Give me your best OWE itinerary! Prize for best entry!

[DPG]

Okay, I am very interested to see what everyone on frequentflyer.com.au can come up with for the best oneworld explorer itinerary. I think that more people (especially in this forum) are using these airfares to boost their status and increase their FF points. Hence, the information shared will be valueable for all.

There is one thing I haven't yet worked out, wheter it should be based on mileage or on QF SC earned. I have put a quick poll on this post, so the users of frequentflyer.com.au will decide this!

Some of you may know that I am a TA, so what I am offering the the winner is for me to book their next airfare at cost to me. Might not be an incentive for some, but it is something! (Please remember though that margins are shrinking, so don't expect massive savings!) If I come up with the winning itinerary, then I will get nothing , unless someone wants to give me something!

The poll for the criteria I have set for 1 week, so at the end of the week, this will be what we are working towards.

So there is the challenge!

D P G

Conditions:
(These may be added to with feedback as things progress)
- mileage will be based on a XONE4
- status credits will be the average earnt by purchasing a L/D/AONE4(number of status credits for all 3 added together then divided by 3)
- itinerary must be valid and be able to be checked at: jph.bytestacker.com/award.htm

 

[DPG]

Here just an example... It is a DONE5 I am currently in the middle of at the moment...

IST-LHR-DXB-LHR-CPT,JNB-SYD-DRW-BNE,SYD-JFK,BOS-DFW,MSY-DFW-SEA,LAX-IAD,DCA-DFW-SFO,LAX-LIM-BUE-SCL-RIO-LHR-IST

Sectors: 20
Mileage: 59551
L SC: 495
D SC: 2190
A SC: 2640
Average SC: 1775

D P G

 

[NM]

I think Serfty's current DONE4 is going to be about as close to optimised for SCs as is practical. I will leave it to him to post the actual routing.

And he is actually flying the itinerary, so its not just a theoretical exercise 8) .

 

[Travel Guru]

I dont know about One World explorer, still working on that one, though not for the nett travel clearly, but below is the best Qantas Platinum SC run I can see...1440 status credits for a $6535 investment...all in J, and only 10 days and 63 hours of your time!

Travel Guru.





FRIDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 800 CONFIRMED
14 JUL 06 - DEPART - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1055 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
14 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 1605 03HRS 10MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

SATURDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 801
15 JUL 06 - DEPART - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 0525 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
15 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 0705 03HRS 40MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

SATURDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 800
15 JUL 06 - DEPART - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1055 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
15 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 1605 03HRS 10MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

SUNDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 801
16 JUL 06 - DEPART - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 0525 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
16 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 0705 03HRS 40MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

SUNDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 800
16 JUL 06 - DEPART - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1055 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
16 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 1605 03HRS 10MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

MONDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 801
17 JUL 06 - DEPART - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 0525 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
17 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 0705 03HRS 40MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

MONDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 800
17 JUL 06 - DEPART - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1055 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
17 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 1605 03HRS 10MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

TUESDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 801
18 JUL 06 - DEPART - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 0525 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
18 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 0705 03HRS 40MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

TUESDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 800
18 JUL 06 - DEPART - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1055 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
18 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 1605 03HRS 10MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 801
19 JUL 06 - DEPART - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 0525 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
19 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 0705 03HRS 40MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 800
19 JUL 06 - DEPART - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1055 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
19 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 1605 03HRS 10MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

FRIDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 801
21 JUL 06 - DEPART - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 0525 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
21 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 0705 03HRS 40MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

FRIDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 800
21 JUL 06 - DEPART - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1055 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
21 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 1605 03HRS 10MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

SATURDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 801
22 JUL 06 - DEPART - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 0525 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
22 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 0705 03HRS 40MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

SATURDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 800
22 JUL 06 - DEPART - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1055 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
22 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 1605 03HRS 10MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

SUNDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 801
23 JUL 06 - DEPART - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 0525 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
23 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 0705 03HRS 40MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

SUNDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 800
23 JUL 06 - DEPART - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1055 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
23 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 1605 03HRS 10MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

MONDAY LAN CHILE S.A. FLIGHT LA 801
24 JUL 06 - DEPART - AUCKLAND/AUCKLAND INTL 0525 NON-STOP
Terminal: TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL
24 JUL 06 - ARRIVE - SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 0705 03HRS 40MINS
Terminal: TERMINAL 1
- AIRCRAFT - AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340 ALL SERIES PAX
- CLASS - BUSINESS

 

[serfty]

I think Serfty's current DONE4 is going to be about as close to optimised for SCs as is practical. I will leave it to him to post the actual routing.

