My family of 5 visited Sydney, Australia for a few days before we toured New Zealand in 2019. We had a great time, and I’d love to return to Australia to see more of the country.
My middle son was 11 years old at the time.
One of my son’s friends moved to Australia earlier this year, and my son has been begging for a trip to visit him. By himself. Flying solo to Australia.
My husband and I thought about it for months, and then figured, why not? He will be 18 next summer, he has a lot of international travel experience, and he has been invited to stay at his friend’s house. I can’t think of a better graduation gift for him next summer.
Booking Flights
My son asked if he could fly in business class. Hey, I can’t fault him for asking! But no, not gonna happen. Business class award seats to Australia are hard to find, and they are expensive. He’s young, and he will be just fine in regular economy.
For our 2019 trip, my family flew on Qantas to Sydney. The flight was way more pleasant than we imagined. So, my goal was to find award flights on Qantas nonstop from DFW to Sydney. Both Qantas and American Airlines fly that route.
I easily found availability on Qantas nonstop for the trip back home from Sydney to DFW. I booked using 42.500 Alaska Airlines miles:
Booking the flight TO Sydney was not quite as easy. I couldn’t find any availability directly from DFW on either airline. But, LAX had options. Qantas had a nonstop flight from LAX on sale for $438. I booked it through the Chase Travel portal with my husband’s Chase Sapphire Reserve card at a redemption rate of 1.5 cents per point (combined with some cash he had left from his CSR annual travel credit).
I’m not crazy about the idea o him navigating LAX airport by himself, but it’s doable. We still need to book him a flight from DFW to LAX, and of course he will need money for food and fun.
My son also has a friend who will be moving to India after graduation and has already asked to travel there as well. Maybe in 2027, son.
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Looks like you’re scoring good flight deals. Those prices in cash and points looks much better then many of USA-Europe flights right now, even in economy. The crazy thing that those flights are only half the distance or less! My guess that airlines make up their prices based on popularity, not actual operating expense – hence the “premium” people pay for travel to Europe and Asia in past couple of years. Australia still considered a far-fetch travel plan for most, so prices kept reasonable. Are you planning to do mostly city-sightseeing there or some nature trips as well?
Happy travels!!