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In my fourth installment of a series on reward charts, I am going to look at rewards between Europe and Australia (and Oceania). Unquestionably, this is about as far away from home as you’re ever likely to travel. I, for one, shudder at the thought of 20+ hours of flying, no matter whether it’s in Economy or First Class. Even though Australia is where the vast majority of people are likely to be headed, Pacific Ocean paradise islands such as Tahiti, Fiji, etc. are also usually to be found in this award region.

If you haven’t already, have a read of the previous posts in this series:

• Europe to North America
• Europe to Middle East / India
• Europe to sub-Saharan Africa

As before, I am aiming to cover programmes that are:

• Popular with British residents / travel hackers
• Available as an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner (UK cardholders)
• Particularly attractive reward charts
• Sells miles cheaply
• Available as a Starwood Preferred Guest or Marriott Rewards transfer partner

Here is the chart I have prepared. As before, I highlight in yellow what I find to be particularly attractive.

Reaching Oceania using miles is not going to be cheap or easy. Much of the paid traffic on the “Kangaroo Route” has been hoovered up by Qatar, Etihad and Emirates, which has made it harder to reach Australia using miles from one of the traditional airline alliances. (You might, therefore, be better off looking for a discounted Business Class ticket departing from Scandinavia) You are also going to struggle if the Star Alliance is your preferred alliance; Singapore and Air New Zealand are renowned for releasing little, if any, award availability in Business Class and I’m not sure I would recommend 20+ hours on Thai Airways.

So, Oneworld is going to offer the best chance of getting Down Under using miles. But before you tear your hair out trying to book the BA flight to Sydney, perhaps consider one of the Asian programmes (or the obscure BAEC reward chart I wrote about here) and fly there on Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines or even Japan Airlines…