Qantas business class awards are broadly available in November and December between Los Angeles and Melbourne. Getting business class awards US – Australia can be catch as catch can at best, and Qantas is notoriously stingy with space. That’s doubly true during the November – March period. This deal was first spotted by Thrifty Traveler‘s premium airfare deal alert service.

Right now you’ll find at least two business class award seats LA – Melbourne, and there are dates where there are 4 business class saver awards available. Space may be a bit better for people using Qantas points (transferable from Amex, Citi, and Capital One) but this space is available:

• For 80,000 American AAdvantage miles each way
  
• For just 55,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles each way

If, like me, you’re looking for 3 seats when you travel the good news is that there are a few dates where that’s possible. I haven’t seen more than four, though.

Unfortunately the new Dallas – Melbourne flight doesn’t have business class award space open at all right now. But Qantas has so many flights that even if you cannot find space in both directions that you want, you may be able to find some space between the U.S. and Australia for that later. Book your worst case scenario now and change plans later if you must.

And while Melbourne is great on its own, use this as a jumping off point for other destinations in Australia or even New Zealand. What you’re looking for is anything that gets you across the Pacific in comfort, since this is one of the very toughest awards that there is.