The boss has approved my first RTW! Sadly only in J, so I am paying the price differential to sit up front. Here is my routing:

LAX-DFW-EZE (AA - mileage run only)

EZE-LHR (BA - meetings on the continent may add CDG or EuroStar it)

CDG-LHR-DXB (BA - mileage run)

DXB-LHR-MEL (BA - meeting old friends in MEL)

MEL-SYD-BKK (QF/CX - vacation!)

BKK-HKG (CX - conference)

HKG-JFK (CX in time for CXCEL promo!)

JFK-PHX-JFK (AA - mileage run doesn't count as transcon)

JFK-LAX (AA -- get to see what goes on in Premium Transcon!)

Any input greatly appreciated.

And thanks for all the great tips on this forum. Would never have known about DXB if not for your friendly advice.

Hi,

What we are going to need to help you is a quick listing of the 1W programmes that you are a member of and whether you want miles or status points.

You are not maximising the South America coupons very well at this point. You could punt down to Santiago de Chile as well and return via Sao Paulo for example, just a single shot to Buenos Aires seems to be a waste when you have more coupons available. Depends on time etc.

You could do EZE back to the US as long as you are then going direct to Europe and that would help the long haul points collection and status points, rather than just the straight British Airways flight. The BA flight to B.A. stops somewhere so you could coupon split it if you insist on coming straight back to the UK and not via the US. Not a daily flight...

The LHR or LGW to CDG is a real waste of coupons as you can get the fare cheaply on the web. If you want the points then we can work something out, depending on what you want to do. Remember that ex LGW is probably cheaper than LHR on BA.

Never do LHR to MEL without getting off the aircraft and back on to the same one if you have the coupons to do it. You get more status points by splitting the flight up by about 10-15%, take the first one as BA and second as QF but you might want mileage bonus, depending on your programme. I am a bit worried by the LHR to MEL and then reversing up to Asia, the only way that you could do this would be LHR-MEL without stopping over and then come out of Oz back up to Asia. The best status way of doing this one would be LHR-BAH-HKG-MEL, depending upon your programme. Can someone check the Area 1,2,3 on this for me as I cannot remember the numbering system?

More help when you reply.

spotwelder
when the spots on the radar screen weld themselves together...

It's all going to my AAdvantage account. This trip will make me EXP (along with all my other to-and-fro's


I know. But no time left. I actually threw this in as insurance in case my Q4 travel is less than anticipated. Note actual routing is LAX-DFW-MIA-EZE (no J-class 763 for me thank you!). I am in EZE essentially for lunch.


Stops in GRU but it is the same flight # so not sure that helps?


Unfortunately a time issue again. To squeeze in visiting friends in MEL, I have to sacrifice the Europe portion. Am actually OK with running to DXB for miles and not bouncing around any more.


A bit lost here. The routing is LHR-(SIN)-MEL -- it's a BA flight with a stop in SIN. I could switch to QF but I only see a 10 mile differential (LHR-MEL = 10.500 and LHR-SIN-MEL = 10.510).

Also - the routing should be ok as I am transitting Asia (no stopover) for Australia, stopping in Asia after Australia. Right? grrr - it is so hard for me to understand the rules!

I was (and am) willing to forego a couple of days on the beach in Thailand to pad some more miles. I looked at MEL-SYD-NAN but it is a QF codeshare and that isn't allowed (right?). Haven't really looked at Asia yet -- maybe trade days in Thailand for some form of mileage run.

Thanks for your input!

Hi,

I am afraid that I am no expert on the AA rules for mileage and status points, QF and BA are my specialities. The reasons for splitting the LHR to MEL sectors are that you get a certain number of tier/status points for the direct LHR to MEL but about 10% more for just switching from one codeshare to the other part on these flights. This would also be the same for the EZE coupon split. Can someone with AA experience help out here

The reason that I suggested the LHR-BAH-HKG route is that they tie up without wasting too much time on the ground. There is a bit longer in HKG for the transit to Oz but that is mileage run fun...

You can do DXB as an out and back, two day flights or two night flights depending on your love of night flights in the BA bed. If there is a big AA reason for doing so, there is the odd short First flight available in the Gulf region, such as Bahrain-Doha, again it is the old coupon splitting trick. For example, this works on BA but not QF.

