am i correct that a rtw fare should be better for more miles [ going to australia to visit but need to got 25k mi for spouse] w/ rtw owe , we can get 12-13k in north america. would it be worth while to check out the circle fare? thanks

A regular Circle Pacific is probably not going to yield much more than 20K. If add on the South American surcharge that should put you over the line. However if you do that you may find that the Circle Pacific fare does not represent value for money when compared to a 3 or 4 continent owe. Also factor in that the Circle Pacific rules are far more restrictive than the owe.

thanks mgm. it is what i expected. iwill continue w/ rtw & not look into pac circle.

I don't know if I'm way off in understanding your question and thus, in giving an appropriate answer but hey, you get what you pay for. If you are in continental USA, (your handle shows Dallas), travelocity shows a base fare of about $675 from LAX to Singapore with American Airlines. The routing is LAX-Sydney on AA codeshare\Qantas metal, (stopover allowed I believe in SYD), then BA from Sydney to SIN. Good on the return. Assuming Q miles are 1 to 1, actual flown miles are somewhere around 22,500 roundtrip, for a total cost of low $700. Hope this helps somehow.

thanks crankyusi. we wan't to be in f or j or equivalent. i'll remember your input.

[This message has been edited by clacko (edited 07-17-2001).]

crankyusi - you are kidding me!?!?!? What an incredible fare. I've never seen LAX-SYD for much less than $1000. If I could stand flying coach it would be a great deal to rack up some serious miles. If the flights are booked as AA & BA you get 1:1 q-miles, then 50% q-points. If there is a QF flight number involved then you only get 70% of the base miles. But hey, even that would be a bargain.

Hmmm, maybe I should tell some of my friends in LAX & DFW. They might want to do a mileage run. Though I can't imagine any of them being too thrilled at the idea of 14+ hours "down the back"

Hey all,

What are the details on this fare? I can't seem to find it and I need to use up some vouchers and rack up some miles <grin>.

Thanks.


------------------
Travel light, travel cheap, travel often

You are 110% correct! I cannot believe my eyes!!! This is almost as good as my discovery of TLL-SYD/MEL RT/RTW fare! Thanks for this great tip!! I should also mention that this great fare is valid for LAX-BKK, NYC-HKG!! also NYC-BKK for $850 to mention a few.

I'd be interested if anyone is able to confirm booking the LAX-SYD-SIN route for $675.

It looks to me as though this is a case of the fare rules on Travelocity not being complete. Looking at the fuller rules on Expedia it says that AA flights 6000-7999 are not permitted which excludes all non-AA metal codeshares. Travelocity only lists a few flight numbers not permitted but they all are JAL and other carrier operated flights.

I think this fare allows you to fly AA LAX-TPE/NRT and then connect onto SIN/BKK/HKG on another carrier.

If you want another example of less than complete rules on Travelocity look at CPT-EZE. There is an AA fare of about $500 and reading travelocity's fare rules would allow the following CPT-LHR(BA)-JFK(AA)-EZE(AA)-MIA(AA)-LHR(AA)-JNB(BA)-CPT(BA). If you look at Expedia though it actually lists the only valid routing as CPT-NYC(AA)-EZE(AA) and of course since AA don't have any flights from CPT to NYC its impossible to get the fare. Its a throwback to when AA code-shared on SAA's flights.

So don't believe everything you read except this - if it looks too good to be true it probably is.

I wonder if you would believe, San Jose California to Paris, roundtrip, for $85, bought 7 tickets, all upgraded to business-class. Very far-fetched, impossible, I know, but, the miles did post.

Also, 3 minutes ago, travelocity allowed me to choose seat assignments on the AA codeshare on Qantas metal LAX-SYD, but the SYD-SIN was on Singapore Airlines or Ansett and the options to choose seats on SIA was not available. Moved to the next screen where it said enter credit card, which is where I bailed. Good luck guys\gals, appears to still be there. But, if it does not complete the purchase, definitely advise everyone. Till then, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Not to mention the seventeen cent fares from Portland Oregon to France\Germany I missed out on. Gotta shop till you drop

With one eye very firmly fixed on what's happened in the past that was why I said "probably" rather than "definitely". I still think I'm "probably" right but if I'm not I'm in the market for 3 tickets!

