United Airlines offers travelers the opportunity to save a grand on round-trip ticket purchases to Australia for peak summertime visits (our winter months).

A round-trip rate of $1,198 to Sydney applies when departing on or after Feb. 1, 2014 and through March 31, 2014.

If you prefer to visit during Australia’s spring season, rates are not much higher. Rates of $1,398 apply when departing the States on or after Sept. 14, 2013 and through Dec. 9, 2013.

These sale rates are valid seven days a week, based on sale seat availability.

Buy tickets through Aug. 16.

If you need to be a bit more impressed about this sale fare, consider that other carriers charge $2,260 round-trip for travel during the same peak season (Feb.-March)!

United serves Sydney with two flight connections en-route. The first connection (and best routing) will be in Denver and a second in either Los Angeles or San Francisco. One free stopover is permitted in either California gateway.

When planning your land visit, keep in mind that you will arrive Australia two days after your departure — providing you skip the stopover option in California. For example, leaving on a Wednesday afternoon has you arriving into Sydney on Friday morning. When crossing the date line for the trip home, you’ll arrive on the same day that you departed.

Australia insiders suggest that the month of March is the much desired time of the year to visit. It’s not as steamy hot and the crush of visitors tapers off.

For comprehensive trip planning, visit www.australia.com — Australia’s official tourism website which includes visa information, travel specialists, tour companies and special offers.

Sale airfares are always subject to change. Every seat on every flight is not offered at the lowest rate. Because only a limited supply of seats is available, act quickly to make your purchase.

I recommend starting the search for available seats at Kayak.com vs. calling an airline directly. You can also search for the sale at travel websites such as Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity, etc. Airlines can discontinue or pull a sale price without notice when the offer does not have a “ticket-by” date or when the offer is deemed “sold out.”

Clara Bosonetto is a retired travel consultant.