Strategies to get 4x BNE->LAX/SFO US J award flights?

[Roflco]

I’m trying to plan a trip to the US for a family of 4, departing from Brisbane and ending up in California (either LAX or SFO)

Wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to secure J upgrades? I know typically VA drip feed upgrades throughout the year 1 or 2 at a time, so I dont think I would be able to score 4x at once.

Has anyone managed this before?

 

[goldenhorn]

I’m trying to plan a trip to the US for a family of 4, departing from Brisbane and ending up in California (either LAX or SFO)

Wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to secure J upgrades? I know typically VA drip feed upgrades throughout the year 1 or 2 at a time, so I dont think I would be able to score 4x at once.

Has anyone managed this before?

It’s a big ask but may be possible on UA. What month are you wanting to travel?

I would be using seats.aero search HACK: United Business Class Australia To America For $487

 

[Roflco]

Christmas period unfortunately. Dec/Jan

 

[Human]

You might have a chance on Singapore Airlines via Singapore. I’d also be looking at getting to Tokyo on either Virgin, ANA or even Singapore Airlines, and then flying on either ANA or United from there to the USA. Singapore also has a fifth freedom flight from Tokyo Narita to LAX.

 

[Mwenenzi]

I’m trying to plan a trip to the US for a family of 4, departing from Brisbane and ending up in California (either LAX or SFO)

Wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to secure J upgrades? I know typically VA drip feed upgrades throughout the year 1 or 2 at a time, so I dont think I would be able to score 4x at once.

Has anyone managed this before?

Christmas period unfortunately. Dec/Jan

So wanting to fly BNE-LAX/SFO with VA ff points.
I suspect you cannot "upgrade" a USA flight with VA points, as VA now do not fly to USA.
Getting 4 x economy/PE awards to business on a VA partner is more of a cancel economy awards then new business awards.
May be able to get 4 x J awards on a VA partner at the start, but at that time of year a tough ask.
Air Canada is also a VA partner, as is UA, SQ & QR Qatar.
VA does fly to Japan, Fiji, Vanuatu, DPS (Bali) and ZQN, New Zealand. A mixture of cash tickets (with upgrade?) on VA routes and awards on partners a possibility (but far from a certainty).

 

[levelnine]

No such thing as J upgrades to the US using VA points.

For award flights:

If you're happy to go December/January 2025, look for award flights at calendar open on Singapore Airlines.

Otherwise book economy and look for last minute award availability on United.

 

[Roflco]

Ahh I didn’t realise you couldn’t do J upgrades on partners. Makes sense. Looks like it’ll be Y!

 

[Human]

Ahh I didn’t realise you couldn’t do J upgrades on partners. Makes sense. Looks like it’ll be Y!

There’s reasonable PE availability on Singapore Airlines if you’re interested.

 

[Roflco]

There’s reasonable PE availability on Singapore Airlines if you’re interested.

If it was just me and my wife I would, but we have a 2 and 5 year old. I think going via SIN would probably double the travel time, so we need to stick to direct

 

[masco131]

do you have only velocity points? i think it is doable but might require abit of planning and all 4 might not be on the same flight. Maybe try looking at qantas as they sometimes have SYD-NAN and NAN-LAX with Fiji airways which is on their a350 and lay flat. Also another option to look at is the SYD-AKL and AKL- Tahiti and direct to LAX. Another route could be syd-hnl and then Hnl-lax. It might be worth investing in expertflyer to get seat alerts too.

 

[bcworld]

If you mean very close to Xmas...you'll probably find that with short notice before departure...1-2 weeks, 4 awards will be available in business...this seems to be a fairly repeatable pattern on UA. I flew MEL-LAX on 21 Dec 22...because UA is very transparent re loads and the upgrade list I could see that 2-3 days before departure Polaris was only 22/48 sold...and I was in that 22 and had already had an upgrade using UA miles processed. By that time up to 9 J awards were available...and the whole upgrade list cleared into Polaris still leaving quite a few spare seats.

 

[nthd_nthd]

I have been paying attention on this route too. Wondering if someone can fill me in, how come I cant see any flight into HNL on Velocity?