AONEWC4 Circle Trip - Ex Africa
 

Planning a AONEWC4 starting in Johannesburg & combining business & SC run.
Home base is Sydney. I am looking for the best A flight options. I will use points to position into J'Burg.

Your thoughts please on the following itinerary & how to purchase/tax implications :


AFRICA - All business Commencing July 2008
JNB-DUR 1/4 Conair
DUR-CPT 2/4 Conair

CPT-LHR INTERCON BA

EUROPE - Business + SC Run
LHR-AMM 1/4 SC Run BA to Amman
AMM-MXP 2/4 Business RJ to Milan
MXP-HEL 3/4 SC Run Finnair
HEL-FRA 4/4 SC Run Finnair

FRA-HKG INTERCON Business CX


ASIA - Business + SC Run
HKG-DEL 1/4 SC Run CX
DEL-NRT 2/4 SC Run JAL
NRT-SIN 3/4 SC Run JAL (Has F)
Another good SC sector ?

SIN-AKL INTERCON Can I use CX/BA/QF transiting in Sydney ?


SW PACIFIC - Business
AKL-MEL Business QF
MEL-ADL Business QF
ADL-PER Business QF
PER-SYD Business QF

SYD-JNB At some point before July 09 QF

Many Thanks
GCD123

Watching with a great deal of interest - wanting to do much the same thing. Unless my math is really off - is there 17 sectors in your planned itinerary? I believe the maximum is 16.

I make 18 sectors (even without the Asia another good SC sector). SIN-AKL cannot be done on a single coupon, requires at least 2.

Hi gcd123gcd123! Have you considered a DONE5 instead? For your routing, a lot of flights do not have first class. So you are paying this amount of money for very few flights actually.

In addition, if you really want a SCs run, then things could be optimized further. Flying to MCT from LHR for example, which also has first class.

If you ticket before 1st June you can have 20 segments on a DONE5 which will give you more SCs than your current plan and save money as well.

[mod hat]

While there is some discussion about maximum earn for QF FF, there is a dedicated OW forum where the friendly posters will be able to help further. Redirect to remain in QF forum.

Thanks

willyroo - Mod QF

[/mod hat]

IIRC, JNB and CPT are in same country.
So, you can not. See below.

110N . 7. ONLY ONE INTERNATIONAL DEPARTURE AND ONE
111N . INTERNATIONAL ARRIVAL TO/FROM THE COUNTRY OF
112N . ORIGIN IS PERMITTED

And so is DUR, so no problem in that regard.

Seems I'm not the only one planning an AONEWC4 ex Africa for a mixture of business, pleasure and SC runs :)

Mileage Monkey is a great tool to explore your options for SC runs

Are you planning a 20-segment or 16-segment trip? (For a 20-segment, you must ticket before 1 June, but needn’t commence the journey for up to year after ticketing)

Do you have a specific SC target in mind – e.g. 1,400 to get from NB to WP in one hit, or 2,100 to both get to WP and gain a complimentary SG for your SO. With planning both are possible with an AONEWC4. (I tried to get to 2,100 with a DONEWC4 but the maximum I got to was 2,060:()

Don’t forget that to any gain status you must fly at least four QF segments in your membership year.

You’ve indicated that your trip is a mixture of business and SC runs – but you haven’t explicitly said which destinations are for business (and therefore presumably must be included). You imply MXP, AKL, MEL, ADL, PER, SYD (in that order?) and at least one place in Asia.

Flights in A accumulate SCs 50% faster than flights in J – so the target should be to fly as many of the segments in A as possible.

All 4 inter-continental flights can be in A.
It is possible to make 4 A class flights in Asia
Only 2 are possible in Europe (LHR to the mid-east area and return) and in SWP (SYD-AKL return on LA). None are possible in Africa.

So a maximum of 12 of your segments can be in A.

As you probably know, an AONEWC4 costs ZAR12,000 (~AUD1,600) more than a DONEWC4. But divide that by 16 flights and each flight in A is costing a mere AUD100 more than in D and gives you 50% more SCs and more points.

FRA-MAD on LA is another.

Suggestion for Asia

You say “ASIA – Business + SC Run” but you don’t say which Asian destination/s is for business. If it isn’t DEL, then IMO these 4 segments maximize SCs: HKG-TYO-SIN-TYO-BKK. All will be in F and will give 120+150+150+150 = 570 SCs (according to Mileage Monkey)

Also departing Asia from BKK to SWP allows flying on QF to SYD which is also in F giving you another 180 SCs. You could then fly SYD-AKL (and maybe return?) on LA in F for 120 SCs each way. However, this will mean burning a SWP segment to get from SYD to AKL, where you presumably need to get to on business.

If you don’t want to burn a SWP segment in this way then, then the only way to AKL is the HKG-AKL on CX – but only in J. Your SC run could then be HKG-TYO-SIN-TYO-HKG-AKL for a total of 120+150+150+120+140 = 680 SCs

I stand corrected:)

Mileage Monkey does not show FRA-MAD as having F [edit] if you search on from ~EUR to ~EUR [/edit], but the CX downloadable timetable does show it.

Thanks

Thank you correction to my mistake.
I didn't realise DUR's location.

Suggestion for Africa

You are only using 2 segments in Africa – JNB-DUR-CPT
Your CPT-LHR will be flying BA on the overnight flight
Since you a starting in JNB, when you return there at the end (SYD-JNB) you cannot go anywhere else ('Travel may not be via the point of origin') and so your ticket ends there.

My suggestion is:

Start your AONEWC4 in CPT
Fly CPT-DUR-JNB-MRU-LHR
Gives you three flights in Africa and a daylight flight MRU-LON
Also at the end of the trip you can fly SYD-JNB-CPT thus using up the 4th flight segment allowed in Africa

You’ll have to consider where to have your maximum two allowed stopovers in continent of origin: DUR, JNB, MRU or JNB (again when arriving from SYD). The other two can then only be transits – i.e. depart within 24hrs of arriving

As always, your collective advice is invaluable.
Has anyone actually done a transaction in South Africa - which airline ?
Also, I see that Canada may be an option to purchase at the SA price.

Thanks GCD123

Lots; search for MRU (BA) and CPT (AA).