Originally Posted by ReelChief
Thanks for these clarifications. I guess I need to work through the implications of the flights in which there is not first class service. Thanks for pointing this out.
Also, nice of you to recall my previous itinerary drafts. What I have now done is dropped from AONE5 to AONE4, leaving Asia off the first trip but putting Asia and South America on the second trip. The details of the first trip are yet to be pinned down (and there is plenty of time to do that). For the record, the first AONE4 is now the following (which scans OK in the OneValidator as 52763 miles):
CAI-LHR-CPT-JNB-SYD-TSV,
CNS-DRW-PER-MEL,
SYD-JFK-YVR-DFW-SJU-DFW-SJO-DFW,
LAX-LHR-FCO-LHR-CAI
While it is only 19 segments, it has the full complement in Europe (4/4), in SWP(4/4) and in NA(6/6). Without paying extra it seems the only possibility would be to find flights from SA to another part of Africa and back, however I figure I may need the extra segment if I can't get the LHR-CPT flight when I want it and have to fly LHR-JNB-CPT instead.
It all looks legal. You will not be allowed a stopover in LHR on the CAI-LHR-CPT routing, due to the LHR-FCO-LHR at the end of the trip. Also the LAX-LHR flight will need to be AA rather than BA (at least if you want to collect AA miles). If you want to crosss the Atlantic in BA FIRST (generally regarded as a superior product) you could do it from YVR - and seeing you (seem to) live in YVR that would probably be a better idea.
The flights which offer A are CAI-LHR, LHR-CPT, JNB-SYD (I'm not sure whether A is offered only on a seasonal basis), JFK-YVR (this will be operated by CX), LAX-LHR and LHR-CAI. The North American flights you have choosen, with the exception of JFK-YVR can only book into 'D' class. This makes no difference in terms of service, but it does impact on miles a little.
By my calculations your routing will net you, asuming you start the routing as a Plat, about 127,500 AA miles and about 78,100 AA Qualifying Points. You wife will get about 2000 less of the miles, as IIRC, the flight on which you complete the Plat Challenge earns you miles as if you were Plat.
In terms of mileage running, you could, depending on season do Alaska instead of SJO or SJU, and you could have a bit of a rejig in Australia - but you're pretty well there.
One tip, if you've not been to NZ before - include it in your plan. Maybe you could do SYD-CHC, surface, AKL-MEL, MEL-CNS, surface, BNE-PER, surface, SYD-JFK. The long surface sector between PER and SYD should be done by train - one of the 'top' train trips in the world - check
www.gsr.com.au
Happy Travels.