My first DAS13

[Evan]

Thanks to NM's mention of his DAS13 in http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/trip-reports/jal-sin-kul-11597.html

And before i have even booked my first DONE4
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/my-first-done4-expert-advise-11598.html

I had a need to be back in Australia before Xmas and also in Japan for Xmas, limited availability on the key dates i wanted to travel (ie none or stupid fares like SIN-PER-MEL-SYD-SIN at $SGD 4000+ as the cheapest route) i thought the chances of D being available would be slim.... but....

20 mins working out the route and checking availability (only had to move one flight from the prefered day !) 10 mins to tell QF person what i wanted, and then over 30 mins for QF to book and ticket.... Gice credit card details... and i have now my first DAS13 !

SIN-PER-MEL-stop-SYD-NRT-(HND)-(ITM)-stop-KIX-HKG-SIN

100 2433 SIN-PER
80 1679 PER-MEL
40 438 MEL-SYD
140 4871 SYD-NRT
40 305 HND-ITM
80 1539 KIX-HKG
80 1595 HKG-SIN

QF total SC = 560
Total Miles = 12860

I wanted to fly to Osaka instead of train and i could not fly to Oksaka direct due to no availability of D class on the flights.
I could have managed a few extra SC flying CX HKG-TPE-SIN but i had already got a quote and just wanted to be beakc in SIN for work the next day so avoided that option.

E

 

[v8Statesman]

And the Cost in SGD (with +++) was?

 

[Mrmaxwell]

What is a DAS13 fare????

Damn I love the acronyms in this forum

 

[simongr]

CircleAsia fare - roughly A$4900 incl taxes/fuel fines if bought in SYD from QF.

They are great fares but with some quirks - you need to fly to North East and South East Asia with a stopover in each of those locations (so say if you want to reduce your flight costs SYD-HKG-SYD and fly SYD-HKG-NRT you have to overnightin NRT and get a flight departing 24hours + later flying out of NRT), Hong Kong is in SE Asia.

A straight return to HKG is about $6K on QF and a rtn to NRT is $8K+ so these do present a saving.

 

[serfty]

And the Cost in SGD (with +++) was?

ex Singapore, the DAS13 base cost is SGD5,400 ... add +++ at your leisure!

 

[serfty]

What is a DAS13 fare???? ...

It's actually a fare code.

D =Business Class
A}
S}=oneworld Circle Asia & South West Pacific multi continent fare
1}
3}=Maximum distance of 13,000 miles.

More here on the oneworld web site:

oneworld - Circle Asia & South West Pacific

Here's the Fare construction rules: oneworld Circle Asia & South West Pacific rule sheet (62kb, PDF)

 

[NM]

They are great fares but with some quirks - you need to fly to North East and South East Asia with a stopover in each of those locations

Actually, the two stopovers do not need to be one in each region. They can both be in the same region. My current DAS13 has one stopover in SIN and one in KUL. My North East Asia is a transit in NRT.

 

[simongr]

My mistake (again) - I have only used these to replace a HKG return so my stopovers have had to be in the two regions. I might use one next year to get up to PVG if I can.

 

[Evan]

And the Cost in SGD (with +++) was?

The fare was as serfty said, $SG 5400 +++

Since i could not be bothered with CX who may have had less fuel fines i just needed it done i rang QF in Singapore (that now routes to Aust as of the last few months)

The total cost was....
$SG 5900 something, $AUD 4740 or so, this included some booking fee or another and all taxes and fuel surcharges.

Not the cheapest fare, but the dates for D class were better than whY and once you take into account the Y fares costing around $SG 3500 minimum then less than double that for a J fare seems good.

I guess i will have to do a trip report, i have never bothered for any whY trips but maybe for this one i can manage a few lines
My first JAL domestic flight... hmmmm will be interesting.

E

 

[Evan]

Well plans change....

An update to spend more time in AU and since the ticket had not been ticketed no cost to change, only $3 SGD extra taxes.

SIN-PER-MEL-SYD-NRT//KIX-cough-TPE-HKG-SIN

And now i will have an extra country visited as well, my first trip to Taipei, so any ideas on what is must see and do are welcome otherwise i will just see what happens and check out some tourist guides.

Also now 580 SC credited to QF, must be close to the max you can get on a DAS13, maybe make 600 if you try hard. (but 600 is gold renewal, i remember when gold seemed like an impossible task, now i can do it in a single trip almost)

Now to hope my girlfriend gets the upgrades on the flights that we will do together or atleast the SYD-NRT one or else i can see myself in big trouble ! me in J her in whY

E

 

[austrider]

And now i will have an extra country visited as well, my first trip to Taipei, so any ideas on what is must see and do are welcome otherwise i will just see what happens and check out some tourist guides.

How many days are you going to be there? If you are only going to be in Taipei for a couple of days, consider..

* National Palace Museum
* various night markets for bargin and hawker style food
* Chang Kai Shiek Memorial (recently renamed Freedom Sq)
* Taipei 101, one of the world's tallest buildings and one of the fastest escalators (if not the fastest)
* check out the camera street near the Taipei Main Station
* check out the Nova the computer parts building (similar to SimLim Plaza in Singapore)

PM me if you want more info.

 

[Evan]

Hi,

I ended up checking out 2 of the items on your list,

* Freedom Sq
* Taipei 101

It was however rather overcast when i was there so did not really get the full pleasure of 101, but an amazing building !
I also wandered around the city a little during the evening, an interesting place to visit.

I stayed in the Hyatt and found it to be comfortable and a nice hotel.

I guess i may go back again some time, possibly even for work i found out recently.

E