Hi All

I'm in the early stages of planning an AONE4, ex-CAI, itinerary as follows:

CAI-LHR
LHR-BKK
BKK-HKG
HKG-NRT
NRT-HKG
HKG-SYD
SYD-PER
PER-ASP-CNS (not in OWE)
CNS-MEL
MEL-AKL
AKL-DUD (not in OWE)
CHC-SYD
SYD-HNL
HNL-SFO
SFO-LAX
LAX-LAS
LAS-MIA
MIA-IAD
IAD-LHR
LHR-DXB
DXB-LHR
LHR-CAI

The main point of this itinerary is to have a jolly good holiday, but of course I have an eye on maxing the miles (47,733 in the OWE as it currently stands) and a BA Gold card (am already Silver)!!!

I have some questions:

1. Is this an OK itinerary? Max 20 flights, max 4 within any continent (except US). Is it OK to pass through hubs multiple times (e.g. LHR, HKG, SYD?)

2. LHR-BKK, BA or QF? Am tempted to try QF First, as I will try BA on IAD-LHR-DXB-LHR and the flights to CAI. But I will get less miles for QF (1.5 times, rather than 2.25 times as Silver). Is it worth it to try out QF?

3. HKG-SYD, QF or CX? What's the First service like on this route for both carriers? Am tempted to try the CX A346, as this will be the only chance to try the longest plane in the world on this itinerary.

4. How many BA tier points do you get for AA First class on two-class domestics, is it 40/60 or 120/180 (short/long haul)?

Many thanks for any info you can give.


PhilH


PS: Am planning a trip report simlar to Steady-EDI (www.rtwman.co.uk), can't imagine it will be half as good though!

Only one problem with your itinerary which I can see - you cannot do both LHR-CAI and LHR-DXB returns as those two are in the restricted list between which and LHR you can only have 2 segments (ie there and back).

1. Yes as far as I can see apart from the DXB run as mentioned. Multipletimes through the hubs is fine. Remember that you can only have two stopovers in total in Europe.

2. In my experience BA and QF are pretty similar in FIrst. I'd go for the miles. But can you not fly the BA codeshare on the QF operated flight and get both?

3. CX every time - best First Class in the air.

4. Not sure - sorry - been out of BA for a while.

As already noted, the Europe sectors need to change. Note that the Australia domestic sectors that you have excluded from the OWE may only offer Y service depending on the timing. But if you are paying separately for them, then they can be picked up at a reasonable price in Y anyway.

There's not much difference between the service offered on QF and BA in F. There are some minor differences in the product that come down to personal preference. The layout in the 744 is slightly different, with QF's seats being 4 rows and floowing the outer walls, while BA's layout has 5 rows and the seats are at an angle to the fuselage. but they have the same number of seats (14) with QF having 1x2x1 from row 2 back.

Another decision maker may be the typical wines offered. QF will tend to feature Australian wines which may be of interest to you. But for me, BA offer better scotch - the wine is less of an issue to me.

You will get the same lounge access with BA and QF.

What's point on being on the longest aircraft when you are sitting right up the front . If you choose CX, you will get access to the excellent CX lounges in HKG, and that is probably worth the difference. QF will be a 744, so you enter the aircraft, turn left (always better than turning right) and won't see another non-F passenger for the flight.

I will look forward to the report.

So if you purchase out of oz you can pass through sydney twice?

But if you buy in LAX can you go back to lax and pass through to somewhere else or is it like an award ticket where you cant go past go?

Sorry to sound stupid but what exacrly is an AONE 4 or DONE 4? what does all of this stand for and where can i look at booking one? Also why is it important to start at BKK?
Thanx

These are differnt types of Global Explorer around the world tix with Oneworld. Aone4 is first class visiting 4 continents (including the continent you start in), Done4 is business class. They also have 3, 5 and 6 continent options (the last number is the number of continents). Lastly they have economy class which has the letter "L" at the beginning. I am planning my first trip and the people on this board have been a great help.

Thanks for all your replies. I didn't know about this rule, but I've just spotted it. I really want to visit DXB, so maybe I'll wait for Swiss to enter the alliance proper, then do IAD-ZRH-DXB-ZRH-LHR, that would add one flight sector however to the max 20. Hmmmmm. Will have to reconsider as IB and AY don't fly to DXB.

Someone mentioned there being a maximum number of stopovers (2 in region of origin). Can someone explain this please? Surely every flight you do will have a stopover at the end, i.e. you stay for a couple of days in the place you're visiting, before resuming your itinerary?

Another quick question, are AA transatlantics still non-point earning for the BAEC if booked within a AONE4? Maybe a question for the BA board.

Many thanks
PhilH

Country of origin gets the number of sectors as per the rules. A stopover is >24 hours but a transfer is <24 hours. Therefore, plan your stopovers carefully - the rest are transfers. Note also that many airports have no tax or minimal tax for transfers - even if you clear immigration and go out on the street - although this varies. Eg: AKL gives an exemption stamp if you can prove you arrived <24 hrs ago - saves NZD25. Likewise LHR taxes (brutally high) are much less if you transfer. This is all calculated by the agent when purchasing the ticket (except for those airports where you pay separately)..

Almost... what you have described is the OneWorldExplorer ticket (not a Global Explorer). The OneWorld Explorer is the nONEx where n is the class (A, D or L) and x is the number of continents (3-6).

A Global Explorer is a different ticket which is mileage based, coming in different mileage bands, with a fare type xGLOBnn where x ia again the class (A, D, L) and nn is the number of thousands of miles allowed on the ticket.

Since you read Steady-EDI's report, I assume you're aware that the QF SYD-HNL flight does not feature First Class, so that one will only be in Business Class. If you really want to include Hawaii on your trip, then you have no choice, but if you are willing to skip it, there are better ways to cross the Pacific. FWIW, I would not take that flight. To me, if I am payign for a First Class RTW, the thought of not being in F for my Pacific crossing is a non-starter. YMMV.

Also, you might want to consider routing on a transcon flight out of LAX or SFO to JFK. The service on these flights is quite nice (very similar to International F standard) and, to me, is an essential part of a RTW. You could do more to maximize your U.S. segments, but I suspect you selected what you did because that is where you want to go (what an odd concept ).

In any event, have fun, these are great tickets and should be a fun experience!

I completely agree with the above post that a transcon AA segment is a must...especially for lunch or dinner. Great experience in first. Also, the SYD-HNL portion looks good but, hey, you are paying for a FC rtw experience

And you can actually swing two US transcons into the itinerary if you are careful. Normally the rules only permit one. but if you enter the USA from SWP using QF107 SYD-JFK (booked as a single flight coupon), you fly SYD-LAX and LAX-JFK, and can then still do JFK-LAX/SFO for your US transcon sector. Of course this is good for miles/points earning as well since SYD-JFK is 9950 miles!

Thanks for the further info, but Hawaii is somewhere I've always wanted to visit, so it is a must see for me. Also its quite useful (for BA purposes) as its two long hauls across the pacific (albeit on in J), so 300 tier points, rather than 180 for the direct SYD-LAX in QF F.

Anyway I've come up with a semi-solution, HNL-SFO-LAX-LAS-LAX-JFK-BGI-LHR

The LAX-JFK-BGI-LHR sectors are all >2,000 miles, so all longhaul for BA purposes, so keeping the Gold dream alive ;-)

Anyway thanks for all your help, I'm sure there'll be more questions before I take the plunge and purchase the ticket.

Many thanks
PhilH

AYOR