RTW and Mileage Run
 

Im going to travel less this year,thank goodness.201 flights in 2003 was too much.

That being said I want to retain EXP and combine a business trip to San Jose CostaRica,LA and Hong Kong with my wedding anniversary and the AA mileage bonuses on offer to kick start January.

Here is the idea.My wedding anniversary is on Jan 21.I have meetings in San Jose 26 and 27 and have to be in HKG the first week of Feb.The plan is to get 10k AA miles in by Jan 31.

Does this schedule work?

GVA-LHR Jan 20
LHR-DXB
DXB-ZRH (AA 6331)
ZRH-DFW
DFW-SJO
SJO-MIA
MIA-LAX
LAX-DFW
DFW-NRT
NRT-HKG
HKG-LHR
LHR-GVA

Excuse my ignorance but does this work.Should be some serious mileage and a good way towrds elite requalification

AA6331 DXB-ZRH is a code share on LX. Code shares are not allowed on a OWE ticket and LX is not yet a member of OW. Either buy this outside the OWE or go back to LHR and do a separate flight home. Otherwise, this looks OK.

Thank you.Can I back track to LHR from DXB then find an AA route to SJO from LHR via another European city and still fulfil OWE RTW rules?

For example

GVA-LHR
LHR-DXB
DXB-LHR
LHR-somewhere where AA flies to DFW from in Europe with max mileage??
the European city-DFW
DFW-SJO
SJO-MIA
MIA-LAX
LAX-DFW
DFW-HKG
HKG-LHR
LHR-GVA

Thanks again

I think my concern is that Im constantly going back from LHR.However,I never stopover there (always transit).How does the 4 stopover limit play under these circumstances?

You are out of segments in Europe. You only get four with a max of two stopovers. There is no limit on how many times you can transit a city (as long as it is not your point of origin). Thus, GVA-LHR-DXB-LHR-DFW...LHR-GVA is the best you can do as you have used all four allowed segments.

In terms of mileage, you are only losing 36 miles by doing DXB-LHR-DFW rather than DXB-ZRH-DFW (8170 vs. 8206).

One more point, if you keep your transits of LHR <24 hours you will save substantially on taxes.

You might do an AA flight from London to the West Coast, then over to DFW. That would add up to 2,000 miles and keep within the 6-sector US restriction.

Also, if you return to LHR by going HKG-SIN-LHR, you'll add about 2,300 miles. You could also add a quick HKG-NRT-HKG if you have 2 spare days for another 3,684.

Excellent point above on the LHR taxes - it gets VERY expensive.

I seem to remember a restriction about not returning to your country of origin, so back through ZRH from DXB might be a problem

------------------
- Bob

Thanks for the help.Here is my latest thoughts.

GVA-LHR
LHR-DXB
DXB-LHR
LHR-MIA
MIA-SJO
SJO-MIA
MIA-LAX
LAX-JFK
JFK-NRT
NRT-HKG
HKG-LHR
LHR-GVA

The HKG-SIN-LHR is great but I will have to check the schedules.If it adds an extra day to the travelling that might be a challenge fom a work schedule poit of view.CX to SIN I guess then BA form SIN-LHR.

Thanks again

Don't forget to check the QF schedules for SIN-LHR. They have departures from SIN at around 0545 and 2230. Many flights should have the flat beds in J if you are booked in that class.

Ive checked and it works with either BA or Qantas as long as I leave HKG a little earlier.

You have 2 transcons in NA, MIA-LAX and LAX-JFK. You are allowed only 1. The rules are very specific about this restriction.

Try:

LHR-SFO
SFO-BOS
BOS- (your itinerary)

This maximises Status Credits.

Don't mean to sidetrack this topic but I have just come across the RTW thing. How many miles does the int get(approx is ok) how much does it costs and is it all in coach or is it business or first? Thanks

This forum and the Star forum are filled with messages about RTW trips, how to do them and their costs. Do some research in the various threads here and there.

Quick answer for OWE is from a few thousand US$ to about ten thousand US$ depending on the number of continents you travel (3-6), what class (economy, business, first) and where you start and end your trip. A well constructed trip in 4-6 continents can add up to 60-90,000 miles, give or take a few thousand.

There are also mileage based fare for both OW and Star. They generally have a much higher cost/mile traveled then a true continent based mileage run trip.