Star Alliance - RTW overpriced ?

KIX-PHL-DUB-KIX (actually need one more stopover to qualify, so maybe add JFK)
The RTW on *A website is around $4600 so .29cpm

Buying a KIX-PHL-KIX and PHL-DUB-PHL totals out to $3000 or .15cpm

So it looks like RTW is double the price. Am I missing something here?

Is there a better way to do this routing ?
Thanks for any advice.

RTW tickets are not always the cheapest option. Why should they?

So it looks like RTW is double the price. Am I missing something here?
*A RTW fares are not optimal for relatively simple trips like you're booking. They're best for trips where you optimize your mileage and number of stops.

YRWSTARx fares are not particularly good value; this is well known. However, when you look at C and F the situation changes.

Let's look at your simple itinerary, KIX-PHL-JFK-DUB-KIX. The *A RTW tool just told me that for Sardine Class the fare is $4762 for a US resident, or 368 840 yen for a resident of Japan (which comes to 4797.90 via oanda FX -- close enough). Meanwhile, for Business Class it's $8407.

Now let's look at the ITA for a simple return KIX-PHL in Business. The cheapest *A fare on offer for a one-month trip next January-February is on US, at $7049. For PHL-DUB-PHL the cheapest *A Business fare that ITA shows in a similar timeframe is also US, at $3361. So now you're up over $10 400, without even thinking of the side-trip to New York.

Also, as mentioned in another reply, one of the major advantages of the xRWSTARx ticket is the opportunity to maximise earned frequent flyer miles. Your itinerary is very short. Let's just choose SFO as a transit between KIX and PHL and FRA as a changepoint between DUB and KIX on the way back. The GCM reports a total for KIX-sfo-PHL-JFK-DUB-fra-KIX of only 17 653 miles, well short of the 29 000 allowed by the xRWSTAR1 ticket.

So, in conclusion, if all you want to do is take three or four long or very-long flights in a horrible cramped seat, at the cheapest possible cost and without regard to potential future FFP advantages, then, no, don't buy a YRWSTAR1.

cheers,

Henry

Thank you for the quick feedback, especially Henry.
I'd like to get about 15,000 to keep my Silver status, and it seems RTW is not designed for that.

The reason I looked is I priced the three flights on ITA individually and the prices were crazy (which is what usually happens with one ways I guess).

Buying a KIX-PHL-KIX and PHL-DUB-PHL ...Another thing: fare does not necessarily correlate with distance, of course, but KIX-DUB is 1000 miles shorter than KIX-PHL. If you're thinking about two separate (nested) returns, you might want to look at KIX-DUB-KIX and DUB-PHL-DUB.

cheers,

Henry

Thank you for the quick feedback, especially Henry.
I'd like to get about 15,000 to keep my Silver status, and it seems RTW is not designed for that.

The reason I looked is I priced the three flights on ITA individually and the prices were crazy (which is what usually happens with one ways I guess).

Crediting that 15k miles to A3 and nearly getting Gold is a much better use of your miles...

There´s also a cheaper special RTW fare which with a max. of 26k miles which only is available in Y.

Another option would be to look into LH fares KIX-PHL (via FRA) that allows a stopover in FRA (and get a cheap tix to DUB).

*A Premium fares RTW are just a plain rip off. They very over priced and inflexible. OW RTW are much cheaper and more flexible.

*A Premium fares RTW are just a plain rip off. They very over priced and inflexible. OW RTW are much cheaper and more flexible.

You said that already in another thread in this very forum, thanks for the reminder :rolleyes:

Ever tried to fly to Hawaii from mainland US and back with a OW RTW? It's not possible, you need to continue westwards, so much about better flexibility.

Why don't you go to Kharthoum, buy 3 First Class RTW tickets on OW and enjoy yourself while we continue discussing the *A options?

RTWs have gotten significantly more expensive in the last few years, but are still a relatively good deal when you use them in premium class for an itinerary with multiple stops. This is especially true when the trip would require a lot of one way tickets. They are also extremely flexible (date changes for no fee, routing changes for a small fee).
If you look at a fairly simple itinerary, dont plan to change the routing mid trip start in an 'expensive' country and travel in economy they usually don't make sense.

I still find the J RTW good value--the cost goes up with the surcharges. I start mine from ICN and have been doing one every year--if not more. The trick is to start at a reasonably priced location-- ICN/NRT. Yes, the ones from Africa may be a tad bit cheaper but then I'll have to use up my miles unnecessarily.

I still find the J RTW good value--the cost goes up with the surcharges. I start mine from ICN and have been doing one every year--if not more. The trick is to start at a reasonably priced location-- ICN/NRT. Yes, the ones from Africa may be a tad bit cheaper but then I'll have to use up my miles unnecessarily.

I agree, and do the same. That said, I am currently on my first all-SQ RTW,
using their FEZSQ fare, starting in SFO and ending in JFK. Even with the
add-on tickets that I need to hop around Asia, I found this to be a great bargain.

I still find the J RTW good value--the cost goes up with the surcharges. I start mine from ICN and have been doing one every year--if not more. The trick is to start at a reasonably priced location-- ICN/NRT. Yes, the ones from Africa may be a tad bit cheaper but then I'll have to use up my miles unnecessarily.

CPH seems to be the best option now, coming in at about $6600 before taxes for the CRTW29000.

I still find the J RTW good value--the cost goes up with the surcharges.

I agree. If you are going to get a J RTW, you need a good zig-zag segment over the Equator and back to get you closer to the 29,000 mile limit.

I am in the middle of a 4.5 month *A J RTW trip. I leave India for Turkey at O-Dark-30 on Wednesday morning.

I pushed the 29,000 mile limit as close as I could. My itinerary is as follows: LAX-AKL (NZ); AKL-NRT (NZ); NRT-BKK (TG); SIN-MAA (SQ-no surcharge on most India flights); BOM-IST-ADB (TK); BUD-VIE-CDG (OS) and LHR-LAX (NZ). Total miles, something like 28,789 miles.

If I went through a RTW travel agent in the US, I could have purchased a RTW ticket for @$3K as long as I didn't care about earnings miles. For my itinerary in coach *A quoted over $7K. My J ticket cost under $13K. If I purchased a full fare ticket in J class using each airline's website, my RTW trip would have cost $25K. (These quotes are in USD).

The other benefit of flying J over Y when flying a RTW trip are all the perks including streamlined airport experiences and superior inflight service. The most priceless thing for me so far is sleeping in a flat bed between LAX and AKL. I must say, NZ's lounges in LAX and AKL as well as SQ's T2 lounge in SIN were all very classy.

It will be hard to return to my normal Y class life after this trip. At least I will have enough miles for a domestic F ticket in the US after I get home.

*A branded costs are periodically submitted by all *A carriers to determine the fare levels. I wouldn't be surprised if the few which regard themselves more premium than others such as SQ and NZ were the major cause why these fares are so high because they would have submitted higher costs.

If I went through a RTW travel agent in the US, I could have purchased a RTW ticket for @$3K as long as I didn't care about earnings miles. For my itinerary in coach *A quoted over $7K. My J ticket cost under $13K. If I purchased a full fare ticket in J class using each airline's website, my RTW trip would have cost $25K. (These quotes are in USD).

IluvSQ's FEZSQ RTW fare in Singapore First is comes is at $7K and is one of the great premium travel bargains today.