Ottawa to Sydney Australia - Business Class November 2024

[Keata]

Hubby and I have accumulated quite a few Aeroplan points (900K) for this trip.  The price of tickets/points right now would only gets us business class one way! Does anyone have any recent routings that might make sense.  We are both retired so we can stop over almost anywhere no real time constraints exist.  Have already looked at Singapore or Hong Kong onward and those tickets are also very pricey. 

Any help/ideas are greatly appreciated.

[d9704011]

I'm planning a YOW-AKL/SYD-YOW trip for 2025 so have been looking at this.  I don't plan on using Aeroplan points but the search for 'deals' on fares is shared.

 

What about routings through SFO and/or LAX on code share arrangements with United?  Use the Aeroplan app to see what's available and in the Business Class choices scroll well down to see the offers through the US airports.

[Keata]

@d9704011 I did try LAX - hadn't thought of SFO;  just assumed LAX would provide more options.  Since you will also be looking I will let you know what I end up with!

[d9704011]

1 minute ago, Keata said:

@d9704011 I did try LAX - hadn't thought of SFO;  just assumed LAX would provide more options.  Since you will also be looking I will let you know what I end up with!

Thanks.  Happy hunting!

[paf225]

I miss the days when you could find some reasonable business class reward fares.  I traveled the itinerary below about a month before Covid shut down the world.  Since the last devaluation of points by Air Canada it has become harder and harder to find reasonable point pricing for long haul business class.  You used to be able to find deals as soon as reward fares became available about 356 days prior to your travel date but that doesn't seem to apply anymore.  Now it appears if you wait several months from when the itineraries you want first come out you're more likely to find a points deal.  I believe this has to do with AC's dynamic reward pricing.  I would suggest you also look at routings through Asia and New Zealand that rely on Star Alliance partners.  You could check out premium economy as well since it's a lot better then economy on lengthy flights.  Good luck on your search!  Regards, Paul

 

 

[paf225]

You could also look at breaking up your flights into 2 separate rewards each.  Try looking at YOW to TPE and then TPE to SYD.  I think you will be able to find routings through this method for considerably less points then booking your flights as one reward with the current point amounts required.  In this scenario you would also have the option of spending some time in Taipei before continuing on to Sydney.  Regards, Paul

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, paf225 said:

You could also look at breaking up your flights into 2 separate rewards each.  Try looking at YOW to TPE and then TPE to SYD.  I think you will be able to find routings through this method for considerably less points then booking your flights as one reward with the current point amounts required.  In this scenario you would also have the option of spending some time in Taipei before continuing on to Sydney.  Regards, Paul

If you are flying through Taipei I highly recommend Eva Airways. I used them for business class on points, Toronto-Hanoi and HCMC-Toronto in 2017 and Toronto-Yangon and Bangkok-Toronto in 2018. This was before Aeroplan changed their redemption, but Eva Airways had almost no fees added when Air Canada still had surcharges that you had to pay in addition.

[Tango99]

7 hours ago, Keata said:

Hubby and I have accumulated quite a few Aeroplan points (900K) for this trip.  The price of tickets/points right now would only gets us business class one way! Does anyone have any recent routings that might make sense.  We are both retired so we can stop over almost anywhere no real time constraints exist.  Have already looked at Singapore or Hong Kong onward and those tickets are also very pricey. 

Any help/ideas are greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately with just 4 international airports operating in Canada and no means to skip Toronto and Montreal as gateways overseas, options to route through Philly, Detroit and Chicago, are gone. Now any direct or indirect fares are subject to much higher taxes and fees whether using currency or points. Fuel surcharge is now buried in fare cost rather than being transparent and showing it as a separate line item. The whole point of saving is lost, though you may enjoy a couple of days in LA, or look at options if you went to BC and made your way to Seattle. Or look at Singapore Air if they still have flights to/from Texas. All things considered points are evaporating very quickly and getting a top notch airline like Singapore or Nippon air, both are great Star Alliance partners and may be worth while for the extra comforts. Hope you find something that works. 

[paf225]

2 hours ago, gnome12 said:

If you are flying through Taipei I highly recommend Eva Airways. I used them for business class on points, Toronto-Hanoi and HCMC-Toronto in 2017 and Toronto-Yangon and Bangkok-Toronto in 2018. This was before Aeroplan changed their redemption, but Eva Airways had almost no fees added when Air Canada still had surcharges that you had to pay in addition.

