RTW gurus...am I on the right track ?

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cbert

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Apr 17, 2006
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Hello RTW gurus,

I am planning my first RTW journey from Australia with the oneworld explorer 4 contienents fare for $2,949 + taxes.

As you guys seem to be RTW gurus in Aust, was hoping to get a nod of approval for my trip, that is if you guys can see any probs or offer some suggestions to get most out of points and pay less taxes.

I am a QF Frequnet Flyer, havent joined the others like AA.

Wanted to keep taxes to lowest but dont know how to calculate them myself.


here is the journey with city and airline, cost is $2,949AUD plus taxes :


SYD - JFK (QF) - CUN (AA) - BUF (AA) - ORD (AA) - JFK (AA) -

LHR (AA) - CAI (BA) - BCN (IB) - IST (IB) - LHR (BA) -

PEK (BA) - HKG (CX) - BOM (CX) - NRT (CX) -

PER (QF) - MEL (QF) - AYQ (QF) - PER (QF)


------------------------------------------------------------

Total City Count: 19
Total Sector Count: 20
Total Region Count: 4

------------------------------------------------------------



Thanks
 
Quite a trip. However I did a quick check in Great Circle Mapper for the length... it came out as 46714 miles. This is an underestimation, as some of your legs are multi-stop. Eg BOM-NRT is actually via BGK and HKG when flying CX - a longer route. Global Explorer 4 has a max mileage of 39000 miles, so you'll have to do some reduction to your itinerary. After getting your mileage under the limit, then tackle the taxes question, based on the revised itinerary.

You should definitely review signing up for the AAdvantage Platinum Challenge for such a trip (read the other threads to explain the benefits)

Good luck!
 
Hi thanks for the reply.

I am not doing the Global explorer miles option, I am planning on doing the Explorer 4 continents option. So no miles taken into consideration.

How much is the AA platinum program ?

If I were on the AA program then it be best to take the AA flight to JFK and not the QF ?

Thanks
 
cbert said:
I am not doing the Global explorer miles option, I am planning on doing the Explorer 4 continents option. So no miles taken into consideration.

cbert, as others have said, quite an itinerary!

I think you will run into some problems with the number of sectors on this itinerary as some of the legs you have mentioned will actually require more than 1 sector...

For example:
CUN-BUF will actually be CUN-ORD-BUF
BOM-NRT will actually be BOM-HKG-NRT

So with these extra sectors it will push you over the 20 maximum. But with a little change to the order of the places you wish to go, you should be able to get it back under the 20 sectors.

D P G
 
oh sorry somthing else I should have mentioned.

I planned the whole thing via the Oneworld software and it worked out all within the 20 sectors as most of those are direct flights bar the ones you just mentioned.

So I know number of sectors are okay.

Taxes is what I am most afraid of.
 
cbert said:
I planned the whole thing via the Oneworld software and it worked out all within the 20 sectors as most of those are direct flights bar the ones you just mentioned.

So I know number of sectors are okay.

If I remember corectly when using the oneworld software, it does get a little comfusing when displaying flights. If you ask it for a CUN-BUF flight, it will come up with one line in the program, but this will involve 2 sectors. I am 99.99% sure that there is no single flight number from CUN-BUF. All of these flights will route via DFW or ORD and require 2 sectors on a RTW fare.

Unless the program has changed drastically from when I last used it, the oneworld program does not check what you put together against the rules of the oneworld explorer (Continent based RTW fare).

There is a website that checks an oneworld explorer itinerary for you... I can't remember the address of it, I will have a look for it, but I am sure that one of the regulars will know what I am talking about.

cbert said:
Taxes is what I am most afraid of.

Yes, Taxes are relatively scarey at the moment... I would expect that this itinerary would be pushing the $800-$1000 mark. The thing that will save you is the AA and IB sectors.

D P G
 
Will call up AA customer service in Aust tomorrow and get more details

Under no circumstances should you rely on AA SYD staff knowing ANYTHING about the Plat Challenge or to correctly add it to your AAccount. I know from bitter experience with asking them to enrol them and they didn't :evil: .

