Star Alliance: around the world
 

(AC, LH, RG, SK, TG, UA)


I am interested in a price comparison in/from different countries.

Here are the actual prices in Switzerland:

1=eco 2=business 3=first (there is no first on AC)
A=max 25'000 miles, B=max32'000 miles, C=max 38'000 miles

1A SFr 3'400=2'267$
1B SFr 3'740=2'493$
1C SFr 4'080=2'720$
2A SFr 5'800=3'867$
2B SFr 6'700=4'467$
2C SFr 7'300=4'867$
3A SFr 8'600=5'733$
3B SFr 9'900=6'600$
3C SFr 10'88=7'200$

If some of you would please invest a little bit of time (a telefon call, or even better ask at the ticket-counters: AC, LH, RG, SK, TG, UA, here in Switzerland they did let me copy a internal-paper with the rules) to find out. I appreciate.

Rudi,

I presume that you are looking for round-the-world fares on star-alliance. Is that correct ? I'd be happy to telephone my agent and check in Seattle or Toronto

yes please - STAR ALLIANCE

from dlbrown1: This is from/to St. Louis, Missouri in Business, your category 2A. The price I paid was $4604 plus tax of 95.51.

Here some (only max 32'000 miles prices from Australia from UA desk today in Zurich, Switzerland):

2A: Australian$ 2'939 (SO LOW they double-checked on my request)
2B: Australian$ 7'579 (that matches Switzerland)
2C: Australian$ 9'945 (matches Switzerland too).

But I have to buy the ticket in Australia (I can make the reservations here, but buy there).

I telephoned to an agent in Seattle
(Round the World Travel - listed at www.netfare.net) - I can hit all 6 Star Alliance partners with a SEA-YYZ-LHR-CPH-ZRH-DEL-BKK-HKG-LAX-SEA (unlimited travel in a single direction excluding Australia) and the fare in eco. class is USD $2549

Hope this helps.

thank you for all info's so far. In a week or so (I hope to get some more till then) - I'll try to make/give an overview of all informations - and than let's do what we like here most: DISCUSS/ARGUE/QUESTION POSSIBLE STRATEGIES .... i am looking forward.

this would be a good, cost-efficient strategy for united's promotion of flying all 6 star-alliance members between sep15 and nov15 for 50,000 bonus miles. would the round-the-world ticket(s) qualify for the promotion since most of the airlines only award mileage for certain, restricted classes? what "class" of ticket would the airlines place on a round-the-world itinerary?

Yes, the round-the-world ticket does fully qualify for frequent flier miles (at least the one I checked out) and you can get over 120,000 miles this way. (Check out Rudi's post in United a while back).

BTW, $2549 isn't the best round-the-world fare that I can get. However it is the lowest that allows the traveller to hit all 6 Star-Alliance partners and collect the bonus. Obviously saving $200-300 isn't worth it if you have to forego the big bonus for using all 6 Star Alliance carriers - it's better to pay the extra and get 3 b-class within N. America out of the bonus.

there are finesses about a one-years-travel-planning with combining different (2 ore more) round-the-world-tickets.

different targets can be hit:
- first of all: the travel-plans should nevertheless be reasonable and suite your needs (beside satisfying our thirst for miles)
- each ticket should just be under the mileage-limit of it's price-category (25'000, 32'000, 38'000)
- only the first ticket is the one which starts and ends at your home-airport
- the other ones you buy at the cheapest stop-over-places (but you made the reservations already before)
- for the star-alliance-promotion (sep-15 to nov-15) you make a puzzle of all 6 carriers (you don't have to fligh to Brazil or Thailand if it doesn't suit you: Thai you can fly one segment Zurich-Amsterdam, VARIG you can also make one segment from the Continent to London.

