Hi everyone,
First off thanks for all the contributions here, they are all super helpful as I'm starting to look into this! I had a few questions to try to optimize our trip. Apologies if they have been answered before
Acceptable Itineraries: - ...-JFK-LHR-DOH-LHR (ground segment) CDG-DOH--CDG-HND...
- Am I right to think that this should work? 4 flight segments (LHR-DOH, DOH-LHR, CDG-DOH, DOH-CDG), with no 2x flights on the same exact city pairs
- Or is there a chance that this constitutes as "excessive backtracking"? If it does -- would it be less egregious if I removed one of the DOH returns (still backtracking, but less)?
- To go in/out of MLE, am I allowed to transit (not stopover) via DOH, without it counting as entering / exiting the continent?
- (The reason I am asking is to optimize for "real" F segments, of which only QR serves MLE)
- As long as I don't start the RTW in Japan, am I right to think that I could do Asia --> SWP --> North America via HND (transit, not stopover)?
- This is because I would love to test out the JAL F product
- Am I understanding correctly that the only way to go to HNL is by stopping there in between Asia/SWP and North America?
- Given the "no backtracking" rule, it's impossible to do e.g. HND-LAX-HNL
Other questions: - I've read on the booking thread that some people implied that there could be restrictions on availability depending of the point of origin / ticketing carrier. Is that truly the case? If yes, how can I take that into account? Is there any way to check for that (e.g. on EF)?
- If paying $1-2k more means I get better availabilities, I would consider that
- Speaking of availability -- I've looked on EF at some flights and it looks like inventory in A seems *very* limited on certain carriers (e.g. JAL), even one year out. Would availability show up later during the year or not? i.e. should I book without the right class and hope I get to change it?
- I know that the general advice is to fly the first segment and then change later, but I'm afraid I'll just never be able to fly in First and end up being downgraded on most segments... Or have to change all my hotel bookings
- Apart from the taxes / surcharges differences by point of origin (e.g. Japan having less fuel surcharges), are their differences in taxes by ticketing carrier?
- I'm a bit confused re. choice of ticketing carrier: everyone seems to agree not to use QF (because they're bad) / BA (because they add a ton of fees). What is the best to use? AA? JL? CX?
- If I book through a TA, does it matter?
- [This is probably a question for the BA forum] is there any ticketing carrier that's best when crediting miles / tier points to BA?
Thanks!
Hennebou