Price of RTW
 

I have read a lot of trip reports of RTWs and though I want to stop at most of the destinations, I wanted to see how much something like a 7 day RTW cost in F.

I chose oneworld and priced it on the AA website:

DFW->LGW (AA)
LHR->SYD (BA) (stop in SIN)
SYD->NRT (CX)
NRT->DFW

and it came out to be $25,557.

How do folks afford to go on such flights? That's a cheap car, a few years of college, or a nice down payment on a boat.

$25,557 is actually a pretty good deal. Most FT'ers are billionaires, after all. :D

You cannot price out a RTW on aa.com. The price it gave you was as if you were buying each leg seperatly.

A F RTW on OneWorld, ex-USA, costs $9600, $10400, $11300, or $13200 for 3,4,5, and 6 continents respectively.

It is also important to note that the length of the trip (as long as its under 1 year) does not change the price of the ticket. Taxes are extra.

Yeah, I should have reworded the title and post to "A trip around the world", not a formal RTW.

The reason I call it a round-the-world is because I have a friend who is doing it but he booked all of his tickets for cheaper than what he could find on any of the alliance's websites. His trip will take a month and will cover 4 continents.

Most FT'ers are billionaires? Now I kind of feel inadequate... No wonder no one wanted to eat breakfast with me in DFW.

Please do post his routing. Was this in First? All on OneWorld flights? Most one-way First flight are very expensinve, and definietly would cost much more then ~$10000.

What are you looking for during your week long round-the-world? Is this for business or pleasure? There are other RTW products that are cheaper, but use less airlines.

Something like:

would cost $7275 in First on Emirates and United. Without the SYD portion, it would be $6257 and you could then add the NRT portion and also BKK. You can also add more desintations, side trips from DXB, etc. Depends on what your looking for.

:eek: . **hands Hartmann a billion dollars**

People looking for rock-bottom airfares find them by using agents called consolidators, who have arrangements with airlines to sell excess capacity at low prices. Not to disparage the product - I spent many years seeking out those kinds of fares - but the airlines with excess capacity are sometimes third-world carriers. Not always, and that's not necessarily bad. You can probably buy a decent rtw from a consolidator for around $2500 in coach class (although it's been a long while since I've looked).

At the other end of the price scale, you should be quick to befriend anyone willing to spend $25k on airfare for an rtw-like trip. They are very likely to be foolish with their abundant fortune, and perhaps some of it might come your way.

I haven't seen many consolidator fares for F travel, although gatewaylax.com had some good fares to asia in C on United.

Plus most RTW products (as offered by the 3 airline alliances) usually have a 10-day minimum before returning to one's originating country. That may force you to consider other options.

I tossed out the consolidator option in case OP happened to be a person with a more practical budget, and an interest in traveling the world even if not in the front cabin.

:confused:. A practical budget...say like 25k RTW? :p

My friend that I mentioned earlier has the following routing:

CO - IAH-EWR
AI - JFK-LHR
TK - LHR-IST
GF - IST-BKK
KE - BKK-LAX
DL - LAX-IAH

All for $1900 (in the back).

But with inconvenient routing and on arguably 2nd tier airlines (at least for on-time performance and Y comfort). There is a reason for heavy discounting. The LONE3 pricing is more than competitive with that ticket.

I'm not sure what your point is. The list of airlines indicates that your friend bought his ticket from a consolidator, and you can do the same thing if you want to, and if you don't mind long trips in coach, chances are you'll have a great time. There's nothing wrong with any of the airlines on the list.

The kinds of tickets usually discussed in this forum cost a bit more than $1900 in coach, but give you more travel benefits. We can visit 20 cities instead of 5, racking up miles equivalent to two trips around the world in the process if we care to. We have a year to finish the trip (your friend may also have a year).

Much of the time we have our choice or two or more carriers who'll take our ticket if our plans (or theirs) change; chances range from none to slim that an airline will endorse a consolidator's ticket to a competitor should the need arise.

As I suggested in an earlier post I've flown around the world half a dozen times on consolidator fares, and have no regrets. If the $1900 trip suits your friend just fine, there's no reason to spend a dime more.

In your first post you mentiod he flew in F? :confused:

You're confusing yourself. Hartmann mentioned his friend's trip in his second post, without suggesting that it was in first class.

I had no point in posting my friend's routing except for the fact that he was doing a RTW without buying a RTW from one of the alliances.

As far as the original point of this thread, I was just trying to figure out how people take these extremely expensive trips that are talked about on this board that are in F.

