Update: Although the fare was around a couple hours, it only lasted a little while longer after me posting this (coincidence, I swear!). Congrats to those who got tickets. For entertainment purposes, here’s the FlyerTalk thread with posts of people getting more and more excited by new discoveries.
There are currently mistake fares from Etihad that allow you to fly from the US to nearly anywhere in the world for ultra-cheap fares. Book using Orbitz.com for flights departing February and later.Some examples:
- SFO-DAC (Bangladesh) for ~$250
- LAX-LHE (Pakisstan) for ~$580
- LAX-MEL (Melbourne) for ~$700
There’s plenty of other examples, and these flights are basically available to anywhere Etihad flies. These are Economy only and WILL NOT earn mileage, but if you want/need to get somewhere then this is the cheapest way to do it. You’ll have to fly via Abu Dhabi for these flights, so Australia is a loooong way away!

Remember – don’t book any hotels or other reservations until you receive a confirmation email with a ticket number. Once you have that, Etihad is legally required to honor the fare.
Happy travels!