Novice OW RTW Question
 

Hi,

When I first read about the RTW trip, it sounded like a great deal for a business trip from BOS-HKG, since I thought I could do:

BOS-LHR (AA)
LHR-HKG (CX or BA)
HKG-SFO (CX)
SFO-BOS (AA)

HOwever, when I looked at the rules, it said that any trips that include Europe neeed 4 continents. Can anyone suggest the least painful way of doing this?

thanks in advance.

My understanding is that when you include Europe, you only need 3 continents! I have done this many times and had no problem.

Your trip looks okay assuming that you are stopping in each place. I think the RTW requires a 3 stop route? Can anyone confirm or correct that?

What class are you planning to travel? If in First, might want to consider HKG-LAX on a 747 instead of HKG-SFO on a A340.

The Europe rule requiring 4 continents is for rtw's originating in the Pacific (i.e. Australia, New Zealand and a few other places). Basically to get to Europe you've got to pass through Asia (hence the extra continent) even if you do not stopover (i.e. take a single flight number through to Europe).

Great! Thanks for the advice.. I would be indifferent between stopping in LAX or SFO on the way back since it would simply be a stopover on the way back to home base, BOS. the fare seems great! $5500 for J vs $9000 or so when I price out a BOS-HKG in J on a regular ticket, and really, is not much on an scheduling inconvenience..

thanks

You might want to consider flying to Canada to start the trip. Although they have greatly increased the RTW fares from Canada, it is still cheaper than starting from the USA. You can buy the ticket directly from AA. It is priced in C$ and then converted into US$.

BAgold, the HKG-SFO is supposed to be using the new config of the A340, but only on half the flights. The other uses the old config. Personally, I agree with going through LAX. Or to JFK, for that matter, as I think American Eagle runs a commuter plane on that route. I dont remember if LAX-BOS is a flagship flight, but there are certainly more than enough available segments to fly to SFO for the flagship if thats what he wants.

Be careful of the minimum day stay. It is either 7 or 10 days. I don't believe there is any rule for a minimum number of stops. If in First on CX, MAKE SURE that you get the Betsy seats. It is worth the added time of a connection on a commuter flight.

Not all of the JFK-BOS flights are commuter flights - there are a couple of mainline flights each day, I think they were 737-800s. In the past, they were doing SAN-JFK-BOS, but that may have changed.