Originally Posted by
Dr. HFH
Yeah, since my current one ends in November at NRT, repositioning to OSL would not be my first choice, either. OSL is at USD 4956.67 according to EF, and CMB is USD 5372.00 for an IONE3. I use CMB as the western end of my intra-Asian MRs, so I'd have to completely rejig that part of my itineraries (because I would be limited by the one international arrival and one international departure rule).
KHI is cheap enough, listed in EF at USD 4591 for an IONE3. I have a friend here (Thailand) who is from Pakistan, his family still lives there. In the past, he has said that he would not want me to go to KHI even for a transit because it can get really crazy at the airport. He carries a hangun whenever he's in-country, and hired two armed guards for his Thai girlfriend when she visited earlier this year. Just sent him an email to see what his current assessment is.
I've heard Karachi isn't the safest place, but Lahore and Islamabad seem fairly tame, at least from what I've read from others. ISB is only served by QR, so makes it more difficult, but LHE is served by both QR and UL, making both positioning and an xONEx much easier. But I think even the safety aspect of Karachi has to be put into perspective, supposedly it's safer than Sao Paulo, somewhere I've been a million times despite never actually spending a night there (been in the actual city though several times during daytime and early evening). I also go to much of east and southern Africa without any hesitation, and I think nothing about driving myself around Johannesburg and Pretoria. Definitely not the safest places in the world.
For someone using AA miles, it's only 40k to position from Japan to S. Asia or the Middle East, that's a lot less than Europe to position for OSL. Since I live in Japan that also would give me the ability to do an extended stopover (or two) here so becomes that much more attractive. I'd definitely be foregoing a few miles because AA's rather lackluster earnings on UL codes, but several of their flights from CMB to East or SE Asia have codeshares available. I'm relatively ok only being allowed 2 stopovers in Asia since I've pretty much been everywhere that OW carriers fly in East and SE Asia already. Seems I've more or less talked myself into doing ex-LHE on my next one, LOL. Not sure yet when that'll be, I don't need to earn any more miles until after March so no rush to plan yet.
Originally Posted by
pandaperth
I transited through KHI twice in 2022
First transit - in on a QR positioning flight, out to CMB, first flight of a DONEx
Second transit in from CMB as last flight of the DONEx, out on QR as first flight of next DONEx
Felt totally safe both times (me - a European in my 70s)
But the airport doesn't handle transit passengers at all well - had to get the relevant airline station manager each time to smooth the process for me.
FYI in what I now call my mis-spent youth, in my 20s, I spent about two weeks ravelling across northern Pakistan from the Afghan border at the Khyber Pass to the Indian border at Wagah (near Lahore). And again, I felt perfectly safe the whole time.
Was it you BTW who mentioned booking RTWs with UL? If so what was the process? Just general telephone line or was there a better contact?