hi everyone!
I am planning on a 4 continent RTW on oneworld explorer economy starting next year in mid january. I am from Germany but wanna try to get the UK price which is about 500 € (775 US$) less than the german one. getting to london from my location and back in the end costs me no more than 75$ per leg, so it's well worth it, but we have to see how the booking online tool works out concerning prices.I would like to ask you for some experiences and advice on optimization.I have to add I have never been to any of the places before.


My planned route up to now is as follows (+questions I would like to ask you concerning these legs):

LHR (prefer CX in choice of BA,CX and QF or would you recommend one of the others? Heard CX might be best)

HKG (until end of may 09 for study,wanna go to TPE for a week from HKG seperately)

PVG (stay in Pudong, Shanghai for a one-month internship in june, so not variable also. Would you choose CX or Dragonair? Does CX add more cost than dragonair on this leg?)

NRT spend a few days in Tokyo (JAL only)

SIN spend a few days in Singapur also (JAL only)

BNE (QF only) pick up my girlfriend who will study in Brisbane while I am in HK and take the rest of the tour together with her, tour the OZ east coast from Brisbane

CHC (QF only)see the beautyful countryside of New Zealand

SYD (QF only) whatever happens,Sydney is a must see!

HNL (QF only)beach vacation for a week

SFO (AA only) see bay area and San Fransisco; road trip kind of tour to see more of california than "just" SF and LA, so surface sector to

LAX (AA only) see L.A. and area

STL (AA only) visit friends and relatives for 2 weeks

SXM (AA only) another beach vacation + one of the most exciting approaches/landings on earth

JFK (AA only) see NYC for a few days

YYZ (AA only) visit Niagra Falls, Lake Ontario, Toronto...

MIA (AA only) beach+city for a few days

LHR fly back to europe by end of september 09 (Should I better fly on BA or AA? I am planning to sign up for a miles program so I want to collect most miles and take the carrier cheaper on fuel surcharges, would that be AA?)

I know it sounds pretty much planned already but still I wanted to ask for any proposes on optimization or any advice on which carrier to take on which leg. Cheaper is better as I am a student but on long legs like LHR-HKG I would take the better service one.
Also if I forgot any very special place in Asia,Australia,NZ or USA/CA/Caribbean: I am open for any tips on visiting better places than I planned. I pretty much like both skylines and beaches/nature. HKG and PVG have to be like described, STL must be in it in the US sectors,but flexible in order with other US legs.

Thanks a lot in advance for any type of reply!

Welcome to Flyer Talk svellmann

well,thanks for having me

Sounds like a fun trip!

A couple of issues -
1. There's no direct service STL-SXM.
2. There's no direct service BNE-CHC

As you already have 16 segments, there's no room to add more. You may need to re-configure the routing or get 'there and back' to a couple of places on a separate ticket.

Rather than SYD, you should of course be going to MEL .....

When you're in SYD, make sure you climb the Harbour Bridge - not to be missed. It's not cheap to do but you won't regret it.

http://www.bridgeclimb.com/

You would also have at least 7 segments in N. America, which is one too many.

It looks like you would be arriving in the South Island of NZ (CHC) in midwinter, probably not the best time to see much, unless you want to head for the ski slopes. You might substitute BNE-AKL and head to the north end of the North Island, or maybe the Coromandel Peninsula, for some lovely country and the possibility of better weather.

Also, July/Sept. in the Caribbean/Miami can (will) be hot and potentially rather windy (as in hurricane season) - just a heads up. What about Alaska instead (DFW-ANC?)

Consider HNL-LAX and do a loop trip by car from LA to SF and back (or v.v.) - saves a segment for better things?

Finally if you like "skylines" then Chicago should really be on your list.

Seven segments yes, but only six flight segments - so no problem(SFO-LAX is a surface segment)

Welcome to FT and the OW forum, svellmann!

There actually is a direct service STL-SXM (AA687) with a stop in MIA. So a very nice routing.
Because BNE-CHC doesn't exists and because it is winter (when are you getting there) I would suggest to use the segment for another destination in Australia. My recommendation would be Lord Howe Island. Not a place many tourists go to and one of the most stunning places in Australia. And a good use for RTW tickets as flights to there are expensive.

If you still want to go to NZ, check whether there is a seasonal service to Queenstown from BNE. Otherwise, do not fly to Brisbane but do SYD-CHC-SYD and do the tour with the GF on a separate ticket.

