LONEx thoughts
 

I am thinking of taking the family on a LONE4 ex Australia
(DRW).

Plan is to visit at least:

• JNB
• Portugal via VGO or OPO
• UK/Ireland/Western Europe via land
• New York/New Jersey
• Possibly Florida and/or LA (Theme parks for kids)
• return to DRW

Some of this is for fun, some to visit relatives.

I was thinking of something like:

• DRW-xSYD-JNB
• JNB-xMAD-VGO (then via land)
• OPO-LHR (tour UK and Europe by road)
• LHR-JFK(or other)
• US including Florida eventually ending at LA
• LAX-xSYD-DRW (hopefully the engines are then fixed so we can fly A380. (although there are strange rules about only going DRW-SYD once in an xONEx it would seem like throwing in BNE fixes this)

Besides the things I know I want to do for sure things are fairly flexible and also the whole thing could be turned around so we fly east instead. While the bulk of the trip would be in Europe fun in Africa/NA would be welcome. So suggestions of desirable locations welcome.

Thought I would throw this out there to the xONEx RTW experts.

As you appear to be from DRW a cheap flight to SIN and DONE4 may be good value (JNB on Cathay ex HKG)
Mileage Monkey http://www.slfft.org/0.95022/award.htm is not up to date, but still useful
Itinerary DRW-SYD-JNB-LHR-MAD-VGO-MAD-LHR-JFK-MIA-LAX-SYD-BNE-DRW
And try the planner on www.oneworld.com

==
Oz Fest 8 is on in DRW in May as the link in my signature

If cost is a consideration you might want to start in New Zealand or even South Africa. A DONE4 from Australia will cost you more than $11.5K, starting in NZ it will only under $9.5K, if you can start it in South Africa the cost will be down to about $7K (savings of almost 40%).

If you start in JNB you can do:
JNB-xMAD-VGO,OPO-xMAD-LHR-JFK-MIA-LAX-xSYD-DRW-xBNE-xSYD-JNB (the stop in DRW can be as long as you want as long as you get back to JNB within 1 year of starting).

So you still have three more sectors. You could use them to visit the Middle East (replace xMAD-LHR with xMAD-xxx-LHR) as well as two more sectors in North America.

Depending on how you like to travel I'd suggest doing your itinerary backwards. DRW-SYD-LAX-MCO-NYC-MAD-VGO-LON-JNB-SYD-DRW. This allows for more overnight flights which are usually easier for people to adjust to. Also less repeat city visits.

Or maybe just starting in Indonesia which is very close to DRW.

IIRC, Indonesia is considered part of Asia so the DONE4 (SWP, AFR, EUR, NA) will have to become a DONE5 and the cost will go up to over $11K which will result in minimal savings at best.

For the time being I believe the cheapest origination point in SWP is NOU, although getting to Noumea from DRW might be more expensive than getting to NZ.

Correct the price difference is $0.5K (~6%) in favor of New Caledonia.

From you first FT post note the famliy is 8 people
Getting 8 D seats on all flights will be difficult (impossible ?)

Arrrg! I feel like a twit. I meant LONE4 not DONE4.

I have led all you good people on a wild goose chase. I am sorry.

Although, with my family I will be paying as much as a DONE4 ticket or two.

Much of the advice is still usefull, thanks all.

Given that this is a LONEx, you can save literally hundreds per ticket by flying trans-Atlantic from anywhere other than LHR, and by avoiding flying TATL airlines such as BA that charge outrageously high fuel fines. For example AA flights direct from BRU, CDG, MAD, MXP etc. avoid the UK APD and the absurdly high fuel fines. In economy AA is no worse (but also no better) than the high fuel surcharge airlines, and direct flights from Europe often take little longer than flights from LHR (due to LHR's congestion and related runway delays). In Business class BA offers a superior product that is often worth the premium, but in coach LHR departure avoidance currently results in very meaningful savings.

In this case both New Zealand (3rd cheapest WW at ~3,100 AUD) and New Caledonia (cheapest WW at ~3,000 AUD) can lead to meaningful savings compared to Australia (3,899 AUD)

Of course Indonesia is considered part of Asia. But starting and finishing in Indonesia would make it a DONE4 and maybe if the OP wanted to save money make it a DONE3 by dropping Africa.

But all not worth it if we are talking about a LONEx.