And after all Las Vegas thrives on the fact that the wildly improbable very occasionally happens. Personally, I'll usually back the short odds favourite over the rank outsider. But then that's the reason why I'll no doubt never retire early

[This message has been edited by 3544quebec (edited 07-23-2001).]

Talking about the deals that are too good to be true... there was a deal a few months ago on BA that allowed AKL-HKG-LON-EZE-SCL-EZE-LON-ARN-LON-BKK-SYD-SIN-LON-HEL-LON-BKK-SYD-AKL and all this for a mere US$3500 in BIZ. I wonder what would have happened had I booked a few...

My apologies crankyusi - I'm just going out to buy a lottery ticket!

I've done a little more investigating and the N class fares (NX7P4A,NW7P4A etc) starting at $US658 LAX-SIN have the restriction no AA flights in the range 6000-7999. The M Class fares(MNXAP6MO etc) starting at $US679 have a limited number of codeshare flights that are not permitted which do not specify the QF-operated flights.

One of the rules is MPM routings are allowed which means that your total flight mileage is limited to the MPM for LAX-SIN but can be surcharged in 5% fare increments up to 25%. It also means that if you have a stopover in Sydney the HIP fare will be charged.

Testing this out on AA.com LAX-SYD-SIN-SYD-LAX without stopping in SYD prices at $US747
which happens to be the base fare $679 plus 10%. The MPM for LAX-SIN is 10514 and the Ticketed Point Mileage (TPM) LAX-SYD-SIN is 11383 which works out at 8% over the MPM explaining the 10% surcharge.

LAX-BNE-SIN-BNE-LAX without stop in Oz prices at $US713 = $679 plus 5% and TPM is 10984 or 4.5% over the MPM explainig the 5% surcharge.

Now putting in an Oz stopover increases the fare quote considerably as the cheapest return from LAX to SYD seems to be around $1128. So if you have a stop in 1 direction half of this fare and half of the $679 fare plus mileage surcharge would apply. Stopping in both directions would take the fare to $1128 plus mileage surcharge plus $75 for the second stop - one stop is allowed free.

I'm not even certain that the HIP fare is calculated using the cheapest LAX-SYD fare or the cheapest fare in the same booking class. In any case it does take the base fare to well over $US1000.

I think the bottom line is that if you want a mileage run without stopping more than 24hrs in OZ in each direction you cab get 22000 miles for $713 plus tax. If you want an Oz stopover in one direction your fare jumps to over $US1000 - still agood deal if you want the miles and want to visit both Oz and Singapore or if you want a ticket to Oz with 12 months validity as the MNXAP fares to SIN have. I think returns to SYD with more than 30 days validity are considerably more expensive.

I hope I haven't left things as clear as mud! (and remember I am not a travel agent - just an obsessive amateur. So take anything I post with a grain of salt)

Putting in 1 SYD stop on AA.com prices at $1128 + tax and 2 SYD stops at $1470 + tax. I'm not really sure how those fares have been calculated but expedia has the cheapest AA fare from LAX-SYD at $1128 and Travelocity have their cheapest listed as $1470!



[This message has been edited by 3544quebec (edited 07-24-2001).]

You sure know a lot more about the fare rules than me, Quebec3544.

Those "confirmed" stopovers do raise the price considerably. I wonder what would happen if one flew the LAX-SYD-SIN (no stopovers on the outbound), then on the return flew SIN-SYD then at SYD, tell Qantas you're tired and want to layover a few days (using as much charm as possible)and spend some tourist money in this beautiful country. Wonder what the formal policy is and informal, for an unscheduled layover, especially since the SIN-SYD is not a OneWorld partner, and thus, the rules MAY be less enforced. And if you've got status with OneWorld, another point in your favor to get a break from Qantas regarding an unscheduled stopover on the return. Great things happen when you've got status. If you buy these, kindly let us know if appropriate. Good luck, now back to home on the UA forum for me.