May 30, 2013, 9:55 pm
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"
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
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/
FAQ: List of valid and booked mini-RTW itineraries version 2.0 (post-"enhancement"
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
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
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/
FAQ: The Complete Newbie Guide/FAQ to the Air Canada Aeroplan Mini-RTW
Dec 22, 2012, 5:53 pm
#166
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: トロント
Programs: IHG Gold
Posts: 4,820
QUOTE=d00little;19906201]I'm planning out a mini-RTW in J for next year. I'm trying to come up with a route that will hit the cities I want to visit and also likely to have seats in J. For those familiar with availability, which parts of my trip do you foresee me having trouble finding J.
YYC-YUL (AC)
YUL-ZRH (LX)
ZRH-BKK (TG) Stop
BKK-HKG (TG)
HKG-ICN (OZ) Stop
ICN-NRT (OZ) Stop
NRT-SFO (NH or UA)
SFO-YYC (AC)[/QUOTE]
On a mini I have booked for May 2013 (for 2), I could not get YUL-ZRH on LX, so I ended up taking ORD-ARN to get to Europe on SAS. No YQ on that flight.
Also, you can use LX to fly ZRH-HKG, or ZRH-BKK and then TG to get from BKK to HKG. That again will save YQ.
If you must fly back to NAmerica from Asia on a scamcharge airline, it is cheaper from ICN than NRT, so you may wish to switch the order of those stops.
YYC-YUL (AC)
YUL-ZRH (LX)
ZRH-BKK (TG) Stop
BKK-HKG (TG)
HKG-ICN (OZ) Stop
ICN-NRT (OZ) Stop
NRT-SFO (NH or UA)
SFO-YYC (AC)[/QUOTE]
On a mini I have booked for May 2013 (for 2), I could not get YUL-ZRH on LX, so I ended up taking ORD-ARN to get to Europe on SAS. No YQ on that flight.
Also, you can use LX to fly ZRH-HKG, or ZRH-BKK and then TG to get from BKK to HKG. That again will save YQ.
If you must fly back to NAmerica from Asia on a scamcharge airline, it is cheaper from ICN than NRT, so you may wish to switch the order of those stops.
Last edited by mapleg; Dec 22, 2012 at 6:01 pm
Dec 22, 2012, 6:52 pm
#167
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 73
However, this route will cost you around $700++ in scamcharges, especially if NRT-SFO is on NH.
If you cannot get YUL-ZRH, the simplest way of getting to BKK fee free is via a combination of UA/TK and maybe even SK.
YYC-ORD/YYZ/IAH-IST-BKK would be a good route.
On the return you can also do NRT-DEN/LAX-YYC on the UA 787 scamcharge free.
If you cannot get YUL-ZRH, the simplest way of getting to BKK fee free is via a combination of UA/TK and maybe even SK.
YYC-ORD/YYZ/IAH-IST-BKK would be a good route.
On the return you can also do NRT-DEN/LAX-YYC on the UA 787 scamcharge free.
On a mini I have booked for May 2013 (for 2), I could not get YUL-ZRH on LX, so I ended up taking ORD-ARN to get to Europe on SAS. No YQ on that flight.
Also, you can use LX to fly ZRH-HKG, or ZRH-BKK and then TG to get from BKK to HKG. That again will save YQ.
If you must fly back to NAmerica from Asia on a scamcharge airline, it is cheaper from ICN than NRT, so you may wish to switch the order of those stops.
Also, you can use LX to fly ZRH-HKG, or ZRH-BKK and then TG to get from BKK to HKG. That again will save YQ.
If you must fly back to NAmerica from Asia on a scamcharge airline, it is cheaper from ICN than NRT, so you may wish to switch the order of those stops.
If flying back to N.America via ICN instead, what airline would I be taking to get J, UA?
Dec 22, 2012, 7:42 pm
#168
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: トロント
Programs: IHG Gold
Posts: 4,820
What city flying out of North America would give me the best chance of getting J on TK, YYZ/ORD/IAH?
How is availability of J on ZRH-HKG/BKK? As tough as people are saying it is for YUL-ZRH?
If flying back to N.America via ICN instead, what airline would I be taking to get J, UA?
How is availability of J on ZRH-HKG/BKK? As tough as people are saying it is for YUL-ZRH?
