Hi all,

I currently have an itenerary on hold that I would like you guys to review and suggest improvements to achieve a few additional objectives.

SBA-LAX-LIM-SCL-EZEx-SCLx-IPCx-SCL-LIM-LAXx-YYZ-LHR-BOMx-DXB-LHR-ORD-LAX.

The 14 segments counted towards the 16 for the award are:
SBA-LAX (AA)
LAX-EZE (LA)
EZE-SCL (LA)
SCL-IPC (LA)
IPC-SCL (LA)
SCL-LAX (LA)
LAX-YYZ (AA)
YYZ-LHR (BA)
LHR-BOM (BA)
BOM-DXB (CX)
DXB-LHR (BA)
LHR-ORD (BA)
ORD-LAX (AA)
LAX-SBP (open jaw)
...and the Great Circle miles are 30712 (based on the Great Circle Mapper).

Here are a few comments about this itenerary:
1. The routing through YYZ enroute to BOM is because the AA non-stop from LAX does not get to LHR in time for the connection
2.The routing back from BOM to LAX goes through DXB and ORD only because the non-stops are not available in J on my dates

What I would like to do is the following:
1. Add another destination(s), preferably SXM and BDA, to push the total flown miles as close to 35k as possible
2. Fly to DEL instead of BOM to firstly save segments and secondly get better dates than BA can offer to BOM

The alternative routing that I have developed to achieve 1 & 2 above is:
SBA-LAX-LIM-SCL-EZEx-SCLx-IPCx-SCL-LIM-LAXx-ORD-DEL-ORDx-MIA-SXMx--JFK-BDAx-JFK-LAX, which by my count (incl the last open jaw) gets to 16 segments and 35065 miles according to the great circle mapper. But the great circle mapper usually calculates a slightly higher mileage total than does AA.com/AA and I hope this might just squeeze under 35k.

The problem with this routing is that I can no longer get past the AA + 2 OW airlines rule as this itenerary only uses AA and LA. I cannot use BA in either direction to DEL as they have no availability anywhere close to my dates, and I do not want to use BA to BLR as this will consume additional miles and not get me any closer to my destination.

Could you please provide suggestions on how I could add another airline(s) into this itenerary, while (hopefully) still being able to get to all these places.

Why do you believe that the itinerary on hold has only 14 segments? I count 16. I also count 18 segments in the itinerary you would like to ultimately book.

I think the confusion is partly due to the OP's [incorrect] use of "x" to denote a stopover.

Only 16 segments are allowed on a oneworld award using AA miles. This limit has nothing to do with stopovers or how to determine the total countable mileage of the award. I think the OP is confused about the rules, but the confusion is not the result of mixing up stopovers with connections.

I am not saying the 16 segment limit has anything to do with stopovers. Your count of the segments differs form the OP's basically because you are counting the segments involving LIM, and the the OP is, rightly, not counting them, since LAX-LIM-SCL-EZE, and SCL-LIM-LAX are single segment flights, unless one stops in LIM or SCL, something the OP is not doing.

What would the correct way to describe this be?

* The "x" is usually interpreted to mark a connection, not a stopover.

* Don't show intermediate stops for direct flights (single flight number).

So, if I read your post right, the first part of your alternative routing could be shown like this:

SBA-xLAX-EZE-SCL-IPC-xSCL-LAX....

.

Thanks. I will make sure to use this convention in future.

In the meantime I was able to find a few small hop BA flights in the Caribbean, NAS-GCM, ANU-GND, etc. and I am trying to weave one of these into my itenerary (hopefully there is no restriction to using these flights) to satisfy the AA + 2 OW airlines rule.

Maybe you know this already, but the rule for oneworld awards using AA miles is that you must use two oneworld airlines other than AA in your itinerary. You do not have to use AA.

Yes, I do know this. However with AA's new DEL flight they are the most efficient way to get to and from India (from ORD), although the service and seats is certainly not on par with BA/CX/QF.

I have currently been able to find the following flights within the US / Caribbean to try to satisfy the requirement for a second non-AA OW carrier besides LA:

BA -> NAS-GCM, NAS-PLS, ANU-UVF, ANU-GND, ANU-TAB
CX -> JFK-YVR, YYZ-ANC
QF -> LAX-JFK

Additionally, I was also able to find GIG-GRU, EZE-GRU (BA) and UIO-GYE (IB).

I am not sure whether all of these can be used within my OW itenerary, but I am finding it difficult to use any of these flight in my itenerary without major schedule compromises.

I wanted to check with the gurus out there whether there are any N.American non-AA OW flights which I have missed.

SFO<->YVR, announced by QF to become available beginning June '06.

Thanks. I knew there had to be something I had missed!

It remains to be seen whether QF actually operates SYD-SFO-YVR. The last 3 route announcements like this didn't actually start operation, the last time it was within a week of the start date that the route was cancelled by QF. So it will only happen if QF has the planes and thinks the route is profitable (which probably means the cargo contracts). I wouldn't count on being able to book QF on YVR-SFO just yet (fwiw it is not loaded into QF's timetable despite the press release).

Yeah, I had a look at QF last night and realized that although the SYD-SFO has been loaded into the system SFO-YVR has not.