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FAQ: The Complete Newbie Guide/FAQ to the Air Canada Aeroplan Mini-RTW

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Old May 30, 2013, 9:55 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: jerryhung
New List of Mini-RTW 2.0 version after Oct 29th, 2014 "enhancement" (i.e. less MPM)

FAQ: List of valid and booked mini-RTW itineraries version 2.0 (post-"enhancement&quot

INTRO

This wiki is taken from the excellent overview in the first post of this thread by FrequentFlyer9000 and is meant as a guide to the Aeroplan "Mini-RTW" for the uninformed newbie flyer. This is a no judgment zone and newbies are welcome. In this thread, the usage of scary acronyms and complicated FlyerTalk insider-speak will be minimized.

Also, this wiki is a work in progress so please provide feedback or make wiki edits if you think something warrants it.

INFO & COMMON QUESTIONS

What is the "Mini-RTW"?

The Mini-RTW is a name given to a type of reward booking using Air Canada's Aeroplan miles. It is actually not a "round-the-world" ticket at all - it is a regular award redemption. Just as you would use 75K frequent flyer miles to go to Japan on another airline, you can use 75K to do so using Aeroplan miles. The difference is that Aeroplan allows you to "stopover" in multiple cities at no extra mileage cost, making it very attractive compared to other reward travel. It should be noted that this isn't really that much better than some other airlines. For example, Delta offers one stopover + open jaw, which is only one stopover worse than Aeroplan's deal. But many of the airlines only offer one stopover and no open jaw. So there is definitely value here.

In addition to your final destination (in which you can stay for days/weeks/months), you are allowed:

•Two stopovers in other cities (stay for days/weeks/months). You are allowed to trade one of these stopovers for an open jaw (where you land in one city, but take the next flight out of another city)
•10 segments (layovers during which you spend less than 24 hours in a given city) <-- this limit may be gone as of 2014/2015

So, disregarding the additional 10 segments, an award trip for Japan could actually look like this:

NYC > Tokyo (destination - one week) > Paris (stopover - one week) > London (stopover - one week) > NYC

You basically get three times the world exploration for the price of one. If you add on the extra layovers allowed, you can turn it into:

NYC > Los Angeles (one day) > Hawaii (one day) > Tokyo (one week) > Seoul (one day) > Hong Kong (one day) > Paris (one week) > Munich (one day) > London (one week) > Washington DC (one day) > NYC

Of course, you don't have to do the above. Spending so much time in airports can be exhausting. But the option is there for you if you want it.


How many miles is this going to cost me?

See the Award Travel chart here.

From North America to "Asia 1" countries: (effective Jan 1, 2014)
•75K in Economy
•150K in Business
•210K in First

From North America to "Europe 1" countries:
•60K in Economy
•90K in Business
•125K in First

...and so on. Check the link for other combinations. Assuming you are stopping in three cities, the city in the most "expensive" redemption zone is the zone you will have to pay for. So if you are visiting two Asia1 zone cities and one Middle East city, you will pay 80K miles rather than 75K miles since that is what the Middle East trip costs (numbers assume Economy class travel).

Which miles do I need to use? Can I use miles from other Star Alliance airlines?

You need to use Aeroplan miles. You cannot use miles from other Star Alliance members, such as United, to book this mini-RTW. However, you can book flights for the mini-RTW on any airline that is in the alliance and has the desired award seating available. You technically do not have to fly any segments on Air Canada at all.

So, what's the catch? What are the restrictions?

There is no catch. However, there are some restrictions on your itinerary. This is where things get a bit more complicated.

Want to find the new MPM after 10/29/2014?
Aeroplan City Pair mileage (new pseudo-MPM) - FlyerTalk Forums

This is no longer valid after 10/29/2014
1) Your itinerary must be within 5% of the total "Maximum Permitted Mileage" (MPM) for the route from the origin to the destination. Even though you are stopping in three cities by using your two stopovers and a final destination, you can define the destination as the stop city furthest away from the origin. Although certain flyers have gotten away with telling an inattentive phone rep that their final destination / "turnaround city" is one of their layover cities to increase their MPM, this does not always work. Sticking with one of your three stop cities is a safe bet.

