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Find cheap flights from Chicago to Australia from $748

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from Chicago to Australia departing on 17/6. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
1 adult
Wed 29/5
Wed 5/6

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Best Australia Flight Deals

Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

Sydney
Sydney3 stops$1,481
Melbourne
Melbourne2 stops$1,945
Brisbane
Brisbane2 stops$1,859
Perth
Perth3 stops$3,351
Adelaide
Adelaide2 stops$2,898
Coolangatta
Coolangatta2 stops$3,460
Cairns
Cairns2 stops$15,141
Hobart
Hobart2 stops$3,093
Canberra
Canberra3 stops$2,317
Darwin
Darwin2 stops$3,746
Maroochydore
Maroochydore2 stops$2,865

Good to know

Low season

April

High season

December

Cheapest flight

$748
Best time to beat the crowds (8% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (35% more expensive on average)
Flight from Chicago O'Hare Airport to Melbourne

FAQs - booking Australia flights

  • As a U.S. citizen, do I need a visa to travel to Australia?

    Yes, U.S. citizens need to obtain a tourist visa prior to flying to Australia. This visa is an Electronic Travel Authority that can be applied for online with a small fee. The approval process for an ETA can take up to about one day and you can expect to pay around 20 AUD (15 USD) for this service.

  • Are there non-stop flights from Chicago to Australia?

    Currently, there aren’t any available direct flights between Chicago and Australia. However, Air Canada and Qantas both offer routes with just one layover in either Vancouver or Los Angeles. These flights depart from Chicago O’Hare International Airport and arrive at both Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD) and Brisbane International Airport (BNE).

  • Which is the best airport to fly into to go to the Great Barrier Reef?

    The Great Barrier Reef in east Australia is the world’s largest coral reef that attracts plenty of divers from all over. The closest international airport to the Great Barrier Reef is the one in Cairns. However, there are more flight options from Chicago to the city of Brisbane. From there, travelers can take a domestic flight to Hamilton Island or a ferry to see the Great Barrier Reef.

  • Is there public transportation from Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport to the city center?

    Yes, there is public transportation operating from the main Australian airport in Sydney to the city center. Travelers can hop on the AirportLink T8 train that stops at the international terminal and connects with the city loop route. The trip takes under half an hour and you can expect to pay about 20 AUD (15 USD).

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Chicago to Australia?

    KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can find for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights from Chicago to Australia.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from Chicago to Australia?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to Australia from Chicago is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights from Chicago to Australia?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional return ticket. You could then fly to Australia with an airline and back to Chicago with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from Chicago to Australia?

    Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you all the options when flying to Australia from Chicago up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

See more FAQs

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Australia

  • Morning departure is around 6% more expensive than an evening flight, on average*.
  • For more options, and generally more affordable airfares, consider booking flights from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to the main hub in Australia, Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD). From here, you’ll be near Australia’s most iconic site, the Sydney Opera House.
  • Long-haul flights like the one from Chicago to Australia can be stressful. Relax or blow off some steam before boarding your flight out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The airport offers a couple amenities, such as a yoga room, as well as a health club with a fitness center and a pool.
  • When traveling to Australia from Chicago, you’ll need to exchange some of your USD into Australian dollars (AUD). You can do this at currency exchange desks at Australia’s main international airports like Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD) and Brisbane International Airport (BNE).
  • In Australia, children under the age of seven need to be in an approved child seat restraint in any vehicle. Under the age of four, the child seat must be rear-facing. If you’re planning on renting a car, you can check beforehand to see if the agency provides child seats.
  • If you’re traveling to Australia with a pet or a service animal, there are pet relief areas located throughout the Chicago O’Hare International Airport for your four-legged friend to go to the bathroom before the long flight.
See more tips
*Average of the lowest prices shown in KAYAK’s search results for departures within the next 30 days

Top 3 airlines serving from Chicago to Australia

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Chicago to Australia? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
8.2
Air New ZealandOverall score based on 647 reviews
8.8Crew
8.4Boarding
8.1Comfort
7.9Entertainment
7.7Food
Airline reviews

All was good, the only thing was it didn't run on time.

8.0 ExcellentDaniel, Apr 2024ZQN - SYD
Read more about Air New Zealand reviews

All was good, the only thing was it didn't run on time.

The staff and crew on board were excellent. Business class however, was very weird. I thought we would have individual pods, but the way it was set up was unexpected. Not very private and If you wanted to lay down, you had to have an entire bed made up for you by the crew, rather than how Delta one works where you could just lie down whenever you feel like it. It was a 16 hour flight. I chose not to have my bed made, and that turned out to be a good idea because everybody who had their bed made had to wait for the crew to roll up their mattresses. So strange!

