Hey there.. I was wondering what is thE best way to travel round the world on award travel...

I have 120k miles on delta, 73k on American, 85k MR points and 150k Chase UR points...

What is the best way to use them for a RTW travel? Open jaw business class with stopovers? Or RTW economy or bus. Class tix...

I can start from LAX or a major hub in Europe... I'd like to bypass north american and stop 1-2 months in South america... Australia 1 month... Japan 1 month and SE asia 1 month... India 2 weeks, dubai 1 week...

Thanks / meric

With those mileage amounts, scattered over all the carriers and alliances, you won't be able to get a traditional RTW ticket because you don't have enough in any single carrier.

For example, a RTW ticket in economy on United will cost 200,000 miles and right now you only have 150,000 (Chase points converted to United).

What I would suggest is booking a lot of one-way tickets and taking advantage of any and all of the open-jaw/stopover rules for each alliance. There are a ton of variables in play here, but I'd start by using milez.biz and plugging in each leg of your trip to see which airline's award chart is the best for each leg. Then, start piecing together all the open jaw and stopover rules.

The only downsides to the one ways is that AA will only allow you stopovers at North American gateway cities (which you said you didn't want) and United only allows stopovers and open jaws if you book roundtrip. Also, Delta doesn't allow one way travel.

I'd transfer your MR points to BA Avios points possibly and use that for your LAX to South America on LAN.

OP can transfer MR to DL and have enough for the 180K RTW in Y. Why anyone would want to do RTW in Y is beyond me, however.

-To preserve the excess miles for additional trips.
-The individual flights may not be that long considering all the potential stopovers.
-Someone is of modest stature and doesn't need the extra legroom.

I could see trying that with an AA Explorer award, since you can have a stop after every segment. However, what I can find about a UA RTW suggests five stopovers, and DL allows six. There are definitely going to be some long flights involved in pulling those things off, and there's more to J than leg room. The ability to sleep is paramount to me, particularly for flights between Asia and Europe or the Americas. A westbound TATL in Y is fine for me, especially if I can get an exit row, but much longer than that or overnight, and I really want J.

I think thats fine if thats your preference, but saying you can't see any reason why anyone would feel otherwise seemed a bit supercilious. Some people have no trouble falling asleep in Y.

+1

And some people can't sleep on a plane, even in J or F.

I did RTW in Y. I didn't have enough miles or money to do it otherwise. When I think back on the trip, I remember all the fun I had and the places I visited, but I don't remember the flights. Y RTW FTW!

Meric -

When do you want to do this trip? Do you have time to accrue more miles before you go, or is time a factor?

I am planning it for late 2013 or 2014.. I have plenty of time..so I can shift my spending or get new credit cards for the sign up bonuses..

I cant sleep in the plane no matter where I sit so dont mind flying Y.. Plus dont think I'll have more than one 10+ plus flight...

If I start in europe, first stop will be Dubai ( maldives maybe ) then India , SE asia, korea, japan, singapore , australia, South america europe... ( maybe USA in between )

That'll be nice if I can add south africa and kenya in between..

Based on your desired itinerary and timeframe I'd look into accumulating more AA miles as the explorer award would seem to be ideal for your purposes (160k in Y for 35,000+ miles flow). You will have a tough time avoiding fuel surcharges, but with a little planning hopefully you can minimize them.

I'll second this. There are too many stops for any other RTW ticket offered by the US programs without buying a lot of extra tickets. OP should start reading up on the explorer award rules.

I third this. Start saving up the AA miles, which really pile up easily. Get a few 50k signup bonuses on the Citi AA cards. Get the SPG Amex which will transfer to AAdvantage (if you get this card, I can refer you ).

Also, regardless of whether you go with AA or another airline, don't forget that you can fly into a region and explore cities and countries outside the destination city relatively cheaply. For example, you could fly into Singapore on your RTW / Explorer ticket, and then use local airlines, cars, trains, buses, etc. to explore SE Asia in general. Then when it's time to move on, fly back to Singapore on a cheap ticket to get back on your RTW / Explorer ticket. Not every leg of your journey needs to be built into the RTW / Explorer. The same can be done in South America and Africa. This is especially easy if you choose a fare that allows an open jaw or two, but it's doable even without open jaws.

Second this advice, but with the caveat that some inter-regional flights can be quite expensive and/or other modes less than reliable so it really pays to do your homework when deciding which legs to include.