RTW in First - Around the globe flat on my back
Sep 4, 2013, 10:44 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: South Africa
Programs: Star Alliance, Oneworld, BA Gold, Royal Orchid
Posts: 149
RTW in First - Around the globe flat on my back
It was only a couple of months after we arrived back from our Thailand trip when MR747 confessed to me that he was contemplating taking another trip. This time, it would be something a little more indulgent as it were to be in celebration of his birthday... Then he mentioned it... the acronym... RTW…
But, he explained, this would not just be any old RTW, no, this one will be done in First (or at least as far as humanly possible).
Well, little did I know that it would be quite the adventure just to organise this little trip of ours.
At first we don’t have a clue where to start or which place to go. Mr747 had a quick 3 stop trip in mind. Something we can do in a week or so. I, on the other hand, had a more elaborate plan in mind and wanted to go to every conceivable city on the way. In the end, we agreed on a moderate, but doable itinerary consisting of 6 destinations in 3 weeks.
After a lot of back and forth, we decided on a trip taking us from east to west (mainly) using Oneworld. But, not without a few hang-ups.
The plan was to go from Cape Town to London (BA), London to NY (BA), NY to Cancun (AA), then back to NY to catch a JAL flight to Tokyo, Tokyo to Hong Kong and then back to Cape Town via Johannesburg. But this is where we hit a snag…
On the Oneworld online RTW planner, it would not let you book a JAL F flight! It was available on the JAL site, but not on the Oneworld site. This is where we decided to call in the professionals and contacted a travel agent who specialises in RTWs. She was great! With multiple phone calls to London and Tokyo she managed to secure 2 F seats for the 14hr flight.
In the meantime we also decided to add Dubai to the list as Mr747 wanted to check on some property he owns over there. We also decided to add Shanghai to the mix and have Hong Kong as a stop over only. That was done with no problems and at no extra cost to the “set price” Oneworld offers. Only snag was that we had to catch the flight back to London ex Abu Dhabi to make it in time for our NY connection.
So, finally, the itinerary was complete.
Here is what our trip will look like:
Of course, the planning was only halfway done. Over the next few weeks we searched the web for hotels while applying for all the visas we required. I’ll spare you the boring details, but all the visas were granted without a hitch and we booked some decent hotels at good rates.
Another thing that took a bit of planning was the Elemis Spa and Cabanas bookings, both complements of BA F (but more about that later).
So, almost 10 months from conception, out trip is booked and we are ready to go!
We are of course taking full advantage of our free Quintessentially membership (again compliments of BA F). This brilliant concierge service is looking into all sorts of fun activities, transfers etc. so that we don't have to. I’m thinking tickets to the Graham Norton show maybe?
Anyway here are the flight details:
Flight BA 58, Cape Town to London (F)
Departure: CPT, 08:05 PM
Arrival: LHR, 06:40 AM
Flight BA 109, London to Dubai (F)
Departure: LHR, 09:40 PM
Arrival: DXB, 07:30 AM
Flight BA 72, Abu Dhabi to London (F)
Departure: AUH, 02:20 AM
Arrival: LHR, 06:50 AM
Flight BA 177, London to New York (F)
Departure: LHR, 01:05 PM
Arrival: JFK, 03:35 PM
Flight AA 1671, New York to Cancun (F*)
Departure: JFK, 11:50 AM
Arrival: CUN, 02:55 PM
Flight AA 1674, Cancun to New York (F*)
Departure: CUN, 03:55 PM
Arrival: JFK, 08:45 PM
Flight JL 5, New York to Tokyo (F)
Departure: JFK, 01:15 PM
Arrival: NRT, 04:25 PM
Flight JL 877, Tokyo to Shanghai (J)
Departure: NRT, 02:10 PM
Arrival: PVG, 04:30 PM
Flight KA 805, Shanghai to Hong Kong (F)
Departure: PVG, 02:30 PM
Arrival: HKG, 05:05 PM
Flight CX 749, Hong Kong to Johannesburg (F)
Departure: HKG, 11:45 PM
Arrival: JNB, 06:25 AM
Flight BA 6413, Johannesburg to Cape Town (J)
Departure: JNB, 09:15 AM
Arrival: CPT, 11:25 AM
*AA calls it First, but it’s more like Business on these specific flights…
We’ll be averaging around 4 days per destination, except the Dubai trip which we’ll attempt in 24 HOURS!!! (Thank god for those spa treatments and cabanas we pre-booked!).
