Planning trip to USA and/or Canada for WC 2026, any tips and advice?

[random111]

Hey brain trust

As title suggests, looking to fly to USA and/or Canada (not super keen on Mexico) for World Cup 2026 - would think there's a few on here who will be doing the same!

Trying to get over and back in at least premium economy for a family of 5.

Dates are around mid June to early July 26.

We're based in MEL but happy to fly from any eastern state or even NZ, but would highly preference minimal routes / connections (Fiji may be an option too). Without knowing which cities we've got tickets for and where the teams are playing we'd want to see, we'll probably book MEL to LAX or SFO or similar at a first instance then connect from there within 1-2 days to where we need to be.

Don't fancy our chances of 5 biz class tickets on the one flight and not keen on separating, so shooting for PE in hope we can get all 5 but also would be willing to redeem say 3 reward tickets and purchase 2 in PE, unsure I could justify a cash purchase in biz - three young kids who will be 11, 9 and 5, feels like an uneccassary luxury for them and cost for us!!

Any tips, tricks or advice? Can I expect tickets to be available 12 months out? Which FF should I be signed up for in readiness?

What about reward availability and purchase on the domestic flights, easy or hard? Any airlines to avoid?

Currently VA gold but unlikely to retain post the changes later this year, was easy to achieve and maintain with family pooling but that's going out the window!

 

[Human]

Interesting dilemma! Of course, the soccer World Cup is a huge event and there's no guarantee that airlines will make reward seats available at that time (witness what happened with reward seats into Europe for the Paris Olympics last year). But here's hoping.

A complicating factor is that you have young-ish children, so understandably you want to avoid a convoluted and/or overly long route. But I don't really like your chances of getting 5xPE seats from Australia to the USA (even via NZ or Fiji) both there and back. You might get lucky, of course, but you also need to be thinking about contingencies and what sacrifices you'll be willing to make if you don't.

Of course, the simplest solution if you don't get PE seats is to fly in Economy. But if your heart is set on PE, you should be thinking about what routes you'd be happy with. Would you accept flying to Singapore and then taking one of their long-haul or ultra-long-haul flights to the USA in Premium Economy? Availability is usually pretty good and off the top of my head I'd say that Singapore Airlines probably gives you the best chance of finding 5xPE reward seats on the one flight. Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong would also be worth looking at, as would flying via Taipei or Tokyo. Your willingness to pay for at least some of your tickets should make things a lot easier for you in terms of finding reward availability.

I'm no seasoned traveller when it comes to the USA, but I was there last month, and my experience was that finding economy domestic reward seats was super-easy, both with Qantas and Velocity points. If you can retain VA Gold, that should give you free checked luggage on United flights, which potentially would save you a bit of money.

 

[random111]

Interesting dilemma! Of course, the soccer World Cup is a huge event and there's no guarantee that airlines will make reward seats available at that time (witness what happened with reward seats into Europe for the Paris Olympics last year). But here's hoping.

A complicating factor is that you have young-ish children, so understandably you want to avoid a convoluted and/or overly long route. But I don't really like your chances of getting 5xPE seats from Australia to the USA (even via NZ or Fiji) both there and back. You might get lucky, of course, but you also need to be thinking about contingencies and what sacrifices you'll be willing to make if you don't.

Of course, the simplest solution if you don't get PE seats is to fly in Economy. But if your heart is set on PE, you should be thinking about what routes you'd be happy with. Would you accept flying to Singapore and then taking one of their long-haul or ultra-long-haul flights to the USA in Premium Economy? Availability is usually pretty good and off the top of my head I'd say that Singapore Airlines probably gives you the best chance of finding 5xPE reward seats on the one flight. Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong would also be worth looking at, as would flying via Taipei or Tokyo. Your willingness to pay for at least some of your tickets should make things a lot easier for you in terms of finding reward availability.

I'm no seasoned traveller when it comes to the USA, but I was there last month, and my experience was that finding economy domestic reward seats was super-easy, both with Qantas and Velocity points. If you can retain VA Gold, that should give you free checked luggage on United flights, which potentially would save you a bit of money.

Thank you, thats really helpful, hadn't considered the singapore option. As you say, may greatly increase the chances for PE but would likely need to spend and extra 7-8 hours in regular economy! Need to weigh it up.

Here's hoping that we can find something a bit more direct!

Good to know re domestic fares.

Highly doub't i'll be able to maintain the VA Gold, no longer flying with work (not upset about that!) and hoping majority of holiday travel from here on will be via points!

 

[Human]

would likely need to spend and extra 7-8 hours in regular economy

Well, there’s nothing stopping you from flying to Singapore in PE if you can find availability (and/or pay).

 

[random111]

Well, there’s nothing stopping you from flying to Singapore in PE if you can find availability (and/or pay).

Agree, didn't fancy my chances of PE on 4x reward flights!

