Welcom to FT
bjarmstr
You have obviously already invested a lot of time and thought into your planned trip
(just like a true FTer
)
Some comments/ideas for you below
Originally Posted by
bjarmstr
YYC-ord-jfk-LIM-IPC-PPT-akl-SYD-MNL-hkg-HAN-BKK-AMM-CAI-MAD-lhr-YYC (lower case are cities we don't really want to stop in).
I cannot see any valid flight HAN-BKK (in other words that is on one of the allowed carriers). So I think you will have to buy an extra ticket there.
Easter Island to Papeete looks like the way across the Pacific but that forces us into the Global Explorer ticket (since buying a land segment Papeete-Auckland is cost prohibitive).
Yes, we all wish that a OW carrier flew PPT-AKL/SYD
Are there any other differences between a oneworld explorer and a global explorer?
There are other, slight, differences. But Global Explorer's mileage-basis and that it allows certain non-OW carriers are the primary differences. The rules for both tickets are available on the OW site.
Are there any fees in addition to the $5999 quoted fee that I should be aware of (what kind of passenger fees and charges)? I don't have a feel for how much the taxes are and if this should affect my choice.
Yes - there are fuel surcharges and country taxes
The ticketing carrier decides the fuel surcharges. These can vary from $0 (if LA or IIRC AY does the ticketing) through to lots of $s if QF or BA does the ticketing
The country taxes are fixed. In general there are charges for landing in a country, and then more charges for leaving the country. In general, if you are only
transiting the country (in other words <24hrs between flights), then the charges are lower. Much lower in the case of the U.K.
So the more places you land at and takeoff from, the more charges you will pay.
To get a feel for the country taxes I suggest you plug your itinerary into the OW on-line booking tool. Once you've entered all your flights (with dates) then you can see the total costs, and a breakdown of the taxes.
(Since the tool only does OW Explorer tickets, you will have to make your PPT-AKL flight into a surface segment; but you'll still get a good feel for the total charge you will be up for.
My assumption is that as long as I don't change the route, I can change the time/date for free.
Correct. (with the exception that if you were to change a
transit into a
stopover, then that counts as a change that triggers the USD125 change fee and also the country taxes will be re-computed.
I have no AA miles and don't see getting any before our trip starts. Should I be worrying about all this frequent flyer Gold status stuff? I am all for maximizing my rewards but am I flying enough to worry about this?
I wouldn't worry about them at this planning stage, but we FTers always look for good mileage accrual opportunities.
Happy planning!