MPM exist so that you cannot repeatedly fly around the world 10 times on your 10 segments. There is a limit to how many miles you can fly on the reward ticket. MPM guidelines can be found by using the KVS tool or by using Expert Flyer. MPM is calculated between your origin and your destination, one-way. The trips to and from your destination are calculated separately. You are allowed to overshoot this number by 5% ("MPM5"). If you can find a bookable itinerary online that has a mileage longer than the published MPM, this is a "published routing" and can be used even if it exceeds the MPM5. In KVS, navigate to the "Reference" tab, select "MPM" from the dropdown menu, and enter your city pair. MPM information is available under the Travel Information section of ExpertFlyer. It is available to all subscribers, Basic or Premium, and there is a 5-day free trial to ExpertFlyer.com that can be used.

To see if your itinerary fits your MPM limit, you can use the site here to see your total miles traveled: www.gcmap.com. Enter your airport codes separated by dashes to see the itinerary and get the total mileage (e.g. NYC - LHR - NYC). Example here.

TO READ MORE ABOUT MPM: Read this (short) document
2) If you do elect to use an open jaw instead of one of your stopovers, you must schedule the open jaw so that it is in the same "IATA zone" as either the origin or the destination city. So if you are going from NY to Japan to Europe and back to NY, the open jaw cannot be scheduled in Europe, since it is neither the origin zone or the destination zone. The open jaw also cannot be a larger distance than any two legs you are actually flying. In case you are wondering, IATA zones are as follows:

IATA 1 - The Americas (incl. Caribbean, Hawaii)
IATA 2 - Europe as far as the Ural Mountain range, Middle East & Africa
IATA 3 - Oceania, SE Asia, Far East, Sub-Continent.

Remember that if you use your open jaw at the turnaround/destination point, you will only have one stopover to use left. So you would be able to do NYC > Singapore (destination, open jaw) // Tokyo (stop) > NYC. This has one destination, one open jaw (at turnaround point), and one stopover. However, you would not be able to do this: NYC > Madrid (stop) > Singapore (destination, open jaw) // Tokyo (stop) > NYC. Because your 2 stops + 1 open jaw would be more than the two allowed.

3) You cannot land in the same city twice in any one direction. This means that on my way from NY to, let's say, Cairo, I cannot do New York > London > Paris > London > Cairo on the way there, since I would be stopping in London twice in one direction. However, I can stop in London on the way to Cairo and then again on the way back from Cairo.

4) The actual trip needs to be "bookable". It needs to follow certain rules. I won't get into too many details, but anything completely nonsensical in terms of routing is generally not going to fly. But most routes will not fall into this category. Just something to keep in mind.


Do I have to go in the same direction for every leg of the flight?

No. As an example, you can cross the Atlantic twice or cross both the Atlantic and the Pacific once (more like a real RTW trip).


How do I book this?

Assuming you have already planned out your entire itinerary to the dot and have made sure your trip is in accordance with the above restrictions, call Aeroplan and speak with a representative. Alternatively, you can try to book online for free. However, this is not always possible with more complicated routings.


What will this cost me in real cash? How can I minimize fees?
It depends on the region you travel to and which airline you fly on. In general, the more Air Canada segments you fly the more fees/taxes you will pay. Aeroplan does not collect surcharges on non-Air Canada-operated flights. So flying Air Canada internationally will cost you extra. If you use a lot of Air Canada flights in your mini-RTW, your fees could be anywhere from $150 to $400, even sometimes creeping up above $600. Lesson is to avoid AC "metal" (airplanes) if possible.

Every trip will have a $30 cost per person for booking on the phone, regardless of the itinerary.


What are the change fees if I want to change a leg or multiple legs of the trip later?

$90 for changes after original booking. If there is an involuntary change because of flight schedules changing, there is no fee charged. Note that when you make a change, the taxes/fees associated with fuel, etc. may change. They may decrease or increase depending on the previous flight and the new flight. This is independent of the $90 rebooking fee. The $90 is flat regardless of how many of the segments you change. It is not $90 per changed segment.


How do I plan this trip out? Even finding a simple award ticket can be difficult online, let alone one with 10 segments!

Good question. It is recommended that you use either the All-Nippon Airways (ANA) website (guide on how here), the KVS tool (costs money) or ExpertFlyer (costs money), or http://FliSea.com. I personally like to use KVS, but it is not newbie-friendly. It is $20 for 2 months for the "diamond" level service, and $75 for a year. Small price to pay for saving a lot of time, if you can handle the learning curve. ANA is a good free method of finding segments and many people have had plenty of success with it; FliSea is a metasearch tool that uses all of the sites above.

