JDT1955

I agree with CT that real F is a vanishing breed on many routes. When I took my wife on our RTW honeymoon a few years back, I found there simply wasn't going to be enough F to make it worth the differential in either bucks or miles. I tried for the most part to get 2-class flights (CO BF, Thai ex-Europe, ANZ in South Pacific) so we would be top of the service on that flight. It didn't hurt, though, that a mx delay led to us being put in EK F for one of the legs, and that REALLY defined a new universe of service. Speaking of EK, I think CT may be monitoring FT currently from the comfort of a DXB-JFK wifi-enabled flight, Hope we'll get a mini-trip report from this!

As for RTW vs trip with stops, if you really want >3 stops, then RTW is the way to go, though the *A RTW desk has to be the most inefficient process on the planet!

DCBob

Bucharest? Really?? I assume you have personal or family reasons to visit Bucharest. Having worked in Bucharest for a month, I would certainly think it should NOT be on anyone's bucket list. And in the winter, it can be a very cold and unpleasant place to be. Sydney, on the other hand, should be on EVERYONE'S bucket list! But visit it it during our winter (their summer).

redtop43

I do want to visit several destinations, but the advice on "mini-RTW" is well taken.

We do indeed have family in OTP.

But additional comments on availability of F are very welcome.

rankourabu

ummm..those 777s are still flying to FRA (and possibly others). Very much in the TG fleet.

here is the F situation
SQ F - not available
TG F - lots of space on A380,346,747,and leased 77Ws
NH F - where available, its possible to find space
OZ F - only some planes - and OZ has a blackout during peak season on all awards
LH/LX F - now only seem to be available 2 weeks before departure
QR F - available Europe-DOH only?
CA/MS F - where available can be a poor mans alternative
UA F - why waste your miles?


I would also advise against the RTW trip - its unlikely you cant do better with a series of one-ways and roundtrips with open jaws and stopovers, and still get your 5 destinations.

TXHolmes

I've done two technical RTW trips, but never used the RTW fare... the first was AUS-IAH-FRA (LH) stopover in FRA, we drove down to Rome, saw the sites along the way, then FRA-SIN (LH)-MLE (SQ) which was our main destination, then ML-SIN(SQ, spent about 13 hours in SIN touring the city)-ICN (OZ where we again spent the day)-LAX-AUS. So RTW going east, and all for a RT fare, first on LH, coat on SQ, business on OZ, domestic legs were CO first.

The second RTW trip was AUS-LAX-BKK (TG) - SIN where we overnighted and had a day, then on to MLE on SQ which again was our destination - JNB which was our stopover, we booked a cheap rev RT ticket on SAA to cape town and spent a week there, then JNB-JFK on SAA, open jaw with a day in Manhattan, then EWR-AUS. This trip was Business on SAA and SQ, first on CO-UA domestic, again all for a RT fare.

You can squeeze in a day at a connection city, anything less than 12 hours is a connection, and they will usually let you have longer if the next available flight is booked (which has happened, giving us a day and an overnight in a "connection" city). This also may not work too well if you don't sleep well on planes, because if you have a day in one city, then an 8 hour flight, then a day in another city, you really need to feel rested, haha.

We just booked an upcoming trip for next Feb which is AUS-IAH-FRA (LH Business on the A380) with about 11 hours in FRA, then FRA-MUC-DXB on LH in business, the main ticket is open jaw, after we arrive DXB the next flight is SYD-ICN on OZ business, overnight and a day in ICN, then ICN-SFO-AUS, OZ and UA business. We booked a second one way award ticket for DXB-DOH-SYD on Qatar in business, the total mileage per ticket was still less than 200K.

So you can do RTW for less than a RTW award fare, but you have to be flexible, and not want to stay in 5 destinations for a week each... if that is the case, as others have said, RTW is your best bet. I have always used the Continental now UA website to do one way reward availability searches for the legs I want, then call the elite desk and let them know what legs on what airlines I want, and they are usually able to help me out...

bouncingbug

You (OP) mentioned that you're not wedded to UA. I think oneworld (AA) offers much better value for RTWs. I.e. fewer miles to go RTW. I recall a couple of threads discussing this (I think AA forums) so might be worth checking those out to figure if you want to go AA instead of UA.

Like many have said as well, you might not be worse off doing individual segments. You could mix up the airlines with approach and get more cc bonuses.

isaifan

+1 of the idea before. With United's generous stopover and open-jaw rules, you can easily go around the world.

PapaSmurf

Actually, anything less than 24 hours in not considered a stopover. So you can have as many of these along the way as you want.

chinatraderjmr

YEP. I'm monitoring when not sleeping. Just told we have to get ready for landing soon (and I have time to take a quick shower now ON BOARD . Will file trip report if wanted. NY PIZZA - HERE I COME

FYI. There still is an EK/UA RTW fare where you can get all F flights. Just not w mileage

teddybw

Well, I changed 16 times for my last 16-segment RTW ticket using PMCO miles (under old rate). Yes, you need to follow up after the tax is recalculated (manually) to reissue the ticket. But most of the time I got through the *A RTW desk in less than 5 minutes.

At least you don't need to pay change fee if you are PLAT and above.

The biggest issue with AA IMO is no flexibility -- you can NOT change route/destination after *ticketing*, which is a pain if your itinerary is not ideal due to inventory limit or your plan is subject to change. Also, they limit the total miles to 50K at most while UA technically has not limit, although I think after 6/15/2011 they require public routing between any two stopover places. I don't think you could travel SCL-YYZ-MIA-LHR-OSL to get from SCL to OSL like I did last time anymore:P

The advantage of AA Oneworld Explorer reward is you could have unlimited stopovers like revenue RTW tickets (under 16 segments in total, of course).

redtop43

Thanks for the advice - I'm following it carefully.

I would be just as happy to take two separate trips of a couple of weeks each, as opposed to a single monthlong trip. I understand the concept of a "mini-RTW" but the practice somewhat confuses me. For example, could I fly RDU-FCO(stopover)-SYD(destination)-SEA(stopver)-RDU? RDU-FCO-SYD is certainly the long way to get there.

In general, could I take the above trip but finish in YYZ, i.e. having a short open jaw on the end?

I'm also getting the idea that I might want to combine flights on different networks? For example, fly from A to B on *A, B to C on OW, and C to A on *A? Is that the idea? I have almost always booked my award flights on DL, which doesn't have one-way tickets, so maybe I'm just not familar with this concept, but the impression I'm getting is that if I have a relatively direct trip, a series of one-way tickets might be better?

My only objective right at this moment is to know what kind of miles to accrue. I would probably be just peachy with a combination of *A and OW, because I can effectively get the AA credit card bonuses for free in that scenario. Given that I have several years to do it, I could apply for the Citi cards at least twice for each of my wife and I, without really interfering with the other point-acquisition activities.

Speedbird84

They leave in 2013 I believe, though I believe that Thai will start receiving their own 77Ws, which are two class, in August. As far as I know, the 9W 77Ws are placed on BKK-FRA and CDG, and will be until at least October.

cdmurphy1

Hello everyone:

I'm looking into a long trip sometime next year, and I was hoping somebody can help me out. We are hoping to hop from California-Australia-Europe-Carribean during a 6-8 week trip. We do not have an itinerary set yet, so when I call into United, they are very unhelpful.

I've noticed on several other Airline websites, they have a table that shows how many miles you need for your total itinerary (if your trip is 10,000 miles= 40,000 FFmiles, if your trip is 20,000 miles= 70,000 FFmiles). I've posted links to both OneWorld Explorer rewards chart, and ANA rewards chart.

OneWorld= http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/oneworld_awards.jsp
ANA= http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/asw_co...u/kokusai.html

Does anyone know if united has anything that is similar?

Thank you in advance!

tods27

You can find the UA award chart here. They don't have multiple levels of RTW trips, just Economy and Business (and First when available). I can't find the restrictions, but there are restrictions on the number of legs and stopovers. The new UA site isn't very user friendly for finding some information.

WillFlyer

I use the Star Alliance RTW fare finder and booking engine. It will validate and price your entire itinerary.

http://www.staralliance.com/en/booking/book-and-fly/#