nguyenm9

Thanks guys. I'm pretty excited. I'm just waiting on my citi 100k card in order to book the trip. Looking like it'll be about 16.5k (not including any side trips) for business class. Interestingly, I tried to book through aa rtw desk and they wouldn't let me do the stop over in doha (tokyo->doha->capetown). Even after I said, I was able to book it on OWE (she said, if I could do it, I should do it there). There wasn't any real difference in price btwn OW and AA RTW desk so I plan to just book on OW. I think most of my stays will be via AIRBNB-- my younger friends are recommending hostels to meet people... I've had a lot of success with airbnb in the states and in Prague. In auckland, we plan to rent a van :-)

I'm hoping I can pay a portion of my wifes auckland trip via the 100k miles from citicard. Anyone have a link as to the cost in ffm for various trips?

I'm signed up for citi100k and aa plt challenge. I believe total trip distance will be in excess of 50k (one leg is on Cathay so I don't believe I'll get credit on the challenge for it but most everything else should qualify- qantas, qatar, iberia, jpl, etc.).

Next is to figure out which laptop to bring (I'm a programmer by trade so looking for some power and mobility-- lenovo x240 looks interesting here) and how to handle iphone. I doubt I'll make any calls, just whatsapp so maybe just a data plan though I'm guessing many of the airbnb stays will have inet... I'm guessing there's an international electrical adapter I can use btwn the various continents???

Final trip is looking like:

NYC -> Sydney -> Auckland -> Kuala Lumpur -> Hong Kong -> Tokyo (side trip to Kyoto) -> Doha -> Capetown -> Moscow -> Helsinki (side to Stockholm) -> Amsterdam (side to oslo) -> London -> Madrid (side to Lisbon) -> Sao Paolo -> Rio de Janero

One question if anyone knows: How difficult is it to change itineraries while on these type of trips. Is it generally a free switch? How much in advance would you have to adjust?

Gardyloo

I've moved around some pieces of your post in order to link answers.

For AA, here: http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/f...ward-chart.jsp Note this may well change as the merger with US Airways progresses.

If you were to start and end anywhere in South America the base cost for a DONE5 (vs. a DONE6 if you start in North America) would be $3200 less than starting in NYC. A round trip ticket in business class on AA from NYC to, say, Lima, is under $1500, or you could fly one way on Delta or UA to Bogata for $675. With the Oneworld Explorer you can end anywhere in South America, not just your originating country, so your route would be LIM-SCL-SYD-AKL-KUL-HKG-NRT-DOH-CPT-LHR-DME-HEL-AMS-LHR-MAD-GRU-GIG.

Or, the price of a DONE6 purchased in Japan is US$9471, almost $5000 less than in the USA, but that would require you to rearrange your itinerary, putting your Asia stops ahead of Australia/NZ. Still, with savings like that it might be worth considering.

Changing anything other than dates or specific flights between city pairs (e.g. changing from an AA flight from New York to London to a BA flight) requires the RTW ticket to be re-issued for a flat fee of US$125 or its equivalent in some other currencies. However, the ticket is also re-examined in terms of taxes and fees (changing airports will change the airport and country taxes, for example) and in addition several airlines - Qantas is notorious for this - add "service fees" and may add fuel surcharges which will bump the $125 to a significantly higher number. So it's easily doable, but sometimes with unanticipated consequence$.

----

Welcome to this crazy world. Before you drop the big bucks, let me suggest that you put together (in your head or on paper) a 3-year "strategic plan" for air travel. Over the next couple of years, where would you like to go, where do you have to go, and where would you go if price were no object? Not exactly a bucket list, but more than a wish list. Let me explain using a personal example.

My wife and I did our first business-class RTW around ten years ago. We started in Turkey (which at the time was a very "cheap" start point) and traveled first back to the USA, where we used the North America parts of our ticket to travel around the country. A few months later, we traveled to Australia via Hawaii, then to South Africa, then back to Europe and Israel before finishing back in Istanbul. Like you, I was already AA Platinum when I started (my wife too) thus the mileage accumulation was rapid and dramatic. Through the RTW and limited non-RTW travel, we both achieved AA Executive Platinum, giving us lots of perks, particularly eight one-way systemwide upgrades to use on AA flights over the next year.

We had accumulated so many miles that for the next year all our long-distance travel was either "paid" for in miles, or we used inexpensive coach fares and upgraded into business/first with the AA SWUs. We (partially) emptied our mileage balances and fell back to Platinum after a year, but our out-of-pocket travel expenses for that year were a fraction of what we normally budgeted, and every flight was in first or business class.

The next year, we used miles to get to South Africa, which was now cheaper than elsewhere (and we had seriously fallen in love with SA the first time) and started the whole thing again. We used the RTW for premium travel that year (Africa and Asia this time instead of Oz) through which we restored our EXP status, banked umpteen thousand FF miles, and went to places we wanted to go (as well as US trips we had to take for work or family). The following year we burned off the FF miles again, spending very little out of pocket for airfare. The year after that we started the cycle again. It didn't matter that we were starting and ending in South Africa, which is a long way from home in Seattle. A circle has no beginning.

With the RTW tickets costing, say, $6500 each after taxes and fuel fines, and good for 16 flights, we figured we were getting a great deal - around $400 per flight. However, when you add in the "award" flights the following year (for example, we flew from Seattle to Buenos Aires to take a cruise around the Horn, back from Santiago, all in first/business class, among other trips) I figured that in fact our RTW ticket leveraged another 6 or 7 flights using miles the next year, for a total of 22 or 23 J/F segments, so taking the average "cost" down to less than $300. Three hundred bucks for a business class flight from New York to Hong Kong? From Sydney to Johannesburg? Now I know, that's data cherry-picking, but it illustrates the power of these products if one is careful in planning and willing to use the specific rules to one's advantage.

