which pacific islands on a OWE ticket?
 

hi, i would like to include a pacific island in my rtw itinerary, but it seems difficult to find a valid stopover for a continent-based ticket. can you suggest anything? fiji, tahiti, cook...any will do as long as they can be reached from oz/nz or south america (i am not including north america in my ticket).

thanks http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Go SYD-LDH or BNE-LDH (Lord Howe Island). See another thread in this forum for my rave on this one. "Down to earth", nice restaurants, low key, beautiful, World Heritage, great fishing, quiet (not a place for great socialising, pubs or nightlife though). The Dash 8 flight is OK on a OWE ticket (but only only economy class). The ex SYD flights are several days per week (sometimes 2 on Saturday), and BNE is one day per week (I think). Must pre-book accommodation.

Easter Island is an option (SCL-IPC on LA). But might not be your idea of a pacific island. Otherwise the previous suggestion of Lord Howe is your best choice (better than Fiji, for example, ignoring the OWE aspects).

I did last March a RTW on Global Explorer with a stop in Fiji, where I had to fly AKL-NAN-AKL. Return flight was NAN-AKL-SCL-EZE without stop-overs. Stayed in Fiji at Treasure Island for 5 nights between a week tour in NZ's south island and visits in Buenos Aires Mexico City. Fiji's Treasure Island was the perfect place for relaxing in a pacific island environment.

You can't do Fiji (NAN) on a OWE, just a GE, as it is a QF codeshare on FJ.

i'm going to try Lord Howe island in Jan/Feb, highly recommended by my cousin.
(there is no more authoritative source for me, *smile*). There are flights from Sydney and Melbourne. Also Coffs Harbor for a few months a year. Does it really count as a pacific island though? Oh well, who cares. Lots of nice islands off the coast of Australia, you can fly to several on Qantas.

LDH will be heavily booked in January (school summer holidays). Once, QF would not issue my award ticket without me confirming where I was staying. As there are only 400 tourist beds on the island, check the web and get in early. There are no backpacker or camping facilities (but there are all sorts of better options). Also, the Dash8 flights ex SYD (and BNE?) are very fussy about baggage weight. I think its 14kg luggage (and that includes carry ons). An international ticket may allow flexibility though. Expect to be weighed (you and your bags).

You can't beat Lord Howe island. I have travelled throughout the world, and it is, without any doubt, my favorite. It is a very well maintained island without any trashy or touristy elements. Go before others discover it.

You can also fly to Noumea from Sydney (3x week) or Brisbane (1x week) on QF as well. There's additional flights throughout the week as well, but they're codeshares that can't be used on a OWE unfortunately. You can also fly to Hamilton Island from Cairns still too on QF for another island option (all other routes to Hamilton Island are now Jetstar flights unfortunately).