If flying back to N.America via ICN instead, what airline would I be taking to get J, UA?
Availability on LX is easier for ZRH-BKK than Zrh-HGK, but you can find either if you avoid weekend flights.Tues/Wed/Thurs seems to have more availability.
From ICN, use Asiana--several choices to fly into including ORD. Not a scamcharge free airline, but still cheaper than flying out of Narita.
Jan 10, 2013, 3:23 pm
#169
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Montreal, Canada
Programs: AC*Elite; FPC Platinum
Posts: 12
Good day all:
Although I've been an avid Points collector and user for some long time, only recently have I discovered the RTW option with Aeroplan. My wife and I are planning a 5-6 week trip to Australia and New Zealand in November-December 2013, along with our then 6 months baby. I have a few basic and perhaps too general questions, but since this is the newbie thread, I'm taking my chances by starting here to see if anyone could give me some advice. Our trip planning (as of now) looks a bit like this:
1) YUL-YVR (stop for 4-5 days)
2) YVR-AKL ((hopefully with Air New Zealand, as I hear it's a very good airline (?))
(2/3 weeks driving around New Zealand)
3) AKL-MEL
(2 weeks driving the coast from Melbourne to Sydney)
4) SYD-LAX (No intention of staying in crazy LA unless I have to under RTW rules)
5) LAX-YVR (then perhaps 24 hours stay at the Fairmont YVR in order to catch our breath and the baby's...)
6) YVR-YUL
Alternatively, 5) could simply be LAX-YUL with AC or LAX-ORD(or DEN or EWR)-YUL
Any thoughts/advice/suggestions considering the above will be much appreciated. At this point I guess my questions are:
- RTW with a 6 month baby: Good idea or not?
(i.e. I assume RTW'ing implies taking very complex routes hence more flying time... Before learning about the existence of RTW my idea was to maximize comfort and book as many business class segments as possible with points and purchase the other segments separately, ideally with AC so I can use my e-upgrades and thus, hopefully, travel all the way on business class)
- How many points will the above-described itinirary cost?
(I currently have 160K miles and assume I'll need more than that before booking, especially if business class...)
Thanks in advance for your attention!
J
Although I've been an avid Points collector and user for some long time, only recently have I discovered the RTW option with Aeroplan. My wife and I are planning a 5-6 week trip to Australia and New Zealand in November-December 2013, along with our then 6 months baby. I have a few basic and perhaps too general questions, but since this is the newbie thread, I'm taking my chances by starting here to see if anyone could give me some advice. Our trip planning (as of now) looks a bit like this:
1) YUL-YVR (stop for 4-5 days)
2) YVR-AKL ((hopefully with Air New Zealand, as I hear it's a very good airline (?))
(2/3 weeks driving around New Zealand)
3) AKL-MEL
(2 weeks driving the coast from Melbourne to Sydney)
4) SYD-LAX (No intention of staying in crazy LA unless I have to under RTW rules)
5) LAX-YVR (then perhaps 24 hours stay at the Fairmont YVR in order to catch our breath and the baby's...)
6) YVR-YUL
Alternatively, 5) could simply be LAX-YUL with AC or LAX-ORD(or DEN or EWR)-YUL
Any thoughts/advice/suggestions considering the above will be much appreciated. At this point I guess my questions are:
- RTW with a 6 month baby: Good idea or not?
(i.e. I assume RTW'ing implies taking very complex routes hence more flying time... Before learning about the existence of RTW my idea was to maximize comfort and book as many business class segments as possible with points and purchase the other segments separately, ideally with AC so I can use my e-upgrades and thus, hopefully, travel all the way on business class)
- How many points will the above-described itinirary cost?
(I currently have 160K miles and assume I'll need more than that before booking, especially if business class...)
Thanks in advance for your attention!
J
Jan 10, 2013, 4:50 pm
#171
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
Well, technically, this isn't a RTW if you go YUL-AKL and back. it'd be an RTW if you routed through Europe. I concur with rabu that you will have a hard time getting 2 seats on YVR-AKL... maybe LAX-AKL but even that is hard. Route through RAR perhaps? *sometimes* it's easier.
