Is FRTW worth it?
 

It's difficult to find a *A F class flight in the US (And even if you can it's a similar standard to Y on Asian carriers). There is no F in Europe and C is not that good either. The airlines involved have so degraded their premium services, despite the fact this is where they make money, that I wonder why anyone would pay the difference from Y. I only use these so-called premium services when on a FRTW ticket. However, given that half of the world doesn't have F anymore, I'm wondering if it is worth it any longer, especially with flat beds in C it seems to me that CRTW is a much better deal these days, especially after the recent fare increases.

double post - sorry

in the past (that's no longer necessary as I managed to get lifetime Senator status now), when I was depending on high status mileage earnings to maintain my LH Senator (Star Gold) status, i booked RTW-business and still earned the first-class status miles (at that time 3.75 times, now 'only' 3.25 times the basic miles for first) on UA two-class-flights in my miles&more program.

The best 'mileage-costs' versus 'mileage-earning' ratios on such rtw were my DEN-COS (Colorado Springs) segments, costing something like 37 miles, earning in paid business flying in 'so-called-first' on UA 3'750 status miles per segment.

Nowadays I still pay rtw business (not first) and might upgrade some longhaul segments (like USA-Australia, or Europe-USA Westcoast with vouchers or miles) to first.

The non available first-class in Europe doesn't bother me, as these are mostly flights in the 45' to 90' minutes range. Coast to coast in the USA UA still offers some selected real 3-class flights.

Of course, it depends on your itinerary, doesn't it? I mean, it is still possible to do an entire RTW with all flights in F.

cheers,

Henry

But a business class RTW also books into first on 2-class US-domestic flights.

Which is almost all...
 

The only *A exception is JFK-SFO and JFK-LAX "ps" flights on UA, which have a three class cabin with E+, C & F. I believe the F seats are the only domestic fully flat sleepers in the USA.

With all due respect - but there is more to the globe on a FRTW then corssing the US. On a 39 K you could manage to include a complte turn around the globe incorporating Down Under - this with a European view point and also have a side trip down to South Africa and back on complete horizontal flat beds with top notch service and not the C variance that is offrered and IMHO that is a lot of difference but as always YMMW...

Cheers

Thomas

why But? that's exactly what I also said in my post ... :rolleyes:

The seats for the ps flights in F are comparable to SQ's C class seats.

There are a few domestic flights for hub-hub routes that offer 3 classes of seats comparable to international seats. The schedule changes perodically, but often you can find them on SFO-ORD, ORD-IAD, IAD-LAX, etc

Could you supply an ITN, please. I wanted to do this but could not figure out how to do it for 39,000. danke

Easy: BKG - HKG - FRA - CPT - FRA - YVR - SFO - SYD - BKG

And all of these flights - with the exception of the short hop from YVR to SFO are in "real" First. The ITN leaves plenty of miles for short side trips in Europe (eg. CPH - Bergen - Starvanger - ARN - HAM in C) and or in the US. You even can take a trip from SYD to Melbourne on UA (in real First) and return from Melbourne to Asia. Or return from Sydney on SQ via SIN. Believe me: This itinery is worth any cent.

I can't find BKG in ExpertFlyers's airport code list, so may I assume that you mean BKK as in Bangkok, Thailand? :confused:

[QUOTE=Flying Lawyer]Easy: BKG - HKG - FRA - CPT - FRA - YVR - SFO - SYD - BKG
QUOTE]
\
Excellent. thanks!

Your are right - as always: Bangkok.

I thought so. Those ex BKK FRWs seem to be quite popular, even though a FRW1 is only about 1,000 EUR cheaper than a FRW1 ex CPH (which is about 1,000 EUR cheaper than a FRW1 ex MUC).

example itin for this was CAI - FRA - JNB - FRA - SFO - AKL - SYD - SIN - FRA - CAI ( more or less :) )

Cheers

Thomas

A current FRWSTAR2 trip report

It used to be much better when we were all younger but it still has a big advantage. Fare rules ex BKK are very relaxed (rebooking after the first international leg allowed) and plenty of stops in Germany allowed. But I agree: CPH is nowadays a good alternative and the fare difference in RTW3 is still quite substantial.

You are living more than 18 months in the past. :D

Since the big rule changes of April 15 2005 stop overs are strictly limited to 3 per country except US (5), independent of where you buy/start.

If you speak about Europe, there is still a difference though. Starting in Europe the limit is 5, while there is no limit for outside of Europe including BKK.

Ok, I bought my last two RTWs in early 2005. Did I understand this correctly? With a RTW bought outside Europe I am allowed more than five stopovers in Europe? Or in the US? Or where?

Yes, feel free to have a look at my report to get some ideas.

I'd say buying a RTW ticket in F is well worth it, but it really depends on what you make out of it.
Many airlines don't offer first class anymore (as you say), and others only offer it on selected routes, so it's very easy to end up with way too many flights in C as F is simply not available on these flights.
Creating a good itinerary really requires a bit of work and a bit of flexibility.
If you are flexible and prepared to do that work, then go for it!

I believe there is a thread somewhere in the *A forum with all *A first class routes, might be a good start.

There's a pointer in the '*A Useful Reference Links' sticky at the top of the Forum.

cheers,

Henry

Yes you did understand correctly...from the rules:

SO.STOPOVERS

............
NO MORE THAN 3 STOPOVERS PERMITTED IN ANY ONE
COUNTRY WORLDWIDE EXCEPT IN USA 5 STOPOVERS
-----
FOR TRAVEL ORIGINATING IN USA/CANADA -
THE NUMBER OF STOPOVERS TAKEN IN CONTINENTAL USA/
CANADA SHOULD NOT EXCEED 4 /NOT MORE THAN 3 PER
COUNTRY/.
----
FOR TRAVEL ORIGINATING IN EUROPE-
THE NUMBER OF STOPOVERS TAKEN IN EUROPE SHOULD NOT
EXCEED 5 /NOT MORE THAN 3 PER COUNTRY/.
----
FOR TRAVEL ORIGINATING IN NEW ZEALAND-
STOPOVERS PERMITTED IN NEW ZEALAND AT AKL/CHC/WLG
ONLY.