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FAQ: The Complete Newbie Guide/FAQ to the Air Canada Aeroplan Mini-RTW

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Old May 30, 2013, 9:55 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: jerryhung
New List of Mini-RTW 2.0 version after Oct 29th, 2014 "enhancement" (i.e. less MPM)

FAQ: List of valid and booked mini-RTW itineraries version 2.0 (post-"enhancement&quot

INTRO

This wiki is taken from the excellent overview in the first post of this thread by FrequentFlyer9000 and is meant as a guide to the Aeroplan "Mini-RTW" for the uninformed newbie flyer. This is a no judgment zone and newbies are welcome. In this thread, the usage of scary acronyms and complicated FlyerTalk insider-speak will be minimized.

Also, this wiki is a work in progress so please provide feedback or make wiki edits if you think something warrants it.

INFO & COMMON QUESTIONS

What is the "Mini-RTW"?

The Mini-RTW is a name given to a type of reward booking using Air Canada's Aeroplan miles. It is actually not a "round-the-world" ticket at all - it is a regular award redemption. Just as you would use 75K frequent flyer miles to go to Japan on another airline, you can use 75K to do so using Aeroplan miles. The difference is that Aeroplan allows you to "stopover" in multiple cities at no extra mileage cost, making it very attractive compared to other reward travel. It should be noted that this isn't really that much better than some other airlines. For example, Delta offers one stopover + open jaw, which is only one stopover worse than Aeroplan's deal. But many of the airlines only offer one stopover and no open jaw. So there is definitely value here.

In addition to your final destination (in which you can stay for days/weeks/months), you are allowed:

•Two stopovers in other cities (stay for days/weeks/months). You are allowed to trade one of these stopovers for an open jaw (where you land in one city, but take the next flight out of another city)
•10 segments (layovers during which you spend less than 24 hours in a given city) <-- this limit may be gone as of 2014/2015

So, disregarding the additional 10 segments, an award trip for Japan could actually look like this:

NYC > Tokyo (destination - one week) > Paris (stopover - one week) > London (stopover - one week) > NYC

You basically get three times the world exploration for the price of one. If you add on the extra layovers allowed, you can turn it into:

NYC > Los Angeles (one day) > Hawaii (one day) > Tokyo (one week) > Seoul (one day) > Hong Kong (one day) > Paris (one week) > Munich (one day) > London (one week) > Washington DC (one day) > NYC

Of course, you don't have to do the above. Spending so much time in airports can be exhausting. But the option is there for you if you want it.


How many miles is this going to cost me?

See the Award Travel chart here.

From North America to "Asia 1" countries: (effective Jan 1, 2014)
•75K in Economy
•150K in Business
•210K in First

From North America to "Europe 1" countries:
•60K in Economy
•90K in Business
•125K in First

...and so on. Check the link for other combinations. Assuming you are stopping in three cities, the city in the most "expensive" redemption zone is the zone you will have to pay for. So if you are visiting two Asia1 zone cities and one Middle East city, you will pay 80K miles rather than 75K miles since that is what the Middle East trip costs (numbers assume Economy class travel).

Which miles do I need to use? Can I use miles from other Star Alliance airlines?

You need to use Aeroplan miles. You cannot use miles from other Star Alliance members, such as United, to book this mini-RTW. However, you can book flights for the mini-RTW on any airline that is in the alliance and has the desired award seating available. You technically do not have to fly any segments on Air Canada at all.

So, what's the catch? What are the restrictions?

There is no catch. However, there are some restrictions on your itinerary. This is where things get a bit more complicated.

Want to find the new MPM after 10/29/2014?
Aeroplan City Pair mileage (new pseudo-MPM) - FlyerTalk Forums

This is no longer valid after 10/29/2014
1) Your itinerary must be within 5% of the total "Maximum Permitted Mileage" (MPM) for the route from the origin to the destination. Even though you are stopping in three cities by using your two stopovers and a final destination, you can define the destination as the stop city furthest away from the origin. Although certain flyers have gotten away with telling an inattentive phone rep that their final destination / "turnaround city" is one of their layover cities to increase their MPM, this does not always work. Sticking with one of your three stop cities is a safe bet.

MPM exist so that you cannot repeatedly fly around the world 10 times on your 10 segments. There is a limit to how many miles you can fly on the reward ticket. MPM guidelines can be found by using the KVS tool or by using Expert Flyer. MPM is calculated between your origin and your destination, one-way. The trips to and from your destination are calculated separately. You are allowed to overshoot this number by 5% ("MPM5"). If you can find a bookable itinerary online that has a mileage longer than the published MPM, this is a "published routing" and can be used even if it exceeds the MPM5. In KVS, navigate to the "Reference" tab, select "MPM" from the dropdown menu, and enter your city pair. MPM information is available under the Travel Information section of ExpertFlyer. It is available to all subscribers, Basic or Premium, and there is a 5-day free trial to ExpertFlyer.com that can be used.

