DONE3 help
 

I need some help sorting out my planned trip.

This is what I have plugged into the OW RTW planner at the moment.

CMB-SIN CX0710 17JUL
SIN-NRT JL0710 17JUL
NRT-HKG JL0731 25JUL
HKG-JFK CX0830 27JUL
--QFF SC Rollover--
JFK-ORD AA0577 02AUG
ORD-MCO AA1872 05AUG
MCO-DFW AA1589 08AUG
DFW-SEA AA2033 08AUG
SEA-DFW AA1230 08AUG
DFW-CDG AA0048 09AUG
CDG-HEL AY0880 12AUG
HEL-BUD AY3649 14AUG
BUD-MAD MA0582 14AUG
MAD-FCO IB3612 15AUG
FCO-HKG CX0292 15AUG
HKG-CMB CX0711 16AUG

quoted 838,591.00 LKR

I can’t find anywhere online that will quote a price for the positioning flights I want... (every where I look will either only get me to SIN or won’t give me a SIN-CMB option in time to connect with my first/last flights on the xONEx. If I get the CX SIN-CMB flights, it’s a simple turn around on the same plane. If I get another airline, I’ll miss the connection to/from the first/last DONE3 sectors)

16JUL
CBR-BNE QF950
BNE-SIN QF051
SIN-CMB CX711

17AUG
CMB-SIN CX710
SIN-PER QF072
PER-MEL QF776

23AUG
MEL-CBR QF850

Other then the stops in Japan, Hong Kong, New York/Baltimore, Orlando, Paris and Helsinki, it’s essentially a mileage run.
Current plans look like this

I have 425 status credits at the moment. With the above plans, I’ll get another 60 on the outbound positioning, then 440 up to my account rollover, giving me QFF Gold for the rest of the trip.
1150 SCs for JFK-CMB and 75 for inbound positioning. (wasn’t expecting that many... only makes me 175 short of Platinum...)

Is there any way to refine this any more? Is there anywhere I can get a useful quote/booking for the positioning flights without having to go through a travel agent?

Is there a good reason you're doing DFW-SEA-DFW not DFW-ANC-DFW? And also why JFK-ORD-MCO, not JFK-DFW-MCO? (just off the top of my head - you might be able to do better than DFW for the intermediate point)

I assume you're avoiding LHR for APD reasons, but even so, you can do a lot better for "HEL-HKG in four segments".

For example (and I guess this can be improved on): hel-mad-dme-amm-hkg

The timing of the flights. I'm going to be in MCO for an event and flying out MCO-DFW-SEA-DFW afterwards. The timings of the DFW-ANC-DFW flights would require me to miss the last day of the event in Orlando.
To stay within the rules, it has to be a single sector within North America, not a transcon and a city which then has flights to MCO. So either ORD or DFW.
There's more to do on a 2 1/2 day layover in Chicago then there is in Dallas. More so when you factor in public transport and accommdation options.
Though its:
ORD: 180SC 1,745miles
DFW: 210SC 2,374miles
I'll have to look into other ground options. If I can sort out transport and accommdation for Dallas, then I'll do that.

Of course. Though I also don't want to have to connect at LHR. It's a pain in the ....

Would I need a visa to transit Moscow? (AU passport)
I can't see any direct flights AMM-HKG.
I had first planned for HEL-FRA-HKG, then found I wouldn't have time to stop in Germany and saw that HEL-FCO-HKG was more miles.
Then I changed JFK-BWI-ORD to JFK-ORD, planning for a land return to Baltimore and extra SCs (JFK-BWI-ORD being single class Eagle flights), and had the extra sectors to make HEL-MAD-FCO-HKG.
I'm currently not seeing any other way to max points on HEL-HKG with the available sectors and still make the required connections.

RJ flies AMM-HKG (via BKK) 4 days per week. And their J is reportedly quite good.

How about JFK-MEX-MCO?

RJ182?
The oneworld timetable says it's Tue, Thu and Sat (in aug). I need it for a Mon (need to be in MEL morning of Wed 18th, which means I've got to get QF10 or QF72 on the 17th. So Euro-Asia needs to be Mon 16th Aug). It also arrives in HKG after CX711 leaves.

OK - if that's your restriction. Your original post implied that after HEL it was simply a mileage run (which to me means at least a little flexibility in timing).

I could reenter Asia at a different port (say SIN or BKK instead of HKG), but I can't change the date.

I'll confess I'm not the sharpest pencil in the pack when it comes to QFF SCs, but it seems to me like the redeye turn at SEA, followed by a long day at DFW waiting for the CDG flight sounds like the waste of a perfectly good opportunity to use a bed. (Sleeping on MD80s is not my cup of tea, YMMV.)

Instead, take the late flight to SEA via DFW, but then get a Priceline hotel near SEA (usually around US$50.) Then the next morning use your available transcon to go SEA-JFK, connecting on JFK-CDG. By my count (which is possibly flawed) it looks like MCO-DFW-SEA-JFK-CDG earns 10 QFF SCs more than going back through DFW. You're on a 767 from JFK to CDG, but many of us think the J experience in the 763s is superior to the J experience in 777s. You also get to Paris 2 hours sooner than by routing via DFW.

On the Europe > Asia side, I'd look at alternatives to HEL-BUD-MAD; maybe HEL-IST-MAD? Or see if you could do a turn out of MAD to AMM then back to someplace like CDG to connect out to HKG. There are some decent longish legs out of HEL in the summer.

