My first RTW
 

Going to buy my first RTW.
Start and finish in Moscow, Russia. I need to visit Hong Kong, San Francisco, New York. I would like to be in First class. There is only one flight with First class from Moscow - to London.
So I have some questions

1. How is better to fly - eastbound or westbound?
2. London - New York. BA or AA? And 747 or 777?
3. New York - San Francisco. Direct or with connection? 767-300 or 767-200?
4. San Francisco - Hong Kong. AA or CX? 747 or 777?
5. Hong Kong - London. CX or BA? 747 or 777?

Thanks for help. I am newbie with OW. In the past I used *A.

General feeling that West is best, as you just extend your day. But all depends on how long you are spending in each city.

I think generally in F - CX>BA>AA
With BA you want to try and pick flights with a greater probability of next gen F. I think 747/777 have similar rollout

Personally prefer the 747 over 777 with noise etc the same. You might also consider JL 787 for US to Asia (albeit only Business class), or add HKG-SIN and fly QF A380 SIN-LHR (until end March)

JFK-SFO - depends what you are after. Many on this board will try and max out the *ONE* fares so would go indirect.

AA doesn't fly to HKG; you're probably seeing an AA code on CX metal. I would definitely opt for the CX 77W with the new F suites.

Nah, try to get the CX 744 between HKG and SFO.

P.S. There's a lengthy debate between those who favor the 744 and those who favor the 77W for F. You can see which camp I'm in. Either way, you can't lose with CX F.

Many people here prefer BA F to AA F, but you'll find quite a few who prefer AA F. Tons of discussion with lots of details elsewhere, but in brief, AA has better hard product while BA has better soft.

Also, you'll pay significantly more in BA fuel surcharges if you book flights with a BA code (regardless of which carrier operates it -- BA or AA).

CX F is vastly better than either BA or AA.

The BA/AA F decision depends in part on when the trip will be taken, and whether the new AA 777-300s are running yet. The AA F Suite provides greater space/privacy than BA's F seat, but the older 777-200 Suites are being held together with duct tape. [That said, some of BA's cabins are really filthy dirty.]

I agree the suggestion about travelling westbound --- the eastbound JFK - LHR overnight flight is really too short for a proper sleep (often just 5 or so hours in flight time).

Thank you very much for your kind help, friends.

Sorry which airport in New York should I choose - JFK or EWR?

And one more question - if I buy RTW in business class is it possibile to upgrade to F using Avios?

No. I tried but BA says that it is disallowed on RTWs.

Should be possible but you can generally only upgrade on the carriers own metal (eg QF points only on QF, Avios (I think) on BA, IB and AA) but allow depends on fare class booked and the particular rules.

Wow, BA disallowed ?
CX/Asiamiles permits upgrade from business to First of CX flights of DONEX.
However, if a ticket is not issued by CX, practically very hard to sort out e-ticketing issue of award booking/ticket and original booking.
Recently I have read a thread about AA-RTW desk's handling of CX's upgrade reservation about this.

Edit:
Asismiles permit roundtrip upgrade from D class to First on BA and AA but not for oneway.
This is a tricky part for upgrade of RTW.
I have no real experience, but theoretically, Asiamiles permit upgrade for AA/BA's roundtrip flights within a RTW.

+1 @:-)

1) Westbound for me as it usually works better for sleeping
2) BA
3) Direct and 767-200 in middle seat to avoid having to climb out over a neighbour
4) Definitely CX and definitely 747
5) CX 747

That would be my personal choice ;)

Most likely you'll be flying to JFK if going west and AA does not have that many flights to EWR going east. Keep flying west as that will give you most time enjoying the F experience.