Originally Posted by
janvdr
I am starting to plan our family's RTW trip for 2019 and have following in mind:
February 2019: AMM-LHR-BRU
July/August 2019: BRU-DOH-CMB-SIN-oMNL-HKG-TYO-HNL-LAX-oSFO-MIA-PTY-MIA-LHR
December 2019: LHR-DXB
Itinerary is priced around €22,000 for family of 2 adults and 2 children <12 years)
Questions:
- is there a cheaper starting point then AMM for my itinerary? (I live in BRU)
- am I correct that I can book the itinerary as from 350 days before flight dates, but only have to pay once the tickets are issued (at least 28 days before first departure) ?
- hypothetical question: can I skip the last flight (LHR-DXB) without penalties?
Thanks
A few things...
1. I'm not aware of any Oneworld service between SIN and MNL.
2. TLV is a little cheaper than AMM at present (around €20.) Cathay Pacific flies to HKG from TLV, so while it would alter the order of stops in Asia, it would be quite doable, e.g. TLV-HKG-CMB-KUL-MNL-NRT-HNL...
3. Children under the age of 12 receive a 25% discount. Thus your ex-AMM total would be €18,554 before taxes and fees. (Maybe that's already been taken into account and your €22,000 includes taxes and fees?)
4. By starting in OSL you would free at least two segments that could be used elsewhere. The cost of positioning a party of four to/from the Middle East (AMM or TLV) would probably be a wash.
5. You could fly from PTY to BRU via MAD, thereby avoiding BA's fees and saving another segment for use in North America or Europe.
If you flew into Kuala Lumpur instead of Singapore after Sri Lanka, you could just take one of the luxury buses from KL to Singapore and back- €20 at most each way - and then proceed to MNL from KUL.
These changes would make your base routing as simple as
OSL-DOH-CMB-KUL-MNL-HKG-NRT-HNL-LAX-SFO-MIA-PTY-MAD-HEL-OSL. If you wanted to use inexpensive intra-Europe flights outside the RTW to get to and from Madrid, London or Helsinki (from/to BRU) then you could save a European stopover (you're allowed two) for use later, or you could add the available segments to your North America itinerary, perhaps something like this -
OSL-DOH-CMB-KUL-MNL-HKG-NRT-HNL-PHX-ANC-PHX-SFO-MIA-PTY-MAD-HEL-OSL which includes Alaska. Many alternatives.
I would purchase tickets as soon as you can complete the itinerary through the booking process. Fares can go up at any point, and even if you have to make changes after ticketing, the change fee of US$125 per ticket is not a bad deal, especially considering that currency fluctuations can negate that cost easily.
Happy planning!