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Any thoughts?

FWIW -here are some of mine

Somewhere beachy for three days
You say you want three* days somewhere beachy between ORD and SYD. It sounds to me like you are time-constrained, which would mean a side-trip to say the Caribbean or S.E. Asia would eat too much time in flying. California of course has good beaches, starting with Venice Beach in L.A. You could fly home via SFO and stay on a beach somewhere there. Or on the Gulf Coast and fly home via DFW.

As I posted earlier, your proposed stopover in Hawaii should work. I checked on The Matrix and 1-way flights from KOA to HNL cost USD91

* Three days: remember you “lose” a day on the way home – by crossing the Date Line

The Global Explorer
This is Oneworld’s other round-the-world ticket. It cannot be purchased on-line, so you must either phone an airline such as Qantas or use a travel agent to buy it.
It allows more airlines to be used, including Fiji Airlines and Qantas codeshares on Air Tahiti Nui. So a stopover in either Fiji(NAN) or Tahiti(PPT) is possible.

It restricts the number of stopovers to 5, with no more than 2 in any region (the Oneworld Explorer has no such restriction).
So your stopovers would be HND, LHR, JFK, ORD or LAX, NAN or PPT.

If you are travelling in economy class, the Global Explorer is AUD600* cheaper than the equivalent Oneworld Explorer. If in business or first class, there is no price difference.

* Approximately AUD600 cheaper – the total price depends on the various taxes, fees and (sur)charges for different itineraries

Maximising the ticket benefits
These RTW tickets are not cheap – therefore I always try to get as much value of them as possible. So I have a couple of ideas in this regard. But first, I will list some relevant fare rules:

You are allowed a maximum of 16 segments (either flight segments or surface segments]
You are allowed up to 6 flight segments in North America and up to 4 flight segments in other continents
You are allowed a maximum of 2 stopovers in your continent of origin
You must finish up back in your country of origin, but not necessarily at the same point you started from (this is a simplification of the rule, but is correct for Australia)
Travel may not be via the point of origin
You are allowed 1 year from your first flight to complete your itinerary
A second visit is allowed to Asia

First Idea – A holiday in Australia
Make your point of origin somewhere other than SYD (for example MEL or BNE); travel round the world and return to SYD (SYD will become 1 of the allowed 2 stopovers in the continent of origin)
Sometime within the ticket’s validity have up to 4 flights in Australia and one more stopover (any other ‘stops’ will need to be transits, meaning less than 24hrs). A sample itinerary is:
MEL-NRT-LHR-JFK-ORD-LAX-KOA,HNL-SYD-PER-BME-BNE-SYD

The Australian holiday could be before you leave on your RTW trip instead of after MEL-PER-BME-BNE-SYD-HND-LHR-JFK-ORD-LAX-KOA,HNL-SYD

Note 1: the online tool has a bug that enforces an old rule restricting stopovers in the country of origin to 1 before departing RTW and 1 on return from RTW (booking through an airline or travel agent will get around this)

Note 2: this idea will not work for the Global Explorer, only the Oneworld Explorer, because:

Your South Pacific stopover (NAN or PPT) and your SYD stop will use up your 2 allowed stops
The economy Global Explorer has a maximum number of miles allowed (26,000) and your itinerary leaves very few miles at the end. Business or First allow more miles (34,000) and you can pay more to get more miles on the economy ticket (but you are still only allowed 2 stopovers in your continent of origin)

Second idea – a holiday in Asia
Do as [MENTION=2110]R2[/MENTION] suggested and fly from the US back to Asia, have your beachy stop, and then
Fly back to Australia on a separate return ticket
Return to Asia sometime later and pick up the RTW ticket again; travel around there and return to Australia

Note 3: I did this some years ago on an ex-PER RTW ticket; the relevant part of the ticket was …LHR-PEK-HKG-SIN (cheap SIN-PER return on Scoot then, six months later) SIN-BKK-BOM-SYD-PER

