Suggestions re RTW itinerary

[Ev1dent]

I am planning a RTW trip for my wife and I starting in March. I have read a lot of the really useful ideas in these forums, but am wondering whether anyone has any additional suggestions that I might have missed.

We are considering either the One World Explorer or Global Explorer in business class. We want to visit the Grand Canyon and do some sightseeing in the US before stopping off in S Africa on the way back to Oz.

Using the Oneworld trip planner, our proposed itinerary at the moment is:

CBR-SYD-LAX; LAX-ORD; ORD-PHX; PHX-ORD-JFK; JFK-BOS; BOS (land)IAD; IAD-LHR-MRU; MRU-JNB-WDH; WDH-JNB; JNB-SYD-CBR.

I am not sure about the standard annotations, but I have used ; for stopovers.

I am currently QC bronze (my wife is Gold though). Unfortunately, my anniversary is while we are stopped over in Chicago (ORD) for 3 months, early in the trip, so the status points from SYD-LAX won't accrue in the same year as the other long legs, so I won't accrue gold.

We will aim to select a BA flight from the US to LHR, since from the AA web site, AA doesn't offer sleeper seats across teh Atlantic, but BA does? Is this correct?

Does anyone have any suggestions re slight changes to the itinerary that I should consider to get either more SC or where we are more likely to get good seats etc. eg Is there any merit in departing Australia from Brisbane or Melbourne relative to Sydney?

Also, from what I can see on the AA web site, there aren't any business class seats on domestic US flights. What happens to business class RTW ticket holders, do we just get economy seats and SP? Are there any US routes that offer business class?

Also, I have seen suggestions that RTW tickets should be booked with AA rather than Qantas. If I do this, will I get teh US$ price quoted on teh OneWorld web site, or is the currency determined by which country the trip starts in? I have also read that AA offers lower taxes than Qantas. Is there any point me trying my local travel agent to get them to quote on AA ticketing, or should I call AA direct?

Thanks in advance.

Justin

 

[littl_flier]

A couple of quick suggestions on selecting flights for cabin comfort.

For the LAX-ORD segment, try and pick AA88 as it's scheduled on a 763. There is a very good chance that this will be in the New Generation Business Class (which is a sleeper seat) as opposed to the other flights which are either 757's or MD8X's which will be in a standard seat.

For the IAD-LHR sector, try and pick up BA216 which is scheduled on a 744. BA are also reconfiguring their aircraft with NGBC but at this stage (and by the time you travel) the 777's haven't been started on. Of course, there's no guarantee that it will be NGBC but it might be worth a try. On a side note, some may debate whether NGBC is any better than the current business class but I'll leave that to others.

And an obvious note, try and pick the QF jet services for the CBR-SYD-CBR services so you have Business Class and will be entitled to your additional baggage allowances.

Also, I would try and start holding D avaialability as soon as possible with a departure in March because it may be hard to get D seats on the SYD-LAX sectors on the day you are looking to travel.

 

[Evan]

The country of departure determines the price you will pay, so you can for instance buy a ticket in Au from Qantas or AA, the base fare is the same $AUD fare on the oneworld website but the +++ will be different since AA changes less fuel surcharges.

Also to visit South Africa i think it will end up being a 5 continent ticket which will add costs over a 4. (Don;t quote me on this i only know for it must be 4 for anywhere south, like Africa, Au, South America, so i assume to add 2 of them it would have to be a xONE5)

Look at booking soon or else D class will be difficult to find on the dates you are after.

E

 

[littl_flier]

Also to visit South Africa i think it will end up being a 5 continent ticket which will add costs over a 4. (Don;t quote me on this i only know for it must be 4 for anywhere south, like Africa, Au, South America, so i assume to add 2 of them it would have to be a xONE5)

I think because the OP avoids ASIA that he should be able to get away with a DONE4. Ie. OZ/NA/EUROPE/AFRICA.

Also, I have seen suggestions that RTW tickets should be booked with AA rather than Qantas. If I do this, will I get teh US$ price quoted on teh OneWorld web site, or is the currency determined by which country the trip starts in? I have also read that AA offers lower taxes than Qantas. Is there any point me trying my local travel agent to get them to quote on AA ticketing, or should I call AA direct?

