HELP? Mini Around the World Trip

[stuffascope]

Hi all,
i'm new to this forum and thought it'd be a good place to ask some questions about a mini around the world trip that i am planning...
so far, these are the dates that the travel agent has given us:

1 QF 149Y 17JAN 4 SYDLAX SS1 1135 0600
2 QF 107Y 24JAN 4 LAXJFK SS1 0850 1650
3 BA 172Y 05FEB 2 JFKLHR SS1 0800 1945
4 QF 30Y 26FEB 2 LHRHKG SS1 1225 0815
5 QF 188Y 16MAR 7 HKGSYD SS1 0920 2135

its one of those "less than 26,000 miles" deals, and all flights are flexible until final payment date. was wondering is anyone has advice on maximising $$, frequent flyer points and status credits (i'm at ZERO. )??

i was quoted $2451.44 (including taxes of $802.44).

thanks!!

 

[simongr]

Just for context and to help aid suggestions - do you plan to earn lots of points on Credit Card spend? Do you plan to fly much in the future? Is status important to you (lounge access, business class checkin, extra luggage allowance) on future flights (assuming you can qualify for status but can't use it on this trip as it takes a little while to kick in?

What else do you want to do on this trip? Your current trip is 24K miles (roughly) so you have enough miles for a quick side trip. All of the following locations are available from LHR at under 800 miles each way:

econ biz first Airlines Distance Description 
402 905 1005  402 LHR-ABZ 
230 518 575  230 LHR-AMS 
714 1607 1785  714 LHR-BCN 
576 1296 1440  576 LHR-BIO 
218 491 545  218 LHR-BRU 
451 1015 1128  451 LHR-BSL 
216 486 540  216 LHR-CDG 
609 1370 1523  609 LHR-CPH 
312 702 780  312 LHR-DUS 
331 745 828  331 LHR-EDI 
406 914 1015  406 LHR-FRA 
344 774 860  344 LHR-GLA 
469 1055 1173  469 LHR-GVA 
463 1042 1158  463 LHR-HAM 
610 1373 1525  610 LHR-LIN 
471 1060 1178  471 LHR-LYS 
775 1744 1938  775 LHR-MAD 
150 338 375  150 LHR-MAN 
585 1316 1463  585 LHR-MUC 
582 1310 1455  582 LHR-MXP 
647 1456 1618  647 LHR-NCE 
251 565 628  251 LHR-NCL 
749 1685 1873  749 LHR-OSL 
649 1460 1623  649 LHR-PRG 
470 1058 1175  470 LHR-STR 
589 1325 1473  589 LHR-TXL 
793 1784 1983  793 LHR-VIE 
490 1103 1225  490 LHR-ZRH

They would let you see a little more and still be under the mileage constraint (subject to fare rules regarding retruning to London etc.

 

[Ric]

would stuffascope be better off trying to do the AA challenge?:?: Might get enough status to get lounge access on part of the trip? From previous posts, it also seems that redemption of flights on AA are "cheaper" than QF and this might give extra flights after the trip!! Just some suggestions.

Over to the experts!

 

[Dave Noble]

would stuffascope be better off trying to do the AA challenge?:?: Might get enough status to get lounge access on part of the trip? From previous posts, it also seems that redemption of flights on AA are "cheaper" than QF and this might give extra flights after the trip!! Just some suggestions.

Over to the experts!

Would need to change the booking to have AA in it since the Candy Stealing can now only be done when travelling on AA flight numbers and would need something like an LLGLOB26 which would be $2679 plus taxes of prob around $300.

Something like SYD-MEL-LAX-JFK on AA would complete the challenge giving platinum status ( and so lounge access and business checkin for the rest of the trip ) ; then do JFK-LHR on AA ; Would earn 20275 miles by time of reaching London. The QF flight back would earn 10575 points giving a total earning of 30850 points.

Dave

 

[stuffascope]

the deal is flying QF and BA only. (though AA is okay because its codeshare with QF) so for a quick side trip, would it be possible to fly from New York to Toronto (on QF or BA?) and then take BA from Toronto to London?
would that use up some miles? or would we still have some left?

lounge access and business class check in would be great! would it be possible to obtain these priviledges whilst still on the trip? so that i'd be able to use them for the later legs of the journey?

 

[Dave Noble]

the deal is flying QF and BA only. (though AA is okay because its codeshare with QF) so for a quick side trip, would it be possible to fly from New York to Toronto (on QF or BA?) and then take BA from Toronto to London?
would that use up some miles? or would we still have some left?

lounge access and business class check in would be great! would it be possible to obtain these priviledges whilst still on the trip? so that i'd be able to use them for the later legs of the journey?

If you use the LLGLOB26 fare, then you would have status and be able to use it for the later parts of the journey; I would just take the AA morning flight ex JFK rather than go off to Toronto

Dave

 

[JoshOohAah]

Where did you get this fare? I'm doing the same deal (<26k miles, QF/BA) through STA for 3006AUD over December and January.

 

[stuffascope]

If you use the LLGLOB26 fare, then you would have status and be able to use it for the later parts of the journey; I would just take the AA morning flight ex JFK rather than go off to Toronto

Dave

we're planning to head to toronto anyways, but we were going to do it by train so we could stop over at Niagara Falls and do the touristy stuff. But if we can do it by plane, cos we have the extra miles to max out, then it'd be good to take the plane up from JFK and then fly to LHR ex toronto? it would save us the cost of the return train trip?

 

[stuffascope]

Where did you get this fare? I'm doing the same deal (<26k miles, QF/BA) through STA for 3006AUD over December and January.

we're travelling STA too, except DEC= high season. JAN= low season. so we're plannign to leavethe first day of low season.
also, we're students so maybe we got a student discount?

