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Originally Posted by Gardyloo
(Post 35449564)
Your current plan (above) would generate around 1080 BA tier points by my calculations, more than enough for BA Silver but 420 short of Gold (never mind the BA-metal segments required for the moment.) I think it's entirely possible to hit that 1500 with your RTW ticket, if that's of interest to you.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...aa2fff763b.jpg |
I think one thing you need to decide is if this trip is primarily for maximizing Avios and TPs and obtaining BA Gold status or is it a vacation (or dream vacation) for you and your wife. Decide the places you want to go and then decide how much extra flying you want or need to do based upon that decision(and how you want to do that flying).
It’s all well and good for those of us who have been flying these for some time to recommend extra trips for TPs or to transit from one long haul flight to another but is that what you really want to do (and what your wife wants) on your first rtw? Will you and your wife be disappointed that you are transitting in a city and not leaving the airport or only visiting an airport hotel? Is this a one time couple months trip or is it your hope to maybe fly one of these annually or biennially in the future(if you’re hoping/planning to do these more in the future then making the first one less onerous or demanding on your wife may be worth it-especially if as you say she will need some convincing for the extra flying)? I don’t really mind extra flying as I don’t mind flying in J and F cabins although I usually don’t string long haul flights together that much anymore and I don’t try to maximize my xonex tickets as much as I used to. Others I fly with at times don’t seem to appreciate the extra flights and time spent going somewhere just to maximize an xonex ticket. |
Originally Posted by ademanuele
(Post 35448199)
<snip>
I have removed the Manchester flights as you are only allowed 2 stopovers in your continent of origin. For the same reason I have deleted the Iceland side trip (was for later in the year after the round the world trip). I am returning from North America to Oslo via Doha rather than London in the expectation that taxes will be lower, is this correct? Will also get more Tier points I guess! <snip> As for LHR, UK has a well publicised high APD. But that is only for departures. Not arrivals and not transit. A lot of people seem to think APD is only for LHR, but it applies to all UK departures, except for a few named exceptions (INV). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty Having a ~6 month break and then going to another destination is a good strategy. More so if the destination has high air fares. Depending on dates can get T'P's in a new year. And as you are planning, starting at an airport that is not your home airport is good. Can "park" the trip at your home airport or a close airport. Do not need to end the DONE* in the same airport as the departure. |
Originally Posted by jerry a. laska
(Post 35450069)
I think one thing you need to decide is if this trip is primarily for maximizing Avios and TPs and obtaining BA Gold status or is it a vacation (or dream vacation) for you and your wife. Decide the places you want to go and then decide how much extra flying you want or need to do based upon that decision(and how you want to do that flying).
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NZ has oneworld airlines
UL is an often overlooked OW airline. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SriLankan_Airlines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_destinations There are people that have 2 concurrent OW RTW, starting 6 months apart and contra-rotating. Hope the OW RTW addiction is under control ;) :D |
Originally Posted by Mwenenzi
(Post 35450145)
Do not confuse carrier surcharges and real taxes.
As for LHR, UK has a well publicised high APD. But that is only for departures. Not arrivals and not transit. A lot of people seem to think APD is only for LHR, but it applies to all UK departures, except for a few named exceptions (INV). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty Having a ~6 month break and then going to another destination is a good strategy. More so if the destination has high air fares. Depending on dates can get T'P's in a new year. And as you are planning, starting at an airport that is not your home airport is good. Can "park" the trip at your home airport or a close airport. Do not need to end the DONE* in the same airport as the departure. Just the region. A cheap one way fare can get you home, if not not ending at your home airport. I would have liked to tag on another trip later in the year and could free segments by flying from Vancouver to LHR, however, I understood that you are only allowed 2 stopovers in your continent of origin, one of these is taken up by my first flight (OSL-DOH) and is the second not taken up by my return flight from the US (whether into DOH, LHR or MAN)? Am I getting confused with stopovers, is the first trip to Doha not considered a stopover as I will be connecting to another flight (and not staying in Doha)? If the latter is the case then the end of my trip could be YVR-LHR and then after a break LHR-RKV-LHR. If this is allowed then I think this also takes me to my maximum 16 segments (is my interpretation of segments correct ie travel between two airports)?. |
Originally Posted by ademanuele
(Post 35449253)
henry999 Do I not already have the maximum number of segments in this trip (16) once my Sydney to South Pacific island return flights are added?
