Advice on A class availability when using an AONEx
 

I wonder if I could prey on the greater experience of my fellow FTers on an AONE I am attempting to put together? My main concern is the availability of A class seats on BA, JL and CX.

I'm looking to book a Oneworld AONE4 from MRU starting in September using 100k BA miles to get Mrs Simon50 and me there if award seats are available or pick up 2 "cheap" seats if not.

Time constraints, both of us being self-employed, means we have to split the journey up into 10 months which means we could only book everything 2 months before we start from what I understand.

The itinerary I would prefer would be:

MRU/LHR - 1 sector (or is it segment?) used (BA First) 180 BA Tier Points
LHR/AGP/LHR - 2 sectors 80 TPs
LHR/DXB/LHR - 2 sectors (BA First) 360 TPs
LHR/NRT/SIN/HKG/DPS/HKG/JFK - 6 sectors (1 BA First and 3 CX/JL FC) - 680 TPs
JFK/BGI/JFK - 2 sectors - 240 TPs
JFK/MBJ/JFK - 2 sectors - 80 TPs
JFK/BDA/JFK - 2 sectors - 80 TPs
JFK/MRU via LHR - 2 sectors (BA First) - 360 TPs
We would then start another AONE4 or 5 to get home - 180 TPs

19 sectors with 9 in FC plus 4 MFU JFK/LHR/JHR - 600 TPs giving a total of 2660 (plus 180 for MRU/LHR) earning a couple of GUF2500s.

The only time we would have time for the Far East leg would be 3 weeks over Christmas.

If it is unlikely we would be able to get many First Class seats then I would rather go for a DONE4. Based in London, where would be the most economical place to start. The UK is £7,400 ($14,800) each for AONE4 plus taxes, Mauritius is half this price.

Thanks

Simon

If you start in MRU and fly to Europe then, on your return to Africa via the Atlantic, you cannot fly LHR-MRU, because the second entry in Europe rule only permits flights to certain countries in Africa:

Edited to add: if you show your segments like this MRU-LHR instead of MRU/LHR they are a little easier to read.

Can I do JFK-MRU via LHR and CPT or JNB?

Booking is one thing but date of issue is even more important. To get 20 segments you will have to have the ticket issued before June 1, when the limit goes down to 16.

No. If you start your trip by first going to Europe (and then Asia/SWP) then you cannot end it anywhere in Africa but in one of the countries listed. You could, if you wanted to, buy a separate ticket from one of the listed countries to somewhere else in Africa, but I am sure that is not what you are asking or interested in here.

That's a pity - but I can easily replace a couple of the springtime Caribbean breaks with short haul European ones.

My main concern is the likelihood of A seats being will be available at fairly short notice.

Except that you only get 4 segments in Europe, compared to 6 in NA.

B*gg*r!! Is this a recent change. I've read a couple of trip reports here that I am attempting to find where UK-based FT members started in MRU. How did they get home or are they still stuck in Africa?

That's OK, I did know I'd be paying for these

It's an old rule. You can easily get back to MRU if you fly MRU-JNB-Asia... or MRU-JNB-Australia... The problem is for those wanting to fly MRU-Europe-... and then Asia or SWP.

There is also one known case of BA in MRU making a mistake and allowing just what you want, but it was a mistake, so I would not count on them repeating the error.

That's ruined months of planning Viajero. I've seen enough of your posts on this forum to realise you're going to be right. The Oneworld Itinerary Planner doesn't seem to mind too much, BUT it never gets me comfortably back to MRU - I thought it was me.

Back to the drawing board.

If you are able to change your plans and convert your eastbound itinerary into a westbound RTW things would be a little easier:

Africa-Europe-North America-Asia-Africa.

Then starting and ending in MRU becomes possible.

That sounds better. I was just reading ex-MRU RTW TRs and all were westbound. What's the best route back to MRU, HKG-JNB?

Best and only, unless you add SWP to your OWE, which would enable you to fly from SYD.

Why would that be? You can book your ticket 1 year in advance (or 330 days in practice, because of the need to book the first flight) , and you ticket will be valid for 1 year after your first flight. So you can buy a ticket now for start in september and it will be valid until september 2009.

I think the OP is saying that a fully booked 10 month long trip can only be booked 2 months before first flight; in that sense he's right.

True, but it would still be possible to book each individual flight 330 days out. So there should be no issues with A availability at short notice. (Unless you would need to make last minute changes)

Flights for christmas can easily booked now, and A availability shouldn't be a problem.

Ok, I fully agree, but by the time you have 'everything' (the OP's point) booked it's 2 months before flight, so he's not wrong there. Anyhow, going the other way around the world will probably mean spending Xmas in a different place as originally planned, so I guess we will have to wait and see what the new itinerary is going to be.

I was the beneficiary of that mistake. Once BA figured it out, they fixed it by requiring that all *ONE* tix issued at MRU now be reviewed by the BA London RTW desk before issuance, so I haven't been able to repeat my good fortune. You may want to have a look at purchasing the ticket at JNB or CPT. Due to the sharp decline of the Rand, I believe that you'll find that AONE* tix issued in S.A. are now less costly than those from MRU. You will, of course, still be subject to the same itinerary limitations as if you purchased at MRU.

Good luck, and enjoy. There's nothing like traveling around the world in F!!! I start my fourth in two years a week from today.

Thanks for the help. I've been working on Plan B for hours:

September MRU - LHR 1 segment in BA First
November LHR - DXB - LHR 2 segments in BA First
Xmas LHR - LAX - JFK - MBJ - JFK 4 segments, one in BA First
February JFK - BGI - JFK 2 segments
Easter JFK - HKG - BKK - NRT - SIN - HKG 5 segments in CX/JL First
May HKG - JNB - MRU 2 segments, one in CX First

With the return flight to London we'll be on 2610 BA tier points so we'll still be set for 2 GUF2500.

As I mentioned I'm not really worried about the reduction in June from 20 to 16 segments for this RTW. I'm sure the partner airlines will be reducing the costs of the tickets by 20% anyway!!!!!ha ha!!!

Note that F on this flight is seasonal. If current schedules repeat next year you will have to wait till mid/late May.

Thanks Viajero, I can defer that journey to anytime up to September.