Hi everyone,

I've come across FlyerTalk links for years, and I've finally joined. A friend and I just got approved for a 3 month leave from work starting feb 1st. As a result, optimal ticket booking has taken on a whole new importance in my life!

Our itinerary so far has us going to Africa for 6 weeks, then to Papua New Guinea for 2 weeks of diving. The last month is still up in the air, but we're thinking South America, or possibly South East Asia (maybe Indonesia?).

First of all, given the large distances involved, and the fact that we may be crossing the Pacific in the Southern Hemisphere, it seems like the OneWorld Explorer would be the best fit. Would you folks agree?

Second, I'm in San Francisco and my buddy is in Sweden. I presume it'd be cheaper for me to fly to Europe and start the ticket there? Any other alternatives you can think of? (Thailand, NZ, etc are obviously inconvenient since we're starting in Africa.)

Once we've got the last month nailed down, I'll post the final itinerary here for feedback as well.

Thanks for the advice,

-Nick

Welcome to Flyer Talk nickbaum

For a loosely defined itinerary such as the one described above it is difficult to ascertain whether or not an around the world type ticket is suitable, and if so which one. At least without further information.

For example there are plenty of places in Africa that Oneworld does not serve, and intra-Africa travel on Oneworld is limited to a few places in southern Africa on a British Airways subsidiary and a few places in northern Africa (via European hubs). That doesn't necessarily mean the RTW ticket can't be used to cover the longhaul flights and travel within other regions but may restrict destinations or may mean you need other tickets as well to go to the places you wish to visit.

Papua New Guinea is not accessible on a One World Explorer fare because no oneworld airline flies there (Qantas flights are all codeshares on Air Niugini). However, you can fly to Brisbane or Cairns, from which it is easy to get to Port Moresby (on a separate ticket).

Hi Kiwi Flyer,

Thanks for your response! Let me provide some more details,.

Rough itinerary for Africa:
Europe > EBB > WDH (by land to) VFA > CPT > Australia

From Australia, we'd fly to PNG and back outside of the RTW ticket.

As mentioned, the last leg is still up in the air, but one candidate is:
SYD > LIM > SCL (by land to) BUE > Europe.

As you can tell, these are already somewhat influenced by OW destinations
Thoughts?

-Nick

Well, no way from EBB to WDH so that would be a land segment also. Instead you could consider ARN-LHR-EBB(land)JNB-WHK-JNB-VFA-JNB-SYD...
Or you could reverse the order and do ARN-LHR-JNB-VFA-JNB-WHK-JNB(land)EBB-LHR-SYD...Using the 2nd xfer in EUR is permitted from EBB but you would have to pay for Asia as the LHR-SYD stops in Asia.

Hi Jerry, thanks for the feedback. The lack of flights out of EBB is a pain indeed!

Here is the itinerary I've come up with using the OW planner:

LON-EBB(land)JNB-WDH(land)VFA-CPT-SYD-CNS-SYD-BUE(land)SCL-LIM-BUE-LON

16 segments, 77+ hrs of flight

Two questions:
* The availability for SYD-BUE seems really limited, we have to fly 5 days later than planned. Same for SYD->SCL, and yet that's supposedly a regular flight. I guess they have very few RTW class seats?
* I'd love to save a couple more segments for travel in South America. Which segments seem like the best candidates to replace with local low-cost carriers? Alternatively, is it still possible to purchase extra segments?

Cheers,

-Nick

To revise your itinerary to show segments, it looks like this:

LHR-EBB//JNB-WDH//VFA-JNB-CPT-JNB-SYD-CNS-SYD-EZE//SCL-LIM-EZE-LHR

Looks to me like 15 segments counting surface ones. You could use one additional segment overall, in either the SW Pacific, S. America or Europe, or you could purchase an additional segment in Africa (4 presently used). Alternatively, you could purchase some S. America flights outside the RTW ticket by using Oneworld's Visit South America product (details on the OW web site) with which tickets are fairly inexpensive.

Assuming you're traveling in economy class ("L") then yes, at times of the year getting "L" seats across the South Pacific can be troublesome. Remember you can book SYD/AKL-SCL using either Qantas or Lan flight codes, so be sure to try that approach when looking for open seats. That might require revising your S. America itinerary, but not greatly.

Actually, there's an additional segment at the end: EZE-MAD-LHR.

The Visit South America product looks interesting indeed. The alternatives I suppose would be to cut out the JNB-CPT-JNB leg or the SYD-CNS-SYD one, both of which are probably served cheaply by in-country carriers.

Re:SYD to South America, I looked at the SYD/ACK-SCL flights as well, and availability seemed no better.

We're considering splurging on business, but it's more than we really want to pay. However, if it made us more flexible re:dates, then it might be worth it. Is there typically better availability for business class tickets?

-Nick

BA flies EZE-LHR direct so you can save that extra segment.

For Australasia to South America you have a few options, all of which are sold separately under LA flight number and QF flight number (availability of which is normally different).

SYD-EZE
SYD-SCL
SYD-AKL-SCL with SYD-AKL on QF or LA flight not necessarily the same a/c that flies SYD-(AKL)-SCL.

Availability in business class is normally better, but still no guarantees there will be some seats available on some routes (such as Australia/NZ to South America).

I thought I had posted a response to the business class ticket but it's not here, so another senior moment. senior moment. senior... oh wait.