Regarding the FFP. Yes, AAdvantage is most probably a good choice for your flights. Be aware that a LONE4 books into L class. This means you will get less than 100% of your miles when flying on BA, QF etc. In other words, try to book as much as you can using a AA flight number and you will get much more miles.
Also, you will not get any miles on AA when flying BA metal between the US and UK and no BA miles when flying AA metal on that route.
If you join AA (which I would) then consider buying an AAdmirals Club membership for lounge access (or a Qantas Club membership). Might be a good investment.

Edit: Qantas Club memberships can be obtained at a highly discounted rate via the Australian Frequent Flyer site.

STL-SXM direct service appears to end on 2 Sept, and I assumed given the OP's desire to end in late September that the STL-SXM hop would be after that date. Thus something like STL-(MIA/JFK)-SXM would be required, a 7th flight.

Who knows when this service will end in 2009? And even it it will be the 2nd September 2009 then the OP just needs to make sure he takes this flight before it stops for the season.

With a bit of segment resequencing, it should be possible to avoid the extra flight:

STL-SXM-JFK-YYZ-MIA-LHR can become STL-MIA-SXM-JFK-YYZ-LHR

This would mean using BA back from YYZ and hence losing some AA miles, but there's not much choice unless the OP can do the STL-SXM by Sept. 2nd.

Good catch - thanks. I just relied on MileageMonkey to do a quick check of the validity, rather than actually checking flights.

That said, I think using that would be very risky. It relies on AA not changing the flight number - not something I would want to be relying on, given the current environment, reduced and/or changing service etc. AA tends to change some of the flight numbers every now and again anyway. Relying on STL-MIA and MIA-SXM to have the same flight number a year from now is not a bet I'd particularly want to make.

tt7, I am very disappointed. As a AA 6MM and I thought you would know the AA timetable inside out.

I think if AA turns a one coupon trip into a two coupon trip they would honour your ticket and still transport you anyway. At least that's what I would hope.

hey and thanks a lot for all your quick answers!yes,it does sound like a fun trip and I really wanna put time on fast forward...can't wait!

actually I already thought of climbing the harbor bridge which sounds like a great experience to me,especially in the morning time,so thanks for confirming this as a good thought, tt7. .

at some time I thought about going to Lord Howe Island as well but then my girlfriend came up with fraser island which looks like a great substitute so I dropped LHW for then as it would use up at least 2 legs.also due to tourist number restriction to 400 I guess hotels on LH Island are quite expensive and question is if the Island is worth visting in kinda winter time?!
need to re-think that again.

the problem with the SXM route won't make a big mess as I am pretty flexible with that. As satprof wrote I might also put SXM between MIA so JFK, for which there are directs, right?

thanks,for the advice on NZ,Gardyloo. it's a pitty it's gonna be winter there but it cant be summer all time everywhere and as I am going to the nothern hemisphere having summer there already I'm afraid it can't have the same in NZ. so maybe I could switch CHC to either AKL or stay in OZ for MEL.Heard of AKL being an ordinary city,not very exciting,but if the countryside in the north is worth a trip as well,then this would also be a nice option.
concerning SXM:I though if I am around already I might as well go to the Caribbean Also considered Barbados but couldn't work out yet which might be best. theres a direct from barbados to London Gatwick so I could also do that.any advice on where there is no danger of Hurricanes round September and the place is still as good as it gets?I fear there isn't...

FF programm seems to be going the AAdvantage way so I will make sure to book as many flights as possible on AA,right? what if the route is operated by,say BF, but on a AA codeshare. Will that still give me more miles?

Just a word of advice as I am currently going through the same process - Switzerland (where I'm living) is even cheaper than the UK (CHF8700 ~= GPB4200) and Sweden cheaper again (44,960.00 SEK = 3,779.926 GBP).

EDIT: Apologies, I was looking at DONE4 prices, you're doing a LONE4. The best price for a LONE4 seems to be with the UK.

The best time to go is actually the afternoon/evening. You get a spectacular sunset view and then also get to see the city at night.

Being Winter, it will also mean it isn't too hot (climbing the coathanger can be hard work, especially in the jumpsuits you wear).

In my experience (personally climbed once and known heaps of other people who have) they best timeslot to aim for is the last one before the official "sunset walks" begin. You'll still get to see the sunset, but pay quite a bit less. Double-check the expected sunset time for the day you're looking at - it takes about an hour to get to the top, then you'll be up there for about 30-45 minutes, then another hour to get down. Also shoot for mid-week, as weekends tend to be busy.

Finally, wrap it up with a beer or three at the Harbour View Hotel, just 'round the corner .