WRT last year's event, I thought the value for the money was quite good. The LH C fare was fantastic, but (from a fare perspective) what was even better was the fact that it was open on return dates and destinations. It allowed me (and many others I'm sure) to tack on some additional days to do other things while already in Europe (and not be stuck getting back to FRA) and also allowed people who couldn't be away for as long to go back when they needed to. Some kind of flexibility like that is, in my book, key.

I think LH and SAS both did a stellar job with what they put on, but I have to say I was disappointed with Airbus. It was certainly cool to visit the factory, but it didn't seem like we really got anything from them that we couldn't have gotten otherwise, nor did it feel like they at all went out of their way for us.

For round 2, there seem to be a few major things being thrown around:

US Centric:
This isn't super exciting unless we somehow throw in one of the airplane graveyards as several have suggested.

Asia
I spend a decent of time there (such as right now), so I wouldn't want to just swing through the airports to swing through them. Getting some slick behind the scenes stuff at the big airports like HKG (I know, no star carriers are based there) or SIN (or even NRT) could be good, especially because they are my favorite airports. Someone threw out PVG as a suggestion - I'd be concerned that getting any special access there could be troublesome (plus most of us need visas to go there - not a problem but it does require some planning), but it might be interesting to see if/how they operate differently than the more Western operations. There are also some fairly large maintenance/refit operations in Korea and China that might be of interest.

South America
I've never been to South America or Africa - visiting Brazil (Embraer) or SA are both intriguing, assuming we'd be going after the World Cup was done with. These two are also quite far from everything else, so either/both would definitely complicate the schedule unless we were able to keep things entirely to the Southern Hemisphere. NZ is of course down south as well...perhaps that could work out somehow?

How about:

(1) Start in YVR for AC tour, charter a bus to Boeing to see the new 787
(2) SEA to ICN
(3) ICN to NRT
(4) NRT to HKG
(5) HKG to home. There are plenty of *A flights in HKG to get to bring FTers home.

Also possible,

(1) Start in SEA, visit Boeing and then drive up/fly to YVR on a Dash-8
(2) AC tour, YVR->NRT
(3) NRT to SIN
(4) SIN to HKG
(5) HKG to home

Why not charter an A-380 and visit the Boeing factories with it!

(Just kidding/dreaming!)

Well... we did visit the Airbus factrories with a Boeing 757 last year.

Danny, I think most of us Europeans (and there were a fair few of us in % terms at SMD I) would agree with you in preferring to avoid the US. For us not so much for the visa issue, but for all the other hassles of travelling to the US.

Also I think it is worth reminding ourselves that when those from the US have problems getting visas, this is often as a direct response of the difficulty in others getting US visas (Brazil is a perfect example). This means that there are likely to be a lot of people interested but in the same position as Danny and yes flyertalk may be heavily dominated by US based folk, but lets remember to think of everyone here (Also I have a DK passport so probably need the fewest visas of anyone, but I am still willing to consider those that aren't so fortunate)!

The SA proposal has something as after the World Cup they should have some new hotels and maybe renovated airports?
I have no idea of the size of "Springbok Airlines" at their hub, but could imagine that a charter there could bring us to really interesting places.

But I guess SA would be the only airline/destination on that part of the world, right?

Concerning the visit of several *A-Hubs, I guess Asia might be most interesting besides some European Carriers. I still like the idea of flying round the mediterranean sea....!

Asia would mean long positioning flights for most attendees, I guess?

Asia and West Coast US are pretty much the same distance for Europeans. (And obviously Asia and Europe pretty much the same distance for West Coast Americans).

I must admit, I'd be worried that the TSA could create quite a downer on a US trip. Maybe I'm over estimating that problem? (For instance, I can't see the kind of helpful discretion that was shown at Passport Control the night of the LH Tower Party).

I thought LH just started a Baghdad flight recently as well? We could make use LH hospitality again!

I like your thinking there. Would it perhaps be possible to hire an aircraft and do NZ, SA, BR as a Southern Hemisphere RTW? (not sure on costs etc here, just throwing it out here)

I've been having the same thoughts, hence my reluctance to want to include the US as part of a SMD II. (BristolTraveller: maybe it's just the British news influencing our mindset )

I would be cool to get a inside tour of one of the big aircraft graveyards.

For me, I don't mind going to the US. OK, it's a little wait at immigration, but I don't find it much more bothersome compared to the rest of the world.

And the TSA are much better than does idiots doing the security here in Norway!

Wow. If that's not a damning statement, I don't know what is.

That would by your statement officially make the Norwegian security staff/process the worst in the world

From the few times I've flow through OSL I must say I don't agree! (however most of my trips to Norway have been via DFDS, so I will happily admit I don't have a very large sample to backup my claim) To each their own I suppose

All joking aside, I would prefer not having the US as part of the itinerary, but hassle and TSA stripsearches would likely not be enough to deter me from joining SMD II should the final itinerary include the US in some way. I trust Oliver & Co when it comes to planning the DO ^ (there are a lot of factors to take into account, so comprises will have to be made and my TSA avoidance could very well be one of them )

Avoiding the US means avoiding Boeing. If that's the case, so be it. We can hit Boeing on SMD III after all. But we do have to realize that TSA security hassles may be better next year, or they may be worse.

If we skip Boeing this year, I would suggest we may as well skip North America entirely and just focus on the Asian thing. As much as I'd love to see everyone in Canada for at least some of the Do, I'm not sure that AC facilities (+ Bombardier maybe) present enough of a draw to merit the time / effort / logistics.

I am really sorry I missed the first *A Do, and truly hope to make it to the second one. The main reason I was not able to come last time was the mid-week date.

- How many days can you be away to participate in a DO
I'd say Friday-Monday, or Thursday-Monday at a strech.

- How much money will you be willing to spend
Ideally under $1500.

As for ideas, anything in the US or Canada (hey, less immigration and security hassles here) would be good, Asia and Europe are debatable.

I've actually done the Boeing factory tour (with fellow FTer ausTXhiker) a few years ago and found it, ahem, boring given the expertise FTer already have (yes, I know that this is a 777, thank you). If we do it again, I'd hope that it would be a customized and more "revealing" tour.

Maybe we should also consider airport operators as hosts / activity partners, as they have just as much an interest in their most frequent users as airlines do.

I'd love to see a Boeing tour as part of this. I assume that once upon a time, the tours Boeing offers to the public were more interesting. By the time I got there, they had devolved to watching a movie and then looking out over part of the plant from an observation platform. If we were able to walk the floor, see how things are made, visit their customer center, get inside ZA00* (one of the 787 prototypes)... I'd jump through hoops for that. I was able to tour Lockheed Martin's F-35 assembly line last year and it was an aviation geek's dream. This could be even better.

Oh c'mon! You can't just say that here and not give details.

How did you get in? I assumed all this stuff is highly classified.