So Many Questions...

We are a retired couple who travel. End of 2025 or Jan 2026 we are starting to explore Asia. We think a RTW is the way to go.

1. OneWorld Global Explorer vs One World Explorer. We will be buying Business Class tix. We would like the most bang for the buck ( cost). Is one better than the other. We plan to us all 16 segments.

2. We can start the ticket any North American city. I've read Canada is a good place to start ( lower fees)?

3. We would like to go to Japan, Viet Nam, Thailand, Singapore, at least. We have unlimited time. Great Circle Mapper is a good resource, I've been playing around with it. Any Asia experts think of a good order we should go?

4. We have been toying with making it a two trip ticket. Asia in early 2026, coming back to US for Spring, then heading back out later in the year, using the full 12 months time limit.

5. We dont mind zig zagging and backtracking.

6. Maximizing mileage and minimizing $$$.

7. Should we status match with AA right before we but the tickets? We have no AA status.

8. Use AA credit Card or Chase Saph Reserve? Thoughts?

I'm not asking for anyone to make a route, really just asking if I'm on the right track in what I should be paying attention to in order to make a RTW work and work it to its full advantage. And are these questions/thoughts in my head important, not just the route, but the other piddly things like status matching and which CC matter.

thanks for reading, and any suggestions that would help me plan
J

It would be very helpful if folks who've used/liked their TA would post details here. From trolling this thread for a while, it seems most people use AA RTW desk, but it'd be nice to have referrals from folks who've used/liked a TA.

The mods might want to move this to the newbie question thread, but I'm happy to take a shot at your questions in the meantime. My wife and I started RTWing a few years ago and I had many of the same Qs.

The DGLOB34 (Global Explorer) costs the same as a DONE4. The only reasons I can see going for the DGLOB34 are that you want to fly the couple of airlines you can't on a DONE4 (but maybe with Fiji joining OW that will be less or an issue) or there is some way to get to 5 or more continents in the 34k flown miles you are limited to on a DGLOB34.

Get a trial subscription to Expert Flyer. You can get the RTW base fares and rules from there. Canada is better than the US. But they are much cheaper starting in certain countries in Europe (esp. OSL, ARN, BUD, REK, HEL) or Asia (Japan, India, Sri Lanka). From the east coast, positioning to REK or OSL and starting there could be the way to go (or to Japan from the west coast).

If you want to explore Asia, it might be better to start in Europe, since you are limited to 2 stopovers in your continent of origin. Also: flights within Asia can be quite cheap, esp. within SEA. And easier, since you won't need to be on MH or CX all the time. So you don't need to go everywhere on the RTW.

Sure. But keep in mind that when you are flying business, the only thing status really gets you is higher mileage earning (but on AA that's only on the airlines you get crappy spend-based earnings on anyway, I believe) and, if you can get Emerald status, first-class lounges and check-in (which can be quite nice). If this is likely to become a new lifestyle, crediting to BA, AY, or QR might make sense.

Personally I find 3 URs > 2 AAs, since I like transferring to Hyatt and for the odd United flight. You may also find you have plenty of AA if that's where you are crediting your flights. But (wait for it), your mileage may vary.

Oneworld offer

• OneWorld Global Explorer is distance based and has more allowable airlines. More airlines in the Pacific
• One World Explorer is continent based. Most posts on FT are about OW Explorer
• Circle Pacific may match your plans

None is "better: than the other. All have different rules on stop overs. Just what matches your intineray-plans
Starting in Asia with a long stopover in USA and back to Asia may suit. Would need USA-Asia (start) and Asia USA(end) positioing flights

My understanding AA do not status match, but may offer a challenge.
What ffp's are you a member of now?
Flying business class status does not do much extra for you.

https://www.oneworld.com/round-the-world
Rules are in "What are the Round the World rules"

Wow!

thanks for the quick responses so far. One small point, the only reason I was asking about status matching, is if thru miles/spend we can get even Gold AA status for 2026, it would something. And if we status matched from DL before we purchased and started the trip, would it get us more miles?

Our lifestyle is fully retired, and doing 3 months travel, home to restock, and back on the road for 3 months. We are currently in Argentina, heading to Peru, Bolivia and then Colombia then home in March.

We have Africa in July/August so we are starting Asia next. So, with the 3 months on the road, trip home, we could work the ticket, to come home and pick it back up, getting 2 ( or more) trips out of a 12 month... Thats a LOT of planning.