Note 4: The first and second ideas can of course be combined :D

Third Idea - Start (and end) somewhere other than Australia
[MENTION=2110]R2[/MENTION] made this suggestion. Its potential benefits are:

Lower ticket price (though offsetting this – you have to get yourself to the starting point and back from the ending point)
Australia is no longer the continent of origin so there is no restriction on stopovers there, just the allowed 4 flight segments

R2 suggested starting in Japan because its prices for Business and First are lower than Australia (other Asian countries are similar to Australia).
These are the approximate savings on your ticket:
Economy – AUD850 more expensive in Japan!
Business -AUD2000 less expensive in Japan
First – AUD2250 less expensive in Japan
(The Aussie dollar has been falling in value lately, so these savings are not as good as they used to be)

I have several questions:

1. If I book this on my AMEX will I get 5:1 points?
2. I need to book FOUR RTW tickets, 2 of them are identical itineraries. The other two are slightly different from each other and 80% the same as the two identical ones. I have all the dates, flight #s and times for all four tickets. Should this be as simple as finding an agent to read it to?
3. Can I call the AA EXP desk and do it through them?

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Originally Posted by GetSetJetSet (Post 30947399)

It depends. If you pay for RTW tickets using your Amex Platinum card you will earn 5 MR points per dollar if you book directly with an airline, which includes using the online OneWorld tool and calling an airline directly (such as the AA RTW desk). If you use a travel agent, you may or may not get the bonus.
Yes, you can simply call the AA RTW desk or a different airline (e.g., BA has an RTW desk as well) and read everything off. Some agents at some airlines will let you email the details and then book it from that. If you use a travel agent, sometimes they prefer if you email complex itineraries. (Note that if the two identical itineraries are for two different people on the exact same flights and dates, you can have both passengers in one itinerary.)
Yes, you can call the AA RTW desk, but you might want to ask for an agent by name who was part of the old dedicated RTW desk and hence knows these tickets, rather than dealing with a random Meeting Services agent who may not know much. You can also try booking online with the tool, or by calling a different airline if you prefer. If you use AA, they may want to see at least one AA-coded overwater flight.

Edited to correct misinformation regarding purchasing from a travel agent.

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Originally Posted by anabolism (Post 30947452)

the tickets will be issued on the ticket stock of an airline (such as AA), and the charge will be from that airline.
(Note that if the two identical itineraries are for two different people on the exact same flights and dates, you can have both passengers in one itinerary.)
If you use AA, they may want to see at least one AA-coded overwater flight.

Thanks, so much. To follow up.

1. If it's on AA stock and these are J tickets, will I earn 2x EQM on all flights regardless of operating carrier (some are usually 1.5x on their stock)?
2. The two identical itineraries are for different people on the same flights and dates. The other two itineraries are different for the first 1/3 of the trip, then all 4 people are in sync same flights, dates, times the rest of the way.
3. No prob, the last GRU-JFK flight will be AA metal.

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Originally Posted by GetSetJetSet (Post 30947569)

If you credit the flight to your AAdvantage account, you will earn based on which airline's code is used for each flight. It doesn't matter which airline ticketed it. So, for example, if you book GRU-JFK as AA950, you will earn 2 EQM/mile but your RDM and EQD will be based on your fare not distance. If you book the same GRU-JFK flight as JL7201, you will earn 2 EQM/mile and your EQDs will be 25% of flight mileage, and RDMs will be 125% of flight miles plus your elite bonus (e.g., another 100% if you are EXP). If you book the same flight as JJ8404 your EQMs are 1.5/mile and your EQDs are 30% of flight mileage and your RDMs are 150% of flight mileage plus any elite bonus (e.g., another 100% if you are EXP). I recommend checking EF to see which carrier's codes are available for each flight, then checking the AAdvantage earnings table for that airline. For AA codes, you can approximate the fare that will be used to calculate your EQD and RDM by adding the base fare plus all carrier-imposed fees, then dividing by the total flight mileage of all flights, then multiplying that number by the flight mileage of the flight in question. You can get the flight mileage for each flight out of EF, or you can use GCMap to get a rougher estimate of the mileage for each flight and for all flights together.
All passengers on a record must be flying the exact same flights and dates, so in your case you could put two people in one record, and then for the other two people, if they will be flying the exact same set of flights on the same dates as each other, put both of them in another record. If they are flying different flights or dates than each other then each will need to be in his or her own record. Since some of the flights are in common, I'd suggest starting with all four passengers in one record, with the first set of flights, then split the record and change the flights. By starting with all four passengers in the same record, the records will be linked and if there are irregular operations or other issues, it will be obvious to agents that there are linked records. If the passengers start off in different records, they can't really be linked, but they can have a cross-reference note added, but an agent has to be looking for that to see it.

