After some extensive reading in the OW forum, I'm thinking the same thing. However, I'm 1P on United and so I get the double bonus for my miles there plus access to *A lounges while on the trip. I also have 150k miles on UA right now.

But, since we won't be going for another 1.5 years (it takes awhile to save up for a year long trip), I was debating taking the AA challenge for this reason...

Hi,

I fall in the above mentioned third category --> whenever i have to go to an unusual place for work, i realize that i can get much better deals with RTW then a point to point fare. And then, i work to combine multiple work related trips into one and take a break somewhere in-between. I think i have done 3 RTWs so far, and one more is coming up soon, and looks like I will be doning one every year .

1. KTM-BKK-SIN-AKL-WLG-AKL-NAN-LAX-OAK-ORD-BOS-IAD-MAN-CPH-ARN-VIE-KTM
(carriers were TG, SQ, NZ, UA, BD, SK and OS).

2. KTM-BKK-SIN-JNB-(MPM)-JNB-FRA-AMS-ARN-ORD-DTW-ORD-SFO-SEA-ORD-NYC-BKK-KTM
(Carriers were TG, SQ, LH, SK, and UA.

( MPM was not on the RTW, but was the reason i ended up doing the RTW. This was before SA joined. )

3. KTM-BKK-LAX-SFO-MUC-IST-VIE-FRA-BKK-KTM

(Carriers were TG, UA, LH and OS).

I think you notice that KTM and SFO/OAK are the common on all of the above - as i work between the two places. So, any unusual routing that costs higher then a RTW, generally ends up in a RTW (and originates in KTM, as it's cheaper there).

good luck.

One other question I had was whether you could upgrade a paid RTW ticket with miles. My guess is no, or that you can only do it on individual segments and only with other carriers in the upgrade program. Does anybody have any insight on that?

I have upgraded the TG segments on RTWs using the Gold upgrade and b'day upgrades. I guess that means- you'd be able to upgrade individual segments only. sometimes, airlines have fixed rates for upgrades on certain routes and it may work out to be cheaper to upgrade that way as well.

thanks

If you have status on AC (or are travelling with someone with status who will let you have them - they can't be given away any more) you can upgrade on AC metal using SWU's.

No different to any other ticket. You can upgrade subject to operating airline, fare classes, availability, mileage/vouchers etc.

I am in this category.

I often travel on this itinerary ( or a variation thereof):

TPE-CGK-SIN-BKK-FRA-YYZ-PVG-HGH-ICN-TPE

It is cheaper than buying round trip from YYZ ( my point of origin)
to PVG/ICN/HGH/TPE/CGK/SIN/BKK - which are my business destinations.

I'm not really sure of the best forum in which to post, since I've looked at a lot of RTW threads and haven't found an answer to my question, so here goes: If I book a First Class RTW ticket on the Star Alliance (or any alliance, for that matter), how much difficulty will I have in securing First Class seats (or the equivalent) on my various flights? For example, when I booked my honeymoon, I was able to get First Class seats for my wife and myself on Air Tahiti Nui using American miles, but it required my calling roughly 330 days in advance. My question is, how much easier is it when I purchase a RTW ticket for $$, rather than miles? That is, if there are two First Class seats open on a given flight that's part of the Star Alliance (or whatever alliance I end up flying on), can I get those seats? Or are there different classes of seats within First Class such that I might or might not be able to get an open First Class seat? Thanks very much for the help, and if a moderator thinks this should be part of either another forum or a separate thread, feel free to move it.

JG

There are some restrictions ( A class vs F class), but I have never had
any difficulty in booking revenue RTW flights. The bigger nuisance is
the increasing number of routes where F is not offered - only business
class.

*A RTWs in first class generally use booking class A (same as discounted first class) and may be further capacity restricted by the airlines on certain routes.

So just because an airline is still selling first class seats does not mean necessarily there are any available for purchase as part of a RTW. And of course on some airlines, certain routes/flights sell out in first class - sometimes well ahead. In general there should be better availability than first class award seats however.

Thank you for the two replies. I'd be curious if anyone who has booked revenue RTW tickets could give me a sense of their experience in doing so, and particularly how far in advance they booked their tickets (understanding, of course, that each RTW itinerary is unique). Thanks.

My RTWs tend to be in business class (best value for money IMO and avoids the problem of dwindling routes offering decent first class). I've ticketed anywhere from 11 months ahead to just a week or so. Although even ones bought at short notice I've tended to booked the bones (prime routes) earlier to lock in availability.

I have had RTWs that I have had to do major rerouting for when a key route failed to clear a waitlist over many months (despite having high status). The hardest routes for availability are generally well known on FT.

Thanks for the response.

Without getting into whether OW airlines / Star Airlines are better or worse arguements the above absolutely hits the nail on the head as to why most people i've met during my travels use the OneWorld explorer ticket. If you are looking at doing a number of open-jaw routes then I don't understand why anyone would really look at a Star RTW.

The OneWorld board will provide you with tons of information on possible routings, best prices to buy and the rules etc...

I see your US-based, assuming you would look to put your miles into the AAdvantage programme you would be at least Platinum (mid-tier) by the time you return. This gives 100% bonus on all flights, along with priority check-in and lounge access (when travelling internationally) when flying any class on any OW partner airline.

Last year I backpacked with the aid of a DONE5 not only travelling in complete comfort but I purchased the ticket ex-CAI when the prices were cheap and amassed a stack of miles that in terms of redemption will be worth more than the ticket. Cant beat that for total value.

I usually book mine 2-3 weeks ahead of time.
Of course, since I ticket mine starting in Asia, and I live in North America,
they usually include 3-4 month "stop-over" in my home town, so the
"return" portions from N.A. to Asia usually end up being changed and
re-ticketed as well.