If considering business class you might think about originating in Jordan or Israel instead of the UK or elsewhere. The price of a DONE4 with those countries as origins is around US$3000 less than if originating in the US or UK.

You'd need to juggle your itinerary a bit, but could be well worth the effort.

For example, AMM-LHR-EBB//JNB-WDH-JNB-VFA-JNB-SYD-CNS-SYD-EZE-SCL-LIM-EZE-MAD-AMM is legit, or fly Virgin Blue or a Qantas special to CNS and back, and add Easter Island for two of the S. American legs and you've got AMM-LHR-EBB//JNB-WDH-JNB-VFA-JNB-SYD-SCL-IPC-SCL-EZE-LIM-MAD-AMM with still only 15 segments used.

Also I wouldn't ignore the frequent flyer benefits that might accrue from a business class ticket - elite status, redeemable miles - lots of them, lounge access, etc.

Thanks! I played around with the online tool today, and business does indeed seem to have better availability.

If we were to book business, we'd probably fly from Stockholm. My buddy works there, I have family there, and the latest spreadsheet I saw seemed to indicate reasonable prices from there. So 16 segments:

ARN-LHR-EBB//JNB-WDH//VFA-JNB-CPT-JNB-SYD-CNS-SYD-SCL//EZE-LIM-MAD-ARN

Gardyloo, I like the Easter Island suggestion, I'll see how that fits into our timing. I'd looked at it earlier, and the flight timing meant staying there for 4 days, which seems long, but maybe there's more flexibility in business.

-Nick

Alright, thanks to your excellent recommendations, we have a final, 16-segment itinerary:

ARN-LHR-EBB//JNB-WDH//VFA-JNB-SYD-CNS-SYD-SCL-IPC-SCL-LIM-EZE-MAD-ARN

We decided to splurge on business class, and managed to fit in Easter Island! The online tool confirmed availability for our dates, and I've gotten in touch with a travel agent in Sweden who is going to help us book.

One last question: miles. The OneWorld Explorer FAQ alludes to the fact that the different programs give different mile payouts. Is that also the case for D class tickets? If so, it sucks that our itinerary is heavy on BA... but no way to get around that given the destinations.

Judging from the L class table, our best choices would be AA (since I live in the US) or QF (good payouts across the board).

Does that sound right? Does it have to be the same FFP for all flights? Any suggested course of action?

-Nick

I might suggest that you contact TAL Aviation in Sweden - http://www.talaviation.com/info_page.asp?info_id=874 as TAL are AA's general sales agents in Sweden (and elsewhere - great outfit) and if AA issues the ticket rather than BA (which your travel agent probably would arrange) you could stand to save hundreds of dollars, maybe even over a thousand, in fuel surcharges.

All you would need to do is give the PNR (locator code) of the itinerary to TAL and they can issue the ticket.

As to FF miles, that's a subject of ongoing debate. If you travel enough that FF program status is important (fast track security, extra baggage allowances, free upgrades, etc.) then you probably ought to pick a program where you can leverage status from this trip. AA would seem to be the logical choice, since your itinerary in business class will give you Platinum (Oneworld Sapphire) status by the time you've completed it.

On the other hand, you'd have 4 BA-metal segments right at the beginning, and the "tier points" (BA's metric for elite status) you'd earn on your flights would give you BA Silver (OW Sapphire) very quickly.

Most people feel (me included) that AA offers the best redemption rates, especially given its new one-way redemption policy; however BA also offers excellent upgrades using BA miles on BA flights, which AA wouldn't give you.

I'd do some research. I would NOT split the ticket between multiple FF programs - use one, go for status, and enjoy the perks as well as the accumulated miles.

OK, thanks for the information. How can I get my hands on the PNR? Can I get that from the online booking tool?

As for FF miles, that's a tough call. AA seems like the best deal... but I frequently fly back to Europe, and BA would be nicer to have the status on. I'll have to mull that one over. I suppose I can change the FF number at check-in time, regardless of who I booked through?

-Nick

Yes, FF number is not connected to who issues the ticket.

When you said you were having a TA ticket it, were you just planning to take your itinerary to the TA and have them do it for you?

If so, you could do one of two alternate things. First, call the AA RTW desk in the US (1-800-247-3247) and tell them the itinerary and ask them to price it for sale in Sweden. They might balk as there are no AA segments on the ticket (since you're completely avoiding N. America) but they'll probably agree if you say you're trying to have it issued by TAL. Once you've finished with them they'll give you the PNR locator, then they'll send off the itinerary for pricing to their RTW tariff office in Ireland. 24h later you should have the result. When you get the PNR, you can phone (or email) Tal in Sweden and see if they will issue the e-ticket. You'd need to send credit card info etc. to them.

The other way would just be to contact Tal directly and see if they can ticket the trip themselves. I don't know how much authority they'll have on things like RTW products, but when you consider there's a lot of money on the line, it would behoove you to give it your best shot.

Alright, just tried calling the AA desk in the US, and they refuse to price it if neither crossing is with them. Even with much polite insistence, they told me to call BA.

I'm going to try to have TAL do it tonight (when they wake up), we'll see what they say.

If that doesn't work, would it be worth trying to book with QF, LA or AY? Do either of those have booking desks in Sweden?

Crazy idea: leave from the US. Between saving the roundtrip to Europe, and the lower taxes&fees through AA, it might just break even with the increase to 5 continents... and be more convenient too. The possibilities are endless

-Nick