United Airlines has launched an economy award sale for travel to Australia from October 16 to December 10 and January 20 to March 20, 2027.
MileagePlus elite members with a co-branded card can book award travel starting at 34,000 miles each way. The booking window closes on October 23.
You can access this award sale on United’s website here.
Valid Destinations:
Brisbane (BNE)
Melbourne (MEL)
Adelaide (ADL)
Sydney (SYD)
Valid Travel Dates:
October 26 – December 10, 2026
January 20 – March 20, 2027
Adelaide flights only operate December 17, 2026, through February 8, 2027.
Discounted Award Rates:
(plus taxes and fees starting at $134.23) 45,000 miles
(plus taxes and fees starting at $134.23) Save 10% as a MileagePlus® member with an eligible United® card* 36,000 miles
(plus taxes and fees starting at $134.23) 40,500 miles
(plus taxes and fees starting at $134.23) Save 15% as a Premier® member with an eligible United card* 34,000 miles
(plus taxes and fees starting at $134.23) 38,200 miles
(plus taxes and fees starting at $134.23) Award Search:
Conclusion
These are quite reasonable award rates for travel between the United States and Australia, but these are very long flights in economy.
Terms and conditions of this award sale:
United MileagePlus members save on award travel to Brisbane (BNE), Melbourne (MEL), Adelaide (ADL) and Sydney (SYD). Taxes and government-imposed fees for award travel from the U.S. to Brisbane (BNE) start at $134.23 round-trip, U.S. to Melbourne (MEL) start at $140.43 round-trip, U.S. to Sydney (SYD) start at $135.63 round-trip, and U.S. to Adelaide (ADL) start at $168.53 round-trip. Taxes & fees may vary with exchange rate.
Members must login using MileagePlus number to book an award. No limit to the number of award tickets booked. The promotion applies to new award bookings and not to award tickets already booked. Promotion valid for travel between the mainland U.S. to Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide. Flights starting from LAX or SFO will be priced at 40k. All other flights will be priced at 45k. Tickets: Tickets must be purchased on October 19, 2026, through October 23, 2026. Travel Period: October 26, 2026, through December 10, 2026, and January 20, 2027, through March 20, 2027. Note Adelaide flights operate December 17, 2026, through February 8, 2027. Advance purchase: None Minimum stay: None Maximum stay: None Award Validity: Awards are valid in the Economy (Coach) cabin on United/United Express carriers. Some flights may be operated by the following airlines, doing business as United Express: Air Wisconsin, CommuteAir, GoJet Airlines, Mesa Airlines, Republic Airways, or SkyWest Airlines; or may be operated pursuant to a codeshare agreement, such as Silver Airways. Award Flight Pricing: Eligible primary Cardmembers will be eligible to book award flights on United® or United® Express with discounted award pricing. Cardmember award pricing is valid on award flights on United or United Express only; Cardmember award pricing does not apply to Money + Miles tickets, tickets purchased with cash, or other redemption products. Eligible primary Cardmembers without MileagePlus Premier status will be eligible to book award flights on United or United Express with at least 10% fewer miles than the base price paid by members without an eligible card, and Primary Cardmembers with MileagePlus Premier status will be eligible to book award flights on United or United Express with at least 15% fewer miles than the base price paid by members without an eligible card. To be eligible to receive Cardmember award pricing, the account must be open and not in default at time of fulfillment. To receive Award Pricing, the qualifying award reservation must be booked with the primary Cardmember’s MileagePlus account. Cardmember award pricing is valid for the primary Cardmember’s MileagePlus account only and is not transferrable. Chase is not responsible for the provision of, or failure to provide, the Cardmember award pricing on United or United Express flights. The benefit may take up to 5 weeks to become effective after the card is issued. United Gateway Cardmembers are eligible to receive the Cardmember award pricing after making Purchases totaling $10,000 or more in a calendar year with their card. Purchases are when you, or an authorized user, use a card to make purchases of products and services; However, the following types of transactions won’t count as purchases: balance transfers, cash advances, cash-like transactions including, but not limited to: travelers checks, foreign currency, money orders, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, other similar digital or virtual currency and other similar transactions; lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, race track wagers, or similar offline and online betting transactions; person-to-person money transfers and account funding transactions that transfer currency, any checks that access your account, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, and fees of any kind, including an annual fee, if applicable. Calendar year means January 1 through December 31 of the same year. After qualifying, please allow up to 4 weeks for Cardmember award pricing to be activated in your United MileagePlus account. Cardmember award pricing is valid for the remainder of the calendar year in which the primary Cardmember meets the qualifying spend requirements and through the end of the following calendar year. Miscellaneous: Award pricing is subject to change without notice. Passenger is responsible for all taxes, fees, baggage fees and surcharges applicable to award travel, including, with respect to government-imposed taxes and fees, September 11th Security Fee of $5.60 per one-way trip that does not include a government-defined stopover, U.S. Customs, Immigration and APHIS User Fees of $18.23 for each international arrival in the U.S.; and non-U.S. government ticket taxes, fees and airport charges may add up to $375 per ticket as of January 1, 2026. Such taxes, fees, and surcharges must be paid at the time of ticketing and are subject to change. Any valid unused award ticket may be returned to the MileagePlus Service Center, for a service charge, up to one year from the date of issue. Award seats are subject to availability, and capacity control restrictions apply. For more information on MileagePlus award travel visit MileagePlus Air Awards | United Airlines.