Hi All,

So I am in the initial steps of researching for my potential RTW trip, I have noticed from some threads that getting seats on particular airlines (i.e. CX Business) is extremely difficult especially if you didn't book it through CX? So should I try to book the trip through the airlines that I "prefer" to fly on the most during my trip even though I am exiting USA and is an AA PLT?

Thanks and I am soo excited for my first RTW trip!

That's only true for award seats... but revenue, no. Plenty of D class available..

Book as soon as possible as OW Circle Pacific fares just went up 60% from $6600 for an DCIR26 to $11200. I personally feel that price increases to xONEx fares are soon to follow. Currently ONE fares are much less expensive than CIR fares as shown below for ex-US in USD.

xONEx As of June 1, 2007
xONE3
ATW - First: $10600 + Tax
ATW - Business: $7500 + Tax
ATW - Economy $3900 + Tax

xONE4
ATW - First: $11400 + Tax
ATW - Business: $8300 + Tax
ATW - Economy $4100 + Tax

xONE5
ATW - First: $13100 + Tax
ATW - Business: $9500 + Tax
ATW - Economy $4900 + Tax


CIRPAC as of July 1, 2008
22000 - First: $12700 + tax
22000 - Business: $9300 + tax
22000 - Economy: $4500 + tax

26000 - First: $15200 + tax
26000 - Business: $11200 + tax
26000 - Economy: $5400 + tax

29000 - First: $16000 + tax
29000 - Business: $12300 + tax
29000 - Economy: $5900 + tax

Don't be put off by posts complaining about difficulties in getting reservations on particular flights. We rarely hear what kind of advance notice was given or what research was carried out about availability on a given segment. We do hear of many successful xONEx trips, including FTers coping with multiple nested xONExs! (I might regret saying this when trying to get my A-class seat on CX from NRT to HKG, but we'll see.)

Assuming you intend to firm-up on your itinerary a month or so in advance, and are willing to be a bit flexible over exact dates, you should be fine for the great majority of RTW itineraries. Sure, there are one or two routes of which you need to be careful, JNB-SYD (or v/v) in D is one, but plenty of people who contribute to this forum can point these out. My recommendation is to play with the really great MileageMonkey tool & then post your draft itinerary here. The RTW gurus will then gather & give you a pile of comments. It's then up to you to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Thanks everyone, yeah I am trying to nail down the dates that I can free myself up for the trip so that I may be able to book it before any price increase...

one other question, I have seen also ppl mentioning the fuel surcharge and some sort of luxury tax for flying on BA and via LHR? Is there a more comprehensive list of the top most "Costly" airports to fly through and what airline typically charges more fees/taxes? (I suppose that would be route dependent...??)

UK has four levels of departure taxes for departures from UK, which includes stopovers. The higher level applies for any cabin that is not the lowest on the a/c (ie premium economy, business and first). This applies to all airlines, not just BA.

Some other countries have luxury taxes for business and first class tickets purchased from that country (eg India) which need to be factored into your purchase decision.

Most other taxes do not vary by class of travel, however airport taxes vary by airport from almost nothing to quite sizeable amounts (eg SYD).

Fuel surcharges vary considerably by airline. It is the ticketing airline that decides how much fuel surcharge to collect - some have few charges (eg AA) whilst others have very high surcharges (eg QF).

The only date you really need to nail down is that of the first international segment (other than USA-Canada, which is not considered international for this purpose). This date can be up to 11 months from now. Segments after this can be left undefined & you then have up to 12 months to do the trip, which can be in as many stages as you like.

What is the cost of xONEx fares originating in Japan?

Look for a link in the sticky thread (top threads in this forum}