What's the difference between J on a 763 and J on a 777?
It looks like:
DFW-SEA-DFW-CDG: 8259 miles 380SC
DFW-SEA-JFK-CDG: 7704 miles 390SC
DFW-SEA-ORD-CDG: 7521 miles 360SC
500 extra miles (+cabin and status bonus) or 10 extra SC...
I could use the miles for award flights or upgrades [on QF], or get a little closer to earning Platinum/OW Emerald.

Looks like my options are:
The redeye back to DFW then sitting in a lounge for 11 hours.
Spending the night in Seattle, putting up with TSA the next morning and connect right to the CDG flight, or
Spending the night in Seattle, putting up with TSA the next morning and spend 1.5 hours in a lounge before getting an extra 2 hours in Paris and +10SC.

Looking at the flight times for some of the longer European flights out of HEL, it’s going to be hard to get connections to work (eg, the HEL-IST flight departs after the Continental Europe-HKG flights depart). I’ll have to keep digging around.

TATL 767 have IMHO a better in-flight experience than a 777 but narrower seats. Posts on the AA forum seem to indicate a 80%+ Preference for the 767..after all, on a 777 there's superior Cabin in front of you. Negative is no OPUP Chance to First.

Last time I flew AA through SEA they had an excellent TSA First Class - Fastrack.

Remember there is no Premium Air Duty/Tax if you connect through LHR within 24 hours.

For sector fares from Singapore try http://www.zuji.com.sg/ Or http://www.airfares.com.sg

The FC fast track at SEA in the morning is a piece of cake. NEVER a wait. Also SEA has free wi-fi throughout the airport if that matters.

For me it would be a no-brainer: two nights with consecutive red-eyes v. a night in a bed? Plus, in August DFW's location in the middle of thunderstorm alley can and does make for interesting days - more than once I've stood looking out the window as the ground crews drop everything and scurry for shelter as the lightning flashes and the thunder booms, leaving planes half-fueled, luggage in carts getting well irrigated, and thousands of passengers wondering if they're going to get to Paris or Peoria that day. Feh.

The seats on the 763s are a little narrower than on the 777; however IMO the cabin is more user-friendly (2-2-2 seating instead of 2-3-2) and the service is usually closer to F levels than J.

Again IMO hoping for a J > F op-up on DFW-CDG is a waste of neurons. Way, way too many EXPs in the DFW area with SWUs to burn on longhauls.

As for the 500 mi. difference, I'd bet money that can be recouped with ease in Europe or Europe-Asia in your itinerary.

Okay I thought I would give this ago by no means optimized. BUT by changing the following although you would have to connect through heathrow but same terminal so no big deal I guess and as only a transit you could avoid the ADP.

So instead of CDG-HEL-MAD-BUD-FCO-HKG-CMB earning 500SC for this by going

CDG-AMM-MAD-HEL-LHR-SIN-CMB which would earn 540. This has two benefits takes you to where you want to go and works with your dates you get to try RJ which is meant to be very nice(perhaps if you can fit it into your trip ord/jfk-AMM is probably the best earner from NA-Europe for Qantas status credits)Secondly you could go QF380 from LHR to SIN which you might enjoy could use some of those hard earned points on an upgrade to First.

You could improve the above by simply going LHR-HKG-CMB which would give you an extra 20 status credits. so 560

I am sure people out there can tinker with the NA segments but the above works for your dates

Also it minimize using LHR as the hub for Europe as you can obviously get more status credits by going to muscat from LHR and also in Asia you could try and fit in either CGK or DEL from NRT for 120 status credits each way

The main reason I’m trying to avoid LHR is APD, followed by trying to avoid the mess of LHR connections. Over the years, I’ve had T4-T4, T3-T5 and T5-T4. Not something I enjoy (though I have to admit that the T4-T4 was the better one, but that was before T5 opened). The other reason I’d like to avoid the UK is the roll out of the nude-o-scopes. I can put up with a T3-T3 connection at LHR, so long as I didn't get shoved into a WBI.

Doesn’t look like that would work. Would need to overnight in AMM to get the MAD flight, then I wouldn’t be able to connect to the HEL flight.
Just checked flight times for AMM-BCN-HEL, same problem as via MAD. The flights can't connect.

Maybe CDG-HEL-GVA-AMM-LHR-HKG-CMB? In the middle of checking that now...
Looks like I can do it with an overnight in AMM, but I can't get to QF30. To make the HKG-CMB on the other end, I'd have to get CX250 [or get to LHR T5 for BA25].

Just checked that out, RJ262 (JFK-AMM) doesn't fly on 09AUG (a monday). RJ264 from ORD does, but doesn't arrive in time to make a connection towards CDG or HEL.

So QF32 or QF10 to SIN... I was on the 380 last year on an LONE4. Put in for an upgrade to Y+, didn't clear. (flight then landed in KUL due to weather and fuel)

My first plan (when I was planning as an xONE4 out of Aus), assuming I went through LHR was to get QF30 to MEL via HKG.

Asia is maxed out with the places I want to stop in at the start of the trip. All I can do on the return is make a single sector connection back to CMB. Either Europe-SIN-CMB or Europe-HKG-CMB.

Without checking how it might fit your plans, RJ also flies AMM-CMB 3 days a week (TWF)

Already mentioned. Post 4 and 5 :)