After some help with a short but complicated xONE4 itinerary

[Febs]

(Actually, an Award Explorer rather than a xONE4, but I'm using the OneWorld Planner to see how it fits, then I'll see how well that fits into an Award Explorer.)

Hi all,

I'm trying to pull together a workable itinerary for our upcoming Honeymoon (Jan-Feb 2012, so we have a bit of time to book) and need some help with a few sectors.

The plan is something like:
Sydney - Hong Kong (2 nights) - KL (1 night) - Langkawi (5 nights) - KL (1 night) - Vietnam (not sure where yet, but 6-7 nights) - Maldives (5-6 nights) - New York (5 nights) and back to Sydney.

We're planning on taking a cheap Air Asia flight KUL-LGK-KUL (hence the 1 night either side of LGK - allows us some wiggle room and also lets us leave the big suitcases behind in KUL), and I realise the Male (Maldives) flight will have to be via Gatwick if we keep it on OneWorld, but my main problems are:

• How can I fit in both KUL and Vietnam (let's say Ho Chi Minh city), if I have to go via HKG to keep it on OneWorld?
• I'm assuming that as OneWorld only fly to Male via Gatwick, we'll have to find another way there? There's a $210 seasonal Malaysian airlines flight direct from KUL which could be a good option, but their website isn't letting me search any fares atm, and there's still the Vietnam question...
• Is MLE-LGW even going to be available on points? The QFF website doesn't show it as available (nor LGW-MLE).

Any thoughts? We'd think about removing Vietnam if we absolutely had to, but would rather not. Is there a limit on how many transits you have through one destination? If we went through HKG a few times, but spent <24hrs there each time, would that be an option?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[JohnK]

I don't know about LGW-MLE but assuming it is possible then it is going to max out your mileage.

SYD-(HKG)-(KUL)-HKG-(SGN)-HKG-LGW-(MLE)-LGW-(JFK)-SYD is ~39,576 miles.

There is no issue having a stopover in HKG and then 2 transits in HKG.

You may need to get to MLE from KUL as a side trip.

 

[tuapekastar]

Is the order of visits set in stone?

If not, then something like syd-hkg-sgn-hkg-kul-lgk-kul-mle-lgw-lhr-jfk-syd seems to work ok*

~29000 miles all up (room for a bit more if you wanted)

As you suggested, kul-lgk-kul-mle are non-OW (and you need your elusive KUL-MLE fare)

I'm guessing, as booking over the phone seems inevitable, that 'they' could get MLE-LGW on points.

LON may involve both LHR and LGW

*I'm not really familiar with this product, so not sure if I'm giving good info here.

 

[Febs]

Thanks guys, appreciate the quick responses. Order's definitely not set in stone - happy to do Vietnam first if need be (plan was island / city / island / city, but it's flexible).

Didn't realise passing through HKG so many times was allowed (the calculator was throwing up errors, but maybe it thought they were all stopovers). tuapekastar that itinerary looks good, will give it a go, thanks. There seems to be quite a few BKK-MLE fares, but not many with carriers I'd be willing to travel with...

Due to the 330(?) day timeframe before booking, it's looking like I might encounter the new 6,000pt per person booking fee. D'oh. Oh well, I'll try my best to find an agent willing to waive it.

Cheers,
- Febs.