New to OWE 5 cont - need some advice ...
 

Hello there,

I'm very new to OWE, and I'm planning at the moment my route for a 5 continents RTW.

I'd appreciate if you experts could critise my itinary and answer the few questions I have.

Here's the draft for my route:

SYD - ASP
ASP -xPER-xMEL-AKL
AKL - HKG
HKG - BOM
DEL - HKG
HKG - BKK
HAN - HKG (need to change that, see Q1)
PEK - xHEL - LHR
LHR - IST
IST - LHR
LHR - CDG
CDG - JFK
LGA - YYZ
YYZ - LAX
LAX - SFO
SFO - xDFW - MEX
CUN - xMAI - UIO
GIG - SCL
SCL - CCS
CCS - SCL
EZE - SCL
SCL - xLAX - SYD


Q1 : I've just heard that some flights are not available for OWE (e.g. CX flights between Vietnam and HKG). Does anyone know where I can find a list of those flights ?

Q2: Is there a big difference in terms of taxes between a connection and a stopover ? I've read some posts about HKG, but does anyone know about LHR and SCL ?
(I know taxes in LHR are quite expensive and I'm thinking of making a connection in lhr, instead of a stopover on my way to cdg).

Q3: I've read in many posts that it's better book the first segments, leave the other ones Open, and book when needed.
Can the reservation be done at any OW desk in any airport ? Do they charge an "administration fee" for this ? Do it depend on which company ticketed the OWE ?


Thank you very much in advance for your experience and your help.

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

On the routing itself there are the following issues/comments:

No CX flights to Vietnam can be used on a OWE. See Q1

The x transit in HEL is irrelevant except to the tax issue. If you are really only in transit then why not PEK-LHR on BA and then an extra segment somewhere else (e.g. LHR-EDI-CDG)

The transits in NA are irrelevant except to the tax issue. for MAI I assume you mean MIA.

I assume SCL-LAX-SYD is to maximise miles? Otherwise you can go SCL-SYD on LAN Chile.

See the full list of the OWE rules through http://fewmiles.net/oneworld/owe.html
lines 24-33.
See:
http://www.consolidatedtravel.com.au/qf/taxes.asp
which shows that in Chile, for example, there is a significant saving for transits of less than 6 hours. Whether you could get anyone to ticket it without the charge given that even with an X the ticket would allow you up to 24 hours is anouther matter.
The easiest way to do this I find is to get a tame travel agent. But you should also be able to call any OW reservations desk and get them to do it for you at no charge.

Thanks very much for your help.

momo35 - My main comment is that you do not appear to be making best use of some of your segments. As christep says, there is no need to route via HEl as BA have a direct flight to LHR.

If you went direct from PEK to LHR you could do the favorite OWE European mileage run: LHR-IST-LHR-DXB-LHR. IMHO LHR-CDG is a waste of a segment. It is such a short flight and you can pick up a one-way or a Eurostar train for very little cost.