In the meantime, I received a "Welcome to First" email from BA that had this link to entice me for the flights ahead.
http://behindthedesign.ba.com/
At the moment we have a 50/50 chance of getting NF on the Cape Town - London flight, but if we don't, we have 3 NF BA flight after that and it might be nice to compare the old worldly Walnut demi-suites (with duct tape in hand to do patch-ups!) with the contemporary blue suites (with lamp shades and window blinds!)
So, keep your eyes peeled throughout September, I’ll be updating the trip report (with lots of pics) as we go along.
But, he explained, this would not just be any old RTW, no, this one will be done in First (or at least as far as humanly possible).
Well, little did I know that it would be quite the adventure just to organise this little trip of ours.
At first we don’t have a clue where to start or which place to go. Mr747 had a quick 3 stop trip in mind. Something we can do in a week or so. I, on the other hand, had a more elaborate plan in mind and wanted to go to every conceivable city on the way. In the end, we agreed on a moderate, but doable itinerary consisting of 6 destinations in 3 weeks.
After a lot of back and forth, we decided on a trip taking us from east to west (mainly) using Oneworld. But, not without a few hang-ups.
The plan was to go from Cape Town to London (BA), London to NY (BA), NY to Cancun (AA), then back to NY to catch a JAL flight to Tokyo, Tokyo to Hong Kong and then back to Cape Town via Johannesburg. But this is where we hit a snag…
On the Oneworld online RTW planner, it would not let you book a JAL F flight! It was available on the JAL site, but not on the Oneworld site. This is where we decided to call in the professionals and contacted a travel agent who specialises in RTWs. She was great! With multiple phone calls to London and Tokyo she managed to secure 2 F seats for the 14hr flight.
In the meantime we also decided to add Dubai to the list as Mr747 wanted to check on some property he owns over there. We also decided to add Shanghai to the mix and have Hong Kong as a stop over only. That was done with no problems and at no extra cost to the “set price” Oneworld offers. Only snag was that we had to catch the flight back to London ex Abu Dhabi to make it in time for our NY connection.
So, finally, the itinerary was complete.
Here is what our trip will look like:
Of course, the planning was only halfway done. Over the next few weeks we searched the web for hotels while applying for all the visas we required. I’ll spare you the boring details, but all the visas were granted without a hitch and we booked some decent hotels at good rates.
Another thing that took a bit of planning was the Elemis Spa and Cabanas bookings, both complements of BA F (but more about that later).
So, almost 10 months from conception, out trip is booked and we are ready to go!
We are of course taking full advantage of our free Quintessentially membership (again compliments of BA F). This brilliant concierge service is looking into all sorts of fun activities, transfers etc. so that we don't have to. I’m thinking tickets to the Graham Norton show maybe?
Anyway here are the flight details:
Flight BA 58, Cape Town to London (F)
Departure: CPT, 08:05 PM
Arrival: LHR, 06:40 AM
Flight BA 109, London to Dubai (F)
Departure: LHR, 09:40 PM
Arrival: DXB, 07:30 AM
Flight BA 72, Abu Dhabi to London (F)
Departure: AUH, 02:20 AM
Arrival: LHR, 06:50 AM
Flight BA 177, London to New York (F)
Departure: LHR, 01:05 PM
Arrival: JFK, 03:35 PM
Flight AA 1671, New York to Cancun (F*)
Departure: JFK, 11:50 AM
Arrival: CUN, 02:55 PM
Flight AA 1674, Cancun to New York (F*)
Departure: CUN, 03:55 PM
Arrival: JFK, 08:45 PM
Flight JL 5, New York to Tokyo (F)
Departure: JFK, 01:15 PM
Arrival: NRT, 04:25 PM
Flight JL 877, Tokyo to Shanghai (J)
Departure: NRT, 02:10 PM
Arrival: PVG, 04:30 PM
Flight KA 805, Shanghai to Hong Kong (F)
Departure: PVG, 02:30 PM
Arrival: HKG, 05:05 PM
Flight CX 749, Hong Kong to Johannesburg (F)
Departure: HKG, 11:45 PM
Arrival: JNB, 06:25 AM
Flight BA 6413, Johannesburg to Cape Town (J)
Departure: JNB, 09:15 AM
Arrival: CPT, 11:25 AM
*AA calls it First, but it’s more like Business on these specific flights…
We’ll be averaging around 4 days per destination, except the Dubai trip which we’ll attempt in 24 HOURS!!! (Thank god for those spa treatments and cabanas we pre-booked!).