You would not need to have too much time off from the beach as you only have four coupons internally in Asia. You are using one on BKK to HKG, which would give you a maximum of three for use in Asia, on the basis that you are not meeting the 20 limit on your current plans. Try the concept of BKK to SIN to HKG and then a long Asia return from there. I think that Delhi is popular as a mileage trip. You could also do Mumbai or Karachi from BKK before going to HKG. Ideally there is Colombo to buy your next ticket... Day trips to Japan from HKG also appear to be popular for the mileage runners. Can some of the CX mileage experts help here...

I try to run top level on both BA and QF and succeeded for a number of years but now it is much more difficult. However, that may be about to change...

When in London give me a shout.

Spotwelder
When the spots on the radar screen weld themselves together...

I think that Delhi is only D Class now on CX. You can do F HKG-NRT, but may have to include a stop in TPE. CX is cutting a lot of F from its' regional routes. A post/look at the CX forum may give a little more help. My last AONE needed some adjustment and I had to fly D SIN-HKG AND HKG-NRT to fit my schedule after CX dropped F on the services that I wanted (booked) to use.

LAX-SCL on LA (only good on the A-340, most days of the week)
SCL-EZE on LA
EZE-DFW on AA (1 flight number and its a 777 to MIA, but a narrow body to DFW)
DFW-MEX on AA
MEX-LHR on BA

The only problem may be getting a FC seat on LAX-SCL, but the AA RTW desk is very good about trying to get a seat. The flight number is the same for LAX-EZE, but since LA does not book FC SCL-EZE (even though it is usually a 3 class plane), you need to use 2 segments. The MEX-LHR on BA is 5 times a week and a 747, while the S.Am BA flights are usually 777's. And you take advantage of the transit enroute from S.AM to another continent. But not sure if that works when originating in N.Am thought. I've only done it when begining in Africa or Europe.

AA confers elite status based on miles travelled/points earned. As points earned are a function of miles travelled and fare class there is no major benefit to splitting the flights up*. This contrasts with e.g. BA where IIRC splitting LHR-MEL in F into two sectors earns 180+180=360 tier points compared to 330 tier points for completing the journey as 1 segment.

*If the stop on the flight is away from the great circle route then it may be worth splitting it up for the additional miles. Doing this for LHR-MEL or LHR-EZE doesn't add many extra miles.

Nothing. Take the QF flight if you can.

Thanks for the guidance. The which one to split gets worse when you run both BA and QF cards.

Spotwelder

Looks like I will keep my itinerary just about as it is -- but thank you for all the advice. I have been having dreams about routings, itineraries, etc. -- is that a common sympton of FT addiction?

Darren - I read your RTW trip report. Found it while searching for CX FC info and really, really enjoyed it. Will try to get onto the QF flight - presume the AA RTW desk can do it but doesn't like to (from some thread I found in search).

Again, many thanks to everyone. I will file my trip reports beginning in September!

Safe travels.

If you don't need to be in SIN, then you may also want to consider using CX via HGK. Some regulars around here (eg number_6) tell us that CX is the leader in F service presently, followed by QF with BA coming in last. I can't vouch for it as I have not travelled BA or CX in F, but I do greatly respect number_6's recommendations.

Also, the CX Wing lounge in HKG is fantastic compared with the BA/QF F lounge in SIN. But I do note you have some other CX F flights included so I expect you may be keen to sample the F product of some other carriers as well as CX.

The benefits of splitting LHR-MEL into two sectors are really based around the tier credit mechanisms used by BA and QF. Note that some agents will tell you they cannot sell you LHR-SIN-MEL on the same flight number on the same connection and have to sell it as LHR-MEL instead. I got around that by telling agent to leave me in SIN overnight and book me on the SIN-MEL flight the next day. Then after starting the journey I called the airline to change the date of the SIN-MEL sector to the same day as I arrive LHR-SIN ... so I have the split routing all on the same flight which helps for my QF earning.

I am going LHR-SIN-MEL on QF since I earn more on QF flights than CX flights via HKG. I am in J, but if travelling in F I would be taking the CX recommendation and forgoing the extra QF points.

For the AAdvantage promo on this, travel has to originate from the USA!

GB..So sorry to disagree with you but I just started a RTW in BKK in first and flew HKG-JFK on CX. I recieved the triple mile bonus last week for the HKG-JFK segment.

Seconded. The "must originate from" doesn't seem to be applied. I just got double miles for CX889 on a RTW bought in CAI when the rules say must be HK.