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Will need to change the last segment. AA doesn't fly LAX-PDX. AS does, but you cannot book AS under this type of award. Other than that, the routing looks well enough to me.
Originally Posted by Reymont
(Post 21395647)
Hello, all!
First post, long-time lurker. I've been saving up my miles for years, and have a chance to get away for about 60 days next summer. So this is finally my shot at one of these complicated Explorer Award trips! I want to circumnavigate, heading westward, hit places I haven't seen before, and hit them fast - three or four days in each city, and then move on. I know some travelers think that's crazy, but I've done a lot of traveling and know I'm happiest that way. It doesn't seem to burn me out, but staying in a strange city too long does. I'm just waiting for all the flights to become available before booking. I'm looking for any advice on whether this routing breaks any known rules, on whether there are any tweaks I could make to save myself some money on fees, and maybe what I should do with my last unused segment. I'm currently Gold, and will hit Platinum this month. I currently have about 296k miles, and expect to hit about 350k this month. Here's the routing. The start and stop dates are set, but every date in between is flexible. I'll number each segment, and include separate flights that I plan on taking, not part of the Oneworld Explorer ticket. Hopefully I can pick up some of them with my airmiles, piecemeal. 1: PDX - DFW (6/20/14) [offline trip to the Bahamas] 2: DFW - SYD (6/30) 3: SYD - AKL (7/3) [offline trip to Tahiti, if affordable] 4: AKL - HKG (7/10) 5: HKG - NRT (7/12) 6: NRT - DEL (7/15) [offline trip to Kathmandu] 7: DEL - HEL (7/24) [offline trip to Talinn, Estonia, a short ferry ride] 8: HEL - VNO (7/30) [offline trip to Moscow. I would add this as a segment, but am worried about getting a visa for Russia] 9: Land Segment (south through Kiev, Bucharest, and Varna) 10: CAI - LHR 11: LHR - BUE 12: BUE - SCL 13: SCL - LIM [offline trip to Cusco and Macchu Picchu] 14: LIM - LAX [offline trip to Ensenada and Vegas, time permitting] 15: LAX - PDX (by 8/24) Great Circle Mapper says this route is 44,425 miles. I planned it using rtw.oneworld.com. Oh, and the Hong Kong, Tokyo, and London stops are all particularly short because I've visited each several times already. Alright, hit me! Any advice? Thanks, experts! |
Originally Posted by TheBOSman
(Post 21397824)
Will need to change the last segment. AA doesn't fly LAX-PDX. AS does, but you cannot book AS under this type of award. Other than that, the routing looks well enough to me.
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Originally Posted by TrojanHorse
(Post 21397984)
Can he just end at LAX (or another SoCal City) and buy his own ticket or use another standard award to get to PDX
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Originally Posted by TheBOSman
(Post 21398027)
Of course. Considering he wants to go to LAS, might make sense to end the Explorer ticket in LAS and book AS LAS-PDX.
It looks like I can't - on rtw.oneworld.com, I get the warning "Two stopovers of greater than 24 hours permitted in the continent of origin and only one permitted in each direction within the country of origin. You can only make an extra stop if it is less than 24 hours." Or is that one of the differences between an award ticket and a paid ticket? I'll need a long stopover in Dallas at the start of my trip. It sounds like I could connect through LA and have my second stopover begin and end in Vegas, prior to flying home to PDX? But I can't have stopovers in Dallas, LA AND Vegas? Thanks! |
NEW oneworld / AA Explorer awards using AA Miles (NOT for Partner Awards)
The issue is that you can't include AS under this type of ticket. So, LAX-LAS-PDX won't work. To end in PDX, you need to fly with a Oneworld carrier, and the only one that does so is AA, from DFW and ORD. So to get back to PDX, you must connect through one of those two points.
Also, the tool you are using is for a completely different type of ticket, a paid Oneworld ticket. It is very much unlike this award ticket (and I've run into EXP agents even who have the two confused). That site should show what routes are generally flown by Oneworld carriers though at least. However, its rules and restrictions are quite different from those of the award discussed in this thread. |
Okay, thanks, TheBOSman. Looks like I'll plan on ending in Vegas - I can grab a cheap direct flight home from there. That'll let me have my last 'official' stopover in LA, before the last segment to Vegas. By my count, that's only 15 segments, so I feel like I'm leaving money on the table somewhere...
I've been worried about the differences between this booking tool and the award ticket. Any other problems that I missed? Any opportunities that the tool didn't suggest, that are possible because this is an award ticket? Oh! And I should have as many as 35 500-mile upgrades at the start of this trip. I've never used them before -it'd be nice to use them on the longest flights, but I understand you don't always have the option. What are my chances of successfully using them on the DFW-SYD, NRT-DEL, DEL-HEL, and LHR-BUE flights? |
Originally Posted by Reymont
(Post 21399430)
Oh! And I should have as many as 35 500-mile upgrades at the start of this trip. I've never used them before -it'd be nice to use them on the longest flights, but I understand you don't always have the option. What are my chances of successfully using them on the DFW-SYD, NRT-DEL, DEL-HEL, and LHR-BUE flights?