RTW with a baby? Bring it ON
Best time to travel. Mine went twice before he turned 2 - until 10kg they set up a bassinet for him and he sleeps through most of the flight anyway. Do be prepared to do the needful, though, in case he decides NOT to sleep - you don't want to be *that* passenger. Bring copious entertainment.
Note: AC J does not have bassinets. I guess some idiot either thought babies wouldn't fly in J (wrong) or that the pods have enough space (WRONG). Found out the hard way on NRT-YYZ
Btw, seeing as you're YUL as well, let me know if you want to grab lunch some day and ask more.
RTW with a baby? Bring it ON
Best time to travel. Mine went twice before he turned 2 - until 10kg they set up a bassinet for him and he sleeps through most of the flight anyway. Do be prepared to do the needful, though, in case he decides NOT to sleep - you don't want to be *that* passenger. Bring copious entertainment. Note: AC J does not have bassinets. I guess some idiot either thought babies wouldn't fly in J (wrong) or that the pods have enough space (WRONG). Found out the hard way on NRT-YYZ
Btw, seeing as you're YUL as well, let me know if you want to grab lunch some day and ask more.
Jan 10, 2013, 5:32 pm
#172
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: YUL
Posts: 2,283
Good day all:
Although I've been an avid Points collector and user for some long time, only recently have I discovered the RTW option with Aeroplan. My wife and I are planning a 5-6 week trip to Australia and New Zealand in November-December 2013, along with our then 6 months baby. I have a few basic and perhaps too general questions, but since this is the newbie thread, I'm taking my chances by starting here to see if anyone could give me some advice. Our trip planning (as of now) looks a bit like this:
1) YUL-YVR (stop for 4-5 days)
2) YVR-AKL ((hopefully with Air New Zealand, as I hear it's a very good airline (?)) Never seen availability if AIRNZ then via SFO or LAX
(2/3 weeks driving around New Zealand)
3) AKL-MEL
(2 weeks driving the coast from Melbourne to Sydney)
4) SYD-LAX (No intention of staying in crazy LA unless I have to under RTW rules)
5) LAX-YVR (then perhaps 24 hours stay at the Fairmont YVR in order to catch our breath and the baby's...)
6) YVR-YUL
Alternatively, 5) could simply be LAX-YUL with AC or LAX-ORD(or DEN or EWR)-YUL - Fine however the reality is you will need to overnight in LAX.
Any thoughts/advice/suggestions considering the above will be much appreciated. At this point I guess my questions are:
- RTW with a 6 month baby: Good idea or not? I have done it from YUL/to SYD or BNE was good time to travel before my little fella turned 1. After that nightmare
(i.e. I assume RTW'ing implies taking very complex routes hence more flying time... Before learning about the existence of RTW my idea was to maximize comfort and book as many business class segments as possible with points and purchase the other segments separately, ideally with AC so I can use my e-upgrades and thus, hopefully, travel all the way on business class)
- How many points will the above-described itinirary cost?
(I currently have 160K miles and assume I'll need more than that before booking, especially if business class...)
Thanks in advance for your attention!
FYI this is a Mini RTW.
FYI we have a thread with may already mapped out routes. I know as I have taken many from YUL to Oz myself.
You will need 130K *2
It will cost you over 2K in "fee's and charges" Unless you get the United SFO/SYD flight which then will cost a 1/4 of the price. So it then becomes you personnel prefer.
J
Although I've been an avid Points collector and user for some long time, only recently have I discovered the RTW option with Aeroplan. My wife and I are planning a 5-6 week trip to Australia and New Zealand in November-December 2013, along with our then 6 months baby. I have a few basic and perhaps too general questions, but since this is the newbie thread, I'm taking my chances by starting here to see if anyone could give me some advice. Our trip planning (as of now) looks a bit like this:
1) YUL-YVR (stop for 4-5 days)
2) YVR-AKL ((hopefully with Air New Zealand, as I hear it's a very good airline (?)) Never seen availability if AIRNZ then via SFO or LAX
(2/3 weeks driving around New Zealand)
3) AKL-MEL
(2 weeks driving the coast from Melbourne to Sydney)
4) SYD-LAX (No intention of staying in crazy LA unless I have to under RTW rules)
5) LAX-YVR (then perhaps 24 hours stay at the Fairmont YVR in order to catch our breath and the baby's...)
