Hi,

I am new to the Oneworld forum and have read the threads with the routings that got you tons of miles. However I am not familiar with the rule changes (limited number of segments, etc.) and how my routing should look like.

First I will state my goals: Maximize award miles so that I can cash them in on F award tickets, favourably on CX or BA or QF.

Get top tier status in a Oneworld FFP. The status should be valid for two years, so I can do a Oneworld RTW and a Star RTW every other year to maintain my Senator (LH) status in even years, the Oneworld status in odd years.
Please take into account that I am based in Germany and have additional addresses in Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Of course, I want to keep the costs low and fly in style in true FT fashion.

So my AONE4/5 or even 6 routing will start in CAI. In which area is CAI in terms of OWE rules? Africa ? What are the current fares and how many continents do you propose should I visit.

Which FFP has status valid two years ?
How many miles can one squeeze out of an AONE (I prefer the 4 or 5 continents) if I want to visit Europe, the US, Australia, Asia, back to Europe and finally back to CAI.

How could I fly from the US to Australia ? Via Asia

Could I fly e.g.: CAI-LHR-IST-LHR-DXB-LHR-LAX-JFK-MIA-SEA-HKG-AKL-SYD-Perth-MEL-SIN-BKK-NRT-LHR-DUS-CAI ???

Looks like 20 segments. Am I allowed to fly CAI-Europe outbound and Europe-CAI inbound ?

How could I maximize miles in AA (plat challenge?!)so that I would get on the right track towards lifetime AA Plat (2MM miles ?) ?
Please only suggest routings with a lot of CX F! The towns mentioned above can be altered. I am flexible about where I go.

Or should I stay with the Star Alliance since LH is my home carrier ?

From To Distance
20 segment path: 58931 mi
CAI (30�07'19"N 31�24'20"E) LHR (51�28'39"N 00�27'41"W) 2197 mi
LHR (51�28'39"N 00�27'41"W) IST (40�58'37"N 28�49'16"E) 1565 mi
IST (40�58'37"N 28�49'16"E) LHR (51�28'39"N 00�27'41"W) 1565 mi
LHR (51�28'39"N 00�27'41"W) DXB (25�15'18"N 55�21'51"E) 3420 mi
DXB (25�15'18"N 55�21'51"E) LHR (51�28'39"N 00�27'41"W) 3420 mi
LHR (51�28'39"N 00�27'41"W) LAX (33�56'33"N 118�24'29"W) 5456 mi
LAX (33�56'33"N 118�24'29"W) ORD (41�58'46"N 87�54'16"W) 1745 mi
ORD (41�58'46"N 87�54'16"W) SJU (18�26'22"N 66�00'07"W) 2072 mi
SJU (18�26'22"N 66�00'07"W) JFK (40�38'23"N 73�46'44"W) 1598 mi
JFK (40�38'23"N 73�46'44"W) SFO (37�37'08"N 122�22'30"W) 2586 mi
SFO (37�37'08"N 122�22'30"W) HKG (22�18'32"N 113�54'53"E) 6927 mi
HKG (22�18'32"N 113�54'53"E) AKL (37�00'29"S 174�47'30"E) 5688 mi
AKL (37�00'29"S 174�47'30"E) SYD (33�56'46"S 151�10'38"E) 1345 mi
SYD (33�56'46"S 151�10'38"E) PER (31�56'25"S 115�58'01"E) 2041 mi
PER (31�56'25"S 115�58'01"E) MEL (37�40'24"S 144�50'36"E) 1682 mi
MEL (37�40'24"S 144�50'36"E) BKK (13�54'45"N 100�36'24"E) 4564 mi
BKK (13�54'45"N 100�36'24"E) HKG (22�18'32"N 113�54'53"E) 1047 mi
HKG (22�18'32"N 113�54'53"E) NRT (35�45'53"N 140�23'11"E) 1842 mi
NRT (35�45'53"N 140�23'11"E) LHR (51�28'39"N 00�27'41"W) 5974 mi
LHR (51�28'39"N 00�27'41"W) CAI (30�07'19"N 31�24'20"E) 2197 mi

Is this routing feasible as an AONE 4 ? What is the cost ex CAI ?

No.

You have used six segments in your continent of origin. However, this is easy to fix because you cannot go to DXB as you have already used your two restircted segments from LHR going to and from CAI.

The rest look OK and you can use the two segments you are not using in Europe in Asia or North America to pick up additional miles.

AONE4 ex-CAI is EGP29150.

A few hints for possible tweaking:

1) you can also fly LAX-SJU either on non-stop or thru-flight (i.e., LAX-> SJU with stop in FLL/MIA/etc, but same flight #, so counted as 1 segment).
2) also consider doing this on international flights. for example, i am doing SYD-JFK (stop in LAX, but again, thru-flight as has same flight #). you could also do SYD-LHR.

Welcome to FT. A couple of problems with your itinerary. You have 6 segments in Europe and 4 in N. America. The free allowance is 4 segments in all continents, except that you may have 6 in N. America.

