Is ex-CMB Skyteam RTW possible?
 

Hello All. I am currently based near Male', Maldives (MLE) and am trying to plan my second RTW (first Star Alliance). Of key importance is travel via CO-Micronesia (ROR, YAP, GUM). I have long wanted to take CO's Micronesia island hopper route as well. My question is as follows: is it even possible to take a Skyteam RTW ex-CMB/MLE? I know there are no Skyteam carriers in MLE, but as far as I can tell, even though one can price a Skyteam RTW in CMB (Colombo, Sri Lanka), how does one transit? I have found CMB-FRA routings (with CSA Czech) and CMB-CDG (with AF), but I can't seem to find any routings east. Many Skyteam partners pick up flights near CMB (e.g., DEL, SIN, KUL, BKK), but I can't find any flight east of CMB on a Skyteam partner.

Does anyone know if the MH (Malaysian) or UL (Sri Lankan) flights originating in CMB (e.g., CMB-BKK, CMB-KUL, CMB-SIN) are codeshared with Skyteam partners (they don't seem to be)?

If one is taking a RTW ex-CMB is one forced to transit via Europe on both legs in and out?

Does anyone have experience booking an ex-CMB RTW on Skyteam and if so, how did you satisfy transit east of CMB?

Thank you everyone for your time in advance. Obviously, once I figure out this hurdle I'll be able to start posting full itinerary plans. I was hoping to travel CMB-SIN-MNL-ROR-YAP-GUM etc., but right now I'm just trying to find a way to travel east of CMB at all!

If anyone knows the answer to this it would be the KLM GSA in Colombo:

I have worked with Dushanthi in the Carsons office on many tickets and she has generally done a good job with these. A quick call should get you the answer... BTW, the ex-CMB "C" fares to the US that you can book thru Carsons are the absolute best in the region, PM me if you want complete details.

You don't need to look any further :) It's not an alliance you are after, but a RTW-ticket sold by MH and others: it's valid on MH/NW/KL/9W/AS/CM/CO/EK/FJ/HV/KQ/SA/MA/UX

A lot of Skyteam airlines but not all and not only. I used this ticket last year to fly the Continental Island Hopper. KL is on it; CZ and AF are not. You can get to KUL (and back) from both CMB or MLE on MH to start or end your trip or EK through Dubai.

Look for these fare bases: YRWWJ25 / 30 / 35 / 40 in Y or CRWWJ25 / 30 / 35 / 40 in C. The number stands for the maximum allowed mileage (25k up to 40k)

After these short hops (which likely won't get you a lot of Skyteam miles) you can choose to stick with the Skyteam-companies for maximum mileage. Don't overlook the nice GUM-CNS flights to get to Australia. I flew GUM-CNS//BNE-VLI-NOU-NRT as a part of the ticket, buying an extra lowcost CNS-BNE for 50 dollars or so on Virgin Blue.

My entire itinerary (for if you're interested) was CAI-AMS-NYC-SJO-IAH-GUA-IAH-HNL-MAJ-PNI-GUM-SPN-GUM-CNS//BNE-VLI-NOU-NRT-ICN-AMS(-LCA//KRT-CAI, this last part never flown) click here for map

Thank you both for your inputs. I will investigate both options and post the results. Searching around I found one person claiming that as long as a fare is offered on Skyteam RTW ex-CMB, that if no alliance airlines fly a certain segment leaving the origin city (in my case, travelling eastward), one could fly on an alliance partner airline to the nearest airport [east] that Skyteam serviced, though they couldn't earn miles on that segment even though they need to use miles. I will investigate if this is true, as MH is a partner of NW, and as one poster noted, MH flies both CMB and MLE. Again, I'll investigate all avenues and post the results shortly, as I'm intending to travel on the first segment to Guam February 20 - March 15, 2008.

How and where can I buy this fare? For some reason, I'm not turning this up on the Internet...

Via a travel agent or one of the participating carriers. This fare used to generate a lot of excitement on the KL forum a few years ago. Here's a few (old) links:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327567
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64958
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377521

The fares have risen since, naturally. Should you find out the current prices, please post in one of those threads

Thanks! Will do!

Ok, sorry for the delay. Here is the information I've learned so far. I still don't have details about the SkyTeam ex-CMB tickets. According to one spreadsheet, the pricing ex-CMB is the following (USD equivalent only available), noted as from 08 August 2007 exchange rates. I'm only giving Y-class economy pricing because that is what I will be taking.

29,000 miles = $2,102 34,000 miles = $2,416 39,000 miles = $2,837

From Dushanthi at Carsons Travel in Colombo, I have the following information regarding World Traveller RTWs (the KL-MH etc. partnership mentioned earlier). I quote her response in italics below and leave unedited. Male = MLE, Maldives; Colombo = CMB, Sri Lanka

The economy round the fare from Male –

If mileage up to 40,000 fare (YRWWJ40) USD4103

35,000 fare (YRWWJ35) USD3494

30,000 fare (YRWWJ30) USD3041

25,000 fare (YRWWJ25) USD2747

The economy round the fare from Colombo –

If mileage up to 40,000 fare (YRWWJ40) LKR452900

35,000 fare (YRWWJ35) LKR385700

30,000 fare (YRWWJ30) LKR335600

25,000 fare (YRWWJ25) LKR303200

You need to have a minimum of 3 stopovers to purchase a round the world ticket and a maximum of 15 stopover are allowed.

Not more than 2 stopovers are permitted in the same city.

Only 4 transits allowed in Amsterdam and kulalampur.

If emirate is used there is a surcharge per sector.

Only a maximum of 24 coupons are allowed for the whole journey.

Pls know taxes must be added to the fare.