6) YVR-YUL
Alternatively, 5) could simply be LAX-YUL with AC or LAX-ORD(or DEN or EWR)-YUL - Fine however the reality is you will need to overnight in LAX.
Any thoughts/advice/suggestions considering the above will be much appreciated. At this point I guess my questions are:
- RTW with a 6 month baby: Good idea or not? I have done it from YUL/to SYD or BNE was good time to travel before my little fella turned 1. After that nightmare
(i.e. I assume RTW'ing implies taking very complex routes hence more flying time... Before learning about the existence of RTW my idea was to maximize comfort and book as many business class segments as possible with points and purchase the other segments separately, ideally with AC so I can use my e-upgrades and thus, hopefully, travel all the way on business class)
- How many points will the above-described itinirary cost?
(I currently have 160K miles and assume I'll need more than that before booking, especially if business class...)
Thanks in advance for your attention!
FYI this is a Mini RTW.
FYI we have a thread with may already mapped out routes. I know as I have taken many from YUL to Oz myself.
You will need 130K *2
It will cost you over 2K in "fee's and charges" Unless you get the United SFO/SYD flight which then will cost a 1/4 of the price. So it then becomes you personnel prefer.
J
Jan 20, 2013, 2:44 pm
#173
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: SPG-PL
Posts: 21
mini RTW help
Hello I have some aeroplan points and I will be flying out of Canada...
Can anyone suggest a working route if I want to go from Calgary to London, also Edinburgh and Paris? I want to stay 3 nights in edinburgh, 6 nights in london and 3 nights in paris
so I was thinking I either do the calgary - london - edinburgh - paris - london - calgary or i can actually just handle calgary - london - edinburgh - paris - calgary?
I have read the blog and probably because I've never known any of this my brain is completely stuck.
Thank you
Can anyone suggest a working route if I want to go from Calgary to London, also Edinburgh and Paris? I want to stay 3 nights in edinburgh, 6 nights in london and 3 nights in paris
so I was thinking I either do the calgary - london - edinburgh - paris - london - calgary or i can actually just handle calgary - london - edinburgh - paris - calgary?
I have read the blog and probably because I've never known any of this my brain is completely stuck.
Thank you
Jan 20, 2013, 4:10 pm
#174
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
Hello I have some aeroplan points and I will be flying out of Canada...
Can anyone suggest a working route if I want to go from Calgary to London, also Edinburgh and Paris? I want to stay 3 nights in edinburgh, 6 nights in london and 3 nights in paris
so I was thinking I either do the calgary - london - edinburgh - paris - london - calgary or i can actually just handle calgary - london - edinburgh - paris - calgary?
I have read the blog and probably because I've never known any of this my brain is completely stuck.
Thank you
Can anyone suggest a working route if I want to go from Calgary to London, also Edinburgh and Paris? I want to stay 3 nights in edinburgh, 6 nights in london and 3 nights in paris
so I was thinking I either do the calgary - london - edinburgh - paris - london - calgary or i can actually just handle calgary - london - edinburgh - paris - calgary?
I have read the blog and probably because I've never known any of this my brain is completely stuck.
Thank you
- since BMI is no longer part of *A, nobody services intra-England. Therefore, you can't really fly Edinburgh - London.
- none of the routings you suggest would fall into maximum permitted mileage (too much doubling back)
- no *A carrier flies between London and Paris either for the same reason as above
- and finally, flying out from London back to Canada will hit you with Her Majesty's APD (air passenger duty) to the tune of $250 or so.
What would be a better choice would be this:
- fly into Edinburgh;
- take the train to London
- take the train to Paris
- fly back from Paris
Or you could take Ryanair between the UK cities.
Jan 21, 2013, 12:36 pm
#175
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: SPG-PL
Posts: 21
This is actually ill advised and/or difficult to accomplish for the following reasons:
- since BMI is no longer part of *A, nobody services intra-England. Therefore, you can't really fly Edinburgh - London.
- none of the routings you suggest would fall into maximum permitted mileage (too much doubling back)
- no *A carrier flies between London and Paris either for the same reason as above
- and finally, flying out from London back to Canada will hit you with Her Majesty's APD (air passenger duty) to the tune of $250 or so.