And he is actually flying the itinerary, so its not just a theoretical exercise 8) .

Thanx NM, actually I developed my DONE4 in conjunction with Kiwi Flyer.

My route is

CMB-HKG-NRT-HKG-AKL-MEL,MEL-PER-CNS-MEL,MEL-LHR-DXB-LHR-LAX,LAX-DFW-SEA-DFW-ANC-DFW-JFK-HKG,HKG-CMB

When finished, I should have earned 2360 Qantas SC's and just over 132200 points with my status bonus. If starting from bronze and no SC's, this drops to about 118,180.

Add to that at least 25,000 in loyalty bonus' and you can see it's quite lucrative.

I paid the CX agent in CMB by international telegraphic transfer to avoid AUD240 in CC surcharge. It cost LKR599,350 including taxes, levies and charges. At the time this was almoast eactly USD6000 or AUD8080.

So the average SC cost was $3.42 with the average QFF point cost being 5.1¢ each.

Note, this routing should be no longer possible as it has segments of -MEL-PER-CNS-MEL. It was valid when booked back in August last year but the rules have changed. You would get the same SC's and about 50 more points by changing these to -MEL-PER-DRW-MEL-. (Note the PER-DRW times suck for D class travel)

I did not travel the original route K/F & I devised as I preferred to visit NRT (Tokyo) rather than KHI (Karachi) it would have gained another 40 SC's & 500 or so ff points.

 

[serfty]

...- mileage will be based on a XONE4
- status credits will be the average earnt by purchasing a L/D/AONE4(number of status credits for all 3 added together then divided by 3)
- itinerary must be valid and be able to be checked at: jph.bytestacker.com/award.htm

Note, itineries for DONEx can earn more than the oneWORLD validator would otherwise indicate as the US domestic sectors book into A class if there is no business class on the flight.

e.g. AA JFK to LAX flight generally has F, J & WHY seating and a DONEx would book into D. while LAX-DFW has only F & WHY seating and a DONEx would book into A.

By carefully choosing your flights you can gain from this fact.

In the case of my intinerary it represents an additional 260 SC's.

e.g. JFK to LAX in D earns 100 SC's, JFK-DFW-LAX earns 240s SC's!

 

[DPG]

Note, itineries for DONEx can earn more than the oneWORLD validator would otherwise indicate as the US domestic sectors book into A class if there is no business class on the flight.

Sorry, I had factored this in to my itinerary, but I don't think i was very clear with my description...

Equally a AONE4 more than likely would be less than the oneworld validator would indicate as not all sectors have F.

Your itinerary looks great, do you still have more to go? I am looking for ideas for the next one I organise, my current one will keep me WP for 2 years!

D P G

 

[serfty]

... Your itinerary looks great, do you still have more to go? I am looking for ideas for the next one I organise, my current one will keep me WP for 2 years!

D P G

Currently, my rtw is suspended in LAX.

I head back to the LOTFAP in early June; 10 days later returning direct to MEL from HKG leaving one remaining segment.

This final sector HKG-CMB is booked for October, 51 weeks after I commenced the RTW.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I have a DONE5 later in the year which should earn (I think) 2390 SCs and over 170000 miles (over 63000 flown miles), although isn't fully optimised as there are several places I need to visit and to a certain schedule. For instance doesn't include any ANC or SJU flights.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

At the time serfty & I played with itineraries, his was just about the best in terms of SC earning (but not QFF mileage earning) for a DONE4 that includes Australia and can be done all at once if you'd like (if split or long stopover okay then can do better by including SJU and ANC in the north america bit).

