New from American: Los Angeles-Sydney Flights

After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.

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Beginning on December 17, travelers will have a new option for flying between the U.S. and Australia.

That’s the launch date for American’s newly announced flights Down Under, nonstop between Los Angeles and Sydney. The service will operate daily, with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Qantas, which partners with American in the oneworld alliance and currently flies twice daily between Sydney and Los Angeles, will transfer one of its Los Angeles flights to the San Francisco-Sydney route, which it abandoned in 2011.

American last served Australia in 1992, with flights between Dallas and Sydney, stopping en route in Honolulu.

In case you’re wondering, AAdvantage members will earn around 15,000 miles for LAX-Sydney roundtrips. That’s a lot. But asking travelers to spend around 15 hours in a coach seat, each way, is asking a lot.

This article originally appeared on FrequentFlier.com.

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