I agree wholeheartedly.  In 2018 I flew on a business class reward ticket on Eva from Vancouver to Taipei, spent a week there and then flew on Eva again from Taipei to Bangkok.  The service was excellent as was their lie flat bed which was made up with a mattress pad when you were ready to sleep.  The amenity kit was shaped like a tiny Rimowa suitcase.  Regards, Paul

[matamanoa]

As you are retired and have no time constraints, would you consider flying one way and cruising back.  There are cruises from Australia which end in San Francisco or you could continue on up to Vancouver before flying on to Ottawa.  

[Keata]

@matamanoa While I would love a transpacific (did 2 transatlantics solo last year), my dear husband would rather a poke in the eye to that many sea days!

[Keata]

@paf225@gnome12 So happy to hear the great reviews about EVA Airways.  Regent put us on them for our February Asia cruise.  I will look at that routing for the SYD flight as I have spent no time in Taiwan.

[Keata]

12 hours ago, paf225 said:

I miss the days when you could find some reasonable business class reward fares.  I traveled the itinerary below about a month before Covid shut down the world.  Since the last devaluation of points by Air Canada it has become harder and harder to find reasonable point pricing for long haul business class.  You used to be able to find deals as soon as reward fares became available about 356 days prior to your travel date but that doesn't seem to apply anymore.  Now it appears if you wait several months from when the itineraries you want first come out you're more likely to find a points deal.  I believe this has to do with AC's dynamic reward pricing.  I would suggest you also look at routings through Asia and New Zealand that rely on Star Alliance partners.  You could check out premium economy as well since it's a lot better then economy on lengthy flights.  Good luck on your search!  Regards, Paul

 

 

WOW those days of decent points and fees are long gone with Aeroplan!

[d9704011]

8 hours ago, Tango99 said:

Unfortunately with just 4 international airports operating in Canada and no means to skip Toronto and Montreal as gateways overseas, options to route through Philly, Detroit and Chicago, are gone.

That's not entirely correct.  I can fly from YOW to/from Australia and New Zealand through EWR, IAD and ORD.  The issue is, I cannot do it on Aeroplan points.... business class anyway.

Edited November 12, 2023 by d9704011

[matamanoa]

1 hour ago, Keata said:

@matamanoa While I would love a transpacific (did 2 transatlantics solo last year), my dear husband would rather a poke in the eye to that many sea days!

And here I thought ALL Canadians were polite.

[Keata]

36 minutes ago, matamanoa said:

And here I thought ALL Canadians were polite.

I am sorry if you misread my response.  I was trying to express who much my husband would not go for that as a solution whereas I would in a heartbeat. I appreciate all the people who have responded.

[matamanoa]

22 minutes ago, Keata said:

I am sorry if you misread my response.  I was trying to express who much my husband would not go for that as a solution whereas I would in a heartbeat. I appreciate all the people who have responded.

When my husband and I did our first cruise to Hawaii, with 9 sea days, we enjoyed the cruise but not the number of sea days.  Now, many years later, we are looking forward to relaxing on all the sea days that we will encounter on our trans-pacific, resting our bones and bodies from all the touring coming up on our around Australia cruise.  Being that the trans-pacific ends in San Francisco, we felt that this was a no brainer as our son, DIL and grands live there and we'll spend a week with them before continuing on to Toronto.  We're hoping for a positive experience.  Good luck with your search for airfares.

[Tango99]

4 hours ago, matamanoa said:

And here I thought ALL Canadians were polite.

Too funny. That’s just a euphemism that hails from the UK. For example Q “would you ever eat crickets? A. “Eeeuw no. Id rather have a poke in the eye with a sharp stick”. 

[Tango99]

5 hours ago, d9704011 said:

That's not entirely correct.  I can fly from YOW to/from Australia and New Zealand through EWR, IAD and ORD.  The issue is, I cannot do it on Aeroplan points.... business class anyway.

Yeah. Layovers, multi city flights or completely new tickets. Gone are the days. 10 years ago I flew YOW-ORD-NRT-BKK-PDG-NRT-ORD-YOW for 120K points and 238 in fees and taxes. All first class except for AC legs. Nippon, Thai airways have first and business classes. Would have been 800 if I’d used Canadian gateways. Imagine the savings now if that routing was doable. Closing loopholes has lost advantages for consumers. And what? No points redemption on business class? That’s painful. 

