Hi,

I hope to do an AONE4 (first clas RTW four continent) starting in June from Italy. (I will already be in Catania, and will buy my ticket in euros in Sicily – I hope!) I have certain date and place commitments to meet, and also want to maximize long haul flights with three classes. I’ve done some research, but still have a few questions, particularly on how to count segments. I’d also appreciate thoughts on the value money wise of this route, and any advice on itinerary, destinations,and flights.

Quick Glance:

CTA-LGA/LHR (stopover)-AMS (stopover)-AMS-LHR-IAD/DCA (stopover)-JFK (stopover)-LAX-SJC (stopover)-LAX-HKG-BKK (stopover)-CMB (stopover)-SIN-SYD-AUK (stopover)-SYD-BKK-(transit only)-LHR

EUROPE:
CTA-LGA (BA) – UK stopover
LHR-AMS (BA) – AMS stopover
AMS-LHR (BA) then LHR-IAD (BA first)

Do I still have another European segment? Can I stop over on my final leg?

US: Have to be in DC July 18 to Aug 1; then to West Coast as it seems only way to get to Asia without Europe backtracking (not allowed.) No interest in tourist travel (I’m American) so will use some segments for short flights due to my travel needs.

DCA-JFK (prefer to train) (stopover)
JFK-LAX (AA first) then LAX-SJC (must destination/stopover)
SJC-LAX-then LAX-HKG (CX first class) (heading towards BKK)
How many segments is this?

ASIA: Need to be in Phuket Aug 24-Sept 26, have 2 ˝ weeks to travel there from West Coast. Am considering doing SJC-LAX-HKG-BKK as one long trip. Any segment advantage to this? Otherwise:
HKG-BKK (CX first or business) Leave Phuket around Sept 26, to be in Aukland by Oct 20, would like to go to Sri Lanka and maybe explore Thai islands.
BKK-CMB (CX business)
CMB-SIN (CX business) then SIN-SYD (CX first)-AUK (possibly stopover in SIN?)

Is there a better routing from CMB to AUK, keeping in mind first class desires? How are the segments counted? Is travel from Asia to SWP an Asian or SWP segment or either? Do I have segments left and if so, what are the possibilities?

SWP – have no plans other than spending time in New Zealand. What are the possibilities for using my further segments (if I have any left) and my routing back to AMS? Can I end up in UK instead? Can I do a European stopover?

AUK-SYD-BKK (transit only)-LHR (stopover possible? Preferred final destination)-AMS

Thanks.

Laurie

A segment is a single flight number. In your example the routing cta-lgw/lhr-ams-lhr-iad/dca-jfk-lax-sjc-lax-hkg-bkk-cmb-sin-syd-akl-syd-lhr is 16 segments, with 3 in Europe (allowed 4), 4 in NA (allowed 6), 3 in Asia (allowed 4) and 2 in SWP (allowed 4). Maximum of 20 allowed for the entire ttrip (this includes the inter-continent segments which don't count towards tthe per-continent segment limit). You can also buy up to 2 extra segments in any continent but this doesn't increase the 20 limit.

You cannot add another stopover in Europe as you have the maximum of 2, but could add a connecting flight from LHR to anywhere in Europe or the Middle East. However the better use of your routing would be to drop LHR-AMS-LHR and replace it with LHR-DXB-LHR and buy AMS as a separate ticket.

If you wanted to maximize miles and travel comfort you would do better to route LHR-SFO/SJC-DFW-ANC-DFW-IAD/DCA-JFK-HKG

You do realize that starting from IST or CAI will decrease your ticket cost significantly compared to the price from Italy?

So if I got to DUB or Turkey, I could buy my ticket there? And say DUB-LHR would be my first European leg?

Unfortunately, I can't do the routing you suggested, as I have to be in DC July-Aug and then in Thailand by late Aug. I know I won't make full use of the possibilities, but have time and planning constraints.

I need to go to AMS at some point for business before I leave for the US. If I got this ticket separately, could I then add on a stopover on my return to Europe? This could be an LHR-Europe-LHR segment?

Thanks for your help.

You don't have an extra coupon for Europe because you need to return to Italy at the end, thus the Europe segments would be CTA-LON-AMS-LON at the beginning than xxx-Italy at the end, hence 4.

As you probably already know, you have a limited number of flights that offer true FC; and in fact your WAS-NYC and LAX-SJC segments are on Eagle, which is classless. If it were me I'd really think about a DONE4 instead, with significant cost savings, but that's just me.

If you're in Italy and wanted to save significant money in ticket cost, I'd look at a quick trip to Dubrovnik (Croatia) - served by both EI and BA in summer, for a start there. Croatia is still one of the cheaper European start points, and not as inconvenient to Italy as Cairo or Istanbul. On an AONE4, for instance, Croatia is US$2400 (what is that, around 6 Euros?) cheaper than Italy. For a DONE4 the difference is around US$1700 last time I looked. Surely you can get to Dubrovnik for less than that. Now arranging for the ticket through DBV, well, that's another issue.

DUB is the last place you want to start a premium-class RTW; for unknown reasons I believe it's still the most expensive place in Europe, up there with N. America for outright winner.