The recline on the seat in front of me came back so that I was staring at the top of the man’s head in front of me the whole trip. He refused to bring his seat back up twice every time he was instructed to do so and only relented when he had a tray of good in front of him. And then right back in my lap!!! Horrible man!! I complained to the staff multiple times, but no one would address the issue. Otherwise, it would have been a perfect flight.

There was a snafu with confirming seats at check which left us in limbo for the second leg of our trip. I believe the ANZ app is not well integrated with the systems at the terminal resulting in this disconcerting error.

Carring crew, nice ambiance of the cabin, comfortable beds, good food well served. We liked everything.

The pilot tried to make up for lost time due to delays that were out of her control. She communicated the issues openly and clearly and made every effort to do what she could to alleviate issues.

2 of the 6 economy toilets were out of order. Drinks were not offered often enough - you have to order on-screen, which is often unavailable. Snacks and Milo ran out very early. Crew was fine but I think there was a sticking issue

Flight attendants are always pleasant and helpful. Pilot kept us updated.

Boarding instructions on one leg of my journey were not well communicated at the gate (Melbourne to Auckland)

The only thing that was less than excellent was the food server at dinner. (I had the chicken.) It wasn't that it was poorly heated or in difficult-to-open containers; it was just that it had a very peculiar taste. And I use that to describe not just the main course but the dessert as well. Very odd flavours for what seemed to be a mainstream item. I did like that the airline offered us a free glass of wine. The breakfast omelette wasn't bad, although it was quite bland.

Last minute gate change nearly caused us to miss our flight. Change was not announced or displayed in the main board at the old gate. Terrible communication. When we landed we had to wait 20 minutes because there was another plane at the assigned gate. Not the crew’s fault, but adding 20 minutes to a 45 minute flight sucked.

Nothing beats ANA customer service on my opinion. Maybe because of their Japanese culture (and food). Arigatō

delay several times and wait extra long to board. no entertainment service because there are problem for some rows. always encounter some delays for the last flight of the day.

Flight delayed for 2 hours due to a part. The plane sat waiting for boarding for a long time and during final preflight inspection the issue was found. Why not do the preflight inspection sooner if you know the plane is being used?

The flight experience was very good! Especially the United Club!

I was not able to buy food in the flight. They refer to include your Credit card in the APP, and if you are not from USA (i have a credit card form Canada) it is not possible

Aircraft has better leg room than any of United's larger planes. We had requested mobility assistance for this and related flights. United's response to all was superb.

The flight from Ottawa to Chicago took a lot longer due to DC in Ottawa. We got to Chicago and went to our gate to catch our flight. We only had nine minutes I found that very stressful.

Good boarding. Crew started quick with drinks and food. They came around several times for trash which I really liked. Other than turbulence due to storms in the area, flight was great.

my seat got changed twice after checking on then boarding it had been given to a family so by the time they found a seat for me no overhead storage left. i ended up losing my Sony Headphones case because i could even access underthe seat in front of my when deplaning.

Easy boarding, roomy seats, plenty of good food, very helpful snd friendly staff. Very smooth flight! Only thing that could have been better was to have cranberry juice. Women like this as it helps avoid UTI’s and not as sweet as other juices.

The crew was friendly, the seats are too small. Air travel is barely tolerable anymore.

Food was icecold or frozen including breakfast. Hopeless service. Rude crew.

The flight was very uncomfortable and there was no snacks served for the 13 hours international flight. In addition, the flight was delayed 3 hours

Due to a strike taking place with the airline, it negatively impacted my flight in multiple ways. My flight was delayed over 2 hours and the food served was mediocre at best.

Terrible experience! All flights delayed, staff had no idea of what they were doing, and at the end luggage lost for 2 days!

Cabin crew were great. Seats are criminal for tall people

Flight was delayed 1.5 hrs due to problem with a previous flight to mine; I was informed appropriately via Text & Email, however, website did not keep up with messages sent by nearly an hour. When checking-in warm & friendly reception at check-in desk until female Air Canada Rep noticed my flight number and instantly pivoted to a condescending & sarcastic comments about getting my bag checked in since I’m running so late; then tone instantly changed again few minutes later when she muttered, “Oh, they’ve delayed it” another sign systems & worse front line staff, not fully informed or simply not reading their flight status updates. Flight crew were very friendly & did a great job trying to make up lost time due to the delay.

