hlester3

My husband has very limited vacation time. I really want to do an RTW trip and have been trying to piece it together through AirTreks, but now I am researching the oneworld idea. Would it be possible if we just took a break in the middle of a trip starting around the 1st of June, and then flying home after 3 weeks (by paying separately on our own) and then starting up again for 2 or 3 weeks in Sept? Is this possible? Do people use this option so they can file Business or 1st class, it seems a little more expensive than just piecing together a trip. I am still researching the advantages, other than the main one of getting frequent flyer miles.

Sorry if these questions have already been asked and answered. I did read the FAQ.

I would appreciate any input.

Heather

Moomba

Welcome to FT Heather

This is a very frequent scenario amongst those of us here that purchase RTW tickets. On a XONEx ticket you can break the journey with long stopovers and make you own way back to your home in between.
With creative use of FF miles and some paid tickets I will be splitting my XONEx into at least 7 sections.
The only limitation you have, apart from the normal routing rules etc, is that you must complete the journey within 12 months of the first flight.

number_6

If you can avoid the "one entry into originating country" rule (e.g. if based in UK, starting in AMS for example) then it is quite easy to add separate trips at the start and end of the RTW. This kind of flexibility is one of the things that makes the various RTW products such good value. Most people flying for pleasure manage to route so that they get 3 separate vacations out of a single ticket. But Moomba's 7 trips might be some sort of record. It is also not that unusual to have 2 or more RTW tickets active simultaneously (typically in opposite directions, eg. eastbound and westbound). It can become a logistical nightmare though.

hlester3

Thank you so much for your quick and informative responses. I am sorry this is such a newbie question, but I appreciate the kind reply. I have done my own travel arrangments all over, but this is feeling a little daunting starting out figuring out the plan.

I guess I will be doing a lot of reading of posts and re-look at the FAQ. Any other suggestions to figure this out?

Thanks, Heather

nick_marquise

Moomba & Number6,


Thanks for the insightful information. For us xONEx newbs these tips are very valuable.

hlester3

I started to try to play around with the plan your trip feature, and I keep running into one main problem. I really want to go to MRU (Mauritius). I am leaving from SFO and was trying to do a straight shot (even though it only transists through LHR) so as not to start the Europe portion of the the trip. Then when I try to come back to Paris, it says there is only one intercontinental departure and arrival in each continent. If I try to go later in the trip to MRU, there are no flights to Dubai or the middle east. How do you fit this in? Everything else seems to be OK.
Thanks, Heather

number_6

MRU is in Africa. In general, once you leave a continent, you cannot return later to that continent (unless there is a specific exception in the rules; there are several for Africa, but not for MRU). So that is the explanation for LHR-MRU-LHR being banned. You have to leave Africa to Asia, this means flying LHR-MRU-JNB-HKG. As for not being allowed to do DXB, the rule is that BA allows only one long-haul "European" flight (yes, DXB is considered part of Europe by airline rules). So you either had another flight already (e.g to CAI or IST), or it is an error in the configurator and the itin is actually allowed. Some of the finer points in the rules are not quite correctly implemented in the validator software.

Unterwegs

If you just want to go to MRU in Africa then get a separate ticket DXB-MRU. DXB is part of Europe for the RTW and you can do LHR-MRU-LHR (only 2 sectors to certain locations are allowed in Europe from LHR).
So the routing could be SFO-LHR-DXB - Side Trip to MRU -DXB-LHR-Europe-....
Also if you dont want to waste sectors: the train from London to Paris is faster than flying.
If you want to break the RTW in parts and do 5 or 6 continents the sector limitation will be noticeable. I usually get around this by just using the RTW for the long flights (which have real F class) and then by short sectors seperate.
BKK is a good point in Asia find inexpensive flights from there in the region.
Also trains in Europe are often a much better alternative to flying.

hlester3

Thank you for all of the new information. I guess I am taking a crash course in this. I know what I will be doing this weekend.

Heather

tt7

Good advice, though surface sectors now count against the total, so you'd have to take the train back to London, rather than flying on from Paris.