Fiji Airways Business Class Cabin
What is perhaps not so well known is that Fiji Airways is also a oneworld connect partner, offering travellers from other oneworld programs the ability to earn and redeem points. And while Australian’s will naturally gravitate towards Qantas, there is another oneworld partner that offers unparalleled value on Fiji Airways.
You can fly from any Australian city served by Fiji Airways to New York in Business Class for a miserly 55,000 Alaska Miles.
Fly to New York for 55,000 Alaska Miles
Fiji Airways currently flies from Nadi to Los Angeles and San Francisco with plans to add Vancouver as it’s next North American port later this year. The last leg to Newark will be on Alaska’s own metal, which by all accounts is very well regarded.
Note that U.S. carriers refer to domestic Business Class as First, which is why you see the ‘First Class’ notation above.
Earning Alaska Miles
Alaska Miles are one of the hardest to earn. There is no credit card in Australia that partners with Mileage Plan. In general, the easiest way to get your hands over them is to purchase them when Alaska puts them on sale, which it frequently does. Right now though, there is another way to generate cheap Alaska Miles.
If you have an American Express Card, until 30th September 2022 you can transfer Membership Rewards Points to Marriott Bonvoy with a 50% bonus. By taking advantage of Marriott’s 5,000 miles bonus which it offers for every 60,000 points you transfer, you will need just 145,000 Membership Rewards Points to fly Fiji Airways Business Class to New York.
If you are not familiar with Marriott’s airline partners and are interested in accessing frequent flyer programs not ordinarily available in Australia, I strongly recommend you check-out one of my earlier post over here.
Singapore Airlines for 139,000 Velocity Points
Virgin Australia these days is largely a domestic airline. Under the ownership of Bain Capital, it has dispensed all of it’s wide body planes and shuttered several lounges. The heady days of John Borghetti era, all but a distant memory.
Virgin Australia A-330 Business Class Cabin in Happier Times 😥
Luckily though, Velocity Frequent Flyer Program is valuable as ever. With redemptions on Singapore Airlines restored and a slew of new partnership it has struck, particularly with the likes of United and Qatar Airways, the program packs a real punch. If time isn’t of essence and you just want to get to New York in comfort, this should be in your consideration.
You can fly Singapore Airlines Business Class from anywhere in Australia to New York for 139,000 Velocity points.
Most Australian’s would have flown Singapore Airlines at some point and there isn’t really any mystery to decode here. Whether you fly the older style Business Class like the one below;
Singapore Airlines B-777 Business Class Seat
or the new but rapidly expanding regional Business Class found on many of it’s A-350 and B-787 planes, you can be assured of a great flight.
Singapore Airlines B-787 Regional Business Class Seat
Note that starting 5th October 2022, Velocity redemptions on Singapore Airlines will be subject to new carrier charges as you can see in the table below.
Unfortunately, this will add hundreds of dollars in extra cash to reward seats. So if you are planning to redeem Velocity points for any future travel with Singapore Airlines, lock-in those bookings sooner rather than later.
Earning Velocity points
Velocity points are one of the easiest to earn in Australia. There is no shortage of credit cards, retail shops, petrol pump, financial service providers etc doling out bucket loads of Velocity points directly or indirectly, in return for your business.
Check out this guide for more idea’s on bolstering your Velocity points balance.
ANA for 82,000 Etihad Guest Miles
All Nippon Airways, better known as ANA is Japan’s no.1 airline. Presently, it operates daily flights between Sydney & Tokyo (Haneda) but it is expected that ANA will start non-stop flights to Perth later this year or early in 2023. I suppose it comes down to how quickly Japanese Govt opens up the country for International tourism so the route is commercially viable.
ANA is part of Star Alliance, so you are able to redeem Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles for ANA flights. A one-way Business Class flight between Australia & New York will cost you 146,500 Miles. The award is not bookable online and you will need to call your local Singapore Airlines Office to do this for you. While this redemption doesn’t exactly scream value, it is an option nonetheless.
ANA also has partners outside of Star Alliance, one of them being Etihad and you are able to redeem Etihad Guest Miles to fly ANA. Refer to Etihad redemption table for ANA over here. Redemption seats on ANA can be tough to come by, but if you can find space, the value is unbeatable.
You can fly ANA Business Class from anywhere in Australia to New York for just 82,000 Etihad Guest Miles.
ANA B-787 Business Class Seat
ANA isn’t the fastest way to fly between Australia & New York as flights are routed via it’s Tokyo base. The other thing to be aware is that this award cannot be booked online, you will need to contact Etihad Guest Service Centre.
As with any phone booking, the more detailed information you can provide to the agent the quicker they can help you.
Earning Etihad Miles
In Australia, Etihad Guest is a transfer partner with American Express Membership Rewards Program. You can transfer points from Amex to Etihad Guest in the ratio of 2:1 (2 MR points = 1 Etihad Guest Mile). Alternatively, if you have the Citi Prestige card, you can transfer Citi Rewards Points to Etihad Guest in the ratio of 1:0.33 (1 Citi Reward Point = 0.33 Etihad Guest Mile).
Outside of these two, Etihad Guest also partners with Commbank Awards and Diner’s Club International. But the below-par earning and transfer ratio from Commbank Awards and somewhat inconsistent acceptance of Diner’s Club cards in Australia mean few people accrue points in these programs.
In Conclusion
Despite the geography, travel between Australia & United States has never been stronger. Personally speaking, I absolutely love New York and take every opportunity to go there. My affinity for this great city perhaps carries a slight bias as I used to live in New Jersey many years ago and regularly travelled to New York.
But whether it’s food, fashion, art, culture or whatever else you seek in your travels, you are bound to find something to your liking.
Redemption opportunities on direct flights between Australia & North America only come around once in a while, and seats are snapped-up before most people realise it was there. But if you are prepared to get creative and don’t mind taking the unconventional route, it is possible to fly to America’s Maximum city in great comfort.
What is you favourite redemption to fly to United States? Leave a comment below.