Definitely, AA don't charge fuel fines for all the sectors except for the trans pac and trans atlantic whereas QF will hit you for all of them. As Evan mentions, as long as the ticket is ticketed in Oz, then you will pay the Oz price which is about $10,500 + taxes at the moment.

Also, from what I can see on the AA web site, there aren't any business class seats on domestic US flights. What happens to business class RTW ticket holders, do we just get economy seats and SP? Are there any US routes that offer business class?

Acutally, it's even better. On the flights where only Economy and First are offered within North America, you will be seated in First Class and will earn First Class points and SC's. The problems with your itinerary is that one of the flights is on American Eagle which are all economy flights so you will be stuck in Economy. IIRC, JFK-BOS is an AA Eagle flights


Also, from the itinerary would I be right in saying that you're not overally concerned about maxxing out the routing and taking unnecessary flights? You could think about flying back to LAX from IAD and then onto LHR for a few extra miles and SC's and still keep it at 16 segments which is an eticket.

 

[Evan]

I think because the OP avoids ASIA that he should be able to get away with a DONE4. Ie. OZ/NA/EUROPE/AFRICA.

Very good point was not paying that much attention to the actual routeing, thats not so easy to avoid Asia.

Of course buying tickets Ex-Japan etc is cheaper but then you will include Asia so a DONE5. (Also Ex Japan DONE5 is not as good value as DONE4 i dont think) Only other option would be ex Muritias, but then you would want to fly F rather than J since the J fare ex Muritias is not as good value. And you need to get too and from there which is not such an easy task and means you need to do Aust-JNB twice.

E

 

[Dave Noble]

We will aim to select a BA flight from the US to LHR, since from the AA web site, AA doesn't offer sleeper seats across teh Atlantic, but BA does? Is this correct?

No it isn't quite correct. All 763s of AA are equipped with sleeper seats plus some of the 777s have been converted; personally for the transatlantic flight , if your itinerary has some flexibility, arrange it so that you take one of AA day services ex ORD,BOS or JFK and avoid the overnight altogether.

Rather than not get status at all, I would suggest that the AA Platinum challenge might be a good choice since this will get you Sapphire status and a decent mileage earning with 100% bonus miles on most flights; do SYD-LAX on the AA flight number and that flight on its own will complete the challenge for you

Also, from what I can see on the AA web site, there aren't any business class seats on domestic US flights. What happens to business class RTW ticket holders, do we just get economy seats and SP? Are there any US routes that offer business class?

There are a few 3 class services such a LAX-JFK ; on the 2 class services , you can book in 1st class (A) on domestic 2 class services

Also, I have seen suggestions that RTW tickets should be booked with AA rather than Qantas. If I do this, will I get teh US$ price quoted on teh OneWorld web site, or is the currency determined by which country the trip starts in? I have also read that AA offers lower taxes than Qantas. Is there any point me trying my local travel agent to get them to quote on AA ticketing, or should I call AA direct?

The "taxes" will be a fair bit lower if you book through AA since the AA fuel surcharges are significantly lower than QFs so you will save a few hundred $ booking through AA. You will still have to pay the Australia price for the ticket

To book, I recommend calling the AA ATW desk rather than using an agent

Dave

 

[serfty]

... Unfortunately, my anniversary is while we are stopped over in Chicago (ORD) for 3 months, early in the trip, so the status points from SYD-LAX won't accrue in the same year as the other long legs, so I won't accrue gold. ...

Maybe not WP, but you'll certainly accrue SG.

It's a DONE4 as there are no Asian segments. The journey could be worth up to 1410 SC's (the AA segments get booked into First Class (A) on 2 class flights) and of those, 260 SCs are earned CBR-SYD-LAX-ORD.

You could go IAD-LAX-LHR rather than IAD-LHR to earn another 150 SC's making it 1560. That leaves you another 100 SC's to get in the year to earn WP.

 

[littl_flier]

And you need to get too and from there which is not such an easy task and means you need to do Aust-JNB twice.

Actually, while we're there. What's the policy on not flying the last segment of an xONEx? For example, if a DONE4 was purchased ex. NRT and the last segment was SYD-NRT, could one just not fly that sector (because of the cost of returning) or would there be all sorts of issues?

