Originally Posted by
aaupgrade
What shared revenues? No one is going to buy CIR tickets at those prices. Now the Hong Kong travelers must be very happy as they still have CIR fares similar to the old ones.
Let's see... Do a AONE3 ex-USA ($10600 USD), take the first leg to HKG. Then purchase a DCIR26 in HKG for 47340 HKD ($6070 USD)and do Asia, SWP, Hawaii and back home. A few months later finish the DCIR26 to HKG via NRT (use eVIPs to upgrade US-NRT to F) and then continue your AONE3 doing more Asia, then on to Europe, and finally home.
So 2 trips, easy qual for EXP, and the long northern TransPacs in F for $16670 USD. Note that southern TransPac is broken up by stop in HI so D shouldn't be too bad.
-or-
1 much shorter ACIR26 trip for $15200 USD and no EXP qual.
A no brainer IMO. You always have to find the challenge in a problem and work it to your advantage. Now, I figure this isn't going to be an option by the time I am ready for it, especially since my travel card is full with 1 month in Europe, 1 month in Asia/SWP, and 2 months skiing the Rockies in the next 8 months. But, I thought I would mention it just in case any other ex-US AAdvanatge members could take advantage of it.
All true, but there are many (mainly corporate) flyers who won't go through all that and who use Circle and RTW products in the course of normal business operations. For them, a $9300 Circle ticket is cheaper than a $17500 RT in J to SYD. Granted not as cheap as $5500, but still a savings of 45% is not negligible. Whether the SWP and N. America markets continue strong for this product, only time will tell.
It's hard for us in this little crazed subculture to see the bigger picture of these products. My litmus was sitting next to a business traveler a month or two ago in J on YVR-LHR who has offices in Vancouver, New York, London and Hong Kong. His office buys him a DONE3 a month and saves tons over alternate fares. I mentioned to him that they'd be cheaper if he started/ended someplace besides Canada, and he shrugged and said his time is more valuable at work than it is flying to Stockholm or Mauritius in order to save a couple grand in airfare. I believe that man is more representative of purchasers of D- and A- products than denizens of FT boards. I could be wrong of course.