Buying RTW ticket

Status
Not open for further replies.

alien

Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Posts
283
Hi All,

I'm goiong to purchase 2 x RTW tickets with Oneworld and was wondering are tickets all the same price or should i ask the individual airlines for pricing?

Can you buy tickets over the phone or internet if the Airline does not have an office in Australia such as AA?

Cheers
ALIEN
 
alien said:
Hi All,

Can you buy tickets over the phone or internet if the Airline does not have an office in Australia such as AA?

AA does have an office in Sydney. At the moment it is in North Sydney , though is moving to Mascot

The tickets are the same price, but the fuel fines are dramatically different between QF and AA

Dave
 
The base ticket price is the same. The different will be any issuing/service fees that some TA's may charge and the fuel surcharges calculated by the different airlines. AA is generally cheapest to use as they only charge fuel surcharges on trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific segments, while some like QF will charge a fuel surcharge on all segments except within and between USA and Canada.
 
If you use a travel agent, be aware of who they intend to plate the ticket on. Most of them will try to railroad you into plating on QF, depsite the fact that it leaves you out of pocket about $300 (fuel fines) more than plating on AA.
 
ok looks like are going to book through Flight Centre. I will see who they are going to go through and push for AA. If not I will go direct to them. I might even get a price from them to see if they will match. I guess if I buy direct with AA i should get more points for the purchase. I haven't read all the rules yet but I will try tonight.
 
alien said:
ok looks like are going to book through Flight Centre. I will see who they are going to go through and push for AA. If not I will go direct to them. I might even get a price from them to see if they will match. I guess if I buy direct with AA i should get more points for the purchase. I haven't read all the rules yet but I will try tonight.

I really would avoid using a travel agent since many agents will add their own fee on top of the fare and also have their own cancellation penalties

There is no real benefit of using a TA for this, but there are drawbacks. Also, call the AA ATW desk and you will be dealing with agents that do ATW type tickets all the time and know the rules pretty well which can avoid problems

Dave
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

alien said:
... I'm goiong to purchase 2 x RTW tickets with Oneworld and was wondering are tickets all the same price or should i ask the individual airlines for pricing? ...
As posted base prices are the same.

These base prices do vary with originating country.

For OZ, currently the following base prices apply:
Code:
Ex SYD  (AUD)   4      5      6

LLONEx       3129   3669   4279
LHONEx       3309   3889   4529
DONEx        9699  10809  12159
AONEx       13669  14679  15689
 
serfty said:
As posted base prices are the same.

Yes for the same product, but there is far more than one product.

One World has standard RTWs as One World Explorer (xONEx) which is continent based and Global Explorer (xGLOBx) which is mileage based.

Star Alliance has standard RTWs as xRWSTARx which are mileage based (and a budget version available only in economy that is both cheaper and more restrictive than YRWSTAR1).

Various airline combinations have their own RTWs. These airline combinations need not be in the same alliance. Eg EK/UA has a cheap one ex-BKK, SQ/LH/NZ/VS have one, etc. There are hundreds of such RTWs, generally cheaper (or much cheaper) than the standard alliance ones, but with more restrictions.

Some airlines have pseudo RTWs in that Oz/NZ to Europe can be via either or both of asia and US. Eg NZ (all own metal), LH (with certain partners and routings), etc.

Lastly some TAs construct their own RTWs by piecing together one-way fares.
 
Spoke with the TA at Flight centre and have a rough itenary with RTW through Star Alliance Airline Group. Price for the RTW $2600.

Start 5th Sept 07

UA870 SYD-ORD
UA254 ORD-CLE
UA7159 CLE-IAD
UA7310 IAD-JFK
UA7318 JFK-IAD
UA924 IAD-LHR
0S458 LHR-VIE
OS801 VIE-ATH
SQ347 ATH-SIN
SQ219 SIN-SYD

Finish 31st Oct 07

The TA couldn't tell me which Airline its booked through :( I'd like to know so I can work out which one to transfer points to if possible. Is this information right can she tell me which one she is buying the TW through? Can I upgrade with points to business with an RTW?
 
My guess is they will plate it on UA since they have most of the itinierary. Not sure how they are on fuel fines. Check here. Taxes

You will easily get enough miles for a free trip to the South Pacific on NZ if you credit them to UA.
 
alien said:
Spoke with the TA at Flight centre and have a rough itenary with RTW through Star Alliance Airline Group. Price for the RTW $2600.

