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?

NAN - I think QF used to fly its own metal there, but not now.

HNL - yes but no doubling back to the mainland, so on to SYD or Japan (or v.v.) I think it can be used in either a &quot;North Pacific&quot; or &quot;South Pacific&quot; crossing, but not both.

Extra segs - yes.

Jetstar - no. I believe QF still has its own metal running to HNL once or twice a week, with Jetstar for the rest.

Is there any historical trend as to how often or what month the Oneworld circle pacific fares increase? How long has DCIR22 been at $5500?

Thanks again!

You can see historic prices by looking at the older Sabre starfiles here: http://www.jeah.net/~markdu/OWFiles/OneCirPac.html

(May need to copy and paste as Fodors doesn't like ~s.)

IIRC it went to $5500 about a year ago. I would treat it as yellow, not green bananas at this point, however.

That's exactly the info I was looking for, thanks!

What's the best way to book, through the AA RTW desk? Is there any advantage to booking via one carrier vs another? Can I assume that availability and/or probability of waitlist clearing is the same regardless of which carrier I book through? Is there a difference in fuel surcharges and overall cost depending on which I carrier I book through? I'm currently looking at LAX-NRT on AA or JL (if I have a choice which one should I go for?) with the rest of the itinerary on QF if that makes any difference.

Assuming I can maximize my mileage, this ticket will earn me 27500 spendable and 33000 elite AAdvantage miles. Any way to maximize it further (I'm AA pot metal currently)? I looked into challenges but with only the LAX-NRT possible on AA metal and no other forseeable AA flights within 90 days, it's not enough for Plat and I'll be Gold anyway, right? Anything I'm missing? Any temporary promos?

I promise this is almost over ;)

BTW I found out that Amex Platinum 2:1 fares for LAX-XXX-SYD are roughly $8650 on CI and $9650 on OZ for 2 pax, though the fare on CI is going up sometime later this week. I'd need to buy the domestic segments though which I priced out around $1600pp in <i>economy</i> which makes it still less attractive than DCIR22. But it might work for 2 people looking just to go to SYD. I didn't look into it far enough to see if the flights connected or if there were forced stopover(s) in TPE or ICN.

Not sure about Circles, but AA tends to charge less for YQ fuel charges than other issuers with RTWs. AA also doesn't nickel and dime you with service charges for re-issues etc.

The challenges are also good on AA codeshares, so if you were to start with an AA code on US &gt; Oz/NZ, you'd land as Plat, get double miles from that point forward (including the qualifying flight) on AA, QF and CX flights, but not JL or BA with their own flight nos.

So base miles plus class of service bonus plus 100% base Plat bonus - enough for a free trip or two by the end of the day.

Meant to add, yes, the AA RTW desk.

So apparently I <i>was</i> missing something! :D

Off to flip my itinerary around.

If my math is correct that means I can earn up to 49500 spendable miles as long as I book AA coded US-OZ/NZ and avoid JL coded (but AA coded/JL operated is OK)? If that's correct, woohoo! ;)

OK since LAX-AKL is just 144 miles shy of making Plat in one flight (and I definitely want double miles on the entire itinerary), I'm now thinking of doing the following:

LAX-HKG(booked under AA code)-CNS(stop)-MEL-DPO(stop)-MEL-ADL(stop)-SYD-WLG(surface)-AKL-LAX

According to the Oneworld itinerary planner, this comes out to 21702 flown miles + 298 for the surface segment = exactly 22000 :D

See any potential problems with my proposed itinerary?

I also applied for the Citi AA business card so I can get double miles on AA purchases (I already have the personal card but I think only the business versions have the double miles feature).

You'll have to pay $75 each for all stopovers greater than 2 in Oz/NZ, including (pretty sure) WLG, which will max you out (max of 2 purchased extra stops per region.) But otherwise it looks okay. Let's hope the RTW desk agrees with the mileage count; AFAIK they allow zilch for &quot;grace&quot; in mileage-based products.

Just to add, a little off topic, that Oneworld is rolling out an on-line RTW booking capability (including autopricing) although it won't include circle products at least initially.

Are you saying the AA RTW desk might compute a different mileage amount than the Oneworld online itinerary planner? If so, is there another site that will give me the same computation as the RTW desk?

If they don't agree, I can try for ADL-<b>MEL</b>-WLG which is 101 miles less. That still keeps me within the max 3 transfers in any one city rule although there's less availability due to the smaller J cabin on the MEL-WLG route.

Should I ask for the challenge before or after I book or does it not matter?

How long will the RTW desk hold an itinerary before ticketing?

Thanks for taking a look at this!

<i>Are you saying the AA RTW desk might compute a different mileage amount than the Oneworld online itinerary planner? If so, is there another site that will give me the same computation as the RTW desk?</i>

They might; I doubt if the difference will be all that great, but asking is free.

<i>If they don't agree, I can try for ADL-MEL-WLG which is 101 miles less. That still keeps me within the max 3 transfers in any one city rule although there's less availability due to the smaller J cabin on the MEL-WLG route.</i>

Cross that bridge when it comes to it. One thing to note in crossing the Tasman is that the daily MEL-AKL QF 25 is in intercontinental configuration (either 744 in 2-class setup or A330) with Skybeds and the whole magilla.

<i>Should I ask for the challenge before or after I book or does it not matter?</i>

You want to have the challenge clock start shortly before the flying starts, so as to leave the greatest latitude. Doesn't sound like it's going to be a big deal in your case, however.

<i>How long will the RTW desk hold an itinerary before ticketing?</i>

I think two weeks but it can be extended. That may be old info, though, subject to any changes initiated by AA in the current turmoil.

Thanks, unfortunately we can't do QF25 as we'll be starting out from KGC (separately ticketed) that morning. I'll give the RTW desk a call later.

AA computation - 21976 :)

Got a 21 day hold and was told any extensions would basically be a cancel and rebook and to check back tomorrow for the total fare including taxes.

Forgot to ask, right now AKL-LAX is booked under AA code. Mileage wise, I believe it doesn't matter whether this last flight is booked as QF or AA, but are there any other possible issues where it might be beneficial to have it booked one way or the other? Thanks!

If you don't need the AA number for the challenge (you'll have enough points by then I assume?) then you might find the QF number makes seat selection easier. Some Oneworld carriers don't offer the same ease of advance seat selection for flights booked under partner codes.

I should have enough points for the challenge with my first flight (that's my goal), right? LAX-HKG = approx 7250 x 1.5 = 10,875. If not, please tell me now!

I'll ask them to change AKL-LAX to the QF number. If that's problematic, I guess I can live with the worst J seat ;)

Thanks again!

Saw this thread cross-referenced elsewhere, so thought I'd add that you can phone AA and they can give you the Amadeus locator, which helps with seat selection and check-in on QF. I don't remember if it's usable by CX or not; they have their own weird IT processes.

Thanks for the clarification on the different systems.