The trick is to do this one segment at a time. So first find NYC > LONDON for the date you want and make sure that the award class you are looking for is available (e.g. Economy low fare). Then do the next leg: LONDON > ROME. Repeat for every segment. Write down the details of each flight, calculate the mileage using the www.gcmap.com resource, and call up Aeroplan to book.

One of our Flyertalk members has built a database with all the Mini-RTW routes that have been flown in the various threads in one simple place: http://www.turnleftat.com/mini-rtw-list/
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FAQ: The Complete Newbie Guide/FAQ to the Air Canada Aeroplan Mini-RTW

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Old May 16, 2017, 9:09 am
  #1516  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Programs: AC SE 100K, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 142
Originally Posted by Futura
I know this is called a Newbie Guide but man it's still confusing.

I have 300,000 in miles and will be trying to book a single ticket in J and F to somewhere fun at Christmas - leaving and returning to Winnipeg. I'm getting confused about not being able to confirm business/first class until later, while some bookings you guys are posting are getting business class seats confirms.

Anyways will get to Tokyo and stop over somewhere like Taiwan, or go to South Africa, Istanbul with a stopover in Paris or New York.

I'm sure I'll be back with many questions. Thanks in advance.
Hey Futura - hopefully this clarifies:

Most of the time, you can confirm F or J far in advance. The only real exception is Lufthansa which does not release F or J until 2 weeks in advance. If you book a J/F ticket but have a segment with AC on a lower class because they don't have availability, you can sometimes ask to upgrade at check in or later confirm a J seat if J awards become available at a later date.
mimo123 is offline  
Old May 16, 2017, 9:13 am
  #1517  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Programs: AC SE 100K, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 142
Originally Posted by canadianhockey91
I am currently trying to book

JFK-icn-SYD STOP
SYD-BKK stop
BKK-ICN STOP-open JAW
HND-JFK

They are telling me I have to book the open jaw at the furthest destination which is garbage. Might there be another reason? Cuz I know you can do two stops same direction as I have booked that before. THanks!


EDIT:
I spoke with them regarding the terms and conditions "28.3. Intercontinental travel (travel between two continents): Two stopovers permitted in addition to the point of turnaround. One open jaw is permitted in lieu of one of the two stopovers."

I was told that the open jaw can only occur at the point of turnaround or the origin. I then asked the nice agent to let me speak with her supervisor who provided me his name and information. He was not the most professional in handling the situation as he stated it has been like this forever.

I brought my concerns up regarding the terminology stating that speaking and understanding English allows one to realize that "one open jaw is permitted in lieu of on of the two stopovers" can be interpreted as 1 stopover, 1 stopover w an open jaw, and 1 point of turnaround.

I was hoping someone here might know a bit more and be able to explain why either I am crazy or that this terminology in the terms and conditions is blatantly false and in my opinion cheating the customer out of a rightful booking.
Canadianhockey - even if you didn't have an open jaw I dont think your routing would work. SYD is your furthest destination so it should be your turn-around point. The only way you could get this to work without an open-jaw:

JFK-ICN-BKK STOP
BKK-SYD STOP
SYD-HND STOP
HND-JFK
mimo123 is offline  
Old May 16, 2017, 8:11 pm
  #1518  
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 22
Originally Posted by homeyG
Posted this in the mini-rtw but might be better suited here:

Looking for some advice. Finally about to book my first Business class redemption flights for September but having a heck of a time finding a return route. It's not a mini-rtw but thought I ask here anyways. I have the flights onto Europe figured out but can't find anything on the way back. So far I have:

Sept.3 YYC-IAH Layover(E)
Sept.3 IAH-IST Destination(Y)
Sept.8 IST-CDG Stopover(Y)

I'm looking to come back to YYC anywhere between September 17-20. I just can't seem to find J class returning to US or Canada for those dates. I've tried several cities in Europe for coming back(don't really have a preference) to no luck. Hoping someone with expertise can suggest a way to get back home.
Thx

P.S. Also trying to avoid carriers with surcharges
Bump...also are the reward flights on United bookable by calling Aeroplan? These don't show up on the Award Flight finder program.
homeyG is offline  
Old May 16, 2017, 9:47 pm
  #1519  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Kamloops, BC
Programs: Air Canada-Aeroplan, NEXUS, E50K, Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite
Posts: 346
Originally Posted by mimo123
Canadianhockey - even if you didn't have an open jaw I dont think your routing would work. SYD is your furthest destination so it should be your turn-around point. The only way you could get this to work without an open-jaw:

JFK-ICN-BKK STOP
BKK-SYD STOP
SYD-HND STOP
HND-JFK
I just did but no open jaw.

