Oneworld booking and pricing experiences
 

Hi

Does anyone know the base fare for circle pacific 26,000k in f (A).

Fares used to be on the one world website but have vanished.

thanks

FRom expertflyer

ex-AUS, in A$
LCIR22 $3699
LCIR26 $4399
DCIR22 $9299
DCIR26 $11099
ACIR 22 $12099
ACIR 26 $14499

ex NZ, in NZ$
LCIR22 $3499
LCIR26 $4199
DCIR22 $8799
DCIR26 $10499
ACIR 22 $11899
ACIR 26 $14099

+ taxes ;)

Do you plan to start from AU/NZ?

What a timely post, as I was going to ask the same question today.

Does anyone know if you can go via SYD both ways on an ex AKL Circle Pacific? Reason being, if I was to buy an F ticket, I would want ALL long hauls to be on routes with an F cabin. An example routing I was thinking of would be -

AKL-SYD-LAX-LAS-BOS-JFK-SFO-HKG-SYD-AKL (this is over 26k according to great circle mapper) but is only an example. Assuming the miles worked out, would the routing be ok? I actually live in SYD, but want to start ex AKL to save money, and I do an annual trip to NZ which I can incorporate into this.

Cheers
Ozvirignuk

Certainly -

http://www.oneworld.com/content/libr...%20pacific.pdf

Its SWP-Asia/NA-NA/Asia-SWP or SWP-NA/Asia-Asia/SWP or Asia-SWP/NA-NA-SWP-Asia etc.

Backtracking within a continent is permitted.

FYI - fares can be cheaper from Hong Kong or Indonesia - source KVS

ex-HKG, in HKD
ex-DPS, in USD

rules changed or ?
 

That is interesting to hear ...
Have OW changed the rules in the past 2 years as I was not permitted 2 years ago on a Circle Pacific D26 to fly WLG-SYD-LAX part of my proposed routing as it was not in a continuous West-East direction.
I queried this many times with QF - called back several agents etc - and was only allowed to fly AKL-LAX direct - and is why i did a D rather than an A fare as there is no A option AKL-LAX ....
I wanted to fly WLG-SYD-LAX-JFK-ORD-LAX-HKG-MEL-WLG if I remember correctly
Does that now qualify as a valid routing ?
Many thanks

http://www.oneworld.com/content/libr...%20pacific.pdf

Its SWP-Asia/NA-NA/Asia-SWP or SWP-NA/Asia-Asia/SWP or Asia-SWP/NA-NA-SWP-Asia etc.

Backtracking within a continent is permitted.[/QUOTE]

There is NO rule in regard to 'backtracking' in the xCIRnn in relation to travel within a continent.

AKL-MEL-LAX-NRT-SYD-AKL is quite valid.

[/QUOTE]

Maybe your routing exceeded 26k miles and that is why the agents considered it invalid.

Circle Pacific expensive from OZ, how could I book it in HK from Aust.?.

I have a good Aussie mate lives in HK could book for me if need be, would that work?, but then how do i get my QFF points?, or is it just that they in HK want to make sure of payment?.

That's very interesting. Could someone please post the costs from China (PEK) as well?

[QF Mod Hat]

This is best in the OW forum - QF regulars have added the "oz" insight...

[/QF Mod Hat]

Circle pacific with miles is just the standard mileage to miles chart for oneworld awards?

Seems like a paid ticket is the way to go...

deleted

Circle Pacific is a paid ticket, with a maximum mileage of 22,000, 26,000 or 29,000 (if Sth America is included)

Nothing to do with award flights

From KVS

I've just checked my proposed routing and it was WLG_SYD_LAX-ORD-JFK-HKG-MEL-WLG and it was under 26,000 and the agents clearly stated that the problem was the backtracking from going west to east to west again ....

But I"m going to give it another go as i've a similar trip coming up!

Maybe your routing exceeded 26k miles and that is why the agents considered it invalid.[/QUOTE]

You will certainly get the points by adding your QFF no to the booking. I can recommend a decent travel agent if you pm me.

Boar, my understanding is to get the CP in J at near half price have to do out of HK, so do you have agent there?.

