AONEx vs. DONEx
 

Is flying AONEx worth the extra cost in terms of lounge access, comfort, etc? I tried to find a thread that directly addresses this issue but I could not. If there is such, please point me to it. If not, I would like to hear your opinion. For example, I have created AONE4 itinerary:

pdx-xdfw-bos-xlhr-del-bkk-nrt-xhkg-sin-syd-cns-ayq-syd-xlax-xdfw-pdx

which is around $13,500, ~36K miles, while if I do the following DONE5:

pdx-xdfw-bos-xord-del-bkk-nrt-sin-syd-cns-ayq-syd-scl-ipc-scl-xdfw-pdx

I pay only $9600, get 10K more miles, and see more places. Obviously DONE4 will be even cheaper. Another disadvantage of AONE4 is that about half of the flights are downgraded to D.

On the plus side for AONE4, I can try the 3 famous F lounges - HKG (hkg-sin with CX F), SYD (syd-lax QA F), and LHR T5 (lhr-del BA F), and I can fly sin-syd in A380 F with QA. Is it worth the extra cost? Any tip is appreciated. Also, if you have ideas on how to optimize the mileage on both, I would like to hear them, although I want to visit most places on both itineraries. Thanks!

Hi. I'm not going to get into how to optimize your mileage collections, there are plenty of people here who know far more than I about that.

I do, on average, three AONE4s annually. A quick glance at your initial itinerary shows limited F cabin availability. If you can adjust the itinerary for more CX, BA and new cabin JL F, then I'd say yes, go for the AONE4. QF has a perfectly good F service, but the hard product is lacking, with absolutely no privacy on the 744. I'd say that CX (from experience) and new JL (from what I've read in FT) F cabins are currently the top of OW F.

The lounges by themselves are not worth the extra money, IMO. If you end up traveling on a DONEx, you may very well find someone on FT who will guest you into one or more of the F lounges.

First, welcome to FT!

Next, a not-so-minor nit...

ORD-DEL is regarded as transatlantic, and AA's interpretation is that simply overflying Europe (even the Russian arctic) makes it "count" as a continent. Now, you might be able to get the online booking tool to bless the itinerary as an xONE4, but if you tried to book it with AA humans you'd be charged for an xONE5.

As to your main point, well, only you can decide if 3 or 4 true international F segments out of 16 is worth a 40% increase in price. In terms of mileage accrual (most, not all programs) it won't make much difference. You would get access to some pretty fine F lounges, e.g. QF's in SYD, but, again, it's a judgment call.

Presumably you're aware that XONEXs bought in other countries than the US can be cheaper - sometimes considerably - and often at a final price that still justifies the cash or mileage cost to access the starting countries. For example, an AONE5 ticket bought in Israel or Jordan is almost US$3000 cheaper than if bought in the USA; a DONE5 bought in Israel/Jordan is almost $2000 cheaper. The advantage of those tickets is that you're not limited to two stopovers in N. America, so if you have any domestic flying to do in N. America you have the full 6 segments and 6 stopovers at your discretion.

Do you have any preference for Oneworld mileage plans? It might make your decision on routing easier (or more complicated) - e.g. no AA miles on any BA segments from the US to the UK (and no BA miles on any AA transatlantic flights.) Is PDX home? If so, then you might consider using N. America segments for more productive mileage-earning routes, and just get to/from PDX using AS or tickets bought outside the RTW.

The fares you quote are incorrect. You may want to doube-check at the oneworld fare estimate page

I did almost all of my RTWs so far in F (mostly on Star now, but this is a different story).
For short flights the difference is not really worth the price difference. Inside Europe you will not find F, in the US F is crappy anyhow and you can fly F with a DONE, inside Asia there are a few flights with F but if you don't specifially plan your routing you will end up in flights without F anyhow. Same for South America (LAN does not have F)
So it comes down to F between the continents. Are you willing to pay an extra 1000 $ (your cost difference will likely be somewhat different) for the 10 to 15 hour flight?
My personal opinion is: absolutely on CX, JAL. Perhaps on BA and QF (not been on the QF380 yet). No way on AA. So your routing does not look like an AONE makes a lot of sense.

Your routing is also not ideal for Star. Their Sout America Network is almost non existent, also your only choice between the South Pacific and the US is UA and even their new F is substandard.

Thank you all so far for the suggestions! I read several trip reports as well, but I am really interested to hear more personal experiences comparing A and D classes. For example, what makes the A experience so much better on CX, JL or BA?

Thanks! Since I live in the US I would prefer to earn AAdvantage miles. I would play around with other starting points to see if they can bring down the price.

I used the online booking tool and these were the prices that appeared in the end.

Thank you Unterwegs. Actually, I played with *A as well, with different itineraries (no SAmerica or Australia), but it looked like they were much more expensive and the mileage accrual opportunities are much smaller, as one of the previous threads has pointed out. Of course, I would love to hear your opinion.

That looks like yet another bug in the online booking tool - it appears to be pricing your second itinerary as a DONE4 (although even then $500 tax on the $9100 base fare seems a bit low when the AONE4 has $1000 tax on the $12500 base fare for much the same itinerary). As you noted it should be a DONE5, for which the base fare ex-USA is $10400, so the all in price will be at least $10900. I guess this would get spotted once the quote leaves the online system and goes to a real ticketing office for confirmation.

Depending on your AA flying before the trip you might reach AA EXP status halfway through the trip which will give you F Lounge access anyway. This would take away another important point in favour of a AONEx.

Is flying first class worth a few thousand Dollars? To many people here it is. So if you can afford this sort of money, go for it (but maybe maximize the ticket a bit more).

Is this perhaps a result of the rather curious wording of the relevant rule regarding travel DEL-ORD:
The rule does NOT say that Europe must be included as a continent. (Contrast this with the rules regarding travel from SWP to Europe and Japan to Sth Am - which explicitly include the extra continent)
I wonder if anyone has successfully ticketed without having Europe included?

We've speculated on this before - if the OP does get that ticketed as a DONE4 then we would know the answer... But my money is on sloppy wording as usual.

Before taxes etc. A DONE4/5 prices (likely starting spots) are:
South Africa <$6,500/<$7,500
Africa $7,100/$8,100
Israel $7,200/$8,500
Jordan >$7,200/<$8,600
South America $8,400/9,500
North America $9,100/$10,400
Euro ~$9,400/>~10,650

AONE4/5 prices are:
South Africa >$9,800/>$11,300
Israel $10,000/$11,700
Jordan >$10,100/<$11,900
Africa $10,800/$12,400
South America $11,400/13,200
North America $12,500/$14,400
Euro ~$16,300/>~18,000

The differences are big.

Thank you everyone. Your suggestions have been very helpful. Indeed, it is much better to buy the ticket from JNB if I find the time and a good price on a round trip. And I might see some World Cup games as a bonus :)

Or use miles to get there and just save the tail end of the ticket to get back to JNB at the start of your next trip. It's good for a year.

On CX:
Meals - vintage champagne, caviar and some of the best food I have had in the air, both Chinese and Western. you can pick and choose from courses, and breakfast is cooked to order. All when you want it.
Service - is generally unobtrusive but excellent, with a high staff-to-passenger ratio.
Seat - is both airy and private, has its own wardrobe where you can stow your coat and bag. When expanded into a bed, it's very wide at the head, but narrower further down. Nice duvet and Shanghai Tang travelling pyjamas. "Exclusive feel" environment if on a 747 as you're in the nose.

Interesting - you're the first person I know of who prefers the Deutz vintage to the Krug (non-vintage).