Maximise S/C's & Miles on RTW trip.

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sweens

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Two questions... 1.as a new user where do i go to understand the abbriviations used in the various forums?

2. I am a low ranked bronze Qantas FF who is about to fly on a RTW ticket bus class I think the fare is DONE4 Syd-Lax-Las-Mia-Tpa-Was-Lhr-Cpt-Jnb-Syd.
It is a business trip over 3 weeks... yes I am spoiling myself I usually travel cattle class.

While the trip is business oriented I want to ensure I collect the maximum miles & status credits. I can't find any web site that will tell me what this trip will give me in miles & s/c's or one that will show me how I can stretch this to the max. Is ther such an anlmal out there?
My eventual goal is to get to a gold/platinum FF level.
 
Hi sweens

try http://www.flyertalk.com/glossary/index.php for a glossary of terms.

I was going to suggest http://jph.bytestacker.com/award.htm which is a good tool for validating *ONE* trips and calculating status credits and miles. I plugged your itinerary into it and it blew a fuse on the TPA-WAS segment as per below:

1: SYD-LAX: intercontinental
2: LAX-LAS: 1st of 6 (North America)
3: LAS-MIA: 1st of 1 (North America Transcon)
*3: LAS-MIA: 2nd of 6 (North America)
4: MIA-TPA: 3rd of 6 (North America)
5: TPA-WAS: 4th of 6 (North America)
Error!!! No oneworld service exists TPA-WAS

It's usually pretty accurate so checked OW timetables and there don't appear to be any direct flights TPA-WAS. Is this definitely your itin?

Cheers
 
Hi tuapekastar,
You are correct there is no direct flight the TPA- WAS goes via MIA but the flight no. is the same so I only get cr with one sector.
Seems a bit unfair.

Cheers
 
You may also need to look at The Ultimate Qantas Guide.

Although WAS is a valid airport code, could you mean IAD or DCA?? Ah, we posted t the same time, so disregard my comment.

While the trip is business oriented I want to ensure I collect the maximum miles & status credits. I can't find any web site that will tell me what this trip will give me in miles & s/c's or one that will show me how I can stretch this to the max. Is ther such an anlmal out there? My eventual goal is to get to a gold/platinum FF level.

Then you either need NM or serfty to see this topic and they'll help you (two gentlemen who I know are both experts in *ONE*). Alternatively you could head over to Flyertalk's Oneworld Forum.
 
Agree with Lindsay's comments re UQG (very useful) and serfty and NM (also very useful) :)

FWIW, plugging your itin into bytestacker now, gives you 940 SCs which gives you Gold status comfortably, assuming your membership anniversary doesn't fall in the middle of your trip.

And if I've got any of that wrong, I'm sure a correction will appear fairly pronto! :)

Cheers
 
Maximise S/C's & Miles on RTW trip

Thanks guy's ...most helpful
 
Dont forget that AA flights with 2-class sold as economy and first, a DONEx will book into first (assuming availability) and earn first SCs and points.

Should be the case for all of Lax-Las-Mia-Tpa-Was ?

You can add a lot more into the itinerary assuming you have the time. Only uses 9 of 20 sectors. Can add up to 2 more in north america, 4 in europe, 3 in africa, 4 in australia/south west pacific. Obviously not all as this would exceed 20 sectors.

Also can improve mileage and SC earning by taking longer intercontinental segments - eg SYD-JFK and LAX-LHR.
 
sweens said:
Two questions... 1.as a new user where do i go to understand the abbriviations used in the various forums?
Others have pointed you at some very good resources, and strongly recomment reading through Lindsay's Ultimate Qantas Guide - its a masterpiece and regularly updated.
sweens said:
2. I am a low ranked bronze Qantas FF who is about to fly on a RTW ticket bus class I think the fare is DONE4 Syd-Lax-Las-Mia-Tpa-Was-Lhr-Cpt-Jnb-Syd.
It is a business trip over 3 weeks... yes I am spoiling myself I usually travel cattle class.
ok, lots of options here. The first web page I open when planning a RTW trip is the Great Circle Mapper. Then a flight availability tool like KVS is next, or you can use the individual airline's schedules.

Now, if you have the time you can opimise the trip, or look for some other choices.