- Do the long-distances with YOUR carrier (the one you have the highest ff-status): to increase bonus-miles and to have better choices (vouchers/miles) and priorities (confirmable/100 hours etc.) for upgrades; no code-share-bookings are done by Star-Alliance on these tickets

- If in eco do only absolut necessary (and short) segments with Thai (they credit only 50% of flight miles).

more to follow

In the same vein, what is the cheapest fare that would earn about 20,000 miles on any Star-Alliance carrier. I am an Aeroplan Elite and close to Super Elite. I probably won't need the full 20,000 miles but I figure it will take me some place nice. Any suggestions?

Forgot to mention, I live in Canada but could just as easily fly out of Europe on an upcoming trip or out of U.S.

The cheapest way to get around 20,000 miles on a Star Alliance Carrier would be to take United to the Far East/Australia/India. Look up United's Pacific E-Fares on their website www.ual.com (they change often). A couple of current examples listed below. Aside from that you can buy a consolidated ticket to Singapore on Lufthansa from Toronto for around CAD $1500 and go via Frankfurt. I'm been told that Cathay Pacific has some great fares out of Vancouver; however I have no personal experience in that regard since my home is in Toronto

Pacific Economy E-Fares
-----------------------
Chicago (ORD)Auckland (AKL) $925.00
Los Angeles (LAX)Delhi (DEL) $900.00

Thanks for the info Megamiles. I can't use Cathay as it doesn't count as "qualifying" status miles to Air Canada's Aeroplan(it's unfortunate because they have some really cheap fares right now). The United possibilities look good but not as cheap as Cathay's.

Here is the answer to "What fare codes Star-Alliance round the world tickets use" (taken from the official Star Alliance RTW Ex Switzerland Quci-REference-leaflet):

First Business Economy
UA A D B
TG P J M
SK F/D C B
RG F C H
LH F D B
AC F C B

All these fares qualify for mileage-account and status miles - also for use of upgrade-vouchers/mileage-awards for upgrades from eco to business for individuel segements - but (since two months) no upgrades from business to first anymore. And the always book the flight-number of the actual carrier (no code-share-flights) on these tickets.

some more general informations about these tickets:

min stay: 10 days, max 1 year
stopovers (more than 23 hours 59 minutes): min 3, max 15
max 5 stopovers in the cont USA/Canada
Reservation and ticketing for first internat segment 7 days before dep.
Rerouting (not for first intercontinental sector): $75 per transaction-

Round the World
Prices from Thailand (Lufthansa's Thai site)
First Column RWSTAR1 25,000 miles
Second Column RWSTAR2 32,000 miles
Third Column RWSTAR3 38,000 miles
Prices in Thailand Baht
First Class 226,790 260,810 283,490
Second Class 145,790 167,660 182,240
Economy Class 95,400 104,940 114,480

These seem to be about the same as from US.

BlondeBomber and other Star-Alliance people living in Canada

Travel on United:
Go to from Toronto to Honolulu over the Labour Day long weekend - you can leave on Sat/Sun and return on Wed/Thu - the fare USD $285 round-trip + tax (total USD$340) is incredible - it's worth it for the miles alone - 9500 miles through either LAX of SFO - slighly less through ORD. I checked earlier today and it was still available -

BTW, I've never understood why people book so many ff award tickets to HNL. I always see discount fares coming up for Honolulu from major US cities yet a ticket to Detroit/New York/Washington DC is rarely discounted - even from Seattle I can always go to Honolulu for far less than NYC and getting an award to Honolulu means giving up the miles you would have got from actually travelling on a cheap, paid ticket.

thank you for your informations so far:

I am still interested to have fare infos form:

- Italy (normally they have very competitive low fares: UA flies Milan, LH and SK many places)
- Great Britain (I think ALL Star-Alliance-Partners fly LHR)
- France
- Hong Kong
- Brazil (VARIG's base)
- Japan
- Germany (LH's base)
- Danemark (SK's base)
- Canada (AC's base)
- South Africa (LH and RG fly there)

I will afterwards give an overview (on US$-base) and start the discussions of possible strategies etc.

here's the fares for travel commencing from hong kong, taken from lufthansa's greater china homepage...fares for travel from china are similar...

