DONE4.....How does this look?
 

Greetings;

As suggested by a number of FT members I am asking for a"check" of my DONE4. Would the experts give it a look over and I would appreciate any comments?

Thanks..........TomT

ist-lhr-auh-lhr-lax-bos-sju-mia-bos (overland) jfk-hkg-del-hkg-dps-hkg {0verland) bkk-syd-chc-syd-cns-syd-lhr-ist

It's fine. Sounds like a great trip.

Agreed, provided that only two out of lhr,auh,lhr,lhr are stopovers. Surprised you are doing Sydney 3 times and not Melbourne instead on one occasion though.

Auh is a stop over, LHR's are just connections. As always I seem to get something else to think about when I post a question.......I don't know why I have not considered Malborne....will play with it....Thanks all...TT :)

The SJU flights have the front cabin as business, unlike the other us domestic flights.

SYD-CHC-SYD is being switched from Qantas mainline to subsidiary Jetstar = no business class.

Syd-chc-syd...?
 

Hi again,

Does that mean no miles/points credit .......this is part MR to earn AA EX Plat.

Unless you need to be in CHC (or elsewhere in the South Island) I'd suggest SYD-AKL-SYD. Not much difference in miles and that route will definitely remain QF mainline since it is such an important business route.

I think the itinerary looks fine; if it were me I'd probably try to tweak some more miles out of N. America (eg SJU-MIA) but that's probably quibbling.

I've been working on a wee spreadsheet to get a handle on our next DONE4 (most likely starting in August or Sept.) and have taken note of some recent chatter about BA's imposition of fuel surcharges and other fees that are not necessarily the same if ticketing through AA and/or avoiding high-fee airports like LHR.

Depending on where you're coming from, and on your other travel plans, it might be cheaper ticketing through AA and originating at FRA or CDG than IST, given (possibly) lower taxes/fees and no need for rather pricey intra-Europe "positioning" flights. If one originated at an intercontinental hub aside from London (eg FRA, CDG, MAD, BRU, HEL) you wouldn't need to use 2 of your 4 Europe segments just getting to an intercontinental gateway, which might be beneficial later.

Based on my scratch itinerary and educated guesses at fuel charges, taxes etc. it looks (for us - YMMV big time) that we'd save around US$400 all in by starting in Paris rather than IST. ("All in" being defined as US-Europe, intra-Europe, RTW ticket, taxes, getting home after.)

No offense to Ulya and the gang, but $400 x 2 buys a couple of decent nights and meals in Paris.

As of last week and until at least November 2006, QF still show QF 45 / 46 SYD-CHC-SYD in either a 763 or 743 - both with a Business cabin. Only one return flight per day. There are DeathStar flights too - if you want no legroom and no service in Economy only.

I can certainly recommend going to CHC. Plenty to do especially if mountains and great scenery are on your agenda. Of course, WLG is an option too (take the ferry to Picton and explore Queen Charlotte Sound). Check out the Marlborough wineries around Blenheim.

also given the new QF direct SYD-PEK service you might want to consider building it in for more miles

I cant get syd-pek to work in the one world checker. Am I doing something wrong?

Probably not; the "one world checker" seems only to have very current timetables installed on its database; Try DFW-ANC and you will see what I mean.