There's a huge discrepancy, e.g. 26K in Business: C$7900 vs. U$6200! Given current exchange rates, U$6200 is C$6168 (including 3% tacked on by the credit card company).

I had thought of doing either YYZ-LAX-SYD-...-YYZ (on AA, QF, and CX) or maybe something ex-YUL which would mean a US domestic segment (ORD-LAX I guess) and I don't know if I can transit the US on the way back to Canada.

From reading some posts here (mostly about RTW), am I right that to qualify for the U$6200 price, I have both to (a) purchase the ticket, and (b) start the trip, in the US? Or is it enough to do just (a) or (b)?

Too bad AA doesn't serve BTV, and it's only baby planes ex-ALB and SYR (the two nearest AA-served US airports to which I could reasonably drive). UA has F from BTV, though that doesn't help with a Circle Pacific fare!.

Thanks for any advice!

=aw

See posts #25 and #26 of the FAQ sticky. I can't make much sense of what it says there but maybe you can.

Thanks, I didn't realize that FAQ covered CP too.

To me, this means that I could go to a local travel agent in Canada and buy a CP fare ex-US. In that case, they'd take the U$6200 fare and convert to C$ (call it par). It sounds like this is an exception to what I read elsewhere about (e.g.) buying a fare ex-BKK, issued in Canada, in which case I THINK you pay the ex-Canada price (higher of where it starts and where it's issued)?

=aw