aone6 ex mru sanity check
 

i'm about to embark on an ex-mru aone6 rtw. my itinerary passes the mileage monkey test but i'd appreciate any suggestions that people might have on how i might route it for maximizing true first class flights and mileage.

i have commitments in jnb and syd (actually the first one is in cpt but i gave up trying to squeeze cpt into the itinerary and was planning on purchasing jnb-cpt-jnb separately when i arrive in jnb). after that i have to be back in sydney (either directly from jnb or via hkg) for another meeting. from sydney onward the itinerary can be changed however suits. i did my best and came up with mostly "f" class flights and 69106 miles.

given that i have to get back within 7 days from cpt to syd, anybody have any better ideas on routing? i'm eager to receive any suggestions.

mru-jnb (purchase separate jnb-cpt-jnb) -hkg-bkk-hkg-syd-jfk-lax-dfw-jfk-gig-scl-ipc-scl-lax-lhr-mct-lhr-ist-lhr-mru

thanks,
alem

well, you could replace hkg-bkk-hkg with hkg-nrt-hkg which has true 1st class service both ways on either JL or CX. A few more miles and more flights to choose from.

Nice intn.
Some points:
1. JNB-HKG, A class is seasonal, daily 744 with A, starts Oct/28
2. HKG-SYD, only some CX flyghts have A. I prefer QF which is 744
3. you can do BKK-SYD with BA, really nice A.
4. SCL-LAX with Lan Peru, only J, not always lie flat.....
5. LAX-LHR , no mileage accrual between BA and AA
6. LHR-MCT-LHR for mileage rum is a nice touch

MRU-JNB-HKG-NRT-HKG-SYD-JFK-YVR-DFW-SCL-IPC-SCL-GIG-SCL-LAX-LHR-MCT-LHR-IST-LHR-MRU comes in almost 72K miles if you want. You lose the JFK-GIG FC cabin but pick up JFK-YVR (CX) instead.

Or, depending on season, lose the IST flights and substitute ANC instead,
MRU-JNB-HKG-NRT-HKG-SYD-JFK-YVR-DFW-ANC-DFW-SCL-IPC-SCL-GIG-SCL-LAX-LHR-MCT-LHR-MRU for almost 75K miles. Even on the 767 LHR-IST is no great shakes.

thanks. i will consider making this change. i didn't realize that both jl and cx had first class on this segment. the only thing drawing me back to bkk is the oriental. it's my favourite hotel.

re: 4 - is there a way to ascertain that the scl-lax flight will have their new lie flat seats rather than the old ones?

re: 5 - i haven't completely decided yet but i think i'm going to credit this itineray to the qf ff program as i can get life gold on them by doing this itinerary 3 more times.

thanks for all of your excellent suggestions and advice.

these are great ideas. i especially like trading ist for anc. thanks for such a thoughtful reply.

Nope. The seatmap is a guide but a/c swaps are apparently fairly common on this route.

If mileage accrual at minimum cost is paramount, then HKG-NRT-HKG in F can be done in one day saving a hotel night. I usually do this and then continue the same evening to LHR.

i'll be staying over in nrt this time but next time this is good to know.
thanks.

[QUOTE=alemdohorizonte;8509268]
mru-jnb (purchase separate jnb-cpt-jnb) -hkg-bkk-hkg-syd-jfk-lax-dfw-jfk-gig-scl-ipc-scl-lax-lhr-mct-lhr-ist-lhr-mru
thanks,
alem [QUOTE]

i received the pricing back and am about to purchase the ticket. i am a bit shocked by how high taxes are. the ticket is 245,000 mauritian rupees (or there abouts) then another 54,000 in taxes/fees, etc making it come in at just about an even US 10,000. it's still a great deal but ba's nickle-ing and dime-ing sure adds up.

The three LHR stopovers probably account for a big chunk of the extra charges.

thanks for the tip.
i was just planning on stopping over in lhr once. the other times are just connections.

should i change the ticket to reflect connections? i didn't realize it would make such a difference in the price.

LHR's air passengers duty is 80 GBP (5,000 MUR) for C/F tickets going to ouside EU.

thanks wasabi. i forgot about that surcharge.
per the others' suggestions, i added hkg-nrt-hkg and dropped lhr-ist-lhr.
more miles, true first class (rather than ba pseudo biz class) and less taxes.