First Oneworld J RTW Trip - 2 for the price of 1!

[glasszon]

This will be my first trip report and first RTW trip, so would appreciate any suggestions on how to write a good trip report, the first part of the trip will begin in February and the second part of the trip will conclude at September next year, so it's going to be a while.

In terms of itinerary, it was booked using the Qantas J RTW trip for 280k points, but I split the trip into two by booking a separate trip back to Australia in the interim.

Without further ado, this is my itinerary and I will keep updating this as things are finalised, let's hope my phone will make it back to Australia in one piece!

First half: MEL-DOH-VCE-FCO-DOH-KWI-DXB-KWI-DOH-SGN-PQC-SGN-BKK-MEL

Second half: MEL-HKG-CDG-LHR-HND-NRT-MEL (yet to be finalised)

Bold parts are the stopovers, with land segments for VCE to FCO.

 

[RooFlyer]

Everyone does their own thing - for some its the food; for others its the flights and hotels, yet others its what they visit and see . or all of them! But pictures are always good.

Since its a frequent Flyer forum, I like to see 'reviews' of long haul flights in particular - the food, service, cabin etc. Helps others here make choices in the future.

 

[Dr Bob]

Never written one myself but plan to so I'm along for the ride.
How did you plan & book the trip?

 

[craven morehead]

Check out some of the regular contributors such as drron , JohnM , RooFlyer , Mattg etc. You' ll work it out and as RF said photos are important and will help convey your thoughts. People on here are for the most part very interested in other peoples opinions especially for long haul trips like this and some not so regular destinations. Good luck ! I finally took the plunge a few months back and had a crack and the hardest part is actually trying to keep up with it in real time

 

[Major]

Looks like a great trip. There will be lots of different things to share.

Your choice. There is no wrong way

 

[glasszon]

Thanks for everyone's feedback so far, will look at a few established trip reports to get an idea and take plenty of pictures along the way. Depends on timing, I might do a huge upload after I come back or will provide some updates without the pictures while on the journey.

Never written one myself but plan to so I'm along for the ride.
How did you plan & book the trip?

In terms of planning I know Oneworld RTW trip is the most cost effective way to book a large trip, so I worked backward from there and tried to fit an itinerary that allows me to break the trip into two. That's important because I would need at least 6 weeks to do a true RTW trip in one go and I don't like the idea of being away from home that long.

After that things kind of fall into place, I wanted to go to PQC to take advantage of the 7 day Marriott Travel Package and my other half want to go to Venice and Dubai etc.

In terms of booking it is all done via the Qantas call center, the online system tends to error out when you put in a complicated itinerary with multiple stopovers, but I do check flight availability online first to make sure what I am looking for are available.

 

[glasszon]

Putting in the final touches now, all hotels are booked (mostly with points ) and applied for the Vietnam e-visa.

Hopefully the next update is when I am on the trip!

The aircraft type are as follows:
A380 on QR J for MEL-DOH
A330 on QR J on DOH-VCE
B787 on QR J on FCO-DOH
A321 (sad) on QR Y on DOH-KWI
A380 on EK Y on KWI-DXB
A380 on EK Y on DXB-KWI
A320 on QR Y on KWI-DOH
B787 on QR J on DOH-SGN
A320 on JQ Y on SGN-PQC
A320 on JQ Y on PQC-SGN
B787 on TG J on SGN-BKK
A359 on TG J on BKK-MEL

Many different Aircraft type and Airline, let's see how it goes.

 

[RichWings]

Yo might find you are quite impressed by the lie flat dear on the QR a321.

Best regional j class going right now

 

[OZDUCK]

Yo might find you are quite impressed by the lie flat dear on the QR a321.

Best regional j class going right now

As long you get the version with the lie flats they are very good seats. We had them for a Doha - Helsinki flight and while they were obviously not as good as the A350 seats they were still very comfortable. I am around 192 cm (6ft 3) and I was fine.

However, there are still some A321s' floating around with the older recliner seats which do not look very special in trip reports I have seen - like the one done by Dennis Bunnik ( discussed on this site recently), about an A320 flight. And a short hop like that flight might be where they hide.

 

[glasszon]

Unfortunately that part is in Y, I maxed out the 35k mile limit on the RTW trip so the flight from DOH-DXB was purchased separately.

 

[Guvner]

So,just to clarify, the following legs and stopovers are part of the 280k?

MEL-DOH-VCE-FCO-DOH-()-()-()-()-SGN-PQC-SGN-BKK-()

Second half: ()-HKG-CDG-LHR-HND-NRT-()

with the -()- legs purchased separately?

 

[glasszon]

So,just to clarify, the following legs and stopovers are part of the 280k?

