Gardyloo

Shouldn't be too hard, but research the AA board for questions regarding AA's FF program.

zflutebookk

Hi,
First, thanks for this - I'm a real novice! I'm thinking about using credit card sign-up bonuses to see if I can get enough miles to buy a RTW ticket, which someone told me requires about 150k miles. First, is this right? It seems kinda low. Second (and I don't think it is possible, but I wanted to check): can you combine miles from different oneworld partners to get this ticket? So if I have like 50k Avios and 100k AAdvantage, can I combine them?
Thanks so very much!

Gardyloo

Hi zflutebookk, and welcome to FT!

The RTW tickets talked about on this board (and on the other "global airline alliances" boards) are purchased-for-money tickets, not mileage redemption tickets.

Each airline has its own rules governing mileage/points redemption requirements, routing options, and so on. While a few airlines offer specific "round-the-world" awards (for example, Delta) others offer multiple-destination awards that don't require RTW travel, although of course you could travel around the world using those schemes.

Most airlines will not allow use of other airlines' miles/points on the same ticket. However you can combine programs in multiple-destination trips - use miles/points from Airline A to go someplace, then Airline B's miles/points to go to the next place(s) and so on. But that would have to be using multiple award tickets, not the same one. Hope that's clear.

Check out the individual airline boards for all the details you could ever want (and more, much more) on their own FF programs, and put on your thinking cap.

Again, welcome!

Meant to add, yes, it's entirely possible to go round the world on that many miles. For example using AA miles, an itinerary like New York - London - Bangkok - Hong Kong - Tokyo - New York could be done in economy for 100,000 miles, and in business class for 130,000 miles.

FlyingNelly

Hello. New to the board, and have had a good look round, but there is so much information on here! So I'm hiding in the newbie thread for now.

So - I am trying to book our honeymoon, and because I have somehow set my heart on the most expensive and seemingly inaccessible destination on earth (French Polynesia) I am beginning to look at the Global Explorer ticket. I found a thread on the oneworld explorer, so my first question is whether there is a similar one for the Global explorer?

Then:
-Is it generally considered a waste of a segment to use my domestic connection (EDI to LHR)
-We will be away for 3-4 weeks which probably isn't the best use of a RTW fare. What are the rules about breaking the trip. So if say I started it in EDI, then did South America (EZE, SCL, Easter Island maybe?), SWP (PPT), Aus, Asia (say SIN), and then say CDG (where I could book a separate AF ticket back to EDI), could I then use the remaining segments say to visit Africa or Indian Ocean on a later trip?
-How do I find out OW airline routes? I found an old link but it was a dead link.
-What about costings, what is the easiest way to find those?
-How do I maximise a route with WTP availability? I don't think we can stretch to J. Not all OW airlines have premium economy I presume?
-I've read about starting in another country being cheaper, how do I find out about this.
-As a BAEC member is it better to fly BA metal?

My other option is I have a 241 and about 100k avios, but this can't get us to PPT so it's still a very expensive add-on from LAX or NRT

And failing all that, someone please just tell me where to go on honeymoon, as at this rate I'm going to spend 6 times as long researching as I am actually going to be away!

Thanks so much for any advice you can give a total RTW and OW novice.

akersnl

I'm totally new to considering a RTW routing, so I need expert help If it matters, I'm about to be PLT on AA, and would want to accumulate AA miles.

I have been planning to purchase a business class ticket for the following:
STL-ORD-HKG, then I need to go from HKG to Tawian, then Taiwan to Malyasia, and then to Singapore. I was going to return from Singapore to ORD through Hong Kong. The order of the destinations is required by planned business meetings.

From the little research I have conducted, it sounds like I could get a RTW ticket in business for similar price to my original plan (~$7,000). I've also seen references that I might even be able to get a RTW itinerary in First for similar price.

I'm planing this trip for October. I don't mind returning to the USA from SIN, through LHR. I could use the extra miles towards achieving ExecPLT.

So, I guess my questions are: Can I conduct my planned routing on a RTW ticket? Approximately how much could I expect to pay for business? For first?

Thanks for the help.

FMWarner

Thank you for providing a place to ask dumb questions

I am on a Qantas flight booked with an AA mileage award. The AA record locator does not work when attempting to do online check-in on the Qantas website. There is no Qantas booking code of any sort in my confirmation email from AA. Does anyone know how I might check-in online, or am I just stuck checking in at the airport?

Thanks in advance!

pandaperth

You can phone AA and ask for the QF record locator

ps Welcome to FT

FMWarner

Thank you for the answer and the welcome

Mwenenzi

Plug the AA record locator in www.checkmytrip.com. That may show the QF PNR
Do you have a e-ticket number (May start with 081 ?)

ernestnywang

AA record locator does not work on www.checkmytrip.com, which is for Amadeus record locators.

Mwenenzi

True: try them all
Apollo/Galileo: http://www.viewtrip.com
Sabre/Abacus: http://www.virtuallythere.com
Worldspan: http://www.mytripandmore.com
Amadeus:http://www.checkmytrip.com

ernestnywang

Unfortunately, AA's record locator would not work on any of them. (Theoretically, it should work on Virtually There, but I believe AA blocks it.)

wijibintheair

Hi akersnl - not sure where you want to go to in Malaysia, but having a look at your itinerary may be a little difficult until Malaysian joins later in the year, but no one knows exactly when that will be.

Having a quick look you could do:

St Louis - Chicago - Hong Kong - Taipei - Hong Kong - Singapore (from where you could take a side trip to Malaysia) - London (suggest you use the Qantas A380) - Chicago - St Louis.

In business class with taxes in October this is costing out at US$10,988.00 so quite a lot more than the fare you have quoted above. However, you do have several more flights available to you - maybe some more travel in Europe?

Hope that is some help.

wijibintheair

Hi FlyingNelly - firstly congratulations on the upcoming wedding!

So, the Global Explorer is a good option having set your heart on Tahiti! You could fit into a tier 2 ticket - maximum 29,000 miles with the following routing:

Edinburgh - London - Rio or Buenos Aires - Santiago - Easter Island - Papeete - Auckland - Sydney - Hong Kong - Paris - London - Edinburgh - this routing would be around 28,500 so scraping in on the tier 2 limit.

Even at a higher tier with more miles available, you would not be able to return to Europe and then at a later stage fly down to Africa - as you are only allowed 1 intercontinental departure from Europe and that would be your flight from UK to South America. If you wanted to include Africa you could do so from Australia instead of traveling via Asia back to Europe. For example:

Edinburgh - London - Rio or Buenos Aires - Santiago - Easter Island - Papeete - Auckland - Sydney - Johannesburg - London - Edinburgh - this routing would be around 29,965 - so really maximizing your miles

WTP/Premium economy is available on a lot of the flights - especially long-haul with BA/QF/and several CX destinations. However, the upgrade fare is $1,450.00 from South West Pacific/Australia to Europe/North America/Africa/South America based on through fares - however, it seems you would not be doing any of these - all other upgrades are at $950.00 per sector.

One of the best ways to look at One World airline routes is to use the interactive map on oneworld.com

Remember than on a Global Explorer you are not restricted to OneWorld flights only.

This is a good link to get an idea of fares: http://www.wandr.me/RTW_Fares.aspx/ - from the UK currently is seems the 29,000 mile fare is $3,317.00 + taxes (which unfortunately from the UK will be high) The link will also show you the fares starting in other countries.

Hope that is of some help.

FlyingNelly

Hi and thanks for replying. We realised that a RTW itinerary might be a bit frantic as a post-wedding relaxation, so have decided to do a slightly less arduous trip to Oman and Seychelles. However, I was really excited by the idea of a RTW so we have decided to save up to aim to go in a couple of years, maybe for longer and maybe further forward in the plane . The information you posted above is very very useful in the meantime as I can start researching as soon as the wedding is done, with all my free time...

Thanks again for taking the time to reply, certainly the RTW can work out to be very good value compared to individual legs!