Apologies in advance if I don't use the right terminology here - I'm new!

I have read on various threads that people are ringing AA to get their ticket on the system and then paying elsewhere.

I have 3 questions:

1. Can this be done if your only flights with AA are within the US and between the US and South America?

2. Can this be done if there are other OW airlines such as LAN and Finnair on the itinerary that are not part of the e-ticket brigade?

3. Can it be done with 20 segments on the itinerary?

This is my *ONE5 route:

LHR-PEK,BKK-HKG-PER,SYD-CHC,AKL-LAX-MIA-AUA-MIA-LIM-SCL-CJC-SCL-PUQ,RIO-MIA-CUN-MIA-YUL-LHR

18 segments but could be 20 if I started elsewhere...

In theory, yes, but in reality if you don't fly at least one transoceanic segment with AA then you are likely to be refused.

You cannot go from North America to South America and back to North America unless at least one of those intercontinental flights is a transit without stopover in North America.

And last but not least, welcome to FT.

Your itinerary has a problem with the North American Segments - South American Segments - More North American Segments. While you are allowed two entries to north america, one must be a transit without stopover to another continent.

Thanks guys. I was wondering about that transit/stopover business. Should have spotted it. I've been trusting that validator tool, which is excellent, but it doesn't spot this! Back to the drawing board/spreadsheet. Looks like AUA will have to be moved - into the high season

Told you I was new!

Hi,

We are all here to help. Welcome and please enjoy. If you give us some idea of the class of travel then we can help with the extra 2 sectors as to the cheapest place to start from and how to buy the tickets there.

If you are UK based then knowing where in the UK will also help with the suggested flights to pick up the start of the trip.

Are you sorted out with a FF programme that will give you best value on this trip as well?

There may be the possibility of getting the whole thing sorted out without having to ring AA as a lot of the restrictions to sale of RTWs appeared to go on Jan 15 this year.

Best regards

Spotwelder.

Hi Spotwelder,

I'm in London (for now...) , I'll sort out my profile, promise.

Unlike a lot of people here I'm not especially bothered about FF mileage runs etc. My aim is to get the best value route ATW in the order I want. The basic order is as that of my "wrong" itinerary. South America followed by Mexico is a 'must'.

I started out planning it all with Star Alliance but the inclusion of land segments in the mileage made it painfully restrictive. The Oneworld Explorer ticket seems much more flexible, plus we get to fly BA, which I reckon is a bonus...and LAN suits me better than VARIG for South American routes. Also the OW works out cheaper for my route in the long run.

Having done some 10 hour+ economy flights in the past I'm really keen on going for D class. Can't afford A. I read a thread by Lax about how he'd got a DONE done (!) in Istanbul, which would be easy for me to get to. Seeing as I was planning to upgrade to WT+ on the outward and return BA flights anyway, it works out not a lot more expensive.

I wish I was 20ish!

Regards from Blighty

Judy

In that case, AKL-SCL is probably best for you.

Yes, you're right. No great desire to go through LAX at any stage anyway, not my favourite of airports.

Here's the new plan:

ist-lhr-pek,bkk-hkg-per,syd-chc,akl-scl-lim-scl-cjc,scl-puq,rio-mia-aua-mia-cun-jfk-yul-lhr-ist

The IST legs are obviously dependant on whether I use that option.

Does this look okay. Sorry, this thread's turning into an itinerary check!

It does to me.

Besides, legit itinerary or not, anybody discerning enough to fit in Torres del Paine and San Pedro de Atacama in a RTW earns my seal of approval.

The trip looks OK at the moment but I haven't got my validator brain working. IST can be a little difficult to get a cheapie to as a single. However, there is an Istanbul low cost airport with a couple of carriers going there. One way mileage spend on BA Exec Club is a popular option.

I will get round to recalculating the D class ex-Europe shortly but GIB was an interesting option for a time. Monarch do cheap singles off Luton and Manchester and GB airways can sometimes be pushed to a �100 cheap return.

Am I right in thinking that you have a couple of sectors spare at this point. There are some interesting side trips that can be added if this is the case. Alternatively, there are some land sectors that you might want to fill in with flights. It would be a crime to waste a pair of sectors on a D class ticket, even if it was just a quick day trip for a cup of coffee in a European capital or shopping in Dubai. Thoughts please.

I think that you will be fine for the ticket to be set up in the UK and issued here but I am waiting for confirmation on BA policy in the next couple of days.

It should be possible to out and back IST on the same aircraft with on-line check-in.

Just a quick point, normally we use Round The World as RTW as opposed to Around The World which is better English but you know what these colonial types did to our language.

Those bits are the highlight of the trip for me Viajero. In fact, I would happily scrub the rest just to go to Chile!

I've invested thousands of keystrokes in figuring how to get cheaply and conveniently to IST. It's a bit of an oxymoron from the UK, given the prices on the BA or TK nonstops. The best compromise keeps turning up as (LCC or train of your choice) to AMS or BRU, then the daily TK flight(s) to IST, the one-ways of which turn up at around �120 - �140. The LCCs that go to IST all either go to SAW, which I gather is way out there on the Asia side of the water, or arrive at 3 in the morning, or both.

We ourselves in April are going to go EDI-PRG-IST on Czech Airlines, and will enjoy an 8-hour layover at PRG, time to go into town and have lunch and several excellent beers, then a 10:30pm arrival at IST. Doing it as an open jaw back to LHR for the end of the RTW. Even if we don't use the return or pay a change fee, it's still cheaper than one-ways. Crazy? Yes maybe.

Ahh, such wisdom; who wants to be 20ish? (unless, of course, you'd rather be running in front of a few Miuras in Pamplona!)

Well, I think I'll call it our Circle The Planet trip!

Not sure about where to use the extra sectors. I'm sort of thinking that Europe is and always will be pretty much accessible. So I'd be tempted to use the sectors further afield. Despite being female I've no great desire to shop in Dubai. Fiji was originally in the plan but that was because the guy at the BA travelshop told me that the Air Pacific flights were valid if they had a QF flight number.

Originally we were planning to go to Mexico City and overland to Cancun. But as we plan to spend anything up to 6 months in Tulum (near Cancun) it makes more sense now to do so after South America.

We are also doing Buenos Aires and Iguassu Falls on seperate tickets.

So somewhere interesting and/or exotic and not too expensive in Asia, South Pacific, South America or Canada would be favourite! Ideas on a postcard please...

Thanks again for all your excellent help!