United Airlines Launching Adelaide-San Francisco Flights

United Airlines will launch non-stop flights from Adelaide to San Francisco… and no, it’s not an April Fool’s Day joke!

Adelaide was one of three new destinations announced yesterday as part of the airline’s latest network expansion, alongside Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City.

This new route marks Adelaide’s first ever regular non-stop flight to the USA. It will be United’s fourth destination in Australia after Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

United’s new Adelaide-San Francisco flights

United will operate the Adelaide-San Francisco route 3x weekly on a seasonal basis, with flights during the Australian summer.

The first flight will take off on 11 December 2025 and the route will run until March 2026. United will fly its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to Adelaide with Economy, Premium Economy (sold as Premium Plus) and Polaris Business Class seating.

This is the schedule:

• UA208 Adelaide 14:55 – San Francisco 11:15 (Mondays, Wednesdays & Saturdays)
• UA207 San Francisco 23:05 – Adelaide 09:30 (+2 days) (Mondays, Thursdays & Saturdays)

The flight time from Adelaide to San Francisco will be 14 hours and 50 minutes. In the other direction, it’s 15 hours and 55 minutes.

Beyond San Francisco, United offers connections to many destinations across North and South America. Passengers in Perth and Alice Springs could also connect via Adelaide to get to San Francisco.

As United is a partner of Virgin Australia, you can earn Velocity points and status credits on these flights.

Book a seat with Velocity Points

United Airlines has already released Economy Reward Seats between Adelaide and San Francisco on many dates. You could book these with Virgin Australia Velocity points or any Star Alliance frequent flyer program.

It would cost 96,000 Velocity Points and $166.83 in taxes for a round-trip booking from Adelaide to San Francisco on United.

As United doesn’t typically release Saver reward seats in Business Class until a few months, weeks or even days prior to departure, it’s currently too early to redeem Velocity Points for a Business seat on this route. But keep an eye out closer to the departure date for availability!

A round-trip United Business Class ticket from Adelaide to San Francisco would cost 204,000 Velocity Points and the same taxes as an Economy redemption.

United Premium Economy seats are not available to book with Velocity Points.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.