MEX-TIJ-NRT, as noted above, on AM. or MEX-YVR-ICN on AM/KE. Not a lot of options, but there are a couple. And the MEX-YVR segment is operated by JAL, so that may not count, so maybe the MEX-TIJ-NRT option is the only one. But there's at least the one.

"Back tracking?"
 

Preliminary planning for a ST RTW in biz and am totally out of my "oneworld" element!

Almost all my oneworld RTW's have included LHR-DXB-LHR as a one-day turn MR. Can I do the same on ST? In other words, my RTW is west-bound. So can I fly AMS-DXB-CDG and continue west?

Thanks for your knowledge.

You can backtrack. At one time the rules specified that this must be within a continent (but this was in the days when the other alliances did not allow it at all). Now the rules simply state that "the itinerary may reflect greater than round provided that it is not via the point of origin/destination and still terminates within the country of origin." Another rule states that you can only cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans once each (so you can't do AMS-JFK then backtrack JFK-CDG before flying west again to North America).

I am not sure where that leaves you. I once backtracked in North America (to use up the full 29,000 miles, while at the same time visiting friends) by arriving in LAX from CDG and then, without stopover, changing to to LAX(SLC)-DEN, DEN(IAH)-MIA, MIA(IAH)-LAX, with a stopover in LAX before going on to NRT.

RTW newbie hoping for some advice on where to begin..
 

I'm so thankful for all the great people on this forum. I can only hope to 'give back' as much info as I've gained to help other FT members in the future. Anyways, I'm wondering where is the best place to begin when attempting to plan my RTW trip. I'm a DL PM with approx. 700k skymiles + Amex Plat w/ 400k MR. Originally, my wife & I were planning on doing the RTW trip on ST. Now, based on everything I've read here, it's starting to look like that's not the best idea. Any thoughts on how to go about trying to determine the best RTW trip? I couldn't imagine doing this trip in coach therefore I'm willing to spend the miles for a first class ticket... I had thought that business class would work but is it true that we'd be in coach when there isn't business class on a particular flight. As you can tell... I'm so new to this that I desparately need some guidance. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I've done a bunch of RTWs on Skyteam, but never as an award ticket.

First thing is to decide when and where you would like to go, and for how long in each place. After that, it is just connecting the dots in a somewhat orderly progression.

WRT business class tickets and economy seating, that only applies to domestic USA flights where there is an extra $100 per leg surcharge to upgrade to domestic F. You will generally get business/first class on inter-european and inter-asian flights.

Make your proposed itinerary and post it, from there there are several FTers that can tell you your possible routing options. There is also an interactive route map on the Skyteam website that might prove useful to you.

Cheers

I'm looking to book a RTW trip using my CO miles. I'll be leaving from NYC. Is there anyway to get to SYD with SkyTeam? KE I assume?


Thanks!

First class availability is almost non-existent. I wouldn't even waste the miles to try.

You'll spend 220k per ticket for Biz class, and I would budget about 10-20 hours at a minimum in planning it. You can download the Skyteam software showing which flights are available. In most cases you must fly on a Skyteam airline. I have seen Delta people have a bit more latitude than NWA (Fly via AS within US, open jaw, etc), but make sure you really plan out your trip.

I'm in the process of booking a RTW Reward using CO miles. Is there anyway to look up reward availability of Air France/KLM/Korean Air online before I call to make the process less painful? Thanks!

I believe that KVS and Expertflyer both show Skyteam availability. You could also check on the NWA Japan website and search for segment by segment awards, but it won't show all partners.

Thank you, much appreciated.

Also, it looks like AF inventory to/from the US is showing up on co.com now, which will help a little bit. There are some quirks (like the C inventory in some cases actually booking into Y), but there is a thread in the CO forum (that I started) that has the info.

Thanks, I did see your post. I'll be taking AF from GIG->CDG. On one flight (447) "O" Availabilty comes up as 0 in ExpertFlyer. On the other flight (443) "O" doesn't even show up as a fare class which I thought was odd.

Yes, you have to fly to Seoul (ICN) to go to SYD directly with KE (12059 miles)
But to go in Australia you can fly to Guam and then to Brisbane with CO.
BNE to SYD is very short and you pay around 100$ for it, even if that counts for mileage RTW ( 11284 miles)
For paying tickets, RTW economy on KE is H class, that gives no miles!!

I've flown a few SkyTeam RTW's in "C", only be aware then when only 2-class service available, they downgrade the C to Y instead of F, but if the plane has available F and you complain enough at the gate you generally will get F (and this happens on pd tickets as well!).
This standard is opposite of *A which upgrades C to F in 2-class.

[QUOTE=PMMMDL;8258436] WRT business class tickets and economy seating, that only applies to domestic USA flights where there is an extra $100 per leg surcharge to upgrade to domestic F. You will generally get business/first class on inter-european and inter-asian flights.

I flew more than a few legs on my Skyteam RTW award (booked via NW), and had a Biz award ticket, and was never downgraded at all, on a FC/Y flight, except when my arriving aircraft came in late, and I took a later flight rather than wait for the next day for a FC seat.

These included EZE-IAH (BizFirst), and IAH-SJO-IAH (FC).