Okay....
First, I have had the trip since November. Life governed that I couldn't concentrate on it more closely until now. I got in (barely) under the old rules and pricing, and quite frankly, I don't know what all the rules have changed to. Hard enough for my feeble brain to understand all the old ones!
So the transit point issue wasn't a problem.
Mmm...lon-syd is on a single flight number. BA9
Segments in Europe is 4. bud-lon, lon-cai, cai-lon, and lon-bud.
Yes, you got lucky with cpt. Had they done that for me, I would have done a 6 cont.
Yes, Rich, I bought first, and I am very (very, very) excited about it.
I just got back from Cleveland, but flew into Columbus on the cheapo UA fare and rented a car to get to CLE, which I enjoyed very much, btw. Since I will be married to AA for a while, I decided to use my miles and upgrade the trip (especially since I had 6 total flights). DEN-LAX was on a 744, which I sat upstairs for the first time, and I loooooved it! I still get excited about things like that, since I primarily fly coach (including a trip to Richmond, VA tomorrow morning). The top was very cool, and the seats were great. Got me even more excited about flying 90K miles coming up!
I didn't put London on the list for a reason. I will only be there overnight, and will actually be in Reading with a friend of mine and his wife. To answer your question, though, I will be there the evening of the 20th. Too bad, since I would have really wanted to meet you. Your insight to this board is invaluable.
Maybe in 3 years, I will try to go on another one, and hopefully, I will be less price sensitive at that point. I will begin law school in September, so no long traveling for a while. Will try to make a trip or two a year to Europe in the off-season, though. Make use of the vip2's. Flying biz for $300. Gotta love it...
I amended my original message, and added x's on the transfer points. I didn't know how to clearly point out where they were, which might have lead to a little confusion about the routing.
Thanks