Mini RTW Questions
 

A couple weeks ago I booked the following Mini RTW ticket and have a few questions that I'm hoping somebody can help with.

YYC-YWG AC J E90
YWG-YYZ AC J E90
YYZ-LHR AC J 77W (stop)
LHR-BKK TG J 744
BKK-SGN TG J 333
----Open Jaw----
PEK-SFO UA J 744
SFO-YVR UA Y 319
YVR-YYC AC J E90


1. When I booked the ticket the agent was only able to assign seats on AC and said the rest would be assigned at the airport. Entering the ticket locator on UA or TG websites doesn't seem to work. Would calling TG and UA directly be able to solve this problem?

2. I could only get Y on the SFO-YVR segment. Does UA allow standby to J (or even Y+) in this scenario?

3. As I'm arriving in J but departing in Y from SFO will I be able to access the RCC there?

4. Any recommendations for preferred seats on any of the flights listed (I realize there are loads threads on this already but i thought I'd ask anyway).

The AC ticket locator is different from the ones on the other airlines. You can call them to get those and you should be able to select seats as well.

On AE *A Awards you aren't allowed cabin changes on other. However, it is always worth asking.

Probably not, but worth a try.

On AC 777 6A/K or 11 A/K are best followed by the middle seats in 6 and 11.
On UA 744, go for an aisle seat because it's difficult to get out if you're in the middle. There's not much difference between the rows but you can choose facing forward or backwards. Check Seatguru for more information. The lie-flats are very comfortable.
ON TG BKK-SIN it will probably be a basket type J seat. No big differences. I don't know the 744.
On the E90s, row A is all single seats.

Arriving in J doesn't help, but your later same-day departure in J (YVR-YYC) should be sufficient to get in. Ask for drink chits too.

Why did you include YYC-YWG? That's quite the detour if you don't intend to stay in Winnipeg and J only includes cheese and crackers :(.

The only LHR flights available on the day I wanted to depart were via YYZ. Despite trying almost every conceiveable option the only ways I could find to get there were the YYC-YWG-YYZ flights I booked on or YYC-YXE-YYZ with a 6 am departure.

You are unlikely to get the F seat on the UA segment as UA would have confirmed all its own elites into those seats before it would even consider moving you up on the basis of your ticket code. UA now upgrades automatically all its elites on NAmerican flights based on status. If there are 12 UA elites on that flight, they'll all get F seats ahead of any consideration by the gate agent to move you up. While rules of the ticket say you can't move up on a STAR partner, UA agents have lots more leeway in these matters, so wouldn't hurt to ask when you get to the gate. Check the overhead board to see the list of upgraders pending.

New Mini-RTW in planning stages
 

My husband and I are getting impatient about our next trip, so we're talking about a 140k mini-rtw in February or so. The Tokyo marathon is at the end of February. BUT: we are having trouble finding first class seats on almost any route, almost any date. ORD-NRT seems pretty open, but nothing else.

Any advice on getting to NRT from YYZ in F, late Feb 2011?

Our rough rtw route is (so far):
YYZ-?-NRT stop
NRT-?-SYD/AKL turnaround
SYD/AKL-?-Europe somewhere, possibly WAW stop
Europe-?-YYZ

Any and all advice welcome for these (or other) routes! I've read the other RTW threads so don't worry about linking those, unless I've missed something stupid. :)

I believe there is a SilverKris lounge at SFO - last I was there it was much better than the RCC.

Aeroplan Mini RTW, Questions...
 

Hey All,

Quick couple of (probably stupid) questions regarding the Mini RTW...

1. Can I book it with United Miles? I've got 280k to "use" before next year...
2. If its possible to book using United miles, then is it possible to start in the UK and go via Canada - or does it have to start in Canada?

Cheers


Sully

1. Every FF program has their own rules. You'd need to check with UA Mileage Plus to determine if itineraries like this are allowed.

2. You could start your travels anywhere.

Can I ask a really stupid question? I've been trying to find the answer amongst all the threads but the answer is just not jumping out at me - I do apologize if I've misread something somewhere in the other mini-RTW.

I'm planning a mini-RTW for myself, and I'm trying to fly OZ201/202 via LAX in order to get F (as there are lot F open during the time I am planning my trip). I'm confused on whether "published routing" means that one entire leg of a journey must bookable as a revenue ticket with an airline, or if you can combine a few "published routes" to form the one leg of your trip (ie. from Origin to stopover #1).

Here is my tentative itinerary, with the bolded part being related to my question:
Oct 26 SJC-LAX (UA J/F) to be determined
Oct 26 OZ201/OZ731 LAX-ICN-SGN (OZ F) (STOP 1)
Oct 30 TG551 or LH773 SGN-BKK (TG J or LH F) (POINT OF DESTINATION)
Nov 14 OZ742 BKK-ICN (OZ J) (STOP2)
Nov 16 OZ202 ICN-LAX (OZ F)
Nov 16 OZ6510 (codeshare with UA 6519) LAX-SJC (UA J/F)

I am based out of SFO/SJC area - when building my itin with the AE agent, can I use any published and available UA flight to LAX from either SFO/SJC to "link up" with OZ201/202, or does it have to be one of the OZ codeshares with UA? Right now, the OZ codeshares out of SFO link up with the SEA-ICN flight, which is only a 777 (no F class). And out of SJC, the OZ codeshares on UA metal result in a 5:45am departure and 7 hr layover at LAX (on the return, there is an option that yields a 2 hr layover connection OZ202 with a UA LAX-SJC flight, which is perfect).

So can I just add in an UA segment for SFO/SJC-LAX or do I proceed forward with using LAX as my point of origin and then buying a revenue connector from home to LAX to start my journey?

Thanks in advance, and sorry for if my question seems a bit dense.

You cannot book codeshare flights with AP. But you can book any *A flight. To answer your question, yes, you can book any UA flights, not necessarily those that OZ codeshares.

To book a codeshare flight using AE points don't both airlines have to be *alliance partners; ie can't be booked on a flight that has a codeshare with OZ?

A published routing is a list of eligible cities you can route through for a specific trip...in your case SFO/SJC-BKK (which is your point of turnaround). the published routing can be used to validate whether LAX/ICN/SGN are all valid connection points.

Where can I find info on the criterial for these Mini RTW trips that are being written about? I've looked on the AP web site and don't see anything about redemption levels, rules etc.

Thanks!