Start 5th Sept 07

UA870 SYD-ORD
UA254 ORD-CLE
UA7159 CLE-IAD
UA7310 IAD-JFK
UA7318 JFK-IAD
UA924 IAD-LHR
0S458 LHR-VIE
OS801 VIE-ATH
SQ347 ATH-SIN
SQ219 SIN-SYD

Finish 31st Oct 07

The TA couldn't tell me which Airline its booked through :( I'd like to know so I can work out which one to transfer points to if possible. Is this information right can she tell me which one she is buying the TW through? Can I upgrade with points to business with an RTW?


According to GCM that is 25086 miles. I presume you are using the cheaper Star Lite RTW which is limited to 26000 miles (if not then YRWSTAR1 has 29000 miles and you are wasting a lot).

Assuming there is availability and your schedule permits, I would fly via AKL to get 34" pitch across the pacific. Much better product than UA (seat, great avod vs mainscreen ife, better food and service, great NZ wines). You could easily fit this within 26000 miles ex-SYD, or alternatively start the RTW from NZ (cheaper price than ex-Oz) and buy a one-way SYD-AKL (the return you can do as the final flight of the RTW with stopover in SYD).

You can also fit in SYD-MEL flight if you wanted. Fly SQ from SIN to MEL (get more legroom on the 777 than on the 747 which flies to SYD), and then take UA flight MEL-SYD with or without a stopover in MEL.

*A RTWs can be upgraded but terms depends on booking class. Star Lite has lower booking class (thus more points required to upgrade) than YRWSTAR1. Generally upgrade on home airline of the FFP plus those airlines participating in *A mileage upgrade scheme. Which program's points would you be using?
 
Tiki said:
My guess is they will plate it on UA since they have most of the itinierary. Not sure how they are on fuel fines. Check here. Taxes

You will easily get enough miles for a free trip to the South Pacific on NZ if you credit them to UA.

UA is complex. For intra-north america there are no fuel fines. For longhaul their fines are extremely high on own metal.
 
I've just got back from the Flight Centre with confirmation of what class the ticket is. H Class ticket under 26,000 miles. TA stated the next ticket up to 29k miles is about 2k extra. Is H Class a good class for ticketing? I should have the fare rules by tuesday from the TA.

I'm a member of United, AA, Velocity, and Air NZ programs. I have 280k Altitude points I want to use to upgrade to Business if possible but I think this might prove difficult. I'm not sure where to transfer the points to allow this. The only 2 programs I have points in are Velocity 20k and Altitude.

I was also thinking of joining United Red Carpet Club due to the waiting times at airports etc. Would this be the best one to join?
 
H is reasonable (much higher booking class than L for LONEx's). It isnt full economy though so still risk of selling out on some flights. It is normally about 3rd or 4th highest economy booking class.

Assuming H is not one of the booking classes that earns 150% miles on Miles and More(need to check this), I would credit to either UA or NZ depending on how you want to use miles earned from this and future trips. If likely to redeem for trans-tasman, south pacific or upgrades on NZ flights to US or Asia, then credit to NZ Airpoints (any seat redemption!). Otherwise UA Mileage Plus is generally much cheaper for awards especially longhaul. Note NZ charges an annual membership fee if you dont have at least 1 flight on NZ metal (can be paid or award even non-mileage earning paid flight).

Currently NZ Airpoints can only upgrade NZ operated flights (NZ hasn't yet joined the *A mileage upgrade scheme). UA Mileage Plus miles can upgrade UA and OS flights (amongst other airlines) but not yet SQ.

RCC membership will provide lounge access throughout your trip, but there may be cheaper club memberships (eg AC Maple Leaf Lounge, NZ Koru Club)? I haven't checked prices (since no point for me being *G).
 
I checked and H earns only 100% miles on LH Miles and More. So I do not recommend them.

Looking at the fare rules it appears you should be charged the low season fare (first international flight is in low season) which books into L not H. It is worth checking you haven't been charged high season fare by mistake.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Enhance your AFF viewing experience!!

From just $6 we'll remove all advertisements so that you can enjoy a cleaner and uninterupted viewing experience.

And you'll be supporting us so that we can continue to provide this valuable resource :)


Sample AFF with no advertisements? More..

Recent Posts

Back
Top