Second that; for that reason our trips are getting increasingly more 'expensive' (less maxed): an equally increasing reluctancy to do DXB, SJO, SJU, ANC, etc., as MRs, and if not for that reason, how many times can you visit DXB without getting bored stiff?

Exactly, that is why I treat the LHR-DXB-LHR leg as a bed and breakfast leg.

Goto LHR at aroung 6pm, enjoy the MB spa, then have some dinner and goto bed. skip cont breakfast. then goto lounge (the Ppass one) where they serve breakfast. then hop back on the plane, take a nap then lunch. After that jsut headed back to Westend to do my weekly shoppigng.

I personally think DXB is just boring after a few times. Even you can bored by staying in the Burj! And my mission is to reduce any unnecceary transit/hotel cost while doign these pure MRs.

Make that one time in my case. ;) I've now been to most of the destinations in the Gulf, either on business or leisure, but the entire region holds zero affinity for me, and generally bores me to tears.

Just to come back to the OP's point, one other way to afford RTWs is when you're traveling for business. These will take the form of very basic trips; I've done AMS-LHR-JFK-HKG-ICN-TPE-HKG-AMS as a DONE3. It happened to fit with the meetings I had, and was muhc cheaper than buying point-to-point tickets.

Depends on what you think of Wild Wati. The usual (for Dubai) juxtaposition of bikini and (wet) burqua is an experience in itself. Especially imho the former. And now there's skiing right next door.

Boring Dubai...or not
 

I go to Dubai with a great friend on our AONE's, take the BA109 to arrive early am, spa at LHR, drink champagne, gossip, eat well, arrive have a day at the beach, get a tan and 1 evening out and about then return in the same fashion leaving at 1am on the BA106 (hence no hotel required) Would cost us a fortune to catch up like that in London for a w/e at bars and restaurants (and A class has a much nicer bed than her sofa!) Needs great planning to manage the same dates but with 3 of these tickets on the go now (due to bad planning prior this site) I'm nearly as bored of MRU. - still only £3750 + tax for an AONE6. Always consider a downgrade to business for some flights and the world is your oyster. I've just had a great w/e in DME. I've decided the principle with these tickets is to go where you really want to even if they don't offer the F service on all legs and don't feel pressured to use all the coupons - I was exhausted after the first 2 feeling I needed to get my money's worth, just enjoy...happy travels
PS looking forward to trying SJO, SJU, ANC......must lookup the airport codes

Bargain First Class ex MRU
 

I've just booked an AONE4 ex MRU for $8200 including taxes and charges. MRU-LHR-NCE-LHR-DOH-LHR-YVR-JFK-SYD-AKL-SYD-HKG-NRT-SIN-HKG-JNB-MRU. 16 flights in total of which only the LHR-NCE-LHR and JNB-MRU are in Business Class, ie. 13 are in First Class. MRU-LHR, LHR-BAH-LHR-YVR, JNB-MRU with BA, YVR-JFK, SYD-HKG, HKG-NRT, HKG-JNB with CX, JFK-SYD with QF, SYD-AKL-SYD with LA. An average of $500 a flight.

MRU not easy to get to, but am ending a previous AONE in CAI, so am spending $1100 for a CAI-DXB-MRU in EK F - which also gets me 2 nights comped at the DXB Ritz-Carlton incl. transfers, useful given the 0025 arrival in DXB and the 0255 departure from DXB.

I will report on the trip later - I'm looking forward to comparing 5 airlines' F product.

What clsss is NRT-SIN?

Assume he did NRT-HKG-SIN on CX

JL 719 (744) carries F.

Wow! EF is showing AONE4 at USD6109, about $500 dollars more than when I last looked; how on earth did they come up with $2100 additional charges?

(The fares have gotten crazy, assuming EF is accurate ex-JFK is just $600 more than ex-CAI, and BKK is actually more expensive. Some fancy new pricing algorithm they've come up with.

Yep, looks like MRU has just gone up around 5% since I last looked, both A and D.

I guess that explains why my wife's pending DONE4 hasn't come back from rates in a week. Color me cheesed off.

First, the US $ has lost about 8% of its value compared to the MRU rupee(?). 2nd, there is now a $300 service fee. But that only accounts for 1/3 of the total price. Guess the BA/QF fuel fines are kicking in big time...

Since EF quotes prices in dollars, the $6109 is the starting point - don't be adding another 8% on top of that. Somehow there's $2100 in fees and surcharges. $1800, after the $300 negative gift from IBL. That's a *lot* of fuel surcharges and UK departures. Maybe they're charging for first-class meals, at restaurant prices. Good champagne at $16 a glass adds up.

I'm puzzled by this discussion. It is hard for me to tell about possible increases from EF because EF does not provide fares in MRU currency. From EF, as JohnAx states, I get an AONE4 fare of $6109 which seems to convert back to about MUR188000 which according to my records, has been the ex-MRU fare since at least last summer. Does anyone have any specific information about the fares in MUR?

As a separate point, Azurflyer's total cost of $8200 for an AONE4 is a lot higher than anything I've heard of before. I wonder if some mistake has been made in calculating extra charges. That happened to me last summer. After asking for an accounting of the initial quotation of over $2000 in extra charges, the new charges came back under $800.

Your "ask for accounting" suggestion is excellent advice; probably ought to PM Azurflyer in case he's not an avid thread-follower.

You're probably right that the MRU fare hasn't increased, since you have actual records. I was just going by memory - over the past few months I've glanced at the fare on EF periodically, in assessing personal travel options, and thought that AONE4 had been something around USD5689 until a week or two ago (when I last looked). I may have been looking at a different fare.