Hello,

First time poster and first time planning a RTW trip. There's so much great info on here and I appreciate the resource as I've been lurking for a bit. I have done a good bit of research, but I'm reaching the point where I feel like I'm getting even more confused (and definitely more frustrated), so I thought I'd reach out for some help.

So...the following is the ideal trip I'd like to take, but I'm lost as to what I can do to make it happen. Since there's a leg in South America it seems like oneworld is the way to go. (Please note that I do know the itinerary isn't a fully completed RTW trip - just the way I'd like to make it happen - knowing full well that adding a destination, or a couple of them, may be necessary) Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

BOM (then overland to)
DEL
HKT (then overland to)
HAN
DPS
SYD
AKL
IPC - maybe
GIG
AEP (then overland to)
LIM
PTY
SJO (then overland to)
BZE
SFO

I'm starting from SFO or LAX, but I'm starting to think I'd be better off buying a one way ticket to somewhere (maybe even the start of the trip). As I mentioned, I know that I may need to add flights at the beginning and end to NYC or something and then BOM if it'll be a RTW ticket?

I'm starting to wonder if this trip is even possible on a RTW ticket? Do I need to be looking into other options beyond a RTW tix - a.k.a. - can I accomplish this in another (economically feasible) way?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

Well first of all in order to do an OW RTW I am pretty sure you will need to include a stop in Europe (see note at end of post). Second you are limited to 16 flight segments or surface sectors. Getting from SFO to BOM takes at least 2 flight segments, as does getting from DEL to HKT. The surface segment between BOM and DEL counts as 1 of the 16 allowed segments. Check out www.oneworld.com for details of their products as the information there is very detailed. Combining other OW products like one of the Circle products or a separately paid or award roundtrip tickets can also work. The following specific links may help:

OW Interactive Map
OW Itinerary Planner
OW Explorer Fare Technical Rule Sheet

Example of trip I currently have booked with combination of RTW, Award and Paid tickets broken into 3 trips:

Feb-Apr 2010
DCA-DFW-NRT-ICN F Award
ICN-HKG-SIN AONE3
SIN-MLE UA J Award
MLE-SIN UA J Award
SIN-HKG-LHR AONE3
LHR-DXB AONE3
DXB-LHR-HEL AONE3
HEL-LHR-LAX AONE3
LAX-IAD Paid Y w/upgrade

June 2010
IAD-LAX Paid Y w/upgrade
LAX-DFW-ANC AONE3
ANC-YVR surface AONE3
YVR-JFK AONE3

Nov-Dec 2010
JFK-DCA Paid Y
DCA-JFK Paid Y
JFK-HKG AONE3
HKG-HKT Paid J
HKT-HKG Paid J
HKG-ICN AONE3
ICN-NRT-DFW-DCA F Award

An afterthought about my Europe comment in the first paragraph:

I know someone brought this up back when AA introduced their ORD-DEL service but I don't remember the answer, can one do a xONEx without Europe? I think one can, but for fare purposes Europe has to be included as one of the continents if my memory serves me. I did a search and my memory was right... for additional discussion on this: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...-atlantic.html See posts 21 and 57-59

You did not indicate what fare class you wanted to fly; economy, business, or first? If it is economy, then you may do better by going to a company that specializes in putting together RTW tickets, especially since your itinerary does not circumnavigate the world. Once again, check out the info at the links provided above, search and read more here on FT, and modify your itinerary to be within the rules. You may find that doing this in 2 separate RTW trips may be a better idea. Also starting in another country is a good idea, and has been discussed in detail in many threads here on FT. The advantage being that fares change based on departing country (see OW Explorer Fare Technical Rule Sheet). So choosing a starting country that has low fares is always a good idea. Information on how to purchase those fares can be foudn in many threads herr on FT. That is one reason I started my AONE3 from ICN for $6600 instead of $11700, not a bad savings. FWIW, prices went up on June 1 so unfortunately those kind of savings are no longer available, but there are still better prices than purchasing your ticket here in the US. Prices for all countries can be found at the OW web sight at the links provided above. Here is the link to the oneworld Explorer page.

Thanks for the all the advice and great links!

I did some more research and I'm curious if this would work (BTW - I'm in economy). Since I'm technically starting from the US, I'm looking at getting a flight to London and starting from there:

LHR-BOM
BOM-DEL (surface)
DEL-BKK
BKK-HKG (surface)
HKG-AKL
AKL-SCL
SCL-EZE (surface)
EZE-LIM
LIM-MEX
MEX-DFW
DFW-SJO
SJO-GUA (surface)
GUA-LAX
LAX-LHR

I know that I'm much closer, but would this actually work?!

For RTW xONEx put your intinerary into Mileage Monkey. Not 100% perfect but very good guide

Needed to add GUA-DFW-LAX to get your intinerary to wok

You mean GUA-DFW-LAX don't you?

I rewrote your itinerary in another form, including the LAX/DFW swap mentioned above (although a direct GUA-LAX service seems to exist according to the OW interactive map):
LHR-BOM//DEL-BKK//HKG-AKL-SCL//EZE-LIM-MEX-DFW-SJO//GUA-DFW-LHR

In this itinerary you'd have:
14 segments (including 4 surface segments) - you can have 2 more
1 flight segment in Asia, None in Southwest Pacific, 1 in South America, 3 in North America, None in Europe - you can add the 2 segments in any continent, since your contingent is still open in all continents

My suggestions for your two segments: DFW-MAD-LHR (if you do not go back to LAX after GUA) and/or HKG-SYD/MEL-AKL and/or EZE-GRU-LIM and/or DFW-MAD-any other city in Europe served by both IB & BA-LHR - many other options open.

Enjoy your journey!