To see if your itinerary fits your MPM limit, you can use the site here to see your total miles traveled: www.gcmap.com. Enter your airport codes separated by dashes to see the itinerary and get the total mileage (e.g. NYC - LHR - NYC). Example here.

TO READ MORE ABOUT MPM: Read this (short) document
2) If you do elect to use an open jaw instead of one of your stopovers, you must schedule the open jaw so that it is in the same "IATA zone" as either the origin or the destination city. So if you are going from NY to Japan to Europe and back to NY, the open jaw cannot be scheduled in Europe, since it is neither the origin zone or the destination zone. The open jaw also cannot be a larger distance than any two legs you are actually flying. In case you are wondering, IATA zones are as follows:

IATA 1 - The Americas (incl. Caribbean, Hawaii)
IATA 2 - Europe as far as the Ural Mountain range, Middle East & Africa
IATA 3 - Oceania, SE Asia, Far East, Sub-Continent.

Remember that if you use your open jaw at the turnaround/destination point, you will only have one stopover to use left. So you would be able to do NYC > Singapore (destination, open jaw) // Tokyo (stop) > NYC. This has one destination, one open jaw (at turnaround point), and one stopover. However, you would not be able to do this: NYC > Madrid (stop) > Singapore (destination, open jaw) // Tokyo (stop) > NYC. Because your 2 stops + 1 open jaw would be more than the two allowed.

3) You cannot land in the same city twice in any one direction. This means that on my way from NY to, let's say, Cairo, I cannot do New York > London > Paris > London > Cairo on the way there, since I would be stopping in London twice in one direction. However, I can stop in London on the way to Cairo and then again on the way back from Cairo.

4) The actual trip needs to be "bookable". It needs to follow certain rules. I won't get into too many details, but anything completely nonsensical in terms of routing is generally not going to fly. But most routes will not fall into this category. Just something to keep in mind.


Do I have to go in the same direction for every leg of the flight?

No. As an example, you can cross the Atlantic twice or cross both the Atlantic and the Pacific once (more like a real RTW trip).


How do I book this?

Assuming you have already planned out your entire itinerary to the dot and have made sure your trip is in accordance with the above restrictions, call Aeroplan and speak with a representative. Alternatively, you can try to book online for free. However, this is not always possible with more complicated routings.


What will this cost me in real cash? How can I minimize fees?
It depends on the region you travel to and which airline you fly on. In general, the more Air Canada segments you fly the more fees/taxes you will pay. Aeroplan does not collect surcharges on non-Air Canada-operated flights. So flying Air Canada internationally will cost you extra. If you use a lot of Air Canada flights in your mini-RTW, your fees could be anywhere from $150 to $400, even sometimes creeping up above $600. Lesson is to avoid AC "metal" (airplanes) if possible.

Every trip will have a $30 cost per person for booking on the phone, regardless of the itinerary.


What are the change fees if I want to change a leg or multiple legs of the trip later?

$90 for changes after original booking. If there is an involuntary change because of flight schedules changing, there is no fee charged. Note that when you make a change, the taxes/fees associated with fuel, etc. may change. They may decrease or increase depending on the previous flight and the new flight. This is independent of the $90 rebooking fee. The $90 is flat regardless of how many of the segments you change. It is not $90 per changed segment.


How do I plan this trip out? Even finding a simple award ticket can be difficult online, let alone one with 10 segments!

Good question. It is recommended that you use either the All-Nippon Airways (ANA) website (guide on how here), the KVS tool (costs money) or ExpertFlyer (costs money), or http://FliSea.com. I personally like to use KVS, but it is not newbie-friendly. It is $20 for 2 months for the "diamond" level service, and $75 for a year. Small price to pay for saving a lot of time, if you can handle the learning curve. ANA is a good free method of finding segments and many people have had plenty of success with it; FliSea is a metasearch tool that uses all of the sites above.

The trick is to do this one segment at a time. So first find NYC > LONDON for the date you want and make sure that the award class you are looking for is available (e.g. Economy low fare). Then do the next leg: LONDON > ROME. Repeat for every segment. Write down the details of each flight, calculate the mileage using the www.gcmap.com resource, and call up Aeroplan to book.

One of our Flyertalk members has built a database with all the Mini-RTW routes that have been flown in the various threads in one simple place: http://www.turnleftat.com/mini-rtw-list/
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FAQ: The Complete Newbie Guide/FAQ to the Air Canada Aeroplan Mini-RTW

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Old Oct 22, 2014, 2:25 pm
  #1096  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
Originally Posted by plankton
First post, long time lurker. Thanks to everyone's advice over the years.

There were a few recent posts suggesting that it was possible to book an aeroplan reward from Canada, connecting in europe 2, with a destination in europe 1.

After playing with the aeroplan booking engine and eventually calling in, I was able to book the following at the europe 1 redemption rate with no fuel surcharge.

YUL-IST TK J on A330
23 hour layover
IST-FCO TK J
open jaw
TXL-IST TK J
IST-YUL TK J on A330

Got two seats, each for 90,000 aeroplan miles and only $158 in taxes, for travel in August and Sept 2015! Aeroplan does not collect fuel surcharges on TK.

The following routings are also allowed, despite the fact that they all exceed MPM+5:

YUL-IST-FCO (and return), but this one does no come up on aeroplan.com; you must call in

YUL-IST-ZRH (and return; this one shows up on aeroplan.com)

YUL-IST-TXL (and return; also shows up on aeroplan.com)

I could not find valid routings via IST starting in YYZ/YTZ.
Are you booking separate YYZ-YUL round-trip then?

Yes, ex-YYZ flights are hard to find, while YUL-IST is wide open usually
ex-YYZ published routings are like YYZ-IST-AMS/CDG and probably FCO/ZRH also


I booked a return CDG-IST-ORD-YYZ on TK 77W, yah! surprisingly IST-ORD is open if people want to try that
jerryhung is offline  
Old Oct 22, 2014, 4:44 pm
  #1097  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,385
Originally Posted by jerryhung
Are you booking separate YYZ-YUL round-trip then?

Yes, ex-YYZ flights are hard to find, while YUL-IST is wide open usually
ex-YYZ published routings are like YYZ-IST-AMS/CDG and probably FCO/ZRH also


I booked a return CDG-IST-ORD-YYZ on TK 77W, yah! surprisingly IST-ORD is open if people want to try that
is that a published routing? i thought it was over mpm.
yerffej201 is offline  
Old Oct 22, 2014, 5:11 pm
  #1098  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
Originally Posted by yerffej201
is that a published routing? i thought it was over mpm.
I know CDG-IST-YYZ is, so is CDG-IST-ORD
not sure about CDG-IST-ORD-YYZ as ORD-YYZ is a bit backtracking (while CDG-IST is serious detour), but apparently the computer accepted it so I'm happy
jerryhung is offline  
Old Oct 23, 2014, 10:54 am
  #1099  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 48
Hard to find anything about the RTW reward since mini-RTW is so talked about, but my simple question is.... what is the point? RTW rewards don't open up any additional seats right? So who's booking these... especially in F when you're really unlikely to get many F flights?

Am I missing something or are they totally useless?
seankearns is offline  
Old Oct 23, 2014, 11:10 am
  #1100  
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,917
Originally Posted by seankearns
Hard to find anything about the RTW reward since mini-RTW is so talked about, but my simple question is.... what is the point? RTW rewards don't open up any additional seats right? So who's booking these... especially in F when you're really unlikely to get many F flights?

Am I missing something or are they totally useless?
The main point is if you wanted a "lot" of stopovers (I think they allow 7 or something). You're also not as concerned with MPMs and so on - as long as you're flying in one direction, I think the allowed routings are much more permissible (although now that I think about it, that may not be quite true - they may still apply a global MPM).

The hard reality, though, is that people who don't have the time or the knowledge will get taken or a ride. You can effectively book *two* mini-RTWs for the price of *one* true RTW, and with intelligent routings it will likely be a better trip if you're willing to invest the time. You could do something like A-b-c-D where D picks up where C leaves off, but is actually part of a more global A-D trip. So you nest two trips. Honestly, if one is truly planning a real RTW trip, one should spend the time to investigate nested min-RTWs cause they're likely far more fun

But to answer your specific question, a true RTW still books into O/I/X, so no extra availability gets unlocked.
Pseudo Nim is offline  
Old Oct 23, 2014, 11:17 am
  #1101  
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: YVR
Programs: AC*SE-MM, BA Bronze, Marriott Titanium & lifetime Plat
Posts: 1,820
The actual "real" RTW award? Well, it allows for more stops along the way. And I guess if you don't know the intricacies of the system you'd never be aware of the Mini-RTW. Most of my colleagues are SEs and unaware of Mini-RTW.
krayZpaving is offline  
Old Oct 23, 2014, 11:33 am
  #1102  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YVR to SEA
Posts: 2,532
It's 300k for a true RTW, 5 stops and 1 open jaw. Since a basic Asia 1/ itin is 150k with 3 stops or 2 stops and 1 OJ, you're basically paying exactly half the rate for half the stops (more than half for Middle east and Australia)

But a nested would work better, and cheaper.

