Thanks for the advice. I forgot to mention that I would like to do a DGLOB34. That one is surprisingly cheap from Korea (about the same price as from TPE, a bit less, actually - I will be in Korea in the middle of a Star Alliance RTW, but will have to go back to BCN and then to MIA and thought, might as well buy a Oneworld RTW to do that). Miami is a stop I need to make.

Oops, you are right about NRT-ICN - there is an AA flight no, but it is operated by JAL, which I had overlooked.

In that case, it seems even clearer that I will need to buy an extra RT ticket SYD-AYQ-SYD which will solve my mileage problem (or I could get an award ticket - how much are intra-Australian awards in BA's frequent flyer program?).

So I might as well not include AYQ in the RTW ticket and instead do some sector/mileage optimization within Europe in order to gain the maximum miles with this by doing some island hopping on the balearic islands. Also, BA's LHR-MIA business class might be nicer than IB's MAD-MIA, so I would change that as well.

ICN-xHKG-FCO-BCN-xMAH-xPMI-IBZ-xALC-xBCN-DUS-xLHR-MIA-UIO-GYE-surface sector-LIM-SCL-IPC-PPT-xAKL-NAN-SYD-ICN

I think this should be within all the rules (33,938 miles total, 20 segments + 1 surface segment, less than 15 stopovers). So how much mileage would I earn with this as a BA Gold? (I believe even on a DGLOB, they will only let you fly Y on SCL-IPC-PPT for some reason.) Will it be enough to qualify for the highest OW tier? And how long will the status last if I finish the whole trip in 2003?

Extra sidetrips (award or purchase) would be GYE-LIM for the surface sector (oneway needed, but RT purchase probably cheaper?) and SYD-AYQ-SYD (award or purchase best?).

Another somewhat off-topic question, is UIO or GYE better as a starting point for a Galapagos excursion?

Almost done with the planning!

[This message has been edited by attorney28 (edited 05-31-2003).]