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.

Also IIRC MRU tacks on a US$300 service charge for ticket issuance.

In all, and not counting two LHR stops, it looks like you're paying something along the lines of 15% for taxes and fees. For comparison's sake, some friends of mine just got AA pricing on US-issued DONE4s in which the taxes and fees came to 6.2%.

thanks. before i started using cmb as a starting point, i was paying around that for having them issued in the usa aswell.

i am going to stop complaining now though. even with ba's egregious fuel fines, taxes and surcharges, this is still a great deal.

I wonder why the advice against HKG-BKK.We have just flown FCO-HKG-BKK on CX.We had the same plane on both sectors and it definitely was 3 class.We were in J with lie flat seats but a week later flew CX 713 BKK-SIN which is the continuation of the HKG-BKK flight.We were upgraded to F and it is definitely an F experience.I guess it is not one of their newer planes.Bangkok also is one of our favourite cities.

Remember this is FlyerTalk. :p

For some the lure of the additional FF miles/Status by going HKG-NRT-HKG rather than HKG-BKK-HKG is more important. (If you must go to BKK, a cheapy fare can be had for HKD2020 (EK) or HKD5250 (CX) ) i.e. Why waste your xONEx's precious Segments on a two hour flight.

E.g. NRT on QFF in D class gives and additional 60 SC's and 1600 base miles over BKK for no significant difference in cost.

But if purely a mileage run then just book HKG-BKK-HKG on CX 713.On the way back it diverts via SIN.So total mileage is 3513 as against 3684 for HKG-NRT-HKG.No problems with connections as same aircraft right through.
Besides OP said BKK was one of the favourite cities so i presumed maybe a stopover.As well I am looking from Aadvantage point of view not QF and I know thats not what OP wants.However have CX changed equipment on the NRT route as last time i flew it it was a regional set up so not as good an F experience.

Unless the return is ticketed as two sectors (i.e. CX-713 BKK-SIN & CX-713 SIN-HKG), mileage will only be earned for BKK-HKG.

checkerboard correctly posted the issue; and burning 3 segments do SIN is anathema to FTers.

Note that even from an AAdvantage POV, there's still an additional 2400 Qpoints to be had doing NRT rather than BKK.

I am in MRU right now, and had a very ugly immigration experience.
This is my third time this year ex-MRU and the worst.
Immigration officer insiste to see my paper ticket, which was in Equity tour counter. I showed him my booking print, he just keep asking for the ticket. They never asked before.
Have anybody same experience?
And by the way BA agents in MRU are the best.

Sorry to hear about your immigration difficulties. I was there a few weeks ago and had no problems at all by showing them an e-mail print-out of my itinerary with ticket numbers. I guess it depends on the immigration agent you get. Hope all goes well with the rest of your trip.

It is two flight numbers operated by the same aircraft.

CX 713 operates HKG-BKK-SIN and CX 716 operates SIN-HKG.