 

[JoshOohAah]

we're travelling STA too, except DEC= high season. JAN= low season. so we're plannign to leavethe first day of low season.
also, we're students so maybe we got a student discount?

Oh, yeah. Silly me. Ta. I've got the student discount so it must be December that screws it up. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Dave Noble]

we're planning to head to toronto anyways, but we were going to do it by train so we could stop over at Niagara Falls and do the touristy stuff. But if we can do it by plane, cos we have the extra miles to max out, then it'd be good to take the plane up from JFK and then fly to LHR ex toronto? it would save us the cost of the return train trip?

Using Great Circle Mapper....

SYD (33°56'46"S 151°10'38"E) MEL (37°40'24"S 144°50'36"E) 232° (SW) 439 mi
MEL (37°40'24"S 144°50'36"E) LAX (33°56'33"N 118°24'26"W) 65° (NE) 7921 mi
LAX (33°56'33"N 118°24'26"W) JFK (40°38'23"N 73°46'44"W) 65° (NE) 2475 mi
JFK (40°38'23"N 73°46'44"W) YYZ (43°40'38"N 79°37'50"W) 306° (NW) 366 mi
YYZ (43°40'38"N 79°37'50"W) LHR (51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W) 51° (NE) 3556 mi
LHR (51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W) HKG (22°18'32"N 113°54'53"E) 57° (NE) 5994 mi
HKG (22°18'32"N 113°54'53"E) SYD (33°56'46"S 151°10'38"E) 146° (SE) 4581 mi

Total = 25332 miles, so you could route it such that you attain Platinum Status by the time your flight to JFK credits, go to YYZ and have miles spare. Even better for mileage earning would be if you were able to start in Melbourne rather than Sydney. If you fly MEL-SYD-JFK-YYZ-ORD-LHR-HKG-SYD and fly on AA all the way to London ( rather than BA ), you can earn the 100% bonus miles on all flights other than SYD-MEL. Distances are

7 segment path: 25719 mi
MEL (37°40'24"S 144°50'36"E) SYD (33°56'46"S 151°10'38"E) 56° (NE) 439 mi
SYD (33°56'46"S 151°10'38"E) JFK (40°38'23"N 73°46'44"W) 65° (NE) 9950 mi
JFK (40°38'23"N 73°46'44"W) YYZ (43°40'38"N 79°37'50"W) 306° (NW) 366 mi
YYZ (43°40'38"N 79°37'50"W) ORD (41°58'43"N 87°54'17"W) 257° (W) 436 mi
ORD (41°58'43"N 87°54'17"W) LHR (51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W) 47° (NE) 3953 mi
LHR (51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W) HKG (22°18'32"N 113°54'53"E) 57° (NE) 5994 mi
HKG (22°18'32"N 113°54'53"E) SYD (33°56'46"S 151°10'38"E) 146° (SE) 4581 mi


You would earn 40,881 miles to your AA account on that routing ( assuming you take the Platinum Challenge ) and would just fit inside the 26,000 miles max.

Dave

 

[Mal]

While I don't have the fare rules in front of me at (and couldn't find it via a few searches in various places ... including the dreadful STA website!), I can't see how a QF/BA combined fare could either have AA flight numbers or in any way be valid for an AA challenge under the rules of the AA challenges. Most of the time these QF/BA "rtw" fares force you to use QF to LAX/SFO etc, then Qantas codeshares/flights within the U.S, then BA over to London and back home via SIN/BKK/HKG on either BA or Qantas.

It's fine to recommend "upgrading" to a LONE4/LLGLOB26 or similar, but then it's around $1000-$1500 extra on top of the current fare quote.

IMHO, stealing the AA candy isn't worth that much on top of the other fare.

 

[Keith009]

we're travelling STA too, except DEC= high season. JAN= low season. so we're plannign to leavethe first day of low season.
also, we're students so maybe we got a student discount?

You not only need to be a student - you need the ISIC card. IME they've never checked at check in though.

Others eligible are people under 26 and full time teachers - they also need memberships of the appropriate discount schemes.

 

[Keith009]

It's fine to recommend "upgrading" to a LONE4/LLGLOB26 or similar, but then it's around $1000-$1500 extra on top of the current fare quote.

LLGLOB26 is not that much more expensive than what the OP was quoted for his fare + QF/BA fuel fines, since the former can be issued by AA and thus saves hundreds of dollars in fuel fines over the same issued by QF or BA.

The STA QF/BA rtw is a QF fare and does not allow any flight numbers other than QF/BA. It is a deal exclusive to STA and has numerous cryptic rules.

I'd throw in a vote for an AA-issued LLGLOB26 for the flexibility and the ability to gain PLT status (valid through Feb 2009) via the steAAling cAAndy ChAAllenge. Just have to make sure the long haul segments are booked on the AA codes, and to avoid BA USA-UK (but BA YYZ-UK is fine).

The extra 500 or so dollars can be justified by the shiny PLT card/sapphire status and the ability to consume infinite amounts of alcohol in the oneworld lounges. Not to mention the increased flexibility that the xGLOBx product would allow.

Just have to make sure you call the operating carriers up when you get PLT (I reccomend just calling BA and telling them to fix up the QF portion as well) when you gain PLT so that they can re-enter your FF number to reflect ur newly acquired status. You won't get your card in time but your BP showing your status along with a print out from the AA website reflecting the PLT status should get you into lounges.

40 881 award miles is more than halfway to a South Pacific-Asia 2 (South East Asia, CMB and HKG) Partners award in J.

 

[stuffascope]

thanks for all your advice guys! its been a great help!
i'll discussing my options with my partner to work out which is the best plan of travel for us!
if i have any more questions, i'll be sure to post them up here!
thanks once again!