MEL-DOH-VCE-FCO-DOH-()-()-()-()-SGN-PQC-SGN-BKK-()

Second half: ()-HKG-CDG-LHR-HND-NRT-()

with the -()- legs purchased separately?

Very close, the actual RTW trip on the Qantas ticket is MEL-DOH-VCE-FCO-DOH-SGN-HKG-CDG-LHR-HND-NRT-MEL, that comes to 34,685 miles, with land segments between VCE-FCO, SGN-HKG, HND-NRT.

All other legs are purchased separately, mostly in Y with the exception of SGN-BKK-MEL.

 

[Guvner]

Very close, the actual RTW trip on the Qantas ticket is MEL-DOH-VCE-FCO-DOH-SGN-HKG-CDG-LHR-HND-NRT-MEL, that comes to 34,685 miles, with land segments between VCE-FCO, SGN-HKG, HND-NRT.

All other legs are purchased separately, mostly in Y with the exception of SGN-BKK-MEL.

Ahh, thanks. I was trying to figure why you were so close to 35k.
Just out of curiosity how are you travelling from Saigon to Hong Kong? Train?

 

[glasszon]

Ahh, thanks. I was trying to figure why you were so close to 35k.
Just out of curiosity how are you travelling from Saigon to Hong Kong? Train?

No, that's my break between the two trips, I booked SGN-BKK-MEL to return home in March and will start again on a separate MEL-HKG trip in August, so I never go from Saigon to HKG.

 

[Guvner]

No, that's my break between the two trips, I booked SGN-BKK-MEL to return home in March and will start again on a separate MEL-HKG trip in August, so I never go from Saigon to HKG.

OK. I think I've asked enough newbie questions... Thanks, I'll get there eventually!

 

[glasszon]

2 more days before my flight! Anyone going from MEL-DOH on Tuesday? Would be great to say hi on the flight in the J bar.

Just doing last minute checks and realised my UK passport has less than 6 months until expiry...., thankfully I also have a NZ passport so crisis averted, Italy will accept a UK passport with short expiry and I will just need to apply for a Vietnam E-Visa tomorrow for my NZ passport.

 

[JohnM]

On board, settling into 1A.

I was a little confused when you referred to the 35K mile limit but then realised it was not a 'true' DONEx RTW trip you were doing but a 280K award trip - which, as I understand it, has no requirement to actually go RTW.

An xONEx has no distance limits.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I've settled in as well. Good to see JohnM in his usual seat.

 

[glasszon]

Just reporting in to say I am in Italy now and have flew the A380 and A330 J class on QR, I am typing this on mobile so no pictures at the moment.

For a quick comparison, I would say the A380 hard and soft product is a lot better than A330, the flight was really smooth on the A380 and the J bar is amazing, dine on demand really shine in a long flight as you can arrange the meal around your sleep. Will do a more comprehensive report once I am in Vietnam when I will be bored out of my ears in a resort for 7 nights on Phu Quoc.

Next flight back to Qatar in 2 days, this time on 787.

 

[glasszon]

I am in Dubai now and have flown the QR J 787, QR Y A321 and EK Y 777.

First, starting with QR 787 in J, the flight is very similar to the A330 flight I took to Italy, the meal is exactly the same (breakfast) and the only noticeable difference is the fancy window blinds and a larger J class along with a small mini-bar near the end of the J cabin. If I had to fly again I wouldn't really mind A330 or 787 on QR, for practical purposes it feels exactly the same. Although keep in mind it's only a 5-6 hour flight for me, so it could be different on a longer flight. Only thing of note is their usual lounge isn't open on FCO so they gave us voucher to the Alitalia lounge, but the lounge isn't actually open when we get there...., would have been nice if they told us the opening time of the lounge so we don't have to rush to get there to find a closed lounge.

Then the QR A321 in Y, it's DOH-KWI so the plane is in regional configuration and flies really similar to domestic Y flight with Qantas, flight time of 1 hour so can't really comment too much, they hand out a small drink + snack during the flight, so just think of a typical MEL-SYD flight in Y on QF or VA. Only interesting thing is the plane take off from a remote stand, so we went on a bus and taken to the plane.

Lastly, the EK flight from KWI-DXB is supposed to be A380, but during the transit the staff noticed our long transit time (7 hours) and suggested we could get on an earlier flight, which we accepted as we weren't at 100%, so we get on 777 instead. Again, this is in Y but the flight is much more impressive than the QR offering, we actually get a full meal during the 1 hour flight which I found to be really impressive (777 isn't exactly a small plane), I am flying the EK return flight in A380 in 2 days time and will compare against it then.

I will add pictures along with a more detailed review of flights + hotels once I get to Vietnam.