jerry a.'s comments are, as always, right on the money:
Originally Posted by jerry a. laska
(Post 35450069)
It’s all well and good for those of us who have been flying these for some time to recommend extra trips for TPs or to transit from one long haul flight to another ...
Originally Posted by jerry a. laska
(Post 35450069)
I think one thing you need to decide is .... Decide the places you want to go and then decide ... how you want to do ....
Originally Posted by jerry a. laska
(Post 35450069)
I don’t really mind extra flying as I don’t mind flying in J and F cabins although I usually don’t string long haul flights together that much anymore and I don’t try to maximize my xonex tickets as much as I used to. Others I fly with at times don’t seem to appreciate the extra flights and time spent going somewhere just to maximize an xonex ticket.
Having said all that, I can't help but continue tweaking. HKG-YVR-DFW-DOH? I would see YVR-DFW as wasteful, because it is only 40 TPs. And since you list DFW as a transit-only point, why not skip it in favour of something like HKG-JFK-SEA-DOH? Or HKG-MIA-SEA-DOH? Just as with SIN<->KUL, you can get from SEA<->Vancouver simply and cheaply. |
Originally Posted by Mwenenzi
(Post 35451142)
NZ has oneworld airlines
UL is an often overlooked OW airline. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SriLankan_Airlines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_destinations There are people that have 2 concurrent OW RTW, starting 6 months apart and contra-rotating. Hope the OW RTW addiction is under control ;) :D EDIT: Noticed that this trip would be a DONE4 as AKL-DOH will be treated as travelling via Asia... |
Originally Posted by henry999
(Post 35451170)
Having said all that, I can't help but continue tweaking. HKG-YVR-DFW-DOH? I would see YVR-DFW as wasteful, because it is only 40 TPs. And since you list DFW as a transit-only point, why not skip it in favour of something like HKG-JFK-SEA-DOH? Or HKG-MIA-SEA-DOH? Just as with SIN<->KUL, you can get from SEA<->Vancouver simply and cheaply.
Gardyloo you were right about travel agents not knowing about the rule that allows two entries into Asia without the requirement that one of them only be for a "direct connection" to/from the Southwest Pacific. I have just been on the phone to Trailfinders and they did not seem aware. They were very helpful, and I have emailed them the latest rules, they can also book round the world trips that originate in Oslo (or any other city in Europe for that matter). This has been (and still is) a steep learning curve for me (and am now addicted). For those of you who are familiar with the rules, are you reasonably comfortable that the latest version of the trip is within the current oneworld Explorer rules (I have used the maximum number of segments)? Trailfinders questioned coming through Doha again at the end of the trip (DFW-DOH) as I had already flown through Doha at the start, but I think this is allowed? Thanks again to everyone who has responded and I will update my final plan with details of the South Pacific Island that we decide on... |
Originally Posted by Mwenenzi
(Post 35450145)
Do not confuse carrier surcharges and real taxes.
As for LHR, UK has a well publicised high APD. But that is only for departures. Not arrivals and not transit. A lot of people seem to think APD is only for LHR, but it applies to all UK departures, except for a few named exceptions (INV). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty Having a ~6 month break and then going to another destination is a good strategy. More so if the destination has high air fares. Depending on dates can get T'P's in a new year. And as you are planning, starting at an airport that is not your home airport is good. Can "park" the trip at your home airport or a close airport. Do not need to end the DONE* in the same airport as the departure. Just the region. A cheap one way fare can get you home, if not not ending at your home airport.
