Max miles from Oneworld 4 from Japan
 

I'm way behind on my miles this year and can't imagine life without Emerald status. It looks as though one of the best places to buy a Oneworld Explorer tickets is now Japan (travel in October). Has anyone figured out an itinerary for the max miles on on Oneworld 4 Continent from Japan?

Thanks!

Welcome to FT.

Have a look here, but remember that surface segments must now be counted in the 20.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=411736

Which continent would be the 4th? Big impact on maximum routing. Time of year? Big impact on flights like DFW-ANC etc.

AA Q-miles/points? BA Tier Points? QF Sector Credits? More big differences.

More details on planning Oneworld 4
 

Thanks for the leads to the other thread. I'm planning the trip in October and want to maximize American Aadvantage miles. I'd prefer the continents to be Asia, Europe, South America, and North America. Do you think switching South America for Australia would make much of a difference?

Thanks again.

Which class could also make a big difference (LONE4 doesn't earn on AA on some airlines; D or A does on all)

TPE wasn't a whole lot more expensive and opens a possibility to getting the miles/points you need in an xONE3; specifically, I'm thinking of starting TPE-NRT-SIN-NRT-Europe/North America.

NRT-SIN, like the LHR-DXB, can be flown with just a short layover and is 3300 miles each way.

In theory, for miles, one *could* fly:

TPE-NRT-SIN-NRT-LHR-DXB-LHR-DXB-LHR-MEX-DFW-JFK-DFW-LAX-JFK-HKG-TPE for 49,200 miles.

Steve

Can't do more than 2 flights between UK and Middle East.

Sample itin ex-NRT 4 continents including South America with 65149 flown miles (no ANC due to season) - link

As above but Australia and 60576 flown miles - link

I'm sure there are better routings.

As christep wrote, class of service and other factors affect routing.
seasonal flight such as DFW-ANC needs some consideration.
first class availability, A class booking for DONEX fare within NorthAmerica etc.
Furtheromre, entry VISA requirements also affect your planning.

ex-NRT XONE3
For example,
nrt-del-hkg-jfk-sju-dfw-anc-dfw-sju-lax-lhr-mct-lhr-ist-lhr-sin-nrt
55,406 miles

ex-NRT XONE4
nrt-del-hkg-jfk-sju-dfw-anc-dfw-sju-lax-scl-ccs-scl-ccs-scl-lax-lhr-mct-lhr-sin
-nrt
75,672 miles

If one is simply out to maximize miles the difference is not that great either way. SWP offers the possibility of a single segment EUR-SWP direct flight, which is great for miles, but SA offers longer intracontinent segments.

Oh! Not having factored in DXB before, I didn't realize that.

But the point I was trying to make is that if you don't start in Japan you can pick up the NRT-SIN-NRT legs (only possible since JL joined this year), but you can't do that if you start in Japan.

Steve

Starting from Narita, you can also use the SAO-NRT flight. Personally, I think South America gives longer segments, but I am a big believer in go where you want to go, not where you get the most miles.

I couldn't agree more; over time I've lost the taste for ANC, DXB, SJO, etc., when done just for the miles.