Ow Circle Asia - South East

[Va Bene]

I'm looking at travelling to KUL, BKK, MNL and possibly SIN for business over a week in mid April. Thanks to some previous threads, there is some info on Oneworld Circle Asia fares and in particular a DAS13 fare. It is likely that this will be in Y although J could be a goer.
My questions are; is the the DAS13 fare the best way to go about it and what would the suggested routing from MEL and back to cover these destinations without too much flying 'backwards' such as going through HKG with CX?
SC's are also important and I would like to maximise this if Y is the only option which probably means flying via HKG for some flights.

Is Jetstar Asia to be avoided between some of these cities? They don't appear to be available anyway for the Circle Asia fares.

Any direction would be much appreciated.

 

[serfty]

Here's a link to the oneworld web page:

• oneworld - Circle Asia & South West Pacific

Other notes:

• You are limited to 8 flight segments and
• 4 (13,000 mile) or 5 (17,000 mile) stopovers.
• Additional stopovers can be purchased.

Base prices are $1,999 (LAS13) and $2,299 (LAS17).

You would need to travel via North East Asia (Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea) so it would be difficult to fit into a LAS13 ex MEL.

 

[Va Bene]

Thanks for the quick reply serfty. I missed the requirement to travel to all regions and travelling via Japan or China is a bit out of the way.
I should have more carefully read the previous posts from NM, Evan and yourself on this subject.

I'm still keen to get some advice from anyone on the best routing to take in the 4 cities that I mentioned and if Jetstar Asia is OK for some flights. Preference is QF and CX.

Thanks.

 

[serfty]

Travel on Jetstar Asia is not permitted. (Travel on any BA/CX/EG/JC/JL/JO/KA/NU/QF codeshare service operated by BA/CX/EG/JC/JL/JO/KA/NU/QF. Other codeshare services not permitted.)

The following routing is 15,400 miles:

• MEL-SYD-BKK-SIN-KUL-HKG-MNL-NRT-MEL (JAL between SIN and KUL)
  

And the following routing is 16,482 miles:

• MEL-SIN-BKK-HKG-KUL-HKG-MNL-NRT-MEL

 

[NM]

Perhaps a combination of a DAS13 and some extra flights may work, at least getting the longer flights into a DAS13. Perhaps MEL-SIN-KUL//MNL-NRT-MEL on a DAS13, and separate purchase for KUL-BKK-MNL.

Assuming the "surface" segment between KUL and MNL is included in the miles, that comes out at just under 13,000 miles according to great circle mapper, but need to see how the issuing airline calculates the distance.

 

[dajop]

Perhaps a combination of a DAS13 and some extra flights may work, at least getting the longer flights into a DAS13. Perhaps MEL-SIN-KUL//MNL-NRT-MEL on a DAS13, and separate purchase for KUL-BKK-MNL.

Assuming the "surface" segment between KUL and MNL is included in the miles, that comes out at just under 13,000 miles according to great circle mapper, but need to see how the issuing airline calculates the distance.

Along a similar line of thinking... MEL-SIN-KUL//BKK-HKG-MNL-HKG-PVG-MEL comes out at 12,894 miles, with an additional paid sector required KUL-BKK.

 

[serfty]

Given the cost different betwixt a LAS13 and a LAS17 is $300+++ it may just be simpler pay the additional and try to garner some additional points/miles/SC's/QP's/TC's.

 

[Va Bene]

Thanks for all the advice which has made it much clearer. Once I have an idea of the routing and dates and flights, is it just a case of calling QF and booking it all with them? I gather this would be a saving over a TA.

 

[Shano]

You could ring QF and have them book and ticket.

I believe that the QF telephone booking fee is around $30.

A TA would probably charge around $100 (ours charges $90 for international itineraries) so there would be a saving by using QF.

 

[simongr]

QF charge $50. I have recently booked this - the agent was not familiar with the fare but was able to happily book it.

I use these a great deal and find them very useful/cost effective. They essentially allow me to fly OW rather than have to fly anothre carrier when I travel to HKG.