We have a fair bit of AA miles, DL, LIfeMiles , UR and Cap One points. So we can use those for other parts of the RTW trip(s).

If this gets moved to Newbi, thats fine, thanks again so much for the early insights!

Also, interesting, Circle Pacific... Im going to look at the rules right now.

off topic
Earnings to a ffp's is a little off topic for this thread
AA have specific rules for earnings on RTW --> https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...age-miles.html
Is harder with spend based earnings.

Hi stan1162

There is no dedicated thread in this forum for the Global Explorer, but the below old thread discusses the differences between it and the much more popular Oneworld Explorer (and I've just updated the first post in the thread :D)

Musings: Circumstances where a Global Explorer might be better than a Oneworld Explo - FlyerTalk Forums

Gotcha
 

Yes, thanks. I'm subscribed to both, and will post questions to the appropriate thread ( I hope).

I've started playing around with the Circle Pacific and I get all types of errors. Change dates, change cities.
Can someone give me an example of a valid routing so I can see what is "Valid". Crossing the Pacific and the Atlantic, only once each. Can you stop in Europe? In the description below aren't you essentially going RTW if you have cross both the ATL and PAC? whats the difference?

Circle Pacific

Multi-Continent Air Travel

If you prefer to visit multiple continents without actually flying all the way around the world, our Circle Pacific fare lets you explore the continents that border the Pacific Ocean. You can choose to start and finish your journey in one of the following continents:

• Asia (Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam)
  
• Southwest Pacific (Australia and New Zealand)
  
• North America (USA and Canada)
  
• South America
  

This is the thread for discussion on the oneworld Explorer, not the Global Explorer or Circle Pacific fares.

The on-line booking tool can handle the two RTW products - Oneworld Explorer and Global Explorer.
It cannot handle the Circle Pacific Explorer.

There is no dedicated thread in the forum for the Circle Pacific Explorer. Its basics are:

• Three Flavours - 3-continent 22,000 miles, 3-continent 26,000 miles, and 4-continent 29,000 miles
• Cannot include the Caribbean, cannot include western Asia
• Restricted number of stopovers allowed
• 3-continent itineraries must include Nth America, South West Pacific and Asia
• 4-continent itineraries must also include South America

The rule sheet is available on the Oneworld web site

stan1162 , eznh has provided some good points.

For such as this you need to know where to start. In most cases a DONE4 gives better bang for your buck - but that is somewhat dependent on where you actually want to go/see. For now, lets look at the costs of this OneWorld Explorer four continent fare which varies in base cost depending on the country of origin.

Starting in the USA has a base cost of USD12.2K, Canada USD10.5K per person. If you can fly to Oslo and start there the base cost is USD5.1K. Or Japan at USD6K (It can be useful to start outside the continent of residence - this can be wangled to give a breather mid trip.) See here for contemporary base price examples:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36757225-post2617.html

It is not unreasonable to expect to be able to comfortably locate oneself to a start point for a price point much less than the fare difference in the cost of starting in North America.

Thank you all!
 

Thanks to all who have answered. I'll be back after I do LOTS of work and try to come back with very specific questions. I think I have a much better understanding thanks to all of you!

Indeed. And not only North America. Some years back Mrs999 and I did a DONE5 from JNB. Even adding in the cost of the separate return ticket (also in business class) from/to our home in Finland, we paid considerably less than we would have for a DONE4 from HEL.

We have started our DONE3 ex-CAI.
Two travellers on the same booking.

Can we sever this booking? Consequences?

(for convenience - maybe different travel dates)

If one of the two passengers misses a segment, what happens to the other passenger's remaining segments?

We have started our DONE3 booked with AA RTW Desk.
I received yet another itinerary change which allows us to 'rebook once'.
Previously, I have not had need to change what was offered.

What are the rebooking options?

Specifically, DFW-SFO has changed enough to give the rebooking option.
Can we ask for something like DFW-YUL instead (assuming we have an available surface segment to get to MIA)?

Currently, we have BKK-HKG-DPS-KUL-NRT-HNL-ANC-LAX-SJO-DFW-SFO-MIA-DOH-AMM-CAI remaining on the ticket.

Recognizing that we'll have to pay a change fee(s), can we change DFW-SFO-MIA to DFW-YUL-MIA?
And can we just ask to dump AMM-CAI from the ticket (to have an extra segment if needed)?