What would be a better choice would be this:
- fly into Edinburgh;
- take the train to London
- take the train to Paris
- fly back from Paris
Or you could take Ryanair between the UK cities.
- since BMI is no longer part of *A, nobody services intra-England. Therefore, you can't really fly Edinburgh - London.
- none of the routings you suggest would fall into maximum permitted mileage (too much doubling back)
- no *A carrier flies between London and Paris either for the same reason as above
- and finally, flying out from London back to Canada will hit you with Her Majesty's APD (air passenger duty) to the tune of $250 or so.
What would be a better choice would be this:
- fly into Edinburgh;
- take the train to London
- take the train to Paris
- fly back from Paris
Or you could take Ryanair between the UK cities.
I'll keep playing around with aeroplan to see what I can get out of minimal taxes n max benefit.
Thanks
Jan 21, 2013, 12:38 pm
#176
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
Understood. I was hoping to either make the miles count, or use the aeroplan points for *A flights into london/paris/manchester/ to avoid the fuel surcharge, but it wasn't successful most flights involve AC and therefore surcharge exists.
I'll keep playing around with aeroplan to see what I can get out of minimal taxes n max benefit.
Thanks
I'll keep playing around with aeroplan to see what I can get out of minimal taxes n max benefit.
Thanks
To avoid YQ, you will have to go through the US (unless you are extremely lucky and you find YUL-ZRH availabiltiy on LX), or YYZ-WAW on LO (and on the 787 if you book late enough), or YYZ-IST on TK.
Jan 21, 2013, 9:19 pm
#178
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
Jan 22, 2013, 3:01 am
#179
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: SEA
Programs: A3*G, AC, IHG Plat AMB
Posts: 1,604
Before anyone seriously considers Ryanair, I have a suggestion. Take the money and hire a guy to show up to your office every two hours and, without warning, loudly play a trumpet right behind you.
But instead of showing up on the hour, have him show up randomly ten to fifteen minutes BEFORE the hour and, after surprising you with the fanfare, kick you in the shins, punch you in the lower back, then loudly shout "ANOTHER EARLY ARRIVAL!" and try to sell you lottery tickets. Tell him to try and be aggressive but disinterested at the same time.
But if that works out, you'll be grand.
Also: instead of an open-jaw, is it worth it to fly in and out of ZRH or CPH, but via LHR on the inbound and CDG outbound? It might add a few miles to MPM and they're both served by *A (although seats on LX could be near impossible and SK may charge).
But instead of showing up on the hour, have him show up randomly ten to fifteen minutes BEFORE the hour and, after surprising you with the fanfare, kick you in the shins, punch you in the lower back, then loudly shout "ANOTHER EARLY ARRIVAL!" and try to sell you lottery tickets. Tell him to try and be aggressive but disinterested at the same time.
But if that works out, you'll be grand.
Also: instead of an open-jaw, is it worth it to fly in and out of ZRH or CPH, but via LHR on the inbound and CDG outbound? It might add a few miles to MPM and they're both served by *A (although seats on LX could be near impossible and SK may charge).
Jan 24, 2013, 8:42 pm
#180
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: YOW
Programs: AP, AM
Posts: 132
There are many people at Flyertalk to thank for all the help booking our minirtw.
My wife blogged about our booking here: http://www.turnipseedtravel.com/1/po...1/minirtw.html
We have been asked many times how we managed to do it, and we've answered questions as best we could, and directed people here.
My question to the community would be: if I were to craft a post for her using liberally some of the (credited) posts from here, would that be offside?
Alternatively, would anyone like to craft a guest post instead?
Again, thank you to everyone here. I have learned so much (even if we did book in Y!).
I'm rather excited about the trip. We're even adding a side jaunt to Myanmar from Bangkok.
Flyertalk... You guys are the best.
My wife blogged about our booking here: http://www.turnipseedtravel.com/1/po...1/minirtw.html
We have been asked many times how we managed to do it, and we've answered questions as best we could, and directed people here.
My question to the community would be: if I were to craft a post for her using liberally some of the (credited) posts from here, would that be offside?
Alternatively, would anyone like to craft a guest post instead?
Again, thank you to everyone here. I have learned so much (even if we did book in Y!).
I'm rather excited about the trip. We're even adding a side jaunt to Myanmar from Bangkok.
Flyertalk... You guys are the best.