 

[Human]

Agree, didn't fancy my chances of PE on 4x reward flights!

Finding reward seats on two flights is not necessarily twice as difficult as finding reward seats on one flight. Airlines have something called "married segments" which means that at times they will reserve reward seats for people flying a certain route. So, for example, if you don't find PE seats on MEL-SIN, if you do a search for MEL-SIN-LAX you may find that the airline might make PE seats on the MEL-SIN route available.

It can be very annoying if you just want to fly one sector! But at other times it can definitely work to your advantage. And no, there's no way of knowing whether this is happening until you actually do the search.

 

[random111]

Finding reward seats on two flights is not necessarily twice as difficult as finding reward seats on one flight. Airlines have something called "married segments" which means that at times they will reserve reward seats for people flying a certain route. So, for example, if you don't find PE seats on MEL-SIN, if you do a search for MEL-SIN-LAX you may find that the airline might make PE seats on the MEL-SIN route available.

It can be very annoying if you just want to fly one sector! But at other times it can definitely work to your advantage. And no, there's no way of knowing whether this is happening until you actually do the search.

Thank you!! Didn't know that!!

Starting to get a touch excited

 

[SYD]

Worse case scenario, FJ whY (points or paid), has the advantage that you can fly open jaw to any combo of YVR, SFO, LAX and DFW and maybe take a break one way in NAN.

QF can also do those non-stop. The US carriers limited to their ports for non-stop.

BTW, I wouldn’t dismiss MEX. It’s a fascinating place - although could be a bit toasty that time of year.

 

[random111]

Worse case scenario, FJ whY (points or paid), has the advantage that you can fly open jaw to any combo of YVR, SFO, LAX and DFW and maybe take a break one way in NAN.

QF can also do those non-stop. The US carriers limited to their ports for non-stop.

BTW, I wouldn’t dismiss MEX. It’s a fascinating place - although could be a bit toasty that time of year.

Cheers
Will look into for sure!!

Think the football atmosphere will be electric there but not sure the family will be as comfortable as in USA / Canada - climate, safety, ease of maneuverability etc. They're already a bit on the fence about the trip (can't believe they're not as hyped as I am haha), don't want to make things worse!

 

[Himeno]

There's a sports ball thing happening? When? Must take note of the dates in order to avoid.

 

[tomlee1986]

I would say get your ETA in order for BOTH USA & Canada before booking your tickets, as it could take time despite they say quick turn around, and I doubt any award seats would be as easily redeemed than ever before, not just for the WC, but that is the NA summer peak travel season as well. I wish you all the best in your plans

 

[elanshin]

I would say get your ETA in order for BOTH USA & Canada before booking your tickets, as it could take time despite they say quick turn around, and I doubt any award seats would be as easily redeemed than ever before, not just for the WC, but that is the NA summer peak travel season as well. I wish you all the best in your plans

On average, we are taking minutes as the time it takes for ETA and ESTA. Whilst i would never advocate this, i have seen passengers that were caught out do it on the spot at check in desks.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I would say get your ETA in order for BOTH USA & Canada before booking your tickets, as it could take time despite they say quick turn around, and I doubt any award seats would be as easily redeemed than ever before, not just for the WC, but that is the NA summer peak travel season as well. I wish you all the best in your plans

That is good advice. Some folks are 'banned' from ESTA (previous Iran travel post-2011) and require an interview. I am told the next interviews in Melbourne are scheduled for Sept 25.

 

[tomlee1986]

On average, we are taking minutes as the time it takes for ETA and ESTA. Whilst i would never advocate this, i have seen passengers that were caught out do it on the spot at check in desks.

Even on the spot ETA and ESTA applications - that could also be delayed due to delays in the system - they did say it can take time despite the normal minutes approval

 

[Sprucegoose]

Even on the spot ETA and ESTA applications - that could also be delayed due to delays in the system - they did say it can take time despite the normal minutes approval

Indeed, even data matching isn't an exact science, and things can go wrong. It's too late, IMHO, to be doing this at the check-in desk.

 

[cove]

We saw some ticket prices that were linked with hospitality and I think 4 tickets were $14,400 USD so you might want to avoid the hospitality. My sons say the fairly new stadium in Los Angles is fantastic.
Accommodation will be quite a bit.
Let’s hope the $AUD goes for a big run against the US$.

 

[RooFlyer]

That is good advice. Some folks are 'banned' from ESTA (previous Iran travel post-2011) and require an interview. I am told the next interviews in Melbourne are scheduled for Sept 25.

You are talking about getting a B1/B2 visa (as I did, because of Iran travel). If you get an interview 'appointment time', that's just the time you join the queue to enter the building. Go from there ...

The interview is the easy part - the forms etc needed beforehand are whacky (but that's LOFAP). The 'interview' for me was the quickest part of the process - about 3 queues and counters to be navigated before you reach the interview (forms here, payment there...), which in my case was perfunctory.