Wow, thanks for the quick reply. This trip is involving a lot more planning than I expected
However, I think everything will be easier if I just start the trip in OZ or NZ. The OWE ticket cost from OZ and NZ is really cheap! My calculations using xe.com says the tickets are about USD$2300 (
o
) If I figure in $900 from NRT to OZ or NZ, it would be roughly the same as flying to Seoul and buying the ticket there.
If I start my OWE ticket from Auckland, then my itinerary would be as follows:
*Tokyo - Auckland (AKL)
SW Pac1) AKL - Melbourne (MEL)
SW Pac2) MEL - Cairns (CNS)
SW Pac3) CNS - Brisbane (BNE)
SW Pac4) BNE - Sydney (SYD)
SW Pac -> Asia) SYD-BKK
Asia 1) BKK - HKG
Asia 2) HKG - Delhi (DEL)
Asia - Eur) Delhi (DEL) - London (LHR)
Eur1) London (LHR) - Istanbul (IST)
Eur2) IST - LHR
*London (LTN/LGW) <-> AMS EU$20x2 = $40
*London (LTN) <-> VCE EU$20x2 = $40
*London (LGW) <-> ATH EU$60x2 = EU$120
Eur2) London (LHR) - Cairo (CAI)
Eur3) Cairo (CAI) - Barcelona (BCN)
Eur - SA) Barcelona (BCN) - RIO
SA - NA) RIO - MIA
NA1) MIA - JFK
NA2)
NA3)
NA4)
NA-SW Pac) LAX - SYD
The segments with the `*` are the ones I will buy myself. It's really amazing how cheap the flights are in Europe!
I have left open my NA segments because I'm pretty sure AA has routes to most of the places I want to go and because I am still tracking down friends to stay with
What do you think of this trip configuration?
I do have a few questions:
1) I'm really interested in staying in HKG, especially for 10 days (to meet the 10 day minimum). So if I do a BKK - HKG - DEL, with DEL as my destination, do I have to stay in HKG for 10 days?
2) The European airlines use lots of smaller airports, especially the ones in London. Are they inconvenient to get to? I think I will use mostly LTN and LGW, and the use LHR for the OWE flights. Should I factor in additional cash for the taxis around the airports?
Other than these questions, I think the overal flight plans are pretty finished (except NA of course). I think I have less than 20 segments overall and less than 4 segments in each "continent".
Any thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Alex