OW RTW vs SYD-North America flights

[PaulST]

Hi all, I'm looking at flying to the US (from SYD) in late August and returning in mid September. The rough route will be Sydney to LAX, then up to Seattle, Boston, Washington/New York and then return to Sydney. Now I'll either fly to SYD on the QF flight from JFK, or fly the other way around the world (so London, Dubai, SYD).

So I'll be looking at the international flights as well as 3-4 American domestic flights.

My question is, should I book these flights separately or just get a RTW ticket with OW (my preferred alliance)? I'd probably get the long-haul flights in PE and then Y for the internal US flights. In contrast, if I got a RTW ticket, I'd probably look at flying J. I'd be happy to pay for a J ticket if it was only a few thousand more than the aforementioned separate PE and Y tickets. IIRC, a J RTW would be around $10K?

Hopefully that all makes sense.

Many thanks.

 

[JohnM]

If you did a DONEx, would it be booked through QF? If so, the price of the DONE4 in the example used on the QF website is $12999 vs. $4843 in whY.

I don't know how the RTW fare would compare with individual sectors. I think you'd have to do dummy bookings to see that.

 

[knasty]

I think you'll find oneworld RTW more than 10k Inc tax. Another option I did recently was JAL J open jaw for 6800 Inc tax. You could go into Lax and out of Nyc. Was 3k cheaper than CX or QF.

 

[Happy Dude]

Could be good to get a RTW, PaulST. Just depends on how much time/flexibility you have/need/want.

You could easily get a price for a fixed itinerary for a SYD-LAX rtn ticket with your US flights online. Then go to flight centre and see what they can offer for a RTW with those dates. RTW is likely to allow date changes for no or minimal fee.

Pretty much do what you like with a DONE3 or 4, but you'll pay.

 

[JohnM]

Pretty much do what you like with a DONE3 or 4, but you'll pay.

You can't do a DONE3 from Australia. Despite DXB being in the European Zone, you are still deemed to have passed through Asia getting to or from Australia (at least that's my understanding of the reason).

 

[PaulST]

Thanks for the replies. I'd prefer to book through QF because I'll get bonus points on my credit card but I'd be happy to pay someone like FC if it was much cheaper.

knasty, what is an "open jaw" ticket?

Maybe the $10K figure I was seeing was a sale. Do they ever offer sales on the RTW tickets?

Thanks.

 

[ftm]

You can usually get QF to LAX/NYC then BA to London and QF home for the $10-11k range in J. Not a formal RTW, but works for those cities. Domestic US flights (other than the LA-NY) would be extra.

You can also get QF to act as the merchant, so you get your bonus points. FC have a policy of not using the airline as the merchant, AFAIK.

 

[PaulST]

I just did a dummy booking on QF.com.au and you were right, I could get J tickets for SYD-DFW-JFK-Heathrow-SYD for around $10K. Unfort the tickets were sale onse so hopefully they re-appear later in the tear.
Thanks.

 

[ftm]

I just did a dummy booking on QF.com.au and you were right, I could get J tickets for SYD-DFW-JFK-Heathrow-SYD for around $10K. Unfort the tickets were sale onse so hopefully they re-appear later in the tear.
Thanks.

It's a fairly common fare, so I would expect it will. You can also do things like depart the US from Boston, Washington DC and others, as long as it is BA across the Atlantic, so you don't have to end up in NY. Hope it works out for you!

 

[PaulST]

Thanks. Do QF do any codesharing with BA any longer? I'm keen to fly them, but wanting to break into QF Gold too.

 

[Himeno]

Thanks. Do QF do any codesharing with BA any longer? I'm keen to fly them, but wanting to break into QF Gold too.

BA does on some flights to SYD to connect to their SYD-LHR flight. QF does on some flights in Europe to LHR. Nothing between Europe and Asia.

QF/BA used to offer a round the world fare using only QF/BA/BA coded AA called a Walkabout. Is that still around?

 

[knasty]

Thanks for the replies. I'd prefer to book through QF because I'll get bonus points on my credit card but I'd be happy to pay someone like FC if it was much cheaper.

knasty, what is an "open jaw" ticket?

Maybe the $10K figure I was seeing was a sale. Do they ever offer sales on the RTW tickets?

Thanks.

Arriving in one city and departing from another. Many airlines offer essentially the same pricing as a normal return for an open jaw within the same region. Saves a positioning flight for trips such as.yours which do not start and end in the same place.

 

[PaulST]

Arriving in one city and departing from another. Many airlines offer essentially the same pricing as a normal return for an open jaw within the same region. Saves a positioning flight for trips such as.yours which do not start and end in the same place.

Sorry what do you mean by open jaw?

I note that QF have a sale on at the moment and I can get SYD-LAX and JFX-SYD tickets for ~$8400 which seems reasonable. Would you agree? How often do QF have J sales as I'm not in the position to buy those now but would be in a month or two. The flights will be in late Aug/early September.

Many thanks!


Edit: Sorry, which fare class is a Business Sale ticket? Business or do they drop you back to flex PE?

 

[Himeno]

Sorry what do you mean by open jaw?

An open jaw is arriving in one city and departing on the return from another with the traveler making their own way between the two cities such as SYD-LAX/SFO-SYD.

 

[JohnM]

Edit: Sorry, which fare class is a Business Sale ticket? Business or do they drop you back to flex PE?

Business, sale or not, is Business.