First Class Round the World Trip Report (OW)
 

This is my first trip report, but I do hope it will be an interesting one for those flyers looking for information on RTW trips.

I chose OneWorld First because I have flown SQ F and LH F already, and because I want to try the new QF F 380 seat, CX F, and the new BA F product.

I won't be departing for my trip until February, 2012, but wanted to lay out the itinerary here just in case folks have specific questions I should try to answer along the way. If anyone has suggestions for an improvement, let me know -- I have researched the seats / planes for weeks, but I'm sure there's always something to improve.

For privacy reasons, I will leave out the dates of my flights below, but will post an update once I've flown them.

Segment 1: AA 177 JFK-SFO, 767-200, Seat 3D in F
Segments 2 and 3: AA 1023 SFO-LAX, 737-800, Seat 3D in F; QF 12 LAX-SYD, A380-800, Seat 3A in F
Segment 4: LA 800 SYD-AKL, A340, Seat 4D in J
Segment 5: QF 114 AKL-SYD, 737-800 (winglets), Seat 2D in J
Segment 6: QF 439 SYD-MEL, 767-300/300ER, Seat 4A in J
Segment 7: QF 9 MEL-SIN, A380-800, Seat 2A in F
Segment 8/9 (same day): CX 736 SIN-HKG, 777-300, Seat 14G in J; CX 542HKG-HND, 747-400, Seat 2K in F
Segment 10: CX 549 HND-HKG, 747-400, Seat 2A in F
Segment 11: CX 253 HKG-LHR, 747-400, Seat 2A in F
Segment 12: BA 780 LHR-ARN, 767 (intl configuration), 3F in J
Segment 13: BA 781 ARN-LHR, 767 (European configuration), 3D in J
Segment 14: BA 165 LHR-TLV, 777-200/300, Seat 2K in F
Segment 15: BA 164 TLV-LHR, 777-200/300, Seat 2K in F
Segment 16: BA 113 LHR-JFK, 747-400, Seat 2A in F

As you can see, I've tried to choose flights to avoid morning flights, get as many F segments in, and fiind the best possible / available seats.

I am going to focus this trip report primarily on lounges and seats / cabins, and will take plenty of pictures!

um... QF8 is DFW-BNE-SYD. Do you mean QF9 (MEL-SIN-LHR)?

welcome to ft

looks like a good itin and a great use of an aone4.
who are you accruing with?

appears to fully utilise f segments.
only one suggestion maybe a flight on jal (but not in f) and maybe a visit to nrt, but you either lose f or a segment

on syd-mel, qf has a few flights on an a330 which is much nicer. i would say the flights is a waste though and you could do akl-mel instead and still get the double syd/mel f lounge

check the ba forum for percentages of new first but i thought some locations eg dxb were better than tlv...

very jealous...

Welcome to FT!

Seeing your preferences all but morning flights AND maximising F flights, I wonder if you at all value the number of miles accrued? Also - are ARN and TLV must destinations?

Presently planning another AONE4, I would, if starting from JFK, consider the following:
1. JFK-XHKG CX F
2. HKG-HND CX F
3. HND-HKG CX F
4. HKG-BKK CX F
5. BKK-XHKG CX F
6. HKG-AKL CX F
7. AKL-SYD QF J
"8". (SYD-MEL QF J) Personally I would do a side trip SYD-MEL-SYD, not waisting OWE segments.
8. SYD-CNS QF J
9. CNS-XSYD QF J
10. SYD-XLHR (MEL-XLHR) QF or BA F
11. LHR-MCT (or TLV if that's a must) BA F
12. MCT (TLV?)- LHR BA F
13. LHR-IST (if ARN's not a must) BA J
14. IST (ARN?) - LHR BA J
15. LHR-LAX BA or AA F
16. LAX-JFK AA F

Instead of 38.2K base miles, above itenerary would generate 49.7K miles, and since a larger proportion in F, more RDM

Happy flying!

[Segment 6: QF 439 SYD-MEL, 767-300/300ER, Seat 4A in J
Segment 7: QF 8 MEL-SIN, A380-800, Seat 2A in F
Segment 8/9 (same day): CX 736 SIN-HKG, 777-300, Seat 14D in J; CX 542HKG-HND, 747-400, Seat 4A in F


QF127 SYD-HKG is A380 from January 15th on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Not sure if you really want to stopover in MEL and SIN, Could potentially replace 2 J segments with F; CX is offering F in HKG-BOM till March 31st or maybe LHR-MCT in BA F

Looks a great trip Kalevitch. Are you OWE? Just wondering if seat selection all popped up online or you needed to call AA?

The BA 777 converts are underway, so improving odds of BA NF if we're talking late Summer for the TLV sectors. BA NF almost certain on JFK 747s. Look forward to your thoughts of CCR in T5 compared with earlier great lounges, seems a hit and miss experience ( I loved it ... but then the wine and champagne were 'on form').

Yep, it was a typo -- indeed it is QF 9

Thanks for your note! I am accruing with AA given that I live in the States. As for JAL, I agree it's a loss not to get a chance with them, but they are very restrictive. The best flight they have on offer is a Jakarta->HND flight, but there is no availability in First for a RTW ticket (no A class).

On the SYD-MEL, I didn't find an a330 on the dates I'm looking at, but I will re-check.

On the note you made about getting access to both the SYD and MEL QF First Lounge... I'd love to do that, but I don't know if that's possible. When I travel to AKL, there is no First service -- only J. If I'm flying in J, but on a F RTW ticket, will Qantas let me into the QF F lounge in SYD? If so, I'll happily fly later in the day and take advantage of the lounge!

As for TLV vs. DXB, I've done DXB (and didn't enjoy it). So TLV it is, even in the old BA F if need be!

I'm accruing with AA, but I don't care about the miles -- I'm most interested in maximizing the experience, and that means I want to fly Qantas F on the 380 at least twice! ARN is not a must destination -- I am open to changing that. TLV is a must destination. I want to do side trips to Petra and Beirut if I can. Plus BA flies F from London to TLV R/T, which makes it a very nice addition.

Good suggestion. The issue is that I want to visit friends in MEL, and also in SIN, so those are required stops. Also, if I go to BOM, I have to make my way back to Tokyo on a J night flight that you folks won't enjoy as much:(

I'm not sure what OWE stands for. I'm Gold on One World, if that's what you mean, but I'm not Executive. Nevertheless, I could choose all seats on the itinerary (AA included), except for BA's round trip to Stockholm.

One World doesn't have "Gold". It has Ruby (OWR), Sapphire (OWS) and Emerald (OWE).
If you have AA membership, then AAdvantage Gold is Oneworld Ruby, AAdvantage Platinum is Oneworld Sapphire and AAdvantage Executive Platinum is Oneworld Emerald.

And just to confuse things, QF Gold is OW Saphire, QF Platinum is OW Emerald whereas BA Gold equals OW Emerald.

OK, then I'm One World Ruby -- the lowest possible rank. Oh well.

One question that I asked earlier was whether I could access the QF F lounge in Sydney if I'm flying in J over to Auckland. The person on the phone said definitely not -- I have to be in F, *even if* I had a First class RTW ticket. If anyone has reason to believe that he's misinformed, let me know. It's a bit of a bummer, but at least I'll see the MEL F lounge.

QF F Lounge unfortunately very much F or oneworld Emerald only - maybe possible if you were only transiting SYD on that leg.
If you went via Europe first you may well be oneworld Emerald by then!