Firstly, getting from Australia to USA:
  1. Take a 3-class aircraft option SYD-LAX and try for an upgrade to First Class, which is great experience. Does not maximise the SC earning, though.
  2. Go via HKG with QF to HKG (soe you get the status bonus FF points) and the CX to LAX/SFO/VYR/JFK. Get to experience the wonderful CX service and earn more SC's in business class.
  3. This is not going to work for a return through Africa as the Asia transit between SWP and NA will make it a 5-continent routing. So it depends on whether the South Africa stops are just an attempt to add sectors/miles or are desirable places to go.
Now within USA you have up to 6 sectors, only one can be trans-continental:
  • As already noted, the 2-class AA domestic flights book into A class, which earns First Class SCs and FF points.
  • Look for flights operated by 767 or 777 aircraft for best comfort. I avoid 757 operated flights. LAX-DFW and DFW-MIA have regular 767 aircraft (the 777 MIA-DFW is no longer). So consider going LAX-LAS-DFW-MIA which will more comfort than the non-stop LAS-MIA and since you have the spare sectors its only a matter of having the extra time. It also earns more SCs than the non-stop flight.
TPA-WAS. Which DC area airport do you prefer to use. WAS includes DCA, IAD and BWI. BWI is a long way from down-town DC and if only viable if oyu need to be north of loop I495 (say Anapolis Junction or similar location). I always use IAD as most of my work up there is around Virginia or Falls Church and access is easy on the Dulles Expressway. No direct flights, so it back through DFW.

Europe. Do you plan to stopover in London or only transit? Remember that the UK taxes are higher for business class (40 pounds vs 20 pounds for economy) and are exempt if transit for less than 24 hours. So you can get to anywhere in Europe for a similar price (fuel surcharges vs taxes) since you have up to 4 sectors to use in Europe.
 
Some great Ideas...Checked out the UQG great work Lindsey! NM I assume you mean it is worth using points to upgrade to first Syd -Lax?

My internal US flights are pretty tight so I am locked in...the interesting one is TPA- WAS it actually goes backwards via MIA but only shows as TPA-WAS one sector. The flight no AA1502 must be the same all the way. dep 9.59 arr 14.04. The WAS airport shows as WASHINGTON DC/WASHINGT I assume that this is Dulles but I am not sure.I need to get to Arlington VA.

I do have some flexibility in the UK I am really only going there as that is the only way I can get to South Africa (A business must) on OW. May be a side trip to Paris,Rome or Athens for 24 hours to bost the S/C...any ideas on European taxes?
Cheers

Greg
 
sweens said:
Some great Ideas...Checked out the UQG great work Lindsey! NM I assume you mean it is worth using points to upgrade to first Syd -Lax?
If you have the points its a great experience. I have done it several times. I have saved 4 x UCs just for that route and must use them before Dec 2007.
sweens said:
My internal US flights are pretty tight so I am locked in...the interesting one is TPA- WAS it actually goes backwards via MIA but only shows as TPA-WAS one sector. The flight no AA1502 must be the same all the way. dep 9.59 arr 14.04. The WAS airport shows as WASHINGTON DC/WASHINGT I assume that this is Dulles but I am not sure.I need to get to Arlington VA.
AA1502 ends at DCA at 2pm and is operated by a 737-800 via MIA. DCA is closer to Arlington than IAD (Dulles), and can be faster to get through since you don't have the people movers to cart you from the remote terminals like at IDA.
sweens said:
I do have some flexibility in the UK I am really only going there as that is the only way I can get to South Africa (A business must) on OW. May be a side trip to Paris,Rome or Athens for 24 hours to bost the S/C...any ideas on European taxes?
Cheers
I used to like going to Helsinki in the summer as a good SC run. Its 1151 miles which was good under the old scheme (over 1000 miles) but is not so good now as it fits in the top end of the 600-1200 mile range. And it was always fun to be able to say I had been in HEL all weekend :D .

Chose a place you you like to see.
 
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The best "european" OW flights for SC earning ex-LON are

3600+ miles
Muscat MCT

2401-3600 miles
Abu Dhabi AUH
Bahrain BAH
Doha DOH
Dubai DXB
Ekaterinburg SVX
Jeddah JED
Kuwait KWI
Riyadh RUH

Can only do one of these ex-LON.

If middle-east/russia doesnt suit, then the next best for SC earning are

1201-2400 miles
Athens ATH
Bucharest OTP
Istanbul IST
Malta MLA
Sofia SOF
 
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