The only two ways to do it:

Firstly, you need to sign up for an AAdvantage account if you don't already have one.

Option 1. Phone AAdvantage Customer Service in the US on +1 817 799 2500 or + 1 800 421 0600 and ask the CSR that you want to undertake a Platinum Challenge (they can start on either 1st or 16th day of the month, so if your flights are 28th of the month, ask to start on 16th). They can confirm any questions you have and email you a confirmation.

Option 2. Sign up by email (log into your AAdvantage account, then go to top of the page and click on Contact AA , then in the drop down menu, click on AAdvantage, then click on AAdvantage Customer Service. Scroll to bottom of page where link says Email AAdvantage Customer Service. Complete your Contact Information and Your Message and click Continue.

I did this (option 2) last week (requesting enrolment in Platinum Challenge) and received an email in response within 48 hours, confirming I have been enrolled.

The only negative about your Itinerary is that nor all sectors can be credited to AA. Your CX sectors will be best credited to your QFF account (as yoo can see below from the CX Earning Table), but this can be switched easily at check-in (ask the CSA each time to enter your QFF number for this sector only).

AA QPoint Earning Table and AA Mileage Earning Table
QF Earning Table
CX Earning Table
 
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DPG said:
I am 99.99% sure that there is no single flight number from CUN-BUF. All of these flights will route via DFW or ORD
Well, I am 100% in agreement with you DPG after checking the AA website for flight details...
 
Lindsay Wilson said:
DPG said:
I am 99.99% sure that there is no single flight number from CUN-BUF. All of these flights will route via DFW or ORD
Well, I am 100% in agreement with you DPG after checking the AA website for flight details...

Lindsay... I had done the same thing, but as I didn't have a GDS in front of me I wasn't going to be proven wrong! 8)

Do you know the website that checks an itinerary against the rules of the oneworld Explorer?

D P G
 
thanks for the replies.

The oneworld software lets you plan your trip against the Explorer fare and comes up with all the warning and erros. My trip fit in perfect.

Yup that CUN - BUF is going to be via ORD and a I lose a sector there, I dont have the time to stop off in ORD plus thought if I dont stop there then maybe I can decrease my taxes abeit by a very little.

The other place I am going to lose a sector is BOM - NRT as I go via HKG, again same reason, thought if I didint stop there I can save on taxes.

Do you all reckon the AA chalenege is still worth it even if you dont plan on flying into USA and using AA for another year or so ?

I will be using QF more often than AA.

I still got to get my head around all the programs :wink:
 
HEre I go... Quoting myself! :roll:

DPG said:
Do you know the website that checks an itinerary against the rules of the oneworld Explorer?

Okay, I have found the website: http://jph.bytestacker.com/award.htm.

Now that we have got a little more information from you, I do think that your itinerary will work!

Below is the full itinerary:
SYD-JFK-CUN-ORD-BUF-ORD-LGA,JFK-LHR-CAI-BCN-IST-LHR-PEK-HKG-BOM-HKG-NRT-PER-MEL-AYQ-PER

It you copy the city codes above into the website I have linked, it will give you a nice little map of where you are flying, and calculate the distance and status credits you will earn for the journey.

D P G
 
cbert said:
Do you all reckon the AA chalenege is still worth it even if you dont plan on flying into USA and using AA for another year or so ?

I will be using QF more often than AA.

I still got to get my head around all the programs :wink:

Now I am sure that others will be able to answer this a little better...

The answer to this questions isn't as simple as just looking at the itinerary above. If you did this itinerary above and credited it to AA on the Platinum Challenge, you would get it (provided all travel within 3 months). If you currently did not have any flights credited to QF then you would earn Silver Status.

The difference here is that AA Platinum gives you lounge access, while QF Silver does not.

The other thing to keep in mind is what type of travel do you plan to do with QF in the future. If it is only discount economy domestic runs then these do not credit well with AA, where as with QF you will earn 1000pts minimum each time.

