Originally Posted by
jgold
I assume that the most efficient cost-wise fare to make EXP in a single set of flights in a *ONE3. Is that the prevailing view? Or does it need to be a *ONE4 to get to $67k flown miles? Or does that not work for some reason?
Also, is there a presently maintained spreadsheet that lets a user compare the cheapest fares and adjusts for currency? The AA website no longer has (or at least, it's now harder (for me) to find) a chart showing each of the different fares by starting location (which still has the currency conversion issue). I found a spreadsheet on the web, but it seems not to be current.
Many thanks. (I did do some searches ahead of time, but didn't see the answers for the above.) Thanks again.
There's a thread here somewhere where people wrote down the longest mileage xONEx itineraries they could design; a simple search using "longest" ought to bring it up. However it was last updated (I think) long before Qatar joined the alliance, and with TAM and US routes also now available, the permutations are even lengthier.
Traditionally getting to 67,500 flown miles (= 100,000 AA EQP if flown in D or A) has been difficult or impossible to reach with an xONE3, given the per-continent limitations and the prohibition on multiple transcons in North America. It's also been tough in xONE4s but technically attainable. I suspect that's now changed with the addition of the new members, but it's still going to be difficult.
For North America residents, it's a little easier if you pay for access flights to overseas RTW origin points, but of course that adds a lot of dollars to the overall cost, making "cheap" origin points less so. What I've done on a couple of occasions is to use the RTW for the great majority of the EQP I need, then add a mileage run (usually an AA YUP fare or two) as needed to top off the account.
As to the second part of your question, you'll need to subscribe to Expert Flyer or use KVS to get the base fares; Oneworld took them down after several countries and the EU required advertising for airfares to be inclusive of fees and taxes. Because of the complexity of RTW tickets - thousands of permutations of routes, airports, stopovers, fuel surcharges, etc. - this wasn't possible, so they just pulled the fares. A little reading on this board will help you learn where the "cheap" origin points are, being mindful that the cost should include your access expenses, taxes and fees, etc. Sometimes fuel surcharges can basically negate the savings arising from some "cheap" origin point.
Edited to add - I see others helped while I was composing the above dissertation.