Originally Posted by
timbouk
Ah so if I'm understanding correctly (after looking up what an 'open jaw' is
), you mean to take a flight straight back again on a cheap internal carrier after a surface segment, to then continue on the RTW (effectively removing the surface segment)? Interesting and hadn't thought about it before. I can see it makes total sense from a miles point of view to add extra segments to other places... but don't think we would have enough time to actually explore them! The primary goal is backpacking, mile collection added bonus (but the more I look into it, I don't want to be wasteful either... :P)
You're only adding a few hours by doing this. See below for a discussion on how to manage start/end points.
Originally Posted by
timbouk
I'll look more into this, your strategy for a year-on year-off is very nice! This trip will be the first foray into travelling vs short holidays for us so it is uncharted territory. But even planning it is super exciting so can imagine wanting to do another RTW/long trip in following years.
Regarding start/end points and timing: Unlike other air ticket products, one of the major features of RTW tickets is that they're valid for a year, and - compared to other types of tickets - can be changed at relatively low cost. This can give you great flexibility in time management and timing.
For example, say you pull the trigger and do a business class RTW beginning in Egypt. Head east and do your walkabout in Asia, Australia/NZ, and North America, then fly home to the UK with, say, six months left on the 12-month clock. You'd still have two stopovers and three flights left available in Europe/Middle East (assuming your first "Europe" segment is something like CAI-xDOH-XXX in order to get to Asia.)
So that's your first Europe stopover. Go back to work or school, whatever, then a few months later, spend a weekend or a week in, say, Italy or Spain or Finland... anywhere in Europe (second stopover) then fly to anywhere in the Middle East - doesn't have to be Egypt, could be Dubai or Israel - to end the trip.
You'll have gotten one "big" trip and a couple of short ones, separated by months, out of the one ticket.
Originally Posted by
timbouk
Haven't seen these tools before, thanks will play around! Long back and forth is interesting, really is maximising miles and flight time (guess the forum is called FlyerTalk
). We will be hiring a car and driving all around California from LAX to end up in LAS and not flying, so long way doesn't really fit this time but will keep it in mind for future trips (although think I would be knackered from all the extra flying if it was in L class
)
Especially since you're talking about hiring convertibles etc., a big cost-saving consideration is that rental/hire car companies in the US charge enormous one-way or "drop" fees for cars rented in one city and left in another. For the (sorry) stereotypical Brit-in-a-Mustang trip in California/Nevada, this can add hundreds of dollars to the car hire price, a surcharge that can be avoided by returning the car to where you got it.