It was great, love the experience and will definitely recommend 👌. Communication was great

My flight was great! Gate attendants and crew were great… pleasant and in good spirits. Flight delayed several hours and we were well informed of the status while on plane. Thank you!

Book cheap flights from Chicago to Australia

Recent return flight deals

14/5Tue
3 stops
29h 49mORD-SYD
18/5Sat
2 stops
29h 50mSYD-ORD
$1,481
14/5Tue
3 stops
29h 49mORD-SYD
18/5Sat
3 stops
33h 32mSYD-ORD
$1,495
2/9Mon
2 stopsAir New Zealand
34h 35mORD-SYD
15/9Sun
2 stopsAir New Zealand
26h 12mSYD-ORD
$1,856
1/9Sun
2 stopsAir New Zealand
26h 50mORD-SYD
8/9Sun
2 stopsAir New Zealand
27h 50mSYD-ORD
$1,858
10/9Tue
1 stopCathay Pacific
27h 45mORD-SYD
16/9Mon
1 stopCathay Pacific
31h 35mSYD-ORD
$1,859
30/8Fri
1 stopCathay Pacific
27h 45mORD-SYD
9/9Mon
1 stopCathay Pacific
31h 35mSYD-ORD
$1,924
29/5Wed
2 stopsAir Canada
29h 25mORD-SYD
5/6Wed
2 stopsAir Canada
37h 38mSYD-ORD
$1,999
29/5Wed
3 stopsAir Canada
29h 25mORD-SYD
5/6Wed
2 stopsAir Canada
37h 38mSYD-ORD
$2,008
9/10Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
23h 19mORD-SYD
23/10Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
20h 06mSYD-ORD
$2,412
11/9Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
22h 00mORD-SYD
16/9Mon
2 stopsUnited Airlines
23h 35mSYD-ORD
$2,418

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Recent one-way flight deals

17/6Mon
3 stops
51h 13mORD-MEL
$748
17/6Mon
2 stops
54h 15mORD-MEL
$768
14/8Wed
3 stops
40h 00mORD-PER
$874
14/8Wed
2 stopsSingapore Airlines
33h 35mORD-PER
$1,204
12/9Thu
1 stopCathay Pacific
27h 45mORD-SYD
$1,321
15/8Thu
1 stopCathay Pacific
41h 30mORD-PER
$1,439
10/6Mon
1 stopAir Canada
24h 40mORD-SYD
$1,662
27/5Mon
1 stopAir Canada
24h 40mORD-SYD
$1,665
16/8Fri
3 stopsSingapore Airlines
39h 03mORD-PER
$2,162
17/6Mon
1 stopUnited Airlines
20h 55mORD-MEL
$3,882

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Last minute flights from Chicago to Australia

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

2/5Thu
multi-stopCathay Pacific
40h 30mORD-BNE
16/5Thu
multi-stopCathay Pacific
28h 30mBNE-ORD
$1,991
2/5Thu
multi-stopCathay Pacific
27h 45mORD-SYD
16/5Thu
multi-stopCathay Pacific
31h 35mSYD-ORD
$2,052
1/5Wed
multi-stop
27h 15mORD-BNE
14/5Tue
multi-stop
59h 30mBNE-ORD
$2,479
2/5Thu
multi-stopQatar Airways
30h 30mORD-SYD
16/5Thu
multi-stopQatar Airways
40h 20mSYD-ORD
$2,655
3/5Fri
multi-stopJapan Airlines
26h 45mORD-SYD
5/5Sun
multi-stopJapan Airlines
40h 05mSYD-ORD
$2,677
2/5Thu
multi-stop
27h 45mORD-SYD
16/5Thu
multi-stop
47h 45mSYD-ORD
$2,713
1/5Wed
multi-stopQatar Airways
30h 30mORD-SYD
3/5Fri
multi-stopQatar Airways
56h 35mSYD-ORD
$2,866
3/5Fri
multi-stopJapan Airlines
49h 30mORD-SYD
10/5Fri
multi-stopJapan Airlines
50h 24mSYD-ORD
$3,071
1/5Wed
multi-stopAir Canada
31h 09mORD-BNE
14/5Tue
multi-stopAir Canada
38h 59mBNE-ORD
$3,327
30/4Tue
multi-stopAir Canada
29h 20mORD-SYD
11/5Sat
multi-stopAir Canada
37h 41mSYD-ORD
$3,341

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Flights to Australia

Return flight deals:

Australia - Chicago

Cabin classes: