I just got back from a 3 week Honeymoon over there. My wife and I purchased ZED on QF and had no problems getting on. QF runs a 380 & a 747 within 2 hours of each other. Might not be a bad idea for a back up.

Is the OP going it alone, or traveling with family? My family of 4 flew down last June. I jumpseated, while the family was on zeds. Day of travel, the flight showed 12 open in BE, while coach had 50+ open. Not sure how often that flight is weight restricted to this extreme, but at first they weren't going to let any nonrevers on. Then they released 5 seats, and then finally, all nonrevers made it on.

We didn't have to go, and we were just visiting friends. If we had missed a day down there, it wouldn't have been a big deal. If we were going to visit again this July, I would just show up with zeds for UA/DL and QF. Having said that, the US is a popular destination for Aussies and they love to come up here during our summer. Delta still isn't as well known down under and capacity has almost tripled on that route in the last 5 years.

Those same friends just came up to the states a few weeks ago for a visit on DL buddy passes. I watched my friends' flight for about a month before they traveled. I want to say that the flight only booked up 30-50 more seats over that amount of time. BE only booked up about 10 over that time. Their return flight booked even slower and went out with 100+ seats open.

Based on my past experience with this route, I would say that flight will go out with 40+ empty seats based on the availability showing today.

As for rolling the dice to get BE, I've see it go to buddy passes and I've seen it go only to most senior S2s.

I thought that DL had jumpseaters accounted for in the BOW? I figure I will throw my two cents in as I have been going to SYD usually twice a year for the past 15 years. The general rule of thumb I have seen is if there is open business class seats showing a day or so prior expect a good heap of non revs to list up 24 hours or so prior. It is very frustrating to watch all the non revs come out of the wood work.

This is not true. A Delta pilot will not be bumped off a Delta jumpseat for weight reasons though. They will bump an OAL jumpseater. Even Delta Connection pilots.

Not true anymore - Platinum and Diamond medallions can standby to upgrade with a SWU if they have a Y,B or M ticket.

From the list of Medallion Benefits:-

Day of Departure:
If a Medallion member and companion (if applicable) do not clear the waitlist prior to departure, they will be automatically added to the airport standby list at time of check-in and will be cleared at the gate if space is available.

I have used this coming out of NRT.

Don't forget your Australian Visa, they'll check for that and your passport and the departure gate. You can get a visa online, and they're about $38.

You guys are awesome! Thanks for all the replies. Visa, check, standby advice, awesome . . . thanks again!!

Just did Sydney a few months ago and kept an eye on the loads for at least a month or so before departure. I noticed it really did not change that much, however beware of the other stand by passengers. I flew United out of SFO and their were almost 80 Standbys listed for the flight. I still got a seat in the back, but it was close. So I would keep those in mind too when trying to get out to SYD! Hopefully they will all be occupied with London and Olympics this summer. Either way, SYD was one of my best trips and had an absolute blast down under!

Awesome, thanks Camba0a6! Thanks for the tips, and glad you had such a good trip!

LOADS: (Available/Authorized To Sell)

July 2nd LAX-SYD
32/33 Business
92/131 Roach

July 10th SYD-LAX
26/28 Business
176/201 Roach

/sarcasm