Now this won't work for everyone, or the results might be much less dramatic. But it's worth every minute you think about it. Where would you like to go? Easter Island? Siberia? Patagonia? This year? Next? Done and done. Put it in your plan (along with business trips to Detroit or Dallas if need be) and... engage.

nguyenm9

The price from Japan is amazing and certainly worth a look. It appears a RT from NYC to Tokyo is about 1600 on AA economy. If the price is indeed what you quoted, it's about 7k less and well worth the economy booking imo. Though I thought someone had mentioned something about there being obstacles for booking a oneworld RTW from a different country (to disincentivize people from doing so?) I'll definitely explore this avenue. Thanks!

Gardyloo

I'm only quoting the BASE fare, not the final fare, which will include taxes and fuel surcharges, and which can easily amount to 15% - 20% or more of the base.

The problem with starting in Asia is that you'll have to do your intra-Asia stops before going to Australia/NZ, since your re-entry to Asia following Oz will only be allowed if you're in transit to a third continent (one of the quirks in the rules, which you'll need to study at some point.) I've started RTWs from NRT, which is a very easy place to collect the tickets (from AA there.) Buying the tickets in another country using the online tool or the AA RTW desk is very easy.

Edited to add - here's a conceptual DONE6 starting in Japan which hits most of your targets, including a domestic flight or two within North America, which you'd have a year to complete. The route alternatives are numerous.

nguyenm9

I'm ok with skipping Asia this go round.. Just wanted to visit a friend in Tokyo and the (prior) trip from Auckland had to go through Kuala Lumpur anyways. Much more interested in exploring Europe actually and this path potentially gets me to the Galapagos! Will take a look. Many thanks again.

Actually the cool thing is while I'm on economy from NYC->NRT, I should have sufficient credits for upgrades on the way back at the end of my trip.

Mwenenzi

Does not surprise me AA RTW desk baulked at the Doha leg/transit.


A little confused by this reference to your wife & 100K miles. *ONE* are revenue fares only payable with cash. You cannot pay for these with AA miles. AA offer a OW award, but very different rules.

If you drop Asia you need to go something like NA-SWP-Africa-Eu/ME-SA-NA. All *ONE3,*ONE4, *ONE5 & *ONE6 are limited to 16 segments. Since the 16 segment rule came into effect it has made *ONE5 & particularly *ONE6 poor value for money compared to a *ONE4

nguyenm9

Wife can only meet me in auckland and need to get home for work. I'll continue on. She will therefore buy an RT from nyc

Mwenenzi

OK. As well as QF look at Hawaiian, Fiji Airways & Air Tahiti for an AA award.

nguyenm9

Didn't realize Hawaiian Airlines qualifies (do you have a link to a master list by chance?). We went to Hawaii last year and have about 10k miles sitting in our respective accounts. Any way to transfer them to AA?

Mwenenzi

AA partners here: http://www.americanairlines.com.au/i...erAirlines.jsp
Generally you can earn and burn AA miles on/with partners all subject to the t&c's

Generally with most FFP's you cannot transfer miles to another FFP. www.points.com work for some but conversion rate is bad

From aonother thread on FFP partners:
That said, a good indicator is always to look at the partners whose flights you can credit to the program of the airline you are flying with. The option to credit flights is typically a reciprocal benefit between FFPs. But you always have to double check on the website of the program you want to credit to.

drummerboy1969

Surely sooner is better than later, wouldn't you say? As in, before you start planning -- lest some seemingly well-crafted itinerary later needs to be altered or even abandoned because it falls afoul of one or another of said rules.

nguyenm9

Been trying to play with a schedule similar to what GardyLoo had proposed starting at Tokyo->HongKong->Auckland->Sydney->Johannesburg->Capetown->Doha->Moscow->Helsinki->Amsterdam->London->Madrid->Rio->San Cristobal but OW seems to get "stuck" while trying to search for a flight btwn Capetown->Doha (in fact anything after Capetown->Doha spins endlessly). I suppose I could do it from RTW desk but would rather rough it out on OW first. Has anyone ever seen this before?

Gardyloo

First, CPT-DOH is not daily, so you may need to play with dates. Second, QR has only recently joined the alliance and sometimes there's a lag with the system being able to interface with their internal booking process, and third, the technical term for the Oneworld online tool rhymes with "DOS."

Being in the US, and as long as you have one AA segment in the itinerary, booking through the RTW desk is easy and comparatively trouble-free.

JohnAx

n...9, you are aware that you can change an xONEx ticket anytime after you fly the first segment, for US$125 plus any additional taxes etc your changes might engender? Not suggesting you do that, just pointing out the flexibility.

(For completeness: changes of only date/time should always be free but some airlines have been known to assess a service charge; changes before your first flight might involve repricing your ticket; if the airline ever does anything unilaterally to change your xONEx plans you have them by the sensitive appendages, although they'll probably balk at your suggestion that they charter a Gulfstream for you.)

nguyenm9

Hi everyone, is there an easy way to figure out what cities are directly accessible from another city? I'm trying to see where I can fly to from Rio w/o connecting flights through the US (MIA/DFW - which is causing me some scheduling issues). Ideally I'd love to get to cuzco or lima but open to another destination in South America. I would then need to get back to tokyo from there. My plan is to fly into South America from Madrid.

Thanks!

edit: I mean "w/o connecting flights through the US..."