Originally Posted by ademanuele
(Post 35451145)
Brilliant, I did not realise that you did not have to return to your starting city, will allow us to return to London or Manchester.
I would have liked to tag on another trip later in the year and could free segments by flying from Vancouver to LHR, however, I understood that you are only allowed 2 stopovers in your continent of origin, one of these is taken up by my first flight (OSL-DOH) and is the second not taken up by my return flight from the US (whether into DOH, LHR or MAN)? Am I getting confused with stopovers, is the first trip to Doha not considered a stopover as I will be connecting to another flight (and not staying in Doha)? If the latter is the case then the end of my trip could be YVR-LHR and then after a break LHR-RKV-LHR. If this is allowed then I think this also takes me to my maximum 16 segments (is my interpretation of segments correct ie travel between two airports)?. (c) Travel may originate at any point for which fares are published and must terminate at the same point, except that origin-destination surface segments are permitted as follows:
Again, a stopover is more than 24 hours; a transit is less than 24 hours. Are you spending less than 24 hours in DOH when flying OSL-DOH-XXX at the beginning of your xonex? If so, it can be booked as a transit and you still have 2 stopovers to use in EEUR/ME when you return to EUR/ME. |
A couple of arbitrary (or not so) points...
I understand LATAM is allowed, would SCL-AKL be OK with LATAM (they have a codeshare with MH and QF), if not I can go QF via Sydney. What is the approximate cost of a DONE3? The YVR-DFW "cheap" flight could easily be replaced with a more lucrative (in tier points) flight or two from Seattle. Alaska Airlines flies a number of 2000+ mile hops from SEA that don't fall afoul of the "one-transcon" rule. For example, AS recnetly announced winter service nonstop from SEA to NAS (Nassau, Bahamas) as well as resumption of their SEA-CUN (Cancun) service and SEA-BZE (Belize City.) They already fly LAX-SJO (San Jose, CR); all these are well over 2000 miles, not to mention several routes to/from Anchorage - LAX-ANC, DFW-ANC (AA), ORD-ANC - that are also well over the 2K limit. And if Vancouver is a priority, maybe just ride the train from Seattle (scenic, $40, 4 hours.) Seattle is becoming a more important Oneworld mini-hub on the west coast, with service on JL, CX, AY, IB, QR, AA and BA to their respective hubs. In fact, it might be worth looking at using a DONE4 to get close enough to South America that an Amazon cruise could be accessed fairly cheaply using non-OW carriers (maybe via PTY or some other Central American hub) thereby saving the DONE4 - DONE5 bump and saving RTW segments in the process. No idea of the costs or where you might board or disembark an Amazon cruise, but maybe worth exploring. Yeah, I meant to say that you CAN use a DONEx for amassing tier points, if that's a goal. If it's not a priority, then certainly it might be easier on the system to avoid the long zigzags one can use to run up the score. It's all about choices. Oh, BTW, it might be useful to remember that business class DONEx prices out of Japan are nearly identical to those from Norway. If you're regular visitors to Japan maybe you could use some stored Avios to position yourselves there to start/end an RTW from there. It would give you more flexibility to use the RTW for more stops/stopovers in Europe or the Middle East, but of course you'd be limited to two stopovers within Asia. |
Originally Posted by jerry a. laska
(Post 35452039)
Mwenenzi is not entirely correct here. Generally you are required to end your xonex in the same country you started from (not the same city or airport). There are a few other exceptions which will not apply to an xonex starting in OSL. From the rules:
If you are thinking of another trip in the fall then why not return YVR-LHR and stopover in LHR. You will park your xonex for a bit and redeem some of your avios for LHR-MAN or take the train home. A few months later do LHR-DOH, DOH-OSL. If your initial trip through DOH from OSL was just a transit (less than 24 hours) then this finally trip through DOH would be your 2nd stopover in EUR/ME and would be a sunny break from winter in MAN. By stopping over in LHR you will be subjecting your self to APD when you leave to fly the last segments of your xonex though but you would be paying those anyway if you booked a winter break to DOH from MAN or LHR anyway. Again, a stopover is more than 24 hours; a transit is less than 24 hours. Are you spending less than 24 hours in DOH when flying OSL-DOH-XXX at the beginning of your xonex? If so, it can be booked as a transit and you still have 2 stopovers to use in EEUR/ME when you return to EUR/ME. |
Originally Posted by ademanuele
(Post 35452257)
Thanks, that is a great idea, I hope I have finally got my head around the difference between a stopover and transit with respect to the oneworld Explorer, I just need to emphasise at the time of booking.