Have completed three of these ex Australia. The fares on the Oneworld web site vanished and i assumed it was for some upcoming price increase along the lines of the 2008 horror.

Pleased to see they are the same. Complex beasts to organise, book and actually travel on. Have come to expect at least a few problems when Cathay and American Airlines are involved.

Have Qantas on speed dial as the other partners won't lift a finger to sort out problems they create. A few weeks back when my circle pacific delinked it was Delta Airlines that came to my rescue and patched it all back together. American Airlines were understanding but wouldn't do anything as Qantas was not part of their 'strategic Alliance' with BA and Iberia. Makes me wonder what the point to Oneworld is.

As the Circle Pacific fare from HKG from say Sydney is half the price and I realise I'd miss out on SYD/HKG leg so would buy a Y ticket to fly out to HKG, how could I book it in Hong Kong as I'm located in Australia?.

Anyone know where I can buy a Circle Pacific fare (I live in OZ) from Hong Kong?

See boar's post earlier in the thread
He invited you to send him a private message to get details of a HK based agent he knows

I'm sorry........its cheaper from New Zealand plus its in NZ dollars???

So the 26,000 k F is A$14499 in Aus and A$10800 in NZ?

So all I need to do is buy a flight from Australia to Auckland and I save almost $4000 per person?

There has to be a catch surely (apart from buying through an NZ agent)

There's no catch

The fare is published in NZD - NZD14099 for an ACIR26 - plus the taxes and fuel surcharges.
If you pay with an Australian credit card, what it costs you in AUD will depend on the AUD/NZD exchange rate on the day your c/c company does the conversion

That plus a nice 3% fee for the cc company after they do the conversion at the prevailing rate.

Not all credit cards charge a conversion/transaction fee.

Granted, but if the 3% triggers travel insurance and gives one point per dollar (or better), then it isn't so bad.

For a card that doesn't charge any conversion fee and, in my experience, uses a very good exchange rate, try the 28 Degrees MasterCard (formerly Wizard Clear Advantage).

So I've gotten to the stage now where I've decided my itinerary for next year's holiday, and thought before I get too excited, I should get a travel agent (other than the one I work for.. my consultants are way too busy...:p) to validate my planned ACIR26 itinerary ex AKL. I contacted Amex Platinum Travel

The routing I'm planning is

9/4 AKL-SYD
20/6 SYD-LAX-LAS
27/6 LAS-JFK
08/07 JFK-HKG
16/07 HKG-SYD
15/09 SYD-AKL

Apparently this is not allowed, as I'd be "stopping" in Sydney twice in the itinerary, and you're only allowed to stop in any city once. Advice I was given was to fly to a different Australian port, but there are no others with an F service from HKG.

I have gone back them and said what if I 'transit' through Sydney on the way back, ie fly HKG-SYD on QF in F, then be ticketed to connect to AKL (maybe on a flight much later that day). Would that be allowed? I could then just check-in for the HKG-SYD, and "miss" the connection.

Does this work? Is it possible?? Advice greatly appreciated.

PS - forgot to mention, when I plug in a RTW in the Oneworld planner, it has no issue with me "stopping" in Sydney twice. I thought the principle for RTW and CIR would have been fairly similar.

Cheers
Ozvirginuk

Certainly it will work. Either one of your Sydney stops must be strictly less than 24hrs - 23:59 is OK, 24:00 is not OK
I suggest you schedule the final SYD-AKL flight to be as close as possible to 24hrs after your scheduled arrival into Sydney from HKG - that way there will be no questions asked when you request that your bags be tagged through to SYD only, not AKL

The rules of the two tickets are quite differentAmongst other differences, the Oneworld Explorer has no restriction on multiple stopovers at the same city (I have heard tell of someone who stopped over in NYC four times on a Oneworld Explorer ...jfk-bgi-jfk-nas-jfk-bda-jfk... - it was his hometown after all:D)

I have sort of a subjective/philosophic question about the Circle Pacific fare and I wouldn't mind hearing experiences and opinions from folks who have taken a Circle/RTW trip before.