Er, I work, I earn money, I spend it. US$8,000 for a AONE3 isn't that much money to someone who has been in mid-level or higher jobs for a few years. Most of the people I know from these boards who take premium class RTWs are at least mid-30s; there are plenty of retirees.

You called? Yep, here busy spending my children's inheritance. You are right, of course, but I think the OP was referring to some hypothetical $25K RTW fare in F which, if true (it's not), would be serious money for most.

All the FTers I know who buy RTWs in F are looking for value travel. We want a good ratio between the price we pay and the experience we receive. None of us are paying $25K for F RTWs; that's the point of this forum and the other alliance forums - we learn how to maximize the pleasure and minimize the price of our travel.

I earn money as well, I was just looking at ticket prices and some of the trip reports and doing the math in my head. This isn't an attack on people saying "Why are you spending your money that way?!", it's a question of how you make it affordable.

In the very near future I hope to take my girlfriend to a few far off destinations and maybe hop around a bit. I am just keeping this in the back of my mind as I write posts and try to figure out how to make that trip comfortable (hopefully in F or J) and as enjoyable as possible.

RTW's can be great deals if you can work within their limitations.

For a couple of years I was working at a company and we had facilities in London, Singapore, and Sydney (amongst other places). So the RTW represented a great value for what were typically two week trips.

My current booking, for example, will take me from Asia to Europe, flights around Europe, then back to the US, flghts within the US, and then eventually back to Asia. With some pretty decent flexibility -- flexibility that would -- priced out independently -- cost much more.

Steve

Sorry, Hartmann, you're too late. The goose has been slain, probably thanks in large part to forums like this one, which spread the word and generated more than enough leisure-travel (and thrifty business traveler) butts to use up every last excess butt-mile the airlines were carrying. And more.

The golden era when the great airlines of the world all rushed to install first-class flat beds, complete with flight attendants who would sing you to sleep on request, is fading fast. At least for the budget traveler, access to one of those seats is becoming ever more difficult and more expensive, and the FA's refuse to sing anymore.

For that particular scenario my suggestions would be: keep your expectations low; go for J, not F; choose either SA or SWP as your 4th continent and buy a DONE4, not a DONE5 or 6; start in Europe and get to/from there on an award; concentrate more on the destinations, less on the air travel (heresy around here, but that's what I think); give it at least 6 weeks or, better still, break it into two trips, with a mid-trip return to base (on another award).

deleted

Not a direct answer to the OP but still on topic, I hope:

Viajera and I recently returned from a 7 week DONEx, and as I usually do, just finished doing all the $$$ accounting for the trip. Boy, the OP is not really that far wrong wondering just how most can afford this stuff. Our grand total for this trip comes to the not so trivial amount of just under $35K, excluding shopping. We are budget travellers, who never get anywhere near a 5-star anything or drive anything much bigger than a compact, so hate to think what the total would be if we stay/eat at top places, or rented some sexy looking wheels. Now, time that x2 per year, all of it out of pocket, and we are talking about really serious money (for us anyway) over time. With that dough we could actually buy some of the places we stayed at. Anyhow, you can't take it with you...

I guess you're not in on the secret that when you fly AONEx the airlines comp you all your hotel and meal costs at 5* places during the entire trip.

It is 7 weeks afterall.

I find the value of the DONE4 can be maxed out when you break it into 2 trips as you suggested.

Generally for a maxed out 20 segment DONE4 incl tax will be around 7000-8000USD (based on the chepaer countries like BKK and NRT)

That buys you around 4 long haul J Class trips as well as 16 shorted flights. The miles per $ is actually not too different when compare to a normal point ot point (not even full) Y Class fare.

My calculus includes award mileage. First, I see a US$6500 DONE4 buying me 20 J or F segments at $325 apiece. May not be a barn-burner on LAX-SFO, but it sure wins on LAX-LHR.

Second, if our RTWs average around 55K BIS miles, with elite bonuses and COS bonuses added, they generate ~125K+ each in spendable miles. That pretty well covers a lot of of our travels outside the paid RTWs.

So we're using alternating-year RTWs to maintain status and to cover non-longhaul travel in the "off" years. So far so good. Add award travel "gifts" to family members (trips or eVips when applicable) and I see the product as having numerous benefits outside the straight travel value.

I think the key is that you have to plan it our carefully and be prepare to take some flights for the sake of the miles (eg. LHR-DXB turnaround:D ) I guess different people have different priorities.

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.