I'm planning a Circle Pacific trip next month in business class and have a couple of questions:

1) Is this routing/itinerary valid in the first place?

Jul 12 AA3133 SNA-SFO 0645/0835
Jul 12 CX879 SFO-HKG 1335/1840+1
Jul 13 CX464 HKG-TPE 2115/2255
Jul 16 CX565 TPE-HKG 1410/1555
Jul 16 CX101 HKG-SYD 2355/1100+1
Jul 26 QF73 SYD-SFO 1355/1015
Jul 26 AA3167 SFO-SNA 1545/1720

2) If I want to upgrade let’s say the SFO-HKG sector to first class with my Asia Miles, am I allowed to do so for this ticket? I did read the section on the technical rule sheet from OW and it does state “Upgrading by sector to Business/First class is not permitted”. However looking at the upgrading rules, it merely states upgrading by “paying the fare difference”. There was no mention of upgrading through miles from the airlines. Checking through the Asia Miles terms and conditions, they did not state anything about “mileage upgrade ineligible on OW Circle Pacific tickets”. Afterall a “D” booking class fare on CX is eligible for Asia Miles upgrade to first class. So can someone clarify if upgrading with my Asia Miles is doable for this ticket?

3) Based on your experience in booking such tickets, who is the best to deal with for my situation? CX, QF, AA or the travel agent?

Thanks for your help!

1) Looks OK
2) I don't know, but I would GUESS it could be done.
3) In order to more easily facilitate #2 above, I would book with CX since it is their program and you can ask them about #2 and they should know for sure, not to mention they can make sure you are booked on a flight that has F upgrade seats available. If you book with AA they are going to want your SFO-HKG segment to be an AA codeshare. Yes, I know it doesn't have to be, but some of those AA RTW agents can be very insistant and why go through the hastle. JMHO

Good luck!

2) Using points to upgrade shouldn't be a problem. The rule that you are referring to is paying to upgrade certain sectors... e.g. some sectors in D and some sectors in A. The rule just means the entire ticket has be booked as L, D or A and not a mix of them.

Thanks!

If I were to book through a TA, can it be any TA as long as they are an ARC TA? And would all I have to do is give them the itinerary and the printed detailed rules of this fare for them to issue the ticket?

If the TA is an expert in CirPac/ATW tickets then perhaps; otherwise, why would you want to go through a TA? The TA will probably charge you an additional fee since they are not paid commission by the airline. Is the TA also going to handle your CX upgrade? What happens if your TA books the CirPac through AA and your CX flight now has an AA flight number... no upgrade in that case. You want to insure upgrades seats are available on the CX flight for which you want to upgrade to F, and book the upgrade seats at the same time if possible. Personally, I would probably book directly with the CX.

You will want to book this on CX ticket stock (160-) if you want to use AsiaMiles to upgrade. Just make sure your travel agent does this, or book directly with CX.

OK. So if I book through a TA, that TA will have to contact one of the airlines (which is AA, CX, or QF for my case) to verify the routing and receive instructions from one of the three carriers on how to book/ticket the whole thing? I'm not sure how the procedure goes when a TA is involved since there is no OW hotline for the TA to call should they have questions.

The reason why I am seriously considering a TA is because I called CX and they said they do not accept debit cards to make payments for such bookings. I cannot use my credit card because the fare will most likely exceed my credit limit on the card. Booking through the TA, I can pay with debit, check, or even cash. I guess I just have to make sure the TA issues the ticket under CX stock.

As for the upgrade, I can directly contact Asia Miles for that as long as I have a confirmed revenue booking regardless through CX or the TA I assume. All I have to make sure is there is an award space for the flight/date (Z class in this case).