 

[Dave Noble]

Actually, while we're there. What's the policy on not flying the last segment of an xONEx? For example, if a DONE4 was purchased ex. NRT and the last segment was SYD-NRT, could one just not fly that sector (because of the cost of returning) or would there be all sorts of issues?

A throwaway ticket isn't likely to cause much problem

Dave

 

[serfty]

... You could go IAD-LAX-LHR rather than IAD-LHR to earn another 150 SC's making it 1560. That leaves you another 100 SC's to get in the year to earn WP.

You could earn these by doing SYD-PER-ADL-CBR rather than SYD-CBR at the end of the trip.

 

[serfty]

Actually, while we're there. What's the policy on not flying the last segment of an xONEx? ...

Conceivably the issuing airline could re cost the ticket as a series of one-way J and (F for AA) fares for those segments travelled, add this together, subtract the cost of the DONE4 and charge the PAX any difference.

In practice there are few (if any) reports on FT/AFF of this ever happening in relation to xONEx's.

 

[dot]

...We want to visit the Grand Canyon and do some sightseeing in the US before stopping off in S Africa on the way back to Oz.

Using the Oneworld trip planner, our proposed itinerary at the moment is:

CBR-SYD-LAX; LAX-ORD; ORD-PHX; PHX-ORD-JFK; JFK-BOS; BOS (land)IAD; IAD-LHR-MRU; MRU-JNB-WDH; WDH-JNB; JNB-SYD-CBR.

HI Justin2906 - welcome to AFF. If you are going to see the Grand Canyon, wouldnt you be better to head to LAS than PHX? - I may be off with my US geography a bit, but I thought LAS was a lot closer - I presume you plan to drive to the Grand Canyon - or were you planning on driving from LAX - in which case, by not make you itinerary ...-LAX-LAS-ORD-PHX-.... since you are entitled to 6 segments in North America and you are only using 5 including your land segment. Anyway - have fun.

 

[Keith009]

In practice there are few (if any) reports on FT/AFF of this ever happening in relation to xONEx's.

I'd rather not try to find out. :shock:

 

[Dave Noble]

HI Justin2906 - welcome to AFF. If you are going to see the Grand Canyon, wouldnt you be better to head to LAS than PHX? .

Phoenix is closer to the Grand Canyon than Las Vegas

Dave

 

[Ev1dent]

Acutally, it's even better. On the flights where only Economy and First are offered within North America, you will be seated in First Class and will earn First Class points and SC's. The problems with your itinerary is that one of the flights is on American Eagle which are all economy flights so you will be stuck in Economy. IIRC, JFK-BOS is an AA Eagle flights
...
You could think about flying back to LAX from IAD and then onto LHR for a few extra miles and SC's and still keep it at 16 segments which is an eticket.

Thanks little_flier and everyone else for their useful suggestions. Is this correct? I can't find it now, but I thought I read somewehere that where business class isn't available, a DONEx ticket resulted in a economy booking. If it is the case that we will be eligible for first, that's fantastic. I am not that fussed about the JFK-BOS flight since its short - we are starting a Globus bus tour in BOS, ending in IAD and I am not expecting D class leg room on the bus.

I hadn't realised that 16 segments was the limit for an e-ticket - the Qntas and OW web sites had led me to believe we had no choice but to have a paper ticket. Does having an e-ticket make changes easier to make/cheaper since they don't have to re-issue the e-ticket?

Also, I was wondering whether I could do the AA Plat challenge on the trip to the US but then accrue Qantas SC for therest of the itinerary - Qantas gives free QC renewal if I subsequently make gold, whereas AA Platinum doesn't appear to include free club membership.

 

[littl_flier]

Thanks little_flier and everyone else for their useful suggestions. Is this correct? I can't find it now, but I thought I read somewehere that where business class isn't available, a DONEx ticket resulted in a economy booking. If it is the case that we will be eligible for first, that's fantastic.

No problems Justin2906. It's definitely the case that when you fly in the US on AA (an AA only) you will be accomodated into the First Class cabin. It is true that if there is no business class available then you have to travel in Economy, but AA is the exception to the rule.

I hadn't realised that 16 segments was the limit for an e-ticket - the Qntas and OW web sites had led me to believe we had no choice but to have a paper ticket. Does having an e-ticket make changes easier to make/cheaper since they don't have to re-issue the e-ticket?

Actually, they're trying to phase out all etickets completely and unless it's been extended again recently, the deadline for the death of paper tickets is May 31 this year. An eticket will be so much easier so this will be a good bonus for you. Basically, as long as your itinerary is less than or equal to 16 segments including land segments, you are eligible for an eticket. OW have recently limited total segments on xONEx's to 20 and for tickets with 17 to 20 segments, these need to be issued on paper tickets. There has been no word yet from OW what will happen when paper tickets are phased out.

Having an eticket will make changing the tickets a very simple process as it can all be done over the phone. At the moment, a paper tickets requires the holder to turn up to the airline office and have "post it" like notes added to the tickets for date changes etc.

Also, I was wondering whether I could do the AA Plat challenge on the trip to the US but then accrue Qantas SC for therest of the itinerary - Qantas gives free QC renewal if I subsequently make gold, whereas AA Platinum doesn't appear to include free club membership.

Absolutely, there are no restrictions on which FF programs you use for each sector. If you only want to put the SYD-LAX sector to AA, I would recommend adding your QF number to the booking and then changing the number for your SYD-LAX sector at the airport in the lounge/check in desk. Make sure your AA number is then printed along the bottom of your Boarding Pass. This will ensure you don't have flights posting to AA when you want them in QF.

AA Platinum has the same OW benefits as QF Gold which includes lounge access to all OneWorld airlines regardless of the class being flown. The only exception with this is that there is no lounge access when travelling domestically with AA. (ironic hey?)

 

[littl_flier]

No problems Justin2906. It's definitely the case that when you fly in the US on AA (an AA only) you will be accomodated into the First Class cabin. It is true that if there is no business class available then you have to travel in Economy, but AA is the exception to the rule.

Actually, here's what I was looking for. This is from the fare rules on the OW website. http://www.oneworld.com/content/library/oneworld_explorer_13dec2007.pdf

NOTE: For flights where First or Business Class is not offered or available, passengers may travel in a lower Class, in the applicable booking code for that lower Class. The fare for the highest Class used applies, without compensation.

Exception - for services within the USA where no Business Class is offered, Business Class passengers may book and travel in First Class (Booking Code "A"), subject to availability. This provision does not apply on any flight where Business Class exists but is unavailable for booking​

​

.​

 

[Dave Noble]

Also, I was wondering whether I could do the AA Plat challenge on the trip to the US but then accrue Qantas SC for therest of the itinerary - Qantas gives free QC renewal if I subsequently make gold, whereas AA Platinum doesn't appear to include free club membership.

If you really want to , you can. AA Platinum membership will give you OW Sapphire membership which affords lounge access and if you credit all to AA you would just reach renewal level through to Feb 2010 from this trip

Dave

 

[Ev1dent]

A couple of quick suggestions on selecting flights for cabin comfort.

For the LAX-ORD segment, try and pick AA88 as it's scheduled on a 763. There is a very good chance that this will be in the New Generation Business Class (which is a sleeper seat) as opposed to the other flights which are either 757's or MD8X's which will be in a standard seat.

For the IAD-LHR sector, try and pick up BA216 which is scheduled on a 744. BA are also reconfiguring their aircraft with NGBC but at this stage (and by the time you travel) the 777's haven't been started on.

I am considering a few flights leaving LAX in the morning to arrive ORD early afternoon, so no need for a sleeper. Therefore, would you suggest that we avoid AA88 so that we are booked in First and get get teh extra SC, or is the NGBC more spacious than a standard First seat?

The IAD-LHR leg will be in early July (so we can be in the US to see the 4 July celebrations). I presume that the chances of getting a reconfigured 777 will still be low then?

 

[serfty]

I am considering a few flights leaving LAX in the morning to arrive ORD early afternoon, so no need for a sleeper. Therefore, would you suggest that we avoid AA88 so that we are booked in First and get get teh extra SC, or is the NGBC more spacious than a standard First seat? ...

For many posters here, SC's are what it's about. If it's a daytime flight the standard AA First Class seats should suffice - the additional 40 SC's (120 v 80 ) would alleviate any pain.