Hi all,

Am in the planning stage of a RTW with the following routing and would very much appreciate any input on choice of airline or routing from those in the know.

Many thanks in advance,
Ch.Nenin 95

Philadelphia to London

Departure: 19:55 Philadelphia, USA - Philadelphia International
Arrival: 07:50 +1 day(s) London, United Kingdom - Heathrow
Airline: British Airways BA66
Fare type: First

London to Manchester

Departure: 11:15 London, United Kingdom - Heathrow
Arrival: 12:20 Manchester, United Kingdom - Manchester International
Airline: British Airways BA1388
Fare type: Business

Manchester to Madrid

Departure: 08:15 Manchester, United Kingdom - Manchester International
Arrival: 09:25 London, United Kingdom - Heathrow
Airline: British Airways BA1387
Fare type: Business


Departure: 10:55 London, United Kingdom - Heathrow
Arrival: 14:15 Madrid, Spain - Barajas
Airline: Iberia IB3163
Fare type: Business

Madrid to Hong Kong

Departure: 08:55 Madrid, Spain - Barajas
Arrival: 11:35 Frankfurt, Germany - Frankfurt International
Airline: Iberia IB3500
Fare type: Business


Departure: 13:55 Frankfurt, Germany - Frankfurt International
Arrival: 06:50 +1 day(s) Hong Kong, Hong Kong - Hong Kong International
Airline: Cathay Pacific CX288
Fare type: First

Hong Kong to Tokyo

Departure: 10:45 Hong Kong, Hong Kong - Hong Kong International
Arrival: 15:55 Tokyo, Japan - Narita
Airline: Japan Airlines JL736
Fare type: Business

Tokyo to Singapore

Departure: 11:05 Tokyo, Japan - Narita
Arrival: 17:15 Singapore, Singapore - Changi
Airline: Japan Airlines JL719
Fare type: First

Singapore to Sydney

Departure: 09:40 Singapore, Singapore - Changi
Arrival: 19:05 Sydney, Australia - Kingsford Smith
Airline: British Airways BA7372
Operated by Qantas Airways
Fare type: First

Sydney to Wellington

Departure: 09:15 Sydney, Australia - Kingsford Smith
Arrival: 14:30 Wellington, New Zealand - Wellington
Airline: British Airways BA7347
Fare type: Business

Wellington to Los Angeles

Departure: 06:00 Wellington, New Zealand - Wellington
Arrival: 07:40 Sydney, Australia - Kingsford Smith
Airline: Qantas Airways QF118
Fare type: Business

Departure: 10:15 Sydney, Australia - Kingsford Smith
Arrival: 06:40 Los Angeles, USA - Los Angeles International
Airline: Qantas Airways QF107
Fare type: First

Los Angeles to Philadelphia


Departure: 07:15 Los Angeles, USA - Los Angeles International
Arrival: 12:20 Dallas, USA - Dallas Ft Worth
Airline: American Airlines AA2416
Fare type: First


Departure: 13:00 Dallas, USA - Dallas Ft Worth
Arrival: 15:20 Chicago, USA - O'Hare International
Airline: American Airlines AA2350
Fare type: First

Departure: 18:15 Chicago, USA - O'Hare International
Arrival: 21:20 Philadelphia, USA - Philadelphia International
Airline: American Airlines AA408
Fare type: First

take the manchester leg out as its a waste of a sector, Business does not exist either - its all economy

Instead you can get a train from London to Manchester in 1hr50minutes, then you only need to get the flight from Heathrow to Madrid - make sure this is on BA, unless Iberia have suddenly upped their game and i dont know about it...

Also, make sure the QF flights are on the A380.

Your "BA7347" is actually a Quantas internal flight, not BA.

Im sure a lot of people here will tell you which AA flights to take as their travel classes differ depending on the aircraft type.

This probably fits best in the OneWorld board - we'll move it over there.

CX fly HKG-NRT with an F cabin a couple of times a day too which wou might like to use instead of JL

Thank you , the SIN-SYD is on the 380 and I have 2A. I agree about the MAN leg and might book that separately as I need to drop off some bags with relatives.

Thank you Moomba, just switched the HKG-NRT leg to CX on the 504 in First.

Are you seeking to optimize miles, tier points, etc?

Is your LAX-DFW-ORD-PHL routing necessitated by stops in DFW and/or ORD? If you could tolerate either an overnight or a late arrival at PHL, you might consider LAX-MIA on the 777 (much better F experience) then MIA-PHL.

What time of year?

I will be returning late May. I will not be stopping in either DFW or ORD, I believe the DFW-ORD leg will be a 777 in First, but am going to check out the LAX-MIA-PHl routing. Thanks

The LAX-MIA-PHL routing is not an option on the One World Planner

The on-line booking engine, the on-line timetable, or the online route planner? You may need to specify individual segments such as LAX-MIA and MIA-PHL, but the routing would certainly be allowed with any Oneworld paid RTW.

It is a paid RTW. I have been using the online planner and it did not show for up as an option?

Are you putting in LAX to PHL and you're simply saying the option of LAX-MIA-PHL doesn't show up? If so, just manually add MIA as a "stop" but then pick flights that are on the same day. There should be no reason you can't force it to show.

Same for SYD-LAX. Is there some reason you're not trying to get on the 380 for that route as well?

Thank you cs19.

Have followed your suggestions and got myself on the 380 for SYD-LAX and by adding a stop in MIA changed to a 777 in First. Well happy now!!!

Are you booked and confirmed for the A380? QF does not sell A inventory on the A380 AFAIK. You only find that out after you paid for the AONEx unfortunately. You will find your A380 routes waitlisted. That status will never change...

You said you are in the planning stage, so how can you have 2A?

The QF forum reports that you can get into A on the 380. I wouldn't say it is easy or common, but it's not like SQ and the *A where it is literally impossible. Furthermore, the online tool does immediately pull availability from the fare bucket, as long as you go in through the "Plan and Book" tool and not simply the "plan" tool. When you go in through Plan and Book, the tool pulls real-time A-bucket availability if you tell it you're traveling in first. I know this first hand because I had a CX segment that I could not get to show up in the Plan and Book, but would show up in the Plan, and after checking EF it was because there was no A availability. So, as long as the OP is using the Plan and Book part of the tool, and they are getting the 380 segments to show up (and check the fine print that it is showing as A bucket, not D), then it is in fact available.

To the OP: just remember the 380 doesn't fly all these routes all days, make sure you're actually on an A380 day, not a 744 day.

As for how one has a seat assignment, that's a good question as I have no idea.