First, Star 1: HK$ 43,100 = US$ 5,561
First, Star 2: HK$ 49,570 = US$ 6,396
First, Star 3: HK$ 53,880 = US$ 6,952

Business, Star 1: HK$ 30,900 = US$ 3,987
Business, Star 2: HK$ 35,540 = US$ 4,586
Business, Star 3: HK$ 38,630 = US$ 4,985

Economy, Star 1: HK$ 18,900 = US$ 2,439
Economy, Star 2: HK$ 20,790 = US$ 2,683
Economy, Star 3: HK$ 22,680 = US$ 2,926

i think all star alliance airlines fly to HKG too...

BlondeBomber: you ask for 20'000 miles

I would make my 20'000 (Star Alliance) Status-miles and 40'000 miles overall:

One UA-Roundtrip-ticket (SFr 1'800 = US$ 1'200, a discounted fare (allowing upgrades):
- UA flight numbers only (UA flight numbers with LH as carrier allowed)
- I would upgrade the trip (except ZRH-FRA and FRA-ZRH) with 40'000 miles.
- one stopover on my way to Hawaii allowed (mine would be at Orange County)
- other stops with max lengths: 23 hours 59 minutes.

Routing:
- ZRH Zurich - FRA Frankfurt (UA code-share, carrier LH) 500 miles
- FRA Frankfurt - IAD Washington Dulles 4'080 miles (+ 100% bonus)
- IAD Washington Dulles - SFO San Francisco 2'419 miles (+ 100% bonus)
- SFO San Francisco - SNA Orange County 500 (+ 100% bonus) STOPOVER
- SNA Orange County - LAX Los Angeles 500 (+ 100% bonus)
- LAX Los Angeles - OGG Maui 2'486 (+ 100% bonus)
(I can have Isle-hoppers with Aloha for 5'000 UA-miles for return-flights)
- OGG Maui - LAX Los Angeles 2'486 (+ 100% bonus)
- LAX Los Angeles - SFO San Francisco (+ 100% bonus)
- San Francisco - IAD Washington Dulles 2'419 (+ 100% bonus)
- IAD Washington Dulles - FRA Frankfurt 4'080 (+ 100% bonus)
- FRA Frankfurt - ZRH Zurich (UA code-share, carrier LH) 500 miles

What I win:
Status miles 20'307
Total miles (20'307 + 19'307 Bonus) = 39'614
8 upgrade-vouchers for 500 miles each
the trip (and a lot of reading time on the trip)
.......

What I loose:
SFr 1'800 = $ 1'200
if I upgrade = 40'000 miles
if I do an Aloha round trip (isle-hopping) = 5'000 miles
time for the trip
my wife (if I don't take her with me)
.......

Unless my budget's at the breaking point, I
do not cash in all my miles for free tickets.
I go for the cheap ticket and then use the
miles for upgrades. That way I still get miles for future upgrades.

Why people book Honolulu over New York I have
no idea? Maybe people think those tickets are outrageous price. I got a very good
(not great) coach fare on United for my Maui
trip and used points to upgrade.

My friend from Texas is looking for a free
ticket from Dallas to NYC on American. I'll
ask my few questions on the American site.
CATMAN

Even without "round the world tickets" you could probably fly all six airlines of the Star Alliance for less than US$2,000. As part of research for an upcoming trip I found a simple round-trip from Stockholm to London covers three of the six for US$524:

11/14 ARN-LHR on Air Canada Flight 9302
11/21 LHR-CPH on SAS 504
11/21 CPH-ARN on Lufthansa 6298
Of course the same itinerary is only US$295 on BA alone or $344 on SAS alone!

I routinely see roundtrips on United within the US for under $100 on their weekend e-fares which I believe qualify for the Alliance bonus. That would leave $1,400 for travel on Varig and Thai. With the Asian turmoil, that's enough.

