Originally Posted by
JesseKHall
Hello,
I've been interested in doing a RTW trip for quite a while and I am finally in the process of planning one. I would like any feedback I can get on my tentative itinerary.
WAW-LHR-MAD-JNB-Overland to ACC-xLHR-FRU-Overland to DEL-HKG-TPE-NRT-HNL-ORD-ANC-SFO-xLHR-WAW
I have never done one of these trips so I am open to any advice or suggestions that you may have.
I plan on beginning this trip at the end of May next year and ending it in August. I will already be in Europe in May visiting my girlfriend in Berlin, so the trip should start from Europe. The main purpose of this trip is to go to the World Cup in South Africa as well as to visit friends in London, Madrid, Accra, Bishkek, Hong Kong, and Taipei.
Also, will I be able to book the RTW ticket via the AA RTW desk in the US and still get the price leaving from Poland. Is there a way to communicate with the RTW Desk via e-mail in order to give them my itinerary and to plan things. I will soon be working offshore with very limited phone access and internet would be a much easier way to communicate.
Welcome to FT!
Unfortunately your route is invalid for a Oneworld Explorer. FRU is no longer served by any eligible Oneworld airline (used to be, but now only "code shared" on BMI since British Airways sold its central Asian routes to BMI.)
Second, there's no service from ANC to SFO. That route is operated by Alaska Airlines, which is an eligible carrier for the Global Explorer RTW product, but not the Oneworld Explorer. Only ORD and DFW are eligible gateways to Alaska using the OWE.
It strikes me that you might want to look at the various Star Alliance RTW products (which are mileage-based) since your route might be easier to construct using their carriers rather than all the doubling-back you'd have to do (and missed destinations) with Oneworld. For instance, Turkish Airlines flies from Istanbul to Bishkek, and South African flies from Accra to Joburg, etc. You might be able to put together a more efficient routing using their planning tool, and costs would probably end up being fairly comparable.
Keep at it and happy planning!