North America --> Europe --> South Africa --> Asia 1 --> North America for 150k

Nested 1) Europe 1--> Middle East --> Asia 2 --> Europe 2 --> Europe 1 for 105k (total 255k)

Or Nested 2) Asia 1 --> Asia 2 --> New Zealand --> Australia --> Asia 1 for 90k (total 240k)
crimsona is offline  
Old Oct 23, 2014, 12:24 pm
  #1103  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: PVR
Programs: Aeroplan, Alaska Airlines
Posts: 420
Originally Posted by jerryhung
I know CDG-IST-YYZ is, so is CDG-IST-ORD
not sure about CDG-IST-ORD-YYZ as ORD-YYZ is a bit backtracking (while CDG-IST is serious detour), but apparently the computer accepted it so I'm happy
Friends of mine just booked 2 J for Sept 2015:
yow-yul-ist-mad (OJ) bcn-ist-yul-yow

I think about $160 taxes/fees & 90k miles.

I told them to give it a shot but I wasn't sure about MPM since I can't look it up - they tried, and it went through.
tryinginvain is offline  
Old Oct 27, 2014, 10:15 am
  #1104  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 48
Originally Posted by Pseudo Nim
But to answer your specific question, a true RTW still books into O/I/X, so no extra availability gets unlocked.
I was pretty sure this was the case, thanks.

I'm in the extremely early planning stages of an extended RTW and didn't see anything useful about the true RTW, but thought maybe I was missing something. I'm sure things will change by the time I book anyway..... but more for interest sake.
seankearns is offline  
Old Oct 27, 2014, 12:28 pm
  #1105  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,465
One day remaining to book a mini-RTW.

As of October 29 manual routing validation by MPM5 will be discontinued, and creative multi-segment mini-RTWs will no longer be allowed.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...-oct-29-a.html
echino is offline  
Old Nov 12, 2014, 8:48 pm
  #1106  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
New List of Mini-RTW 2.0 version after Oct 29th, 2014 "enhancement" (i.e. less MPM)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...hancement.html

I also updated the Wiki at top
jerryhung is offline  
Old Jan 24, 2015, 6:55 pm
  #1107  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
With the Oct 29th, 2014 "enhancement", does this mean we can no longer look up award segments on our own, using say the ANA/UA sites, and then spoon feed the flights to an Aeroplan phone rep?

I just called and tried to validate a multi-segment award booking, and the rep advised me to not bother looking on my own anymore, unless I found my segments strictly from the Aeroplan website.
JJonahJ is offline  
Old Jan 24, 2015, 6:56 pm
  #1108  
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC E50K (*G) WS Gold | SPG/Fairmont Plat Hilton/Hyatt Diamond Marriott Silver | National Exec Elite
Posts: 19,284
Originally Posted by JJonahJ
With the Oct 29th, 2014 "enhancement", does this mean we can no longer look up award segments on our own, using say the ANA/UA sites, and then spoon feed the flights to an Aeroplan phone rep?

I just called and tried to validate a multi-segment award booking, and the rep advised me to not bother looking on my own anymore, unless I found my segments strictly from the Aeroplan website.
Based on what people have said on here post the enhancements, that agent is not correct. HUCA
superangrypenguin is offline  
Old Jan 24, 2015, 7:53 pm
  #1109  
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: YUL
Posts: 968
Originally Posted by JJonahJ
With the Oct 29th, 2014 "enhancement", does this mean we can no longer look up award segments on our own, using say the ANA/UA sites, and then spoon feed the flights to an Aeroplan phone rep?

I just called and tried to validate a multi-segment award booking, and the rep advised me to not bother looking on my own anymore, unless I found my segments strictly from the Aeroplan website.
Some agent told me exactly the same thing last year, when it was clearly not the case. So what one says is not necessarily what another will say. I'd say unfortunately, in the sense that we never know the rules.
LearningToFly is offline  
Old Jan 24, 2015, 8:13 pm
  #1110  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Thanks guys. Good to know. For this recent redemption it didn't matter cuz I'm stuck with booking on AC and LH for non-stop/direct flights (booking for family member who wants minimal segments), and all segments that I found from ANA were the same as listed at the AeroScam site.

Sounds like it's going to be really challenging to validate our next MRTW, even if spoon-feeding the reps. Prolly will take a lot of trial and error. Fortunately, Distinction Diamond's priority Aero phone-in privileges will make things a bit easier. I'd better get started, before another "enhancement" appears.
JJonahJ is offline  


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