From Canada, for round the world, they quoted me for using Star Alliance carriers (all 6) and indicated that it was maximum mileage:

$6000(Canadian dollars) - economy
$7000 (Canadian dollars, about $4600 U.S.) -business class -- that sounds like a good deal to me! I didn't inquire about restrictions but he indicated it was a limited time special.

They also had a $3400 Canadian dollar fare with Air Canada and Cathay around the world but it would be pretty limited.

here are the fares from Germany (from a Bremen-weekend, where I did visit the Beck's brewery and a soccer-game: Werder Bremen-Nurnberg):

1=eco 2=business 3=first (there is no first on AC)
A=max 25'000 miles, B=max32'000 miles, C=max 38'000 miles
all in GERMAN MARKS
(the germans seem to like the 99 figures)

1A 3'999
1B 4'399
1C 4'799
2A 6'699
2B 7'709
2C 8'379
3A 9'999
3B 11'499
3C 12'499

Still very incomplete: no infos yet on US-fares (except one), just business-fares for Australia, no India, Japan-fares, no Sout-American-fares etc). More INPUT is appreciated.

Based on the informations we shared so far, I figured out (in US$):

Economy 25'000 miles
$2'317 (Germany DM 3'999)- $2'439 (HongKong$ 18'900).
But I guess Australia must be much lower if the information UA in Zurich gave me for 25'000-BUSINESS-class-fare from there as Australian$ 12'939 is correct (= US$ 1'735 only, UA-clerk pretends to have double-checked!!!???).

Economy 32'000 miles:
$2'543 (Germany DM4'399) - $2'682 (HongKong$ 20'790)

Economy 38'000 miles:
$2'781 (Germany DM4'799) - $2'926 (HongKong$ 22'680)

Business 25'000 miles
$1'735 ??? (Australian $2'939 ???)
$3'591 (Thai Baht 145'790) - $4'105 (Switzerland SFr 5'800)

Business 32'000 miles
$4'129 (Thai) - $4'742 (Switzerland)

Business 38'000 miles
$4'487 (Thai) - $5'872 (Australia)

First 25'000 miles
$5'561 (Hong Kong) - $6'087 (Switzerland)

First 32'000 miles
$6'396 (Hong Kong) - $7'007 (Switzerland)

First 38'000 miles
$6'952 (Hong Kong) - $7'700 (Switzerland)

(A$/$ 0.5905, SFr/$ 0.7078, Thai Baht/$ 0.0246, HK$/$ 0.1290, DM/$ 0.5794)

The airfares I posted above (in US dollars) were obtained from www.itn.net, a free web-based travel service. ITN's database and programs are used by the webpages of United, AMEX, and other major travel sites. You might as well go to the source to plan your travel, and then book on the airline's site in order to collect your electronic booking bonus.

Joining ITN is free and instantaneous from their home page. Rudi, you should try your combinations through that site, since it also lists on-time performance, availability within each fare class (not just seat class), exact mileage distances, etc. And you can price multi-city itineraries easily. Moreover, the site automatically tells you of cheaper fares (though I realize such an alternative might not meet the Star Alliance "6" requirement). The site quotes price in terms of the national currency of the origin of departure, so start your trip in the US if you want a US$ price quote. I hope this helps.

ferry: thank you. for planning (actual flight infos, mileage, etc) I use them often.

Pricewise very seldom: special fares like round-the-world-tickets or visit usa-coupons (3 to 8 flight-coupons for one-way-flights) etc. are not in that system. And those special fares beat the "normal, already discounted" prices BY FAR.

I'll get the US-Star-Alliance-prices for round-the-world-tickets on my next trip at the end of sep in the USA.

Doing a STAR alliance 1st class 38000km fare from australia. Published fare is $AUD10819 but you can get it through a travel agent for $AUD9800 which the way the South Pacific Peso is going converts to around $US6000