"J(OZ) JFK-ICN F A380
(OZ) ICN-SYD J A380 STOP-> apparently OZ not selling the F tickets, kinda sucks but get into SYD 13 hrs earlier than alternative

(TG) SYD-BKK F 8 hour day layover
(TG) BKK-KIX F 14 hour day layover
(OZ) KIX-GMP J STOP

(NH) GMP-HND J STOP
(NH) HND-JFK F"

from the valid rtw's thread.

Still a lil annoyed about that terminology but I made it work and I'm stoked!
canadianhockey91 is offline  
Old May 17, 2017, 7:35 am
  #1520  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Programs: AC SE 100K, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 142
Originally Posted by canadianhockey91
I just did but no open jaw.

"J(OZ) JFK-ICN F A380
(OZ) ICN-SYD J A380 STOP-> apparently OZ not selling the F tickets, kinda sucks but get into SYD 13 hrs earlier than alternative

(TG) SYD-BKK F 8 hour day layover
(TG) BKK-KIX F 14 hour day layover
(OZ) KIX-GMP J STOP

(NH) GMP-HND J STOP
(NH) HND-JFK F"

from the valid rtw's thread.

Still a lil annoyed about that terminology but I made it work and I'm stoked!
Haha I just did a trip on OZ, NH and TG F. You are going to love it. Good that you are doing NH last; you're building up from my least fave to my fave.
mimo123 is offline  
Old May 17, 2017, 7:43 am
  #1521  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Programs: AC SE 100K, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 142
Originally Posted by homeyG
Bump...also are the reward flights on United bookable by calling Aeroplan? These don't show up on the Award Flight finder program.
I just found some availability on the 18th from CDG-LIS and then LIS-YYZ. There is a 2 segment flight from YYZ-YYC on the 19th arriving on the 20th via Winnipeg but one segment is in economy.
mimo123 is offline  
Old May 17, 2017, 11:01 am
  #1522  
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 22
Originally Posted by mimo123
I just found some availability on the 18th from CDG-LIS and then LIS-YYZ. There is a 2 segment flight from YYZ-YYC on the 19th arriving on the 20th via Winnipeg but one segment is in economy.
where are you searching for these routes?
homeyG is offline  
Old May 18, 2017, 12:22 pm
  #1523  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: AC E50, NEXUS
Posts: 58
Originally Posted by mimo123
Hey Futura - hopefully this clarifies:

Most of the time, you can confirm F or J far in advance. The only real exception is Lufthansa which does not release F or J until 2 weeks in advance. If you book a J/F ticket but have a segment with AC on a lower class because they don't have availability, you can sometimes ask to upgrade at check in or later confirm a J seat if J awards become available at a later date.

thanks mimo123 ^

I've signed up to All Nippon Airlines and have been trying to figure out how to get to see itineraries with flight options. No luck yet but I'll keep hacking away at it.
Futura is offline  
Old May 25, 2017, 3:53 pm
  #1524  
exc
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC*E75k
Posts: 90
Any implication for Hidden city bookings? I'm looking to do a trip like so:

YYZ-HND (stopover)
HND-HKG (destination)
HKG-HNL (stopover)
HNL-YYZ

routing might not be exactly that (Think I may have to do YYZ-LAX-ICN-HND for J availability on my dates) but there are currently absolutely nothing for HNL-YYZ in terms of any routing on my day. Would I be able to just buy a revenue ticket and not fly that final route?
exc is offline  
Old May 25, 2017, 5:37 pm
  #1525  
Marriott Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
Originally Posted by exc
Any implication for Hidden city bookings? I'm looking to do a trip like so:

YYZ-HND (stopover)
HND-HKG (destination)
HKG-HNL (stopover)
HNL-YYZ

routing might not be exactly that (Think I may have to do YYZ-LAX-ICN-HND for J availability on my dates) but there are currently absolutely nothing for HNL-YYZ in terms of any routing on my day. Would I be able to just buy a revenue ticket and not fly that final route?
You're saying you will just throw away HNL-YYZ? You could do that, but you sure you want to fly that far on a oneway? I expect it wouldn't be cheap. Also, you don't have to completely throw it away - you could "cancel" the last leg and keep it open, and if, within the next year, you are back in HNL, you could fly that last leg if there's space.
Pseudo Nim is offline  
Old May 26, 2017, 11:22 am
  #1526  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 10
Would one of you knowledgeable veterans let me know if the following itinerary is valid? I'm trying to go to Paris (CDG), Nice (NCE) and either Brussels (BRU) or Zurich (ZRH) as an additional stop (whichever ends up being more convenient).

YYZ-ORD/EWR/IAD-CDG (Stop)
CDG-ZRH-NCE (Destination)
NCE-BRU(Stop)
BRU-YYZ

I don't know if this exceeds the MPM.

Alternatively, could try

YYZ-ORD/EWR/IAD-CDG (Stop)
CDG-BRU (Stop)
BRU-NCE (Destination)
NCE-BRU-YYZ

BRU would be allowed twice since it is on both sides of the destination, correct?

Thanks in advance.
Thenesman is offline  
Old May 26, 2017, 11:44 am
  #1527  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
Originally Posted by Thenesman
Would one of you knowledgeable veterans let me know if the following itinerary is valid? I'm trying to go to Paris (CDG), Nice (NCE) and either Brussels (BRU) or Zurich (ZRH) as an additional stop (whichever ends up being more convenient).

YYZ-ORD/EWR/IAD-CDG (Stop)
CDG-ZRH-NCE (Destination)
NCE-BRU(Stop)
BRU-YYZ

I don't know if this exceeds the MPM.

Alternatively, could try

YYZ-ORD/EWR/IAD-CDG (Stop)
CDG-BRU (Stop)
BRU-NCE (Destination)
NCE-BRU-YYZ

BRU would be allowed twice since it is on both sides of the destination, correct?

Thanks in advance.
Yes should be okay
You can try online multi-city and see if suggested routes cover your plan
SN flies to those cities (CDG, NCE)
I'm flying YYZ-BRU (layover)-NCE Dec 2017

Keep in mind there is no LX availability bookable right now, period (phone or online)
See this thread
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...-aeroplan.html

Last edited by jerryhung; May 26, 2017 at 12:02 pm
jerryhung is offline  
Old May 26, 2017, 11:54 am
  #1528  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: West
Posts: 3,357
Originally Posted by jerryhung
Keep in mind there is no LX availability bookable online now
Its not bookable by calling in neither, no?

Last edited by 1Newflyer; May 26, 2017 at 12:02 pm
1Newflyer is offline  
Old May 26, 2017, 9:07 pm
  #1529  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 101
Is this a valid itinerary? My first Mini one!

YYZ-ORD
ORD-CPH
CPH-BRU (Stop)
BRU-VIE (Des)
BRU-FCO (Stop)
FCO-YYZ (have not yet found the segment)

If not valid, what kills it? Or how about below?

YYZ-ORD
ORD-CPH
CPH-VIE or BUD or PRG (Stop)
VIE - FCO (Des)
FCO - BRU (Stop)
BRU - YYZ

Thank you for your help!
ReallyNotFrequentFlyer is offline  
Old May 26, 2017, 9:13 pm
  #1530  
Marriott Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
Originally Posted by ReallyNotFrequentFlyer
Is this a valid itinerary? My first Mini one!

YYZ-ORD
ORD-CPH
CPH-BRU (Stop)
BRU-VIE (Des)
BRU-FCO (Stop)
FCO-YYZ (have not yet found the segment)

If not valid, what kills it? Or how about below?

YYZ-ORD
ORD-CPH
CPH-VIE or BUD or PRG (Stop)
VIE - FCO (Des)
FCO - BRU (Stop)
BRU - YYZ

Thank you for your help!
This should be fine. Most European itineraries have enough permitted MPM to let you float around Europe for a bit.
Pseudo Nim is offline  


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