Or as suggested by Gardyloo, while you are in TYO on this xonex you could start an ex-Japan xonex to fly to a few places and then back to the UK. Several months later you fly the rest of your ex-Japan xonex returning to HND and then pick up your ex-OSL xonex. I live in the extreme left corner of the US and have never started an xonex in the western hemisphere because of price and as it allows me to utilize half of my rtw as a block and return home and then at some later time use the rest of the xonex. As previously mentioned by Mewenenzi I among others have had xonex’s active going different ways around the world. |
Originally Posted by Gardyloo
(Post 35452184)
A couple of arbitrary (or not so) points...
Latam is not allowed (own code or codeshare) in either Oneworld Explorer or Global Explorer itineraries. QR fly to GRU from DOH but I'm not sure if QR's fifth freedom flight GRU-EZE still operates. Otherwise, intra-SA travel on Oneworld is basically off the table. But as a reminder, you can enter and leave North America twice with the Oneworld Explorer, so something like SYD-DFW-GRU-MIA-XXX would be legal. (GRU would be for the Amazon cruise, or any other South American city accessed from the USA.) A DONE5 ex-OSL at present is around 600 quid more than a DONE4. The YVR-DFW "cheap" flight could easily be replaced with a more lucrative (in tier points) flight or two from Seattle. Alaska Airlines flies a number of 2000+ mile hops from SEA that don't fall afoul of the "one-transcon" rule. For example, AS recnetly announced winter service nonstop from SEA to NAS (Nassau, Bahamas) as well as resumption of their SEA-CUN (Cancun) service and SEA-BZE (Belize City.) They already fly LAX-SJO (San Jose, CR); all these are well over 2000 miles, not to mention several routes to/from Anchorage - LAX-ANC, DFW-ANC (AA), ORD-ANC - that are also well over the 2K limit. And if Vancouver is a priority, maybe just ride the train from Seattle (scenic, $40, 4 hours.) Seattle is becoming a more important Oneworld mini-hub on the west coast, with service on JL, CX, AY, IB, QR, AA and BA to their respective hubs. In fact, it might be worth looking at using a DONE4 to get close enough to South America that an Amazon cruise could be accessed fairly cheaply using non-OW carriers (maybe via PTY or some other Central American hub) thereby saving the DONE4 - DONE5 bump and saving RTW segments in the process. No idea of the costs or where you might board or disembark an Amazon cruise, but maybe worth exploring. Yeah, I meant to say that you CAN use a DONEx for amassing tier points, if that's a goal. If it's not a priority, then certainly it might be easier on the system to avoid the long zigzags one can use to run up the score. It's all about choices. Oh, BTW, it might be useful to remember that business class DONEx prices out of Japan are nearly identical to those from Norway. If you're regular visitors to Japan maybe you could use some stored Avios to position yourselves there to start/end an RTW from there. It would give you more flexibility to use the RTW for more stops/stopovers in Europe or the Middle East, but of course you'd be limited to two stopovers within Asia. |
Originally Posted by ademanuele
(Post 35452438)
Thanks, plenty of food for thought. I had an old version of the rules that still had LATAM included...
https://assets.ctfassets.net/m9ph4qvas97u/uRxza3JJwPccskH0XoYow/4014342b98a9fa4c3cab48202350a1f0/230421-oneworld-alliance-round-the-world-oneworld-explorer.pdf |
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