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Originally Posted by anabolism (Post 30947452)

Yes, if you pay for RTW tickets using your Amex Platinum card you will earn 5 MR points per dollar. It doesn't matter if you book online via the OneWorld tool, or by calling an airline directly (such as the AA RTW desk), or you use a travel agent.

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Originally Posted by anabolism (Post 30947787)

If you credit the flight to your AAdvantage account, you will earn based on which airline's code is used for each flight. It doesn't matter which airline ticketed it. So, for example, if you book GRU-JFK as AA950, you will earn 2 EQM/mile but your RDM and EQD will be based on your fare not distance. If you book the same GRU-JFK flight as JL7201, you will earn 2 EQM/mile and your EQDs will be 25% of flight mileage, and RDMs will be 125% of flight miles plus your elite bonus (e.g., another 100% if you are EXP). If you book the same flight as JJ8404 your EQMs are 1.5/mile and your EQDs are 30% of flight mileage and your RDMs are 150% of flight mileage plus any elite bonus (e.g., another 100% if you are EXP). I recommend checking EF to see which carrier's codes are available for each flight, then checking the AAdvantage earnings table for that airline. For AA codes, you can approximate the fare that will be used to calculate your EQD and RDM by adding the base fare plus all carrier-imposed fees, then dividing by the total flight mileage of all flights, then multiplying that number by the flight mileage of the flight in question. You can get the flight mileage for each flight out of EF, or you can use GCMap to get a rougher estimate of the mileage for each flight and for all flights together.

All true and good advice. However, remember that the fact that a codeshare exists doesn't mean that you're going to be able to purchase it, especially for an RTW itinerary. And it works the other way, too. On a recent AONE5, I couldn't get LAX-ORD-LAX on the AA number, but was able to when my agent used the QF number.

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Originally Posted by Dr. HFH (Post 30947846)

I believe that only tickets issued by certain travel agents earn the 5× MR points. Yes, the charge does come from the airline, but AMEX can tell the difference. On the 3 xONEx tickets I purchased recently from an agent, I received the 5× MR points on none of them. I did a little research and read (but I now forget where, it was several months ago) that agent tickets do not normally attract the 5× bonus, but that there a few agents whose charges do attract the bonus.

All true and good advice. However, remember that the fact that a codeshare exists doesn't mean that you're going to be able to purchase it, especially for an RTW itinerary. And it works the other way, too. On a recent AONE5, I couldn't get LAX-ORD-LAX on the AA number, but was able to when my agent used the QF number.

How to clarify re. the 5x? If I am only going to get 1x on AMEX i'll take the 3x on CSR, but of course 5x would be best.

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Originally Posted by Dr. HFH (Post 30947846)

I was not aware of this, thank you. I've always had the AmEx MR 5x on all of my tickets charged to the card, issued by agents or an airline.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. HFH (Post 30947846)

However, remember that the fact that a codeshare exists doesn't mean that you're going to be able to purchase it, especially for an RTW itinerary. And it works the other way, too. On a recent AONE5, I couldn't get LAX-ORD-LAX on the AA number, but was able to when my agent used the QF number.