In the meantime, I received a "Welcome to First" email from BA that had this link to entice me for the flights ahead.
http://behindthedesign.ba.com/
At the moment we have a 50/50 chance of getting NF on the Cape Town - London flight, but if we don't, we have 3 NF BA flight after that and it might be nice to compare the old worldly Walnut demi-suites (with duct tape in hand to do patch-ups!) with the contemporary blue suites (with lamp shades and window blinds!)
So, keep your eyes peeled throughout September, I’ll be updating the trip report (with lots of pics) as we go along.
Last edited by CPT Skywalker; Sep 4, 2013 at 2:42 pm
Sep 4, 2013, 1:31 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: South Africa
Programs: Star Alliance, Oneworld, BA Gold, Royal Orchid
Posts: 149
RTW in First - Around the globe flat on my back
Ha ha! Yes, 360 degrees on 180 degree flat seat. Hence flat on my back. (For the most part anyway)
Sep 5, 2013, 12:49 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: South Africa
Programs: Star Alliance, Oneworld, BA Gold, Royal Orchid
Posts: 149
Not as much as you'd think.
Visit http://rtw.oneworld.com/ when you have time and play around.
The difference on the OneWorld RTW ticket price compared to separate F tickets from each airline is phenomenal!
It also helps to book a few months in advance.
Visit http://rtw.oneworld.com/ when you have time and play around.
The difference on the OneWorld RTW ticket price compared to separate F tickets from each airline is phenomenal!
It also helps to book a few months in advance.
Sep 5, 2013, 2:22 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: South Africa
Programs: Star Alliance, Oneworld, BA Gold, Royal Orchid
Posts: 149
Sep 5, 2013, 8:50 am
#11
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Iver
Programs: BA GOLD/OWE BA Amex Prem Plus Tesco Airmiles Qantas Bronze IHG SPG Eithad
Posts: 2,902
Wow this is going to be an amazing trip, cannot wait for it to take place, and will have my eyes peeled to start reading. As has been said love thread title, was very much amused when I saw it, but now see why, and the best way to travel. Cannot wait so will be watching this space^
Sep 5, 2013, 10:52 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: South Africa
Programs: Star Alliance, Oneworld, BA Gold, Royal Orchid
Posts: 149
Wow this is going to be an amazing trip, cannot wait for it to take place, and will have my eyes peeled to start reading. As has been said love thread title, was very much amused when I saw it, but now see why, and the best way to travel. Cannot wait so will be watching this space^
Sep 6, 2013, 10:48 am
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: South Africa
Programs: Star Alliance, Oneworld, BA Gold, Royal Orchid
Posts: 149
The day has finally arrived!
We got to the airport about 40 minutes before check-in and headed for a drink at a restaurant. When we arrived at check-in there was a notice that the BA Slow lounge has closed for renovation!
To make up for the fact that we were loungeless, BA thought it would make up for the fact to supply meal vouchers for a restaurant. I must admit that it was a bit of a let down since we've been looking forward to this trip (and all it's perks) for a while now.
The young man at the counter must have been a trainee as it took quite a while to issue the tickets and vouchers.
The vouchers were to the grand value of $13 each. I managed to keep my composure. Then we asked for First luggage tags, which (surprise surprise) they did not have in stock.
So we went through security and found a seat near the departure gate and spent the vouchers on booze (to calm me down) and a light snack.
One good thing, we had a spectacular view of the airplane coming in.
I suppose it's not that bad, but I am a bit disappointed that BA could not manage access to one of the other lounges... At least for First passengers.
I also have it on good authority that we will indeed be flying old first. Although, as mentioned previously, it will be nice to compare the old with the new...
Next stop London!!! With a bit of indulgence along the way!
We got to the airport about 40 minutes before check-in and headed for a drink at a restaurant. When we arrived at check-in there was a notice that the BA Slow lounge has closed for renovation!
To make up for the fact that we were loungeless, BA thought it would make up for the fact to supply meal vouchers for a restaurant. I must admit that it was a bit of a let down since we've been looking forward to this trip (and all it's perks) for a while now.
The young man at the counter must have been a trainee as it took quite a while to issue the tickets and vouchers.
The vouchers were to the grand value of $13 each. I managed to keep my composure. Then we asked for First luggage tags, which (surprise surprise) they did not have in stock.
So we went through security and found a seat near the departure gate and spent the vouchers on booze (to calm me down) and a light snack.
One good thing, we had a spectacular view of the airplane coming in.
I suppose it's not that bad, but I am a bit disappointed that BA could not manage access to one of the other lounges... At least for First passengers.
I also have it on good authority that we will indeed be flying old first. Although, as mentioned previously, it will be nice to compare the old with the new...
Next stop London!!! With a bit of indulgence along the way!