Egypt is considered part of EUROPE for the RTW tickets and there are restrictions specific to Europe. You cannot fly to DXB if you fly to LHR from CAI. You have the return trip to IST, which is the best that you can do when flying CAI-LHR. Also, only 1 transcon flight between SYD/MEL/BNE and PER. You have 2. Your segments in Asia are not the longest, but if the cities are the ones that you wish to visit stay with those.
You have come close to the maximum miles for a 4 continent fare. With a 5 continent fare, you exchange short regional segments for longer intercontinental ones.

In addition to the above note that you are trying to take advantage of one of the ambiguities in the rules by flying SFO-HKG-AKL and claiming this is an allowed transit (otherwise you have two entries to Asia, which is not allowed). People have had mixed results attempting to get ticketing agents to allow the rules to be interpreted in this way.

For Mileage Run, alternative exists.

MEL (37��40'24"S 144��50'36"E) HKG (22��18'32"N 113��54'53"E) 4590 mi
HKG (22��18'32"N 113��54'53"E) BOM (19��05'19"N 72��52'05"E) 2658 mi
BOM (19��05'19"N 72��52'05"E) HKG (22��18'32"N 113��54'53"E) 2658 mi
HKG (22��18'32"N 113��54'53"E) LHR (51��28'39"N 00��27'41"W) 5995 mi

You may consider alternative asian routes.

HKG-SPK-HKG-BOM-HKG
HKG-SPK 2131 miles (by asiamiles calculator)
HKG-BOM 2653 miles (by asiamiles calculator)

HKG-BOM route is transit in BKK, however it is one flight number and coisdered as one segment in terms of OWE.

Thanks for your comments.
I will leave IST and DXB out and try to use LAX-SJU with one flight number only. The start will be CAI-LHR-DUS(long stopover-x)
then:-LHR-LAX(x)-SJU(x)-JFK-YVR(x)-PHX(x)-YVR(23h stop)-HKG-AKL(x)-PER(x)-SYD(x)-MEL-HKG-BKK(x)-NRT(x)-HKG(x)-LHR(x)-CAI

Where would I be allowed to add another mileage run segment ?

Also what FFP suits my aspirations best? Look at my questions above once more please!

You have 2 transcons in N. America (LAX-SJU and JFK-YVR) and are allowed only 1. I did make a mistake on the Australian transcon rule in a prior posting. There is no flight between PHX and YVR on AA without a connection in DFW. You may have been looking at Alaska Airlines (AS) which cannot be used on OWE fares. I assume that you are using 2 flight segments from AKL-PER as there is no single flight number that I am aware of on QF. Stops of less than 24 hours only matter in the continent of origin (Europe for you) and a few special cases between SWP-Europe and S.AM and anywhere else.

Just a question about DXB in a OWE ex-CAI. Is it possible to visit DXB as a stopover on the way back from Asia? I would like to travel BKK-DXB-LHR (transit only)-CAI.

Thanks.

CAI-LHR-....-BKK-DXB-LHR-CAI
not permitted

possible alternative
CAI-LHR-....-BKK-DXB-LHR-BCN-CAI

Only two flights are permitted between LHR and some Middleeast points.

Would this tinerary work for a DONE4:

CAI-LHR (stopover)

LHR-GCM
GCM-NAS
NAS-MIA
MIA-BGI
BGI-JFK
JFK-YVR
YVR-LAX (ground segment)

LAX-AKL
AKL-SYD
SYD-BNE
BNE-SYD (transit)

SYD-NRT
NRT-TPE
TPE-HKG
HKG-BKK

BKK-DXB
DXB-LHR (transit)
LHR-CAI

This will be the first OWE ex-CAI for me.

As mentioned above, you can not fly more than two times between LHR and CAI/DXB/MOW/RUH/...

So, CAI-LHR, and DXB-LHR-CAI is not permitted.
CAI-LHR, ... , DXB-LHR-BCN-CAI is permitted.




[This message has been edited by Wasabi Tofu (edited Nov 17, 2003).]

Which ONEworld FFP has status valid two years ?

Which FFP gives the best bonuses for J/F travel. Is double dipping possible as on LH and SQ (for the SQ PPS status?)?

When giving your answer please take your time and read thru my questions in the thread starting post once more!

Thanks!

OW is much more organized than Star. Sometimes that is good, sometimes bad. Double dipping is not allowed (and rarely occurs even if you try to subvert the rules). J/F bonuses are identical on all OW FF plans. The only difference is whether status is mileage or revenue based (BA and QF are revenue based, others are mileage based). This makes using AONEx on QF the most efficient in terms of status. QF times your FF year based on month of joining the plan, so if you carefully time your joining date with your travel dates you can split your OWE travel over 2 years (and it is possible to get top-tier status for 2 years out of one AONE6 ticket). So in that sense you could get 2 years out of one ticket (in perpetuity) but only by spanning the ticket across plan years.
This isn't possible in BA, AA or any other OW FF plan.