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Originally Posted by sellouts
(Post 21400185)
You can't use them on any of these flights.
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Originally Posted by Reymont
(Post 21400585)
Dang! Why not?
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Originally Posted by badgersfly
(Post 21400674)
You can only use those on domestic flights.
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Originally Posted by Reymont
(Post 21400585)
Dang! Why not?
Originally Posted by badgersfly
(Post 21400674)
You can only use those on domestic flights.
Originally Posted by Reymont
(Post 21400891)
Wow, they are a LOT less exciting than I thought they were,then. Thanks. Maybe I will spring for a business class RTW ticket. That seems so extravagant!
If you are looking to book an Explorer award, then the first page rules are all you need to comply and adhere to. The PAID RTW ticket rules have no resemblance to the Explorer award ticket rules. You would only get yourself utterly confused if you keep looking at the PAID RTW rules. Only the route map is what is pertinent in your planning. |
Originally Posted by Happy
(Post 21401068)
If you are looking to book an Explorer award, then the first page rules are all you need to comply and adhere to.
My current plan starts and finishes in two different cities, and has one other 'land segment' where I travel from Vilnius to Cairo. It looks like I'm only allowed one 'open jaw.' Does mine have two, or one? 1: PDX - DFW (6/20/14) [offline trip to the Bahamas] 2: DFW - SYD (6/30) 3: SYD - AKL (7/3) [offline trip to Tahiti, if affordable] 4: AKL - HKG (7/10) 5: HKG - NRT (7/12) 6: NRT - DEL (7/15) [offline trip to Kathmandu] 7: DEL - HEL (7/24) [offline trip to Talinn, Estonia, a short ferry ride] 8: HEL - VNO (7/30) [offline trip to Moscow. I would add this as a segment, but am worried about getting a visa for Russia] 9: Land Segment (south through Kiev, Bucharest, and Varna) 10: CAI - LHR 11: LHR - BUE 12: BUE - SCL 13: SCL - LIM [offline trip to Cusco and Macchu Picchu] 14: LIM - LAX [offline trip to Ensenada and Vegas, time permitting] 15: LAX - LAS [offline trip home to PDX] (by 8/24) |
Originally Posted by Reymont
(Post 21401300)
But there are so many rules! I just read through them again - I'm confused by the overlap of 'open jaw,' land segment, and the note that "An open jaw that exists because the origin and final destination are different does not count as a segment."
My current plan starts and finishes in two different cities, and has one other 'land segment' where I travel from Vilnius to Cairo. It looks like I'm only allowed one 'open jaw.' Does mine have two, or one? 1: PDX - DFW (6/20/14) [offline trip to the Bahamas] 2: DFW - SYD (6/30) 3: SYD - AKL (7/3) [offline trip to Tahiti, if affordable] 4: AKL - HKG (7/10) 5: HKG - NRT (7/12) 6: NRT - DEL (7/15) [offline trip to Kathmandu] 7: DEL - HEL (7/24) [offline trip to Talinn, Estonia, a short ferry ride] 8: HEL - VNO (7/30) [offline trip to Moscow. I would add this as a segment, but am worried about getting a visa for Russia] 9: Land Segment (south through Kiev, Bucharest, and Varna) 10: CAI - LHR 11: LHR - BUE 12: BUE - SCL 13: SCL - LIM [offline trip to Cusco and Macchu Picchu] 14: LIM - LAX [offline trip to Ensenada and Vegas, time permitting] 15: LAX - LAS [offline trip home to PDX] (by 8/24) The real challenge is the find award seats on the dates you want. In reality, you might need to make connections from the pair cities you listed above if you can't find space with direct flight (especially if your dates are not flexible). I'll suggest to leave out a few segments just in case. |
Has anyone had any success upgrading just one segment of their oneworld explorer ticket for miles or cash? I've booked a business class ticket for next year, but one leg (Tokyo to SFO on American) seems like a meh product and I would love to upgrade to first.
Any thoughts on how I can make this happen? I have lots of AA/BA miles and may be willing to pay cash as well. Thanks! |
Hey guys.. I am thinking about the following cities..
At the moment, I can only see SFO-DFW-MIA or LAX-DFW-JFK, JFK-LHR-CDG.. if I cannot find nonstop flights, my segment count will be greater than 16. correct? Any ideas? Business class 35K-50k miles (220,000 miles per person) IAH-DOH (stop) DOH-JED (Stop) JED-DOH (Connection) DOH-DXB (Stop) DXB-HKG (Connection) HKG-SFO (Stop) SFO-MIA (Stop) MIA-LAX (Stop) LAX-JFK (Stop) JFK-CDG (Stop) CDG-AMM (Stop) AMM-ORD (Connection) ORD-DFW (Stop) DFW-OGG (Stop) OGG-LAX (Connection) LAX-MRY (Stop) |
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