Delighted to be welcomed into *A with premier status, thanks to UA, but would someone mind telling me which continent *A regard CAI as being part of [I ask because, bizarrely, it's classified as part of Europe as far as One World is concerned].

Thanks, in advance.

Presume your question is in relation to the RTW products - unlike o/w, * doesn't have Continental restrictions/rules on it's RTW products. The only time Intercontinental travel comes into play is for Europe originating trips where no changes can be made to any flights (once ticketed) up to and including the first Intercontinental segment. (1st International segment for all others).

*'s continents are classed as:
Africa, Asia, Europe, Nth America, Sth America and Sth West Pacific, therefore Cairo/Egypt is indeed in Africa. (The Mid East is also considered as Africa in Star).
Cheers.

Thanks Al B. So would the following be a permissible itin for a FRWSTAR2:

CAI-FRA(tfr)-THR-VIE-FRA(tfr)-SCL-EZE-BSB-GIG(tfr)-IGU-GIG-MEX-LAX-LHR.

Unfortunately no - with Star you must cross both the Pacific and Atlantic in each itinerary, but only once each time. You would have to do something like MEX-LAX-NRT/SEL-LHR, but then still get back to CAI as well. Your itinerary must start and end in the same country on *RTW's. Nothing to stop you ticketing (in your itinerary above) LHR-CAI (I know a * carrier doesn't serve the pair, but work with me on it - it's an example!!) and never using the LHR-CAI portion, but it must be ticketed as such. If you could move around your Euro and Sth Am segments a bit more, you'd probably squeeze under the Star2 limit by going back via the Far East, but it's still touch and go - the long backtracks to THR are a killer.
Cheers.

No,

• travel must include one transatlantic (between area 1 and area 2) crossing and one transpacific (between area 1 and area 3)crossing
• travel must commence from and return to the same country.

[This message has been edited by Patron (edited Nov 22, 2003).]

Ok, so I get the Atlantic & Pacific rules. Anything to prevent me from taking stopovers in the same city more than once (eg LHR)?

Also, just downloaded the *A timetable - any resource which will tell me what class of service is offered by which carriers on each route?

And is via Nth America the only way from Australasia to Sth America?

[This message has been edited by virtualtroy (edited Nov 22, 2003).]

Yes, maximum of one stopover permitted in any one city.

Stopover defined as > 24 hours, presumably?

Yes.

You're allowed only 1 stopover (+24hrs) in a city per itinerary, but you are allowed a further two transits (-24hrs) of the same city in one itinerary. The clever ones among us get creative and book a early afternoon arrival with a morning departure next day to stay under the 24hr limit, but getting you an extra night in the same city again.

As for Sth America, you can get there via Europe in one direction, but to get back here, then yeah, you still need to go via Nth Am. (Unless RG want to start a service to PPT to link with NZ, it will probably stay that way!).

However, there is one "loophole" to this which is either a plus or a minus pending your point of view!! You can legally go around the world via Asia twice, without even seeing one drop of the big Pacific Blue. Mapleflot's DEL-YYZ nonstop service is trans-pacific, giving you the one obligatory Pacific "crossing". A SYD-SIN-BKK-DEL-YYZ-Nth/Sth Am-Euro via Atlantic-BKK-SIN-SYD is legal. So although it still involves a transit via Nth Am, you don't have to go over the Pacific through Nth Am to get into Sth Am.

Not surprising but a shame... I believe OW allows you to pass through the same city as many times as you wish before you leave that continent (with a couple of exceptions).