I was originally looking at a DFW-LAX-MEL-SYD-DFW itinerary, which in discount business (I) would run about $8500 before taxes. Then I noticed the existence of this Circle Pacific, which in D from the US appears to be about $9300 -- so for less than $1000 more, I could tack on NRT-KIX-HKG or start from LAX and maybe tack on HKG-BKK-KUL (or any number of permutations) and still be under the 22k mile limit.

This would be leisure-only trip for 2 weeks (can't be flexible on the 2 weeks). Having never been to any of the places on either itinerary, were you happy cramming in a lot of destinations in a short period of time, or would you have preferred more time in just one continent?

Thanks.

Obviously those are personal questions; two weeks including travel time (call it 2 days in each direction counting day/night and date line just for US/Australia, call it 4 days if Asia < > Oz are included) means 10-12 days of "functional" time. If you can visit a place and see a lot in 48 hours, then hitting five or six cities is okay. If you want to see more of a place (and possibly sleep in beds instead of on planes) then it would probably be too much. Hard to say. But remember that BKK-SYD is almost 5000 miles, so not exactly a puddle-jump in time terms.

At $9300 plus taxes, however, I'd be inclined to look at RTW fares instead of Circle Pacific. If, for example, you flew relatively cheaply to Europe, you could conceivably start a 4-continent RTW in someplace like Poland for under $8300 plus taxes, or around $7000 - $7300 in the "near" Middle East. Then fly east - to Asia en route to Oz, then home... and still have six North America segments and a couple of European ones remaining, which you could use over the space of a year.

In other words, do your Australia vacation (via one or two stops in Asia) then travel for pleasure or leisure around North America - including the Caribbean, Central America, Alaska, whatever - before ending the trip in Poland (or, cheaper, Israel, Egypt or Jordan) sometime within the next year. Use miles to get to Europe in the first place if you have them, optimize your route and maybe hit EXP with all the EQP, and your money stretches even further. If you're looking at $9300 plus tax for a DCIR22 from North America, vs. $7200 plus tax for a DONE4 from Israel or Jordan, could you get yourself from DFW to TLV, AMM or CAI and back for $2100? (Short answer, "duh.")

So for example, use miles, DFW AA ORD RJ AMM, which would take less time than going to Oz. Spend a few hours in the lounge at AMM, then start the (paid) DONE4...

AMM RJ BKK CX HKG QF MEL QF SYD QF DFW. (Then pause the trip and go back to work.)

Then, later (imaginary) DFW AA ANC AA DFW AA YVR CX JFK AA DFW AA MAD IB IST BA LHR RJ AMM, then miles home. There are literally thousands of permutations on this theme. IMO way, way more bang for the buck than the DCIR22.

Wow, thanks for taking the time for such a detailed response with some great ideas. I really appreciate it.

Thanks pandaperth. That's good advice. I'm thinking arriving in Syd on QF128 at 06:55 and being booked on SYDAKL the following day at 0625. That's 23:30, so providing no schedule changes, that will work, otherwise, I"d go for the 1825 flight on the same day as landing...

Thanks for everyone's contribution and advice. I love this site...

Cheers
Ozvirginuk

Of course, doing that should save the AU$47 departure tax as well. ^

Good point serfty. Between myself and my partner that's half a hotel night in LAS!!

Do circle pacific rules allow me to travel mel-dfw-jfk-ord-sfo-hnl-mel?

Its south pacific in one direction and central pacific in the other. Well under the 22,000 miles but I'm not sure what they consider central pacific and how many stops i'm allowed in the US. DFW would be just a transit point to JFK.

thanks

Probably not. It appears to me that you have two south pacific crossings and no crossings of the north/central pacific. If you continued on from hnl to nrt you would satisfy the rules.
See these threads where hnl routings were discussed:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...e-pacific.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...ific-dcir.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...central+circle

I Just Booked Circle Pacific 29,000 Revenue J
 

I just ticketed a circle pacific J yesterday: HKG-BKK-NRT-ORD-MIA-SCL-AKL-SYD-SIN-HGK 28,378 MILES

FARE-HKD 50520.00 EQUIV FARE-CAD 6795.00 TAX/FEE/CHARGE 70.30
TICKET TOTAL 7165.30