Taipei-based SkyTeam member China Airlines has a great but understated reputation for excellent lie-flat Business Class seats, and warm and professional customer service.
We currently have access to excellent Business Class fares for travel to Europe and North America via Taipei.
This fare is exclusively available through our in-house travel agent Luke Vaughan, who can be contacted by clicking the button below.
Why this is a good deal
As a SkyTeam member (probably the least accessible and understood of the three major alliances for travellers in Australia), China Airlines is likely not the first choice that comes to mind when travelling to Asia and onward to Europe and the US.
However, its Sydney services were recently upgraded to double-daily Airbus A350s and from 25 March, its Melbourne and Brisbane services will enjoy the same aircraft.
When flying to Taipei, you can continue on in the same seat on an A350 or 777 to Europe or the US. As a result, you’ll get a comfortable lie-flat seat with direct-aisle access for your full journey.
You’ll get access to the SkyTeam Lounge Sydney and Qantas International Business Lounge Melbourne.
The important stuff
- Departures: this fare is only valid from Sydney and Melbourne—we’re not sure why Brisbane isn’t included in this promotion
- On sale until: 25 February 2018
- For travel until: 12 December 2018
- Stopovers: permitted in Taipei for $200—highly recommended!
- Open-jaw tickets: permitted, e.g. Sydney – Taipei – Amsterdam // Rome – Taipei – Sydney
- Subject to availability
Destinations
All prices are based on departures from Sydney—departures from Melbourne incur a $40 surcharge.
To Europe
- Amsterdam from $3998
- Vienna from $4092
- Rome from $4088
- Frankfurt from $4153
- London from $4317
To the US
- Los Angeles from $4103
- San Francisco from $4103
- New York from $4103
Where to credit your points earn on this flight
According to wheretocredit.com (full Point Hacks guide), as this ticket is booked into fare class D, you’ll earn 100-115% of actual miles flown in most SkyTeam frequent flyer programs, which will be in the range of 20,000-25,000 points (based on flying to Europe—flying to the US will earn more points).
As such, I would recommend choosing one of the most accessible programs for redemptions, which would be:
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue: our recommended option; easy online interface for redemptions; the furthest flight in this promo is Melbourne to New York via Taipei, earning you just under 30,000 miles, with 40,000 being the requirement to reach Elite Plus (Gold status)—you could plan to earn the remaining ~10,000 miles on other flights and then status match to another airline/alliance’s program
- Delta SkyMiles: can supplement balance with crediting Virgin Australia flights; known for frequent and unannounced award chart devaluations—be careful
- Korean Air SKYPASS: partner redemptions through SKYPASS must be for roundtrip travel, not one-way, which reduces its utility
You may also be interested in our guides to the cheapest ways of earning Qantas, Velocity and Star Alliance Gold status in one trip.
Images courtesy China Airlines.
I have been trawling for ideas on how to get to Europe in Business for under $10k with a quality carrier and hard product.
Unfortunately 360k velocity points wasn’t enough for both my wife and I to fly Business award return on SQ.
This will be a great alternative and Skymiles may be of benefit for a White Xmas next year in NYC with those velocity points. – do you know how long Skymiles last from accrual?
Just saying.