Hi all,

So I'm finally achieving an ambition I've had for a long time and heading out on a RTW [well if you can't do it for your honeymoon, when can you?]

I've plotted the following

LHR-SIN-SYD-AKL-PPT-IPC-SCL-LAX-SFO-LHR

Apparently it *just* squeezes into the 34k limit of tier 3, so we can go on a D ticket.

According to the booking which I can now see in my BAEC, this will generate 680 tier points. So my question is... when would I actually *become* a silver? At the end of the trip once I flew back into LHR of would it kick in before then? As we're flying business, I don't suppose it makes much difference as I don't think there would be any other silver benefits I wouldn't get as a paying D ticket customer?

Also is there anything I could do to generate MORE tier points than the 680 the booking is showing?

TIA...

To answer two of your questions, silver will kick in within ca three days of TPs posting to 600 (which with non-BA airlines can take a few days). However, there are no appreciable benefits to being silver if you are already flying in C, other than advance seat selection on BA.

You need 4 segments on BA metal in addition to the tier points, remember.

Of course it's your honeymoon (congratulations!) but I'll just mention a couple of points you might want to consider.

First, I doubt if you'll earn tier points on the AKL-PPT segment as it's not operated by a Oneworld carrier. I believe the same would go for any segments in a Global Explorer operated by a non-Oneworld member, such as Alaska Airlines in the US, etc.

Second, if you started and ended the trip someplace besides the UK, for example Paris or Amsterdam, the base price of the ticket would be cheaper by around �750 (prices vary with country of origin, big time) but also would undoubtedly save a LOT of money by not having BA add its fuel (or "airline-imposed") surcharges on top of ordinary taxes. Plus, you wouldn't pay the high UK air passenger duty level on longhaul departures.

A trip like CDG-HKG-SIN-SYD-AKL-PPT-IPC-SCL-LAX-SFO-JFK-CDG would earn more tier points (because of the SFO-JFK segment) and avoid UK APD. There's little doubt in my mind that the cheaper ticket, along with the savings on BA surcharges and UK APD, would save you enough money to fly to/from France (twice) as a mileage/staging run to get the 4 BA segments, and you'd still be ahead in terms of out-of-pocket cost.

Now all that said, let's talk for a moment about Tahiti.

For the time being, with Oneworld products you can only get to Tahiti from Oz/NZ using the Global Explorer RTW. (You can get there on Lan from South America but it's a cul-de-sac, since you can't "backtrack" between continents.)

Now - just saying - if you skipped Tahiti (or substituted somewhere else, or flew there "outside" the RTW) you could purchase a five-continent Oneworld Explorer RTW somewhere in the Euro zone for around �60 more than the 34,000-mile Global Explorer price originating in the UK.

Why? Because first, the OWE has no mileage limit, and is also good for a year. The absence of mileage limits would allow you to use all 16-allowed segments (over the course of a year) and even provide for a separate holiday (or, gasp, business trip) following your "return."

By starting and ending the RTW outside the UK, you would also benefit by not having BA as the first carrier, thereby avoiding BA's very high fuel surcharges (now called "airline-imposed" surcharges, but it's all the same - profit.) Plus by not originating in the UK, you'd avoid the high-tier UK air passenger duty that would be applied to a longhaul first segment. The savings in BA fees and UK APD would probably be enough to pay for your "positioning" trips to/from Paris, which, along with the post-return "holiday" would cover your 4 BA "qualifying segment" requirement.

But more importantly, this might allow you to achieve BA Gold (Oneworld Emerald) rather than Silver, with relative ease. For example, this route - CDG-DOH-SIN-SYD-BNE-AKL-SCL-IPC-SCL-DFW-SFO-LAX-MIA-LHR-FCO-LHR-CDG - by my calculations (double check for sure) would generate 1490 tier points; you'd cross 1500 (Gold) with a simple flight to/from Paris before or after the RTW.

In this route, note that you return from the US to London, followed by a separate return trip from London to Rome. In this case Rome is a placeholder; the trip could be to anywhere in Europe - Stockholm, Istabul, Barcelona... provided it's not in the "Middle East." This trip could be taken after "stopping over" in the UK for any length of time you want, up to 12 months from the ticket's issuance corrected - first flight. So it's like a second holiday.

Coming back to Tahiti, I've plugged in Brisbane in Australia if you want some semi-tropical setting. Or you could head to Lord Howe Island in Australia, or Cairns, but would have to adjust the trip accordingly to account for extra segments. Or if you were willing to "step outside" the RTW, you could fly independently from Auckland (during your stopover) to, say, Rarotonga (affordable on Air New Zealand) or modify the North American portion of the trip to include someplace in the Caribbean or Central America. The Oneworld Explorer is wonderfully flexible in this regard.

Probably a lot to take in, but my point is that RTWs are terrific dream machines, and after all, it's not just your honeymoon, it's the year following.

Massive thanks for your detailed reply, much appreciated!

Just sent you a PM...

Cheers

Alaska Airlines is a BA partner and earns avios, but not tier points.
http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/...-avios/flights