[paf225]

Although a rare breed, long haul business class Aeroplan rewards are still out there if you're patient and persistent.  A couple days ago I booked an Aeroplan business class reward from Dubai to Kelowna for 80,300 points and $44.70 in fees for a November 2024 trip.  Fortunately I'm traveling alone since there was only one seat available for this number of points.  After making my booking I checked the same itinterary and it was now available for 256,000 points.  My itinerary was routed DXB-YVR-YLW and I noticed one seat was also available on the same day for 80,000 points on a DXB-YYZ-YLW routing.  The different flights have scheduled departures from DXB within 35 minutes of each other and the final flights of the itinerary are scheduled to arrive at YLW within 34 minutes of each other.  This would have allowed a couple to book two 80K business class rewards if they didn't mind traveling separately.  Regards, Paul

 

[david,Mississauga]

On 11/12/2023 at 8:32 AM, Keata said:

WOW those days of decent points and fees are long gone with Aeroplan!

 

Although it is very difficult to get a good Business Class point fare, there are a few. We are used to getting Toronto-Vancouver for about 24,000 points and managed to get that each way for this past summer.  It does mean departing Toronto at 06:40 though. We needed a one-way to Vancouver in November and couldn't get it at a reasonable fare so we booked premium economy and upgraded for $ a few days in advance.

 

For next year we need to get to England to board the Queen Mary 2. Most flights are over 200,000 points but there are two or three every day for 58,000 points. By checking Aeroplan after midnight we managed to get two cheap ones.

 

As for fees, they are actually less than  before AC bought Aeroplan back.  Toronto-Vancouver dropped from about $82 to $42. One reason is they are no longer charging that fuel surcharge. The biggest reduction in fees was on our Toronto-London trip which is only about $60.  London-Toronto is still high because of the UK departure duty which is over $300 in Business Class.

[HSBC]

7 hours ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

Although it is very difficult to get a good Business Class point fare, there are a few. We are used to getting Toronto-Vancouver for about 24,000 points and managed to get that each way for this past summer.  It does mean departing Toronto at 06:40 though. We needed a one-way to Vancouver in November and couldn't get it at a reasonable fare so we booked premium economy and upgraded for $ a few days in advance.

 

For next year we need to get to England to board the Queen Mary 2. Most flights are over 200,000 points but there are two or three every day for 58,000 points. By checking Aeroplan after midnight we managed to get two cheap ones.

 

As for fees, they are actually less than  before AC bought Aeroplan back.  Toronto-Vancouver dropped from about $82 to $42. One reason is they are no longer charging that fuel surcharge. The biggest reduction in fees was on our Toronto-London trip which is only about $60.  London-Toronto is still high because of the UK departure duty which is over $300 in Business Class.

David,

Is 58,000 points from Ontario to England? Business class? One-way?

Thanks!

[david,Mississauga]

20 minutes ago, HSBC said:

David,

Is 58,000 points from Ontario to England? Business class? One-way?

Thanks!

 

Yes, Toronto to London, one-way in Business Class (with lie-flat beds or pods as Air Canada calls them.) We got two on the same flight. Sometimes they offer one seat on each of three flights.  Sometimes the cheap Business Class involves a change in Montreal.  There are three or four flights per evening from Toronto and the departure we were able to get was 23:45, which would not be my favourite. But it has an advantage of getting into Heathrow at about noon rather than in the morning rush hour.

[HSBC]

1 hour ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

Yes, Toronto to London, one-way in Business Class (with lie-flat beds or pods as Air Canada calls them.) We got two on the same flight. Sometimes they offer one seat on each of three flights.  Sometimes the cheap Business Class involves a change in Montreal.  There are three or four flights per evening from Toronto and the departure we were able to get was 23:45, which would not be my favourite. But it has an advantage of getting into Heathrow at about noon rather than in the morning rush hour.

David,

You're lucky to get two.

Enjoy your Business class flight!

[Keata]

As promised I am back to report the following:  I used Air Canada Aeroplan points and for an obscene number of miles, hubby and I are flying Ottawa -Vancouver- Brisbane - Sydney.  Business class lie flats through to Brisbane then Virgin Australia for the last leg.  I will deal with the return when I accumulate more miles!