So the wife says to me. Quit your job. Stay at home and look after the house, kids, cat etc. And in return, you can have one week a year where you can travel to any destination you want, by yourself in business class.
Hmmm. So I am now thinking about where to go on a oneworld RTW ticket.
I am a Qantas Platinum / OW Emerald and what I would like to do with this trip is, in order.
1) Retain Platinum Status
a) Minimum of 4 Qantas flights
2) Be away as short a time as possible.
a) minimise hotel stays. But if required, pick a city with an airport hotel, preference Hilton chain.
b) spend as much time in the air as possible
c) going to the airport counts as going to the country
3) Maximise my Qantas points
a) Stick to Qantas, BA or AA as much as possible because Qantas gives 100% bonus miles on these airlines
b) Make sure 6 domestic segments in US are completed as these count as first class and not business, booked as AA flight numbers and not QF codeshare.
c) Use all 16 sectors
4) Fly on Segments I have never done before and see cities, airports or countries that are new.
5) If possible on Qantas flights, pick 747's that don't sell first but still have a first cabin, as I can get a seat t
So what I have come up with is as follows. With sample dates. Please suggest changes or improvements.
MEL-SYD-JNB-LHR-ARN-HEL-ZRH-LHR-ORD-LAS-LAX-ORD-BOS-MIA-DFW-BNE-MEL
I have picked SYD-JNB as I have never been anywhere in Africa or M/E. My stops are Zurich and Boston, with a night in Las Vegas, but I am willing to swap this around. I have never been to any of these cities. I have been to Dallas far too often, so if I could avoid it once or twice it would be good.
My suggested itinerary is as follows (Dates just samples, but it is likely to be around this time due to local school holidays.)
SAT Sep 22 - MEL - SYD - QF408 - 07:00 - 08:25
SAT Sep 22 - SYD - JNB - QF63 - 10:00 - 16:15
SAT Sep 22 - JNB - LHR - BA56 - 19:20 - 05:15+1
SUN Sep 23 - LHR - ARN - BA776 - 07:40 - 11:05
SUN Sep 23 - ARN - HEL - AY682 - 12:55 - 14:55
SUN Sep 23 - HEL - ZRN - AY863 - 16:30 - 18:15
(Stop 1)
TUE Sep 25 - ZRN - LHR - BA709 - 07:00 - 07:55
TUE Sep 25 - LHR - ORD - AA87 - 10:15 - 12:55
TUE Sep 25 - ORD - LAS - AA425 - 14:30 - 16:15
Transit Night in Las Vegas, not classed as stopover
WED Sep 26 - LAS - LAX - AA1075 - 07:15 - 8:25
WED Sep 26 - LAX - ORD - AA1587 - 10:45 - 16:50
WED Sep 26 - ORD - BOS - AA154 - 17:25 - 20:40 (to tight?)
(Stop 2)
FRI Sep 28 - BOS - MIA - AA573 - 09:15 - 12:40
FRI Sep 28 - MIA - DFW - AA401 - 15:15 - 17:25
FRI Sep 28 - DFW - BNE - QF8 - 21:55 - 05:00+2
SUN Sep 30 - BNE - MEL - QF611 - 07:55 - 10:20
A Transit through JFK would be nice, (I could go ZRH-JFK-LAS) but that would then require another sector to be found. The oneworld booking tool states that this itinerary is okay. But some suggestions on improvements like pushing out some of the connections would be helpful.
Thanks,