This information varies slightly with what I have read elsewhere, namely that World Traveller only allowed 10 stops, but unlimited additional stopovers can be added for US$100 per stopover. I am trying to still find out if ex-CMB Skyteam RTW tickets are actually ticketable without transiting through Europe to go to Asia.

I've asked Dushanthi whether the first segment of a RTW ticket can be overland, in which case I can purchase the ticket in CMB but take my first flight from India or KUL where SkyTeam does fly eastward. If anyone knows the answer, can they enlighten me?

Sincerely, Robert

AFAIK, OK no longer flies to CMB.

So I had asked Dushanthi at Carsons Travel in Colombo about the SkyTeam RTW, stating I had the following prices (from a RTW spreadsheet I found on FlyerTalk), updated 08 August 2007: 29,000 miles = US$2,102 equivalent; 34,000 miles = $2,416; 39,000 miles = $2,837.

See her response below, which I suppose answers the question I originally posed once and for all regarding ex-CMB SkyTeam RTW tickets.

"Hi Robert

The “world traveller” and the sky team RTW prices have been common rated and the only difference is that if you choose sky team , you can use only sky team partners and then there are no airlines that can take you in and out of cmb and mle , and if you choose the “world traveller” you can travel in and out of CMB and MLE.

I don’t know from where you have got the rates but we don’t have that in our system. So price wise you are not gaining anything by choosing skyteam RTW.

It will be good to buy a skyteam only if are departing from one the destination of the online carriers of skyteam.

Hope I have answered all the questions

Brgds

Dushanthi"

Therefore, the apparently new prices for SkyTeam tickets ex-CMB are supposedly approximately the same as World Traveller tickets (my previous post), but as she points out, there is no way to transit CMB or MLE. Well, I can forsee transiting via Europe, but that is the only option and eats up quite a few miles. And if what Dushanthi says is true, there is no price advantage for doing so.

So I guess that I'll have to use the "new" pricings for the closest Skyteam equivalent, which are World Traveller tickets. Oddly, Maldives are cheaper than CMB but still quite expensive in my mind. I'll try to stop by the Male' Malaysia Airlines office and see if they have cheaper tickets. I've never flown these RTW tickets before and my only RTW experience has been with Star Alliance, but since I am planning extensive Micronesian travel and the price of dedicated Micronesia-area tickets alone would exceed a RTW ticket, it seems I'll be stuck with the World Traveller prices ex-MLE

40,000 fare (YRWWJ40) USD4103

35,000 fare (YRWWJ35) USD3494

30,000 fare (YRWWJ30) USD3041

25,000 fare (YRWWJ25) USD2747

This is steeper than I had hoped, but like I said, Micronesia is very expensive to travel through so this may be the only option. I'll now work tonight to finalize my routing, a lot of stops of which will be taken up in Micronesia. I'll post my planned itinerary tomorrow if I can. Hope all these details help others besides myself!

Who with?

Looks like a codeshare with Sri Lankan, but this is what shows up on the CSA Czech Airlines website, though very limited flights. Based on this, I don't know if this would be allowable for a SkyTeam RTW ticket, and as I mentioned, a CMB travel agent did not think a SkyTeam ticket was ticketable for CMB... doesn't mean it isn't, but she says she did find pricing for SkyTeam tickets, but no means to ticket in CMB.

Prague
17:10, Sa, February 23 2008 Frankfurt
18:20, Sa, February 23 2008 OK 0536

Change planes. Transit time between flights: 2hr 0min
Frankfurt
20:20, Sa, February 23 2008 Colombo
10:30, Su, February 24 2008 UL 0558

On the timetable, which admittedly seems to be out of date based on my inability to find most flights on the CSA website, I also find between 1 and 3 flights a week.

Presently, I'm now trying to work with a colleague of Dushanthi's, the MLE GSA for KL/NW/AF, which I find slightly odd since none of those airlines fly to MLE. Anyway, I'll update as I learn more. The only reason I am going with her colleague is based on Dushanthi's recommendation and that purchasing will be much easier for me in MLE than CMB.

According to Dushanthi backtracking is not allowed on the World Traveller ticket, but I've yet to receive the full fare rules. Also, surprisingly for me, Dushanthi had mentioned that those tickets can be issued electronically, which would be a first in my experience.

Right now I am working to optimize stopovers. I also read on a website describing the World Traveller ticket that AMS does not count towards stopovers, so I am trying to receive confirmation that AMS is free. I am now trying to determine which 3 cities in Africa to have as stopovers.

Again, I'll give my routing once I receive some more confirmations.

By the looks of it, not even a codeshare but a pure and simple UL-coded FRA-CMB flight.
Even if you were able to square that one (which I don't think you will), you also need a CMB segment at both start and finish of your RTW and, afaik, you would not be able to transfer in Europe both at the start and end of the RTW.

Hi, Is there an email address for Carsons Airlines Services in CMB? Their phone does not seem to work.

Carsons, Colombo Sri Lanka KLM GSA

TEL: 00 94 11 2439747

Dushanthi Fernando: [email protected]

She's been very helpful, but it seems I have to book through Maldives (slightly cheaper price, more convenient re: payment) and I'm having a hard time with them.

For the record,

KLM - NORTHWEST-AIRFRANCE
GSA SPEED SERVICES
3RD FLOOR, STO AIFAANU BUILDING
MARINE DRIVE
MALE-REP. OF MALDIVES
TEL: 00 960 3 323069 FOR INFORMATION AND RESERVATION
FAX: 00 960 3 322380

OFFICE OPENING HOURS IN LOCAL TIME
SUN-THU : 0830 - 1700 HRS
SAT : 1000 - 1500 HRS
FRI : CLOSED