OneWorld Explorer 4 - Help!
 

Hi All,

I know there must be loads about the 'buying in Cairo' in this forum, but I cannot find the specific answers I need.

I've been informed that a good way for 2 of us to fly LON-SYD cheaply would be to buy a OneWorld Explorer 4 from Cairo. We want to fly Club or First. If anyone could answer my questions it would be much appreciated;

1)How much is a OneWorld Explorer 4 in Club & First from London?
2)How do I go about buying a ticket in Cairo - do I need to organise it before leaving for Egypt? Or is it ok to sort when I get there?
3) There are 2 of us going to Syd, do we both need to go to Cairo?
4)Do I get full miles from BA for this trip?
5) Can we go and get tickets now for a trip to begin from LON next Feb?

Any help for a total novice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

The short answer "is it worth it"
No - You buy a Business Class Return from Lon- Syd for around £1900 on SQ -
this is about £400 less than what you pay For a DONE4 (Business Class)
Before you start adding on taxes will make a bigger Diff £600 +++
If you want to travel the WORLD and not Syd - LON and Asia
Then yes get a RTW
The price gap for F class is more in favour of going to CAI

and the above differences are before you have to pay to get to CAI..
If you want to get there is BUS or F -
Forget it..

For pure point to point LHR-SYD you may be able to get a better deal, particularly in business if the SQ fare quoted above is available. For first (on a leading airline) I don't think you'll beat a Cairo AONE4 ticket.

First class AONE4 is roughly GBP 2855 from Cairo. Bought in the UK it is GBP6619 (!!!).

If you have any BA miles you can use them to go to Cairo. Otherwise discussions here show tickets (in economy) for 300 gbp or so.

It is easier to arrange the ticket in advance, and essential if you plan to do a quick turnround in Cairo. Many threads here discuss how to do this.

Yes, in principle both of you need to go to Cairo because if you don't use the first segment (CAI-LHR) of one of the tickets then you are breaking the rules and OW could just refuse the next segments.

Yes you would get full BA miles for the trip - it is booked in A class, which is a full first class fare for mileage purposes.

Yes you can can go and get tickets now. The only time limit is that the last segment (presumably LHR-CAI has to be within 12 months of the first segment. If you get addicted to these tickets, as some of us here have, then you use the last segment to go and pick up the next one. Otherwise there is nothing to stop you simply throwing away the last segment.

The great advantage is that if you have time on your hands you can see all sorts of other places round the world on your way. You can have up to 20 flight segments in total so you could do something like this:

CAI-LHR(transit)-MAN (stop back at home, assuming that's where home is)

MAN-LHR-HKG (stopover to see HK)

HKG-DPS (take a few days break in Bali)

DPS-HKG-PEK (go and see the Great Wall, Summer Palace, etc)

PEK-HKG-SYD (do whatever you want to do in Sydney)

SYD-WLG-AKL (stoping over to see bits of New Zealand)

AKL-LAX (go to Disneyland?)

(or alternatively, do HKG-AKL-WLG-SYD then fly to the US via a break in Honolulu)

LAX-SFO (do all the SFO stuff)

SFO-ORD-JFK (see other bits of the US)

JFK-YVR (get some more of that CX First class - "would you like a refill on the caviar?") Go skiing in the Rockies.

YVR-LHR (stopover here as far as the ONE ticket is concerned - use some of the many miles you have accumulated to get LHR-MAN flights)

LHR-CAI to get you next ticket now that you are addicted.

This is all is some of the best first class cabins in the world for a total of around 3000 pounds including taxes. There are even two more segments available that I haven't thought of a place for.

I can't wait to retire and have the time to do this sort of thing at leisure.

[This message has been edited by christep (edited 10-18-2003).]

emirates is £2,100 for first at the mo..
F class in emirates is not supposed to be that good, but the service and limo t-fers and the Dubai Lounges may take a little off the fact the seat is not up to standard compared with SQ CX BA

Thanks for all the replies. I really want to fly on an airline that will give me BA Miles. If we both do this trip in Club we'll have enough for 2 flights in First thanks to the Amex voucher. Not regular flyers, hence 2 flights to Oz will make all the difference.

That's why I'm looking into the Cairo routing. If anyone sees any deals on OneWorld airlines for Feb next year to SYD or BNE, please let mo know. Best I can see is £3000 on Qantas

i would wait a little longer and get onto emirates.. it is a BA partner . maybe you should check to ensure you get the points you need from them, but it regularly has bus class deals 2 for 1..
you could call Amex and ask them for the amex 2 for 1 price - it's maybe what you want and you can stop in the maldives!!
or a bus class flight ex FRA for £2000 with qantas

[This message has been edited by ajinlondon (edited 10-20-2003).]