I've been staring at the OW tool and itinerary screen for way too long and my head is about to explode. Am trying to plan a DONE for ex-ICN with the following caveats in mind:

1) This is purely a status/mileage run in conjunction with a family trip from SYD-YYZ
2) Want to minimize the travel time/stopovers and not spend 2 weeks in airport lounges as I cross the globe.
3) Am with BA, so need to maximize the longhaul sectors to get the Tier Points
4) Definately want to use the 6 North American segments in long-haul if possible to avoid having to dash around Australia

With that said, I've got the following:

Will start the trip before I head to YYZ for holidays...ICN-HKG-SYD(layover)-LAX-YYZ(must go this route as I don't want to overnight in JFK and YYZ is the ultimate destination for the family)-UVF-JFK-XXX-XXX-LAX-LHR-DXB-LHR-HKG-CGK-HKG-ICN

From the first LHR arrival, it's 4 days to ICN, which isn't too bad considering the distance I'm covering.

I could pay an extra $1K or so and make it a DONE5, with a LHR-NBO-LHR segment thrown in there, reducing my need for 6 NA segments. Because I'm going around June, YYZ-MEX is out, so the only choice I have is to do YYZ-UVF-JFK but the YYZ-UVF is only listed in the AA pdf timetable...it's not even bookable on the aa.com website. Makes me wonder if this route is even valid anymore?

I know the YYZ piece is the killer. I could book a separate LAX-YYZ-LAX return but I don't want to pay the extra.

Would appreciate the collective wisdom of the board in helping me out.

p.s. any experiences on nested RTW tix? Am thinking of doing that while the sale is on for some meetings/conferences I know I'll be attending.

I assume YYZ-UVF is simply for distance? If so, I would be a little cautious in case AA changes the flight numbers, in which case you'd end up with 17 segments.

Have you discounted DFW-ANC (though it's seasonal and service doesn't start until June 11, so it may not fit your plans)?

At the end, LHR-SIN-NRT-HKG-ICN is more miles but perhaps doesn't work as well for tier points?

If you're considering a DONE5, then perhaps add in Sth Am rather than Africa. Then you could take advantage of the transit Nth America rule to fly e.g. YYZ-SCL-xLAX-LHR, maybe fit in SCL-IPC-SCL intead of Nth Am segments

YYZ-UVF is one of those ephemeral "direct" flights - two sectors with one flight number. Anyway, it goes away in early June, never to reappear on the timetable.

For tier points, note that AA books D into A on two-class US domestic flights, but US-Canada and US-Caribbean/Latin American flights don't offer first class, so while LAX-YYZ-MIA would earn 160 TP (120+40), LAX-MIA-YYZ would earn 220 (180+40 if LAX-MIA is flown in a 2-class plane such as a 757.)

I guess I was right to be cautious - AA 2297 YYZ-MIA departing 6.15 am on June 10 becomes AA 1409 (connecting to AA 2297 to UVF) starting on June 11, departing YYZ at 6.45 am.

How do you find out this info? Is there another timetable I should be looking at besides the AA pdf one on their website.

ARGH!! Well, now that sucks. LAX-YYZ is the achilles heel. I guess I could do SYD-JFK and overnight it, and pay for the JFK-YYZ and continue the DONE4/5 from there. I guess it would also let me do another transcon like JFK-SFO as well.

I did think about that, but I think it sort of violates my rule of trying to move eastward as much as possible. YYZ/JFK-SCL-IPC-SCL-JFK sounds appealing, but probably one I'd want to do when I have more time to actually visit IPC rather than seeing the airport.

Also the turnaround times back to NA don't seem to match up quite well with connecting to Europe.

Great idea though!

I thought DFW-ANC was all moving to Alaska Airlines and not codeshare anymore with AA, so it wasn't eligible for the DONE fare?

I may just do ICN-HKG-CGK-NRT-SIN to start and go straight from LHR-SYD.

AA only flys the route seasonally. The general blurb on the AA website says June 1 - September 30 but it appears to be actually loaded in the schedules only from June 11. They used to fly from ORD as well as DFW but dropped that last year (or the year before?). Flights fill up quickly (the June 11 flight doesn't exactly have a lot of open seats in either F or Y) so if it's of any interest etc,. I would get in there while you can. It's 3,042 miles each way (on a 757 ... ouch). You're only allowed one roundtrip on an xONEx - I guess too much mileage running otherwise (not to mention those discounted D people taking up the paid F seats).

ExpertFlyer - worth every penny.

I assume you mean SIN-SYD; otherwise you'd be reversing directions. You would have to return to ICN straight from HEL at the end (only intercontinental service to/from ICN) or else you'd need to get Oneworld to change the rules regarding a maximum of 4 segments in Asia, as you still need to return to your origin point.

However as this is a tier point run I suppose all you need to get to is 1500 TP for BA Gold renewal (if memory serves.) So substituting the YYZ-UVF segment with YYZ-JFK-UVF-JFK-XXX-LAX will still get you to 1520 TP, so no worries. (I'd book the Lan flight from YYZ-JFK in order to get full business class service.)

Thus as revised, ICN-HKG-SYD-LAX-YYZ-JFK-UVF-JFK-DFW-LAX-LHR-DXB-LHR-HKG-CGK-HKG-ICN comes to 1520 TP if my math is correct (don't forget first class points for A sectors within the USA).

If you didn't mind a few hours in Honolulu to connect, you could also go ICN-HKG-SYD-HNL-DFW-YYZ-JFK-UVF-JFK-LAX-LHR-DXB-LHR-HKG-CGK-HKG-ICN for 1680 TP and many more miles, as you'd have both HNL-DFW and JFK-LAX (make sure a 2-class service) as 180 TP segments.

Just some thoughts.

Is it significantly different than the KVS tool?

One major difference is that it is web based - you can use it from any PC with a full internet connection. KVS is ties to one or three specific registered PC's.

You're right...too many permutations in my head...there will be no LHR-SYD at the end...just a HEL-ICN if I went that route, which I'm not. I'm a Euro for BA status, so really only need 800 TP's, but am hoping to get as close to 2000 as I can for the GUF2. The theoretical maximum is 1920, but is not actually possible under the YYZ scenario. I think I may go with the suggestion of DFW-ANC and back. A LAX-YYZ-DFW-ANC-DFW-SJU-DFW-LHR would definately maximize the TP's, since the DFW-ANC books into A class.

The routing would then be:

ICN-HKG-SYD-LAX-YYZ-DFW-ANC-DFW-SJU-DFW-LHR-DXB-LHR-HKG-CGK-HKG-ICN for a total of 1,800 TP's. Add that to the few business trips I'll be taking from SYD-PEK and I should hit 2,000 no problem.

Thanks for the thoughts!

True, but I work for a telco and have a nice new USB broadband modem for use pretty much anywhere in the world, so I've always got access.

But I see your point...much easier to use expert flyer at a quick lounge internet terminal than have to fire up my pc and hope for a signal.