I recall discussion of that. I don't understand why you were not able to book it as an AA prime. As for booking codeshares in general, I believe it is supposed to only be possible on an international flight or a domestic flight booked as a connection to or from an international flight, but I have had no problems having agents and other airlines book, for example, domestic AA flights as JL, QF, and BA codes even when not a connection.

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Originally Posted by GetSetJetSet (Post 30948913)

How to clarify re. the 5x? If I am only going to get 1x on AMEX i'll take the 3x on CSR, but of course 5x would be best.

If you buy your ticket directly from an airline (airline website, or, in the case of a RTW, from the airline's RTW desk), you'll get the 5× MR points on the ticket(s). If you buy from a travel agent, you will probably, but not definitely, not. I have no idea how to tell in advance whether or not that agency's tickets attract the 5× bonus. To be certain. buy directly from the airlines. For an RTW, try the AA RTW desk, +1-800-247-3247.

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Originally Posted by Dr. HFH (Post 30949070)

Ah, I misread. I am going to book directly through the AA RTW desk, so it should be 5x for sure, no problem. My other questions, are:

1. If while we are in transit we want to tweak the routing a bit or dates (within the rules) is this possible for a change fee, or is it locked once travel starts?

2. If something unforeseen comes up after booking but before travel, are the tickets refundable?

Thanks so much!

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Originally Posted by GetSetJetSet (Post 30949846)

1. Yes.
2. Yes, with a penalty.

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Originally Posted by jerry a. laska (Post 30949876)

1. Yes.
2. Yes.

Wonderful, thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by GetSetJetSet (Post 30949846)

You can make date and time (and airline code) changes for free at any time, but it's safest to make changes after flying the first flight. Before flying the first flight, you can make date/time (and airline code) changes for flights other than the first, but not all airlines understand this. The AA RTW desk will understand if you speak to a longtime RTW agent. If you speak to a Meeting Services agent, the agent may or may not understand. If you change the first flight and the fare has increased, you must pay the new fare. When making any voluntary changes, you may have to pay updated taxes and airline-imposed fees (although normally these shouldn't change much, especially if you make the change with the airline that originally booked the ticket). You can make routing changes for a $125 fee per person (plus any updated taxes and airline-imposed fees). The $125 fee is per set of changes that you make at one time.
They are refundable with a fee. I believe the fee is 5% for business and first class tickets.

[MENTION=165293]pandaperth[/MENTION] [MENTION=40177]anabolism[/MENTION] [MENTION=128120]Dr. HFH[/MENTION] - thank you!!!

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QR flies from DOH to three destinations in Tanzania - DAR, ZNZ and JRO. JRO is close to a number of game parks and of course to Kilimanjaro itself.

It wouldn't let me enter "JRO" into the OneWorld itinerary builder- I'll try it when I call to book.

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One more reason to fly QR between DOH and North America.

Trying to do Oslo- DOH-LAX, but it adds an extra segment, putting me at 17.

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The rules actually have a list of cities that are considered "west coast" cities for the purposes of this rule, and another list of cities that are considered "east coast" cities for the rule. There are occasionally opportunities to game this when nonstop service is added, but they forget to add the city to the appropriate list in the rule. I've done it with back-to-backs LAX-RDU-LAX and LAX-MBJ-LAX.

I'm going to give it a shot!

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Originally Posted by SDandi (Post 30951040)

[MENTION=165293]pandaperth[/MENTION] [MENTION=40177]anabolism[/MENTION] [MENTION=128120]Dr. HFH[/MENTION] - thank you!!!

You're welcome :)

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It wouldn't let me enter "JRO" into the OneWorld itinerary builder- I'll try it when I call to book.

Yet another bug in the online booking tool. You cannot enter ZNZ either.

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Trying to do Oslo- DOH-LAX, but it adds an extra segment, putting me at 17.

Replacing OSL-HEL-LAX with OSL-DOH-LAX will not change the segment count.