DONE5 vs GlobEx 34,000
 

The girlfriend and I are looking at a RTW trip summer 2010 - a long way out but we're in our 20's and need to start saving for it (me = too tall for economy class).

My main "ask" is whether my routes work? I'm a bit wary of MileageMonkey since I think I found at least one error while trying some other iterations (MM allows HNL-ORD which I don't think exists any more). I also originally spent (a LOT of) time planning the trip heading west but east seems to work better. This is mainly due to the lack of service between GIG-EZE, GIG-UIO, or GIG-SYD and the fact that EZE, GIG, and SCL all fly direct to Europe.

Trip #1
Business Class 5-continent (DONE5)
Route: lax-jfk-eze-uio-scl-gig-lhr-dme-mad-lhr-hkg-bom-bkk-sin-syd-hnl-lax (47,900 miles) + 3,486 for ORD-LAX-ORD to start/end the trip

Benefits:
- more South America (Ecuador+Galapagos)
- visit Australia (wine country, surfing, scuba at the Reef)
- about 18,000 more miles (not including any multipliers)

Detractors:
- about 14,000 more miles (though they are mostly on QF)
- less Asia
- no Middle-East
- total cost is about $5,500 per person more
- It looks like HNL-ORD direct was discontinued?? This would likely make me add an ORD-LAX or ORD-LGA round trip to start/end the trip.

Trip #2
Global Explorer 34,000 mile Business Class
Route: ord-mia-gig-scl-eze-mad-dme-lhr-fco-amm-bom-bkk-hkg-icn-nrt-ord (33,986 miles... whew!)

Benefits:
- visit South Korea
- visit Jordan
- visit Japan
- possibility to visit North Korea
- cost would be about $5,500 per person less
- less useless intra-USA flying

Detractors:- no Australia (which also means less surfing, wine country, scuba at Great Barrier Reef)
- no Galapagos (rest of Ecuador is nice but this is the main reason for going to Quito)

Other miscellaneous questions:
- if we take a large traveling backpack are we going to have to pay a baggage fee 16+ times?
- if HNL-ORD does, in fact, still exist that makes Trip #1 a lot more palatable and significantly improves the logistics (no LAX routing needed). It's on the OneWorld interactive online map as well as MileageMonkey but doesn't seem to exist on AA.com
- grief about the combination of "girlfriend" and "RTW trip 18 months from now" will be quite forthcoming form the family. Have fun pouring it on.
- Using 33,984/34,000 was entirely by accidnt but feel free to call me a god
- long time lurker first time poster, be gentle!

So, I'm sorry but I'm not going to answer pretty much any of your questions. If I have time later I'll try to help. Just one quick thought... you seem to be concerned about cost.

For the DONE5 it seems to me like to save money your side ticket (ORD//LAX) will probably be in Y, am I right? If that's the case, I would start and end the trip in JFK, not LAX. ORD//JFK is much shorter and more tolerable in Y (for a tall guy) than ORD//LAX. It works out the same, and then the DONE5 ends with LAX-JFK rather than starting with it.

I'm also confused why you say the DONE5 is $5,500 per person more and the Global Exp $5,500 less. More and less than each other? The OW website shows Global Exp 34k in D at $9,199 and the DONE5 at $10,400. That's a $1,200 difference per person.

And watch yourself... I've seen way better than 33,984/34,000.

P.S. Welcome to FT!

Welcome to Flyer Talk mkgref :)

I don't know why you are untrusting of MM due uncertainty over a specific route when schedules and routes available will change in the several months at least before you are ready to ticket?

On the DONE5 you could start at JFK and finish with SYD-JFK. That frees up 2 more flights, enough to add another destination or two.

Routes in MM are added & removed manually. Also has seasonal routes which may or may not be available when you want to travel. Routes change all the time.

Was or is HNL-ORD a seasonal route? I don’t have old AA timetables to check

If you lodge your HNL-ORD problem on the MM thread SLF will fix it, if its needed.

Have you tried the new on xONEx line booking tool to validate your itinerary ?

Are you sure about the pricing? Historically OWE and GE fares have been identical -- so it would be surprising to have USD 5500 difference in fare, as your post suggests. Also originating outside of the US can have some big benefits (both for fare, rules and routing), so you might consider that.

Thanks guys for the comments so far I very much appreciate it!^

Regarding the price difference - I should have been more clear that the $5,500 was not all due to ticket cost (as you said that only accounts for $1,200). The rest of the difference I was figuring as a rough estimate of the cost increase of a week driving around Australia vs. cost of Korea, as well as a trip to Galapagos (minimum of about $2,000 each inclusive of airfare and fees, probably more). I don't intend to let price lord over our decisions but it's also not something for us to ignore and we wouldn't be disappointed to see Korea.

ORD-HNL on AA may very well be seasonal... I flew out there this past summer around 4th of July (on UTD but we had the option of AA). That said we'd be making the flight in early August so maybe it would be running. I realize we don't have to/can't make any decisions yet but good to know there are options.

We were originally looking at hitting HNL on the way back because she has grandparents on the island... but adding a trip to AKL (skiing!) or NOU then heading straight to JFK from SYD instead is a great idea - thanks!

Since you are in your 20s, there is absolutely no reason why this will be your last RTW trip. Why try to do ëverything now? Just go to a few places and do them properly. Go back to the other's later on. And remember, always have a few trips planned, booked or even thought about before you start the first one. That gives you something to do when you get back - rather than feeling sorry for yourself because "we're back".

A DGLOB34 is typically priced the same as a DONE4, not a DONE5. The difference between a DGLOB34 and a DONE5 ex-USA is currently USD 1200.

ORD-HNL gone
 

AA sent out a press release with schedule cuts on May 27, 2008 and ORD-HNL was shown as reduced to weekends only then canceled starting Jan. 5, 2009. Of course it could come back someday or never, but for now it is no longer in the schedule.

To reduce costs, have you thought about leaving from South Korea? I know it's quite a detour, but a DONE5 from ICN is currently KRW 7,789,600, that is under USD 6,000 (comparing to USD 10,400 from the USA). For the two of you, you might well save up to 9,000 dollars (less the cost of getting there).

If you have some miles and can get an award flight, or if you can bear the transpacific flight in economy, savings are significant. If you fly ORD-ICN-ORD in business, you'll end up with roughly the same price, but with the possibility of visiting South Korea before starting your DONE5. On top of that, you may split your journey in two trips by stopping in ORD for some weeks (e.g. Home - Asia - Australia - Home - South America - Europe - Asia - Home).