I would suggest doing a little more reading of the forums, as this is something that only you can work out, as there are a lot of variables to it!

Well I hope this has all helped a little!

D P G
 
DPG said:
I would suggest doing a little more reading of the forums, as this is something that only you can work out, as there are a lot of variables to it!
D P G


there are like a million variables !!! :eek:

can i ask, in regards to taxes, do you still get charged for taxes if you transit thorugh an airport.

for instance will the taxes be the same on these two trips:

SYD - JFK - CUN

SYD - CUN via JFK(not getting out of JFK)

I am wondering if only staying in JFK for 13 hrs instead of 3 days is the same charge of taxes ?
 
cbert said:
can i ask, in regards to taxes, do you still get charged for taxes if you transit thorugh an airport.
Yes you do. Airport taxes, noise taxes, departure taxes all make a difference.

Going SYD-ADL-PER would not be the same taxes as going SYD-PER direct.
 
DPG said:
AA Platinum gives you lounge access, while QF Silver does not.

The other thing to keep in mind is what type of travel do you plan to do with QF in the future. If it is only discount economy domestic runs then these do not credit well with AA, where as with QF you will earn 1000pts minimum each time.

Short runs credit perfectly to AA. As an AA Platinum member the minimum mileage earning on a short flight is also 1000 miles. To me it would seemto be a no brainer that the points from the trip would be more valuable if credited to AA; (1) get Platinum status.. do it right and may be able to have platinum status on arrival in new york

If he can take 1 flight prior to SYD-JFK and books the SYD-JFK on AA7365 codeshare rather than on QF107 , then he will be platinum when the SYD-JFK credits and will get the mileage bonus of 9950 for the flight too

The mileage earning potential to AA is higherthan QF thanks to the bonuses and the costs of redemptions is lower

Dave
 
cbert said:
can i ask, in regards to taxes, do you still get charged for taxes if you transit thorugh an airport.

for instance will the taxes be the same on these two trips:

SYD - JFK - CUN

SYD - CUN via JFK(not getting out of JFK)

The taxes may vary depending on the country and the airport in this respect; e.g. if you stopover in UK, you will be charged a GBP20 tax which does not apply in transit.

Given the overall cost of the journey, I suspect that the difference in taxes, if any, at JFK would not be worth worrying about. BTW, do make sure that you book ya ticket through AA to reduce the impact of taxes


Dave
 
Dave Noble said:
The taxes may vary depending on the country and the airport in this respect; e.g. if you stopover in UK, you will be charged a GBP20 tax which does not apply in transit.

Given the overall cost of the journey, I suspect that the difference in taxes, if any, at JFK would not be worth worrying about. BTW, do make sure that you book ya ticket through AA to reduce the impact of taxes
I agree. In the USA, the tax cost difference between stopping and transit is low. Generally, the taxes which don't apply for a transit are those for entering/departing a country, such as the Aussie $38 departure tax, or the UK tax Dave mentions. Domestic airport transits, especially in the LOTFAP are generally very small savings.

The best way to reduce the overall tax component is to book through AA and not through QF. This will reduce the Fuel Fine component of the extras.

Do not rely too much on the web site link above for AA Plat challenge info. It is old info and has not been updated recently. Use the Sticky thread in the Your Tips forum at this site for accuarate and current information.
 
NM said:
The best way to reduce the overall tax component is to book through AA and not through QF. This will reduce the Fuel Fine component of the extras.

Thanks for the replies,

what do you mean by the above, do you mean book direct with AA and not through a travel agent ?

I found an agent that was able to sell me the fare at slightly lower rate then the airlines set price and thought I might as well go with them cause there is also a fee for booking with airlines.

Thanks
 
cbert said:
what do you mean by the above, do you mean book direct with AA and not through a travel agent ?
Yes, booking directly with AA will reduce the taxes/levies/surcharges costs below those imposed by a TA who used Qantas to issue the ticket. Best result are found buy booking firectly with the AA Around The World desk in the USA, which can be accessed by calling the standard res number and asking for the Around The World Desk.
 
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