It's possible to construct other DONE4s that don't include Australia with more SC earning.

As that routing was optimised for a DONE4, it is likely other routings have a better average across LONE4, DONE4 and AONE4.

 

[JohnK]

Is this competition still going? Who was the winner? Have we given up because of Kiwi Flyer's 2390 SC's and serfty's 2360 SC's? Can we do better?

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

My DONE5 can be tweaked to get over 2500 SCs and probably 2600 even though I'm including several specific destinations and thus not with an eye to max out the SCs.

 

[cabbage74]

Whoops, missed this the first time.
Anyway here is the trip I did, which was DONE4 with South instead of North America.
IST-MAD-EZE,SCL-BOG-SCL-CCS-SCL-SYD-AKL-BNE-AKL-BNE,SYD-BOM-HKG-CMB-HKG-SIN-LHR-MCT-LHR-IST
L:540
D:2160
A:3240 (not all flights offered A)
63181 miles.

There were a few places where I could increase milage (and atleast one increased SC) but these were not attractive options to me. The trip to MCT (Muscat-Oman) is definately worth it over the trip to DXB IMHO, apart from the extra SC you also end up in a more enjoyable place - Native Locals will talk to you and things to do other than look at modern buildings.

Mal.

 

[cowombat]

Well, I'm impressed - some fantastic suggestions. Mine is no winner, but does go the places I am interested in, has a reasonable mileage, and starts at home, not in CMB, for convenience.....

MEL-NRT-ORD-ANC-DFW-LAX-SJU-JFK-LHR-CAI-BCN-IST-LHR-JNB-HKG-BOM-HKG-AKL-SYD-ASP-MEL = 60,925

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

DPG - were you able to put any of this to good use?

 

[dajop]

I helped a friend of mine who has just embarked on the following DONEx:
MEL-SYD-SFO-DFW-CMH-ORD-LGA-DFW-IAH-DFW-SFO-LAX-JFK-LHR-HKG-SIN-SYD-MEL. And the total fare (including taxes) was $800 less than a MEL-IAH return excluding taxes.

Not quite in the serfty or Kiwi Flyer league, but nevertheless a quite respectable 1560 SCs and 65,916 miles (with a status change from Gold to Platinum) from flying and another 17,333 in loyalty bonuses.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I helped a friend of mine who has just embarked on the following DONEx:
MEL-SYD-SFO-DFW-CMH-ORD-LGA-DFW-IAH-DFW-SFO-LAX-JFK-LHR-HKG-SIN-SYD-MEL. And the total fare (including taxes) was $800 less than a MEL-IAH return excluding taxes.

Not quite in the serfty or Kiwi Flyer league, but nevertheless a quite respectable 1560 SCs and 65,916 miles (with a status change from Gold to Platinum) from flying and another 17,333 in loyalty bonuses.

Are you sure that's a DONE4? It has 10 north america segments which is more than the free allowance (6) plus the additional segments that can be purchased (2). I suppose some of those flight segments could be single flight number with en route transit that AA (and other us-based airlines) specialise in and hence counting less to the DONE4 segment tally.

 

[dajop]

Are you sure that's a DONE4?

Actually it may not be. Not sure what happened in the end whether it turned out be a DONE4 + extra segments paid for OR a Global Explorer Fare. Looking at the price, probably the latter.

 

[NM]

I think I did pretty well on my recent DONE4. Certainly not optimised, but did hit all the places I needed to be in a 3 week timeframe:

QF FF Points earned: 0
QF FF Points spent: 60,000
QF SC earned: 0
QF UC spent: 3

AA EQP Earned: 59,588
AA Miles Earned: 98,472
AA UC Earned: 12 (just 669 miles short of 16)

All bar one flight (AA71 FRA-DFW) was in the highest cabin class on the aircraft, including QF F on MEL-LHR and HKG-MEL, and CX F on LAX-HKG.

So it all depends on what one is looking for whan optimising a xONEx itinerary.

 

[ashleyn]

I'm new at this but probably not alone, I lost this thread very early. What does LONE4, DONE4 and AONE4 mean ?:evil: