Circle Pacific
 

I've been researching Circle Pacific fares for a trip to NZ in early 2007. We are fed up with flying economy on long haul and want to go business class this trip. We would like to stopover in Tahiti and also Cook Islands. What is the best way to book this trip? Any ideas on a consolidator(s) that may be cheaper than booking with the airlines or alliances directly? This is high season in NZ so I assume the sooner I book the better?
Thanks! Lin

Really only Air NZ can get you to both the Cooks and Fiji, so you could start by phoning ANZ and ask about their CircPac fares.

Actually, though, many find the circle fares to be inferior value to simple RTWs. Air NZ, for instance, partners not only with Star Alliance carriers, but also with Singapore and Virgin Atlantic in the "Great Escapade" RTW, the prices for which (biz on NZ and SQ, "Upper Class" on VS) are quite competitive with Star circle fares.

Also since ANZ has recently started LHR-HKG service, they now offer a single-carrier RTW (LAX-AKL-HKG-LHR-LAX) that might suit you - just pay for stopovers in the islands as an addon. IIRC they're offering an intro business class fare for the RTW, but not sure (doubt) if it will last through the new year.

But phone Air NZ and ask about both the circle and Escapade products. Also check out http://www.airtimetable.com/ which has links and guides to various unusual RTW or circle products.

Thanks!
Air NZ seems to have a reasonable enough Circle Pacific fare @22,000 miles. I have been looking at the Great Escapade RTW fare online but can't seem to find any info other than departures from UK. Is it available for start in North America, do you know? 'They' seem to like to make things more difficult for Canada, US departures - we tried booking a RTW flight through some friends in Oz a few years ago but the airlines wouldn't let us begin our journey in NA. The fare was much cheaper in Australia.

Yes, the Escapade is available from the US - http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_U...otions/rtw.jsp

SQ likes to keep it pretty secret; Air NZ is somewhat more forthcoming although it always requires talking to someone in NZ, where they don't have ready access (it seems) to N. America pricing. Virgin typically replies to questions with something along the lines of "huh?"

Funny you should say that, Gardyloo. I called Air NZ and was surprised to get a very pleasant Kiwi fellow on the line but I still assumed he was in LA or the like! He had a terrible time getting me a price on the CP fare from US. I was on hold for a good 10-15 minutes while he consulted with two supervisors about the fare. He told me they finally ended up surfing the net to figure it out! They were all very apologetic though and I wasn't in any rush so it was fine! I'm beginning to wonder if the price of the fare is accurate now! I will check your link, thanks! Lin

Topping this to see if there are currently any better deals in business than the Star Alliance circle pacific for combining NZ, OZ and Cooks.

I don't think Escapade is being sold ex-US anymore and in any case, the last time I checked, Escapade was about $2000 more than Star 1 (I'm looking at the 22,000 mile one).

I could consider dropping the Cooks if there are any options under $5000. Thanks!

Forgot to say, I'd be flying ex-LAX.

The Star 22K mile Circle is still the price leader at $4785 - at that level it's cheaper than any straight RTs I can see for most of the time to Oz/NZ.

You might try one of the Asian travel agent bucket shops in the LA area to see if there are any hot deals to SE Asia that could be routed via Oz/NZ, but frankly I'd doubt it.

Thanks, Gardyloo!

Would anyone like to comment on the best Star A business option(s) for a SYD-LAX routing via Asia? I've figured out what I want for the South Pacific portion to SYD and it's a total of 8399 miles, so that leaves me with a 13601 mileage allowance the other direction. I could flip the itinerary around too. I haven't decided which direction I'd like to travel.

I won't have time to stop anywhere in Asia except maybe for 1-2 nights so where I connect isn't all that important to me. My instinct is to go with SQ as a first choice but just checking to see if I'm missing anything.

Also wondering if using SQ, is it worthwhile to pay a surcharge to take A380 service between SYD-SIN or pay a surcharge on any of the SIN-US options. I wouldn't be traveling until next year, so I believe SIN-HKG-SFO will also be A380 and SIN-LAX will be in the all business configuration.

Thanks!

I'm not a Star person, but I was impressed with this report on a Transpac C flight on ANA - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=808462.

You've totally killed my productivity today! :p Now I have to go back and read all of his trip reports.

Patty, how did you figure out the mileage. Are there tools you use when trying to plot out these circle trips?

We are similarly looking at a Business class circle pacific trip for Spring of '09, and I'm having the hardest time figuring out how best to plan this. This site, and flyer talk have been a big help though. If there are other tools, or websites that can help I'd love to know.

china_cat,
I used the calculator on thr Star Alliance site http://www.staralliance.com/en/trave...lculators.html

I'm not sure if there's a similar calculator for Oneworld.

Where are you thinking of stopping?

If you know your exact flight sequence, you can also calculate the miles using a tool like gc.kls2.com

We haven't quite zeroed in on how long we'll have. I was thinking of using 1-world, and going across the South Pacific from Chile

Santiago-Easter Island-Papeete--New Zealand Australia,
and then I haven't figured out the route home. Maybe back through Hawaii. maybe Hong Kong then Vancouver if thats allowed on either plan.
But that circle really only works if we have like 8 weeks to do it, and I think we will have only 4-6. So I have to figure out the best way to get to Australia and back, with keeping the flight legs as short as possible. My husband HATES being on a plane longer than 8 hours, so its difficult.

thanks for both URLs. I tried the Star Alliance tool, but it seems to be incompatible with my browser/flash version/OS or something on this computer. I will try again from home.

OMG CPSTAR1 base fare just went up to $8460 ex-US today! :O

I'd even moved my trip up from spring 2009 to fall 2008 thinking there would be a fare increase coming but I didn't think it would happen this soon and this much of an increase! :((

Time to come up with plan B. I'm all ears if anyone has suggestions.

Now I regret not taking advantage of the DL double mile transfer promo that ended yesterday so I could've been closer to an award on KE as a back up option. <i>Yesterday</i> I didn't foresee a near future need for more miles and was reluctant to pay the fee. Never, never, never pass up the opportunity for cheap miles! #o

<i>OMG CPSTAR1 base fare just went up to $8460 ex-US today!</i>

Which actually makes it more expensive than a CRWSTAR1, the 29K mile Star RTW. Does not augur well for RTW prices I expect.

Oneworld DCIR22 is still $5500 ex-USA, but with different restrictions and no Fiji/Cooks. Still better than a poke in the eye...

Yeah, I spent last night looking for the non-existent OW-operated SYD-NAN service. Why is SYD-NAN grey and not red on the interactive map? Did QF serve this route at some point?

Is my understanding correct that I can have max 4 stopovers in SWP (2 free, 2 additional at $75 each) on the DCIR22?

Can I also stop in Hawaii?

I'm using the desktop timetable. Is there any way to see flights in a weekly format? Right now I'm checking day by day.

Thanks!

Now I'm looking for non-existent ADL-LST flights. All I can find is MEL-LST. Is it me or is the map seriously flawed? :?

Am I correct that I can't use Jetstar?