Four months and 17 airports. Around the World with Star Alliance
Mar 13th, 2011, 09:15 AM
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Four months and 17 airports. Around the World with Star Alliance
We recently returned from a 4 month ‘Round the World’ trip on Star Alliance, and I thought I’d offer a few comments.
We are Canadians who have lived in France for the last 17 years, but still have family in Canada – and in Australia. So, rather than doing two return trips, we decided to start in Canada in late October, and then just keep going – along the way missing the winter, which even though it is much milder in the Dordogne than in Canada, is still worth missing.
We settled fairly quickly on Star Alliance, as we have points with Air Canada, and often fly Lufthansa, which has flights to Toronto and Cape Town, another favourite destination, from Frankfurt – an easy flight for us from Toulouse.
We used ‘Book and Fly’ on their website, which was pretty easy and straightforward http://www.staralliance.com/en/booking/book-and-fly/. Just click on the destinations that interest you, choose flights from the suggested list, and they quote a price. Since we wanted to be in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, principally, after some back and forth, we decided on
Toulouse – Frankfurt –Toronto: Lufthansa
Chicago – Hawaii: United
Hawaii – Auckland: Air New Zealand
(Auckland to Nelson on another Air New Zealand internal flight, not on the Around the World ticket)
Auckland-Sydney: Air New Zealand
Perth-Bangkok: Thai Airways
(More flights not included in the ticket, to Yangon and around Myanmar and back to Bangkok)
Bangkok-Frankfurt-Toulouse: Lufthansa
Also decided that we really wanted to go business class – we ended up with 17 flights, most of them on Star Alliance, some internal ones not included – and didn’t look forward to the really long ones. The whole process was quite easy and not as expensive as we thought – it certainly seemed much less than individually flights to all those places.
Got ourselves organised and decided that despite Business class extra baggage allowance we would go with carry-on only. With all those airports, we didn’t want to hang around waiting for bags all over the world. Plus, we were either staying with friends/family, or doing house exchanges, and so would usually have access to laundry facilities. I didn’t believe we could really do it, but do it we did.
TOULOUSE – FRANKFURT – TORONTO: 28 October. 2010. Lufthansa.
First problem: gearing up to leave on October 28, we ran afoul of French strikers objecting to pension reform. Although they weren’t striking every day, the week before we left they blocked the entrance to the airport at Toulouse. Then they announced that the day we were leaving was a strike day (they have to give prior notice in France, although the blockades were a way to get around this.) Before panic set in, we considered two options: get to the airport a day early or actually leave a day early.
A phone call to Star Alliance revealed one of the peculiarities of this fare – although you can change flight days with no penalty AFTER you leave, you can’t do this before you leave. So, to leave one day early would mean a complete recalculation of that fare, with surcharges, no discount for early booking, etc. It seemed to be heading toward 1,000 Euros for the two of us to leave a day early, and so I stopped before hearing the full extent of the damage.
Option 2; get to the airport a day early. Found an airport hotel within walking distance, just in case there was a blockade of the entrance. We ran around and got last minute details sorted out, established that our friends who were dropping us off on the way to Barcelona were quite happy to get there a day early, and set off. We arrived at noon, and within 5 minutes got a call to say that our next day’s flight was cancelled because of the strike – but that we would be on an earlier flight the same day.
Not a good start to a long journey – an afternoon wandering around the least interesting part of any city, the airport, dinner at our hotel, and up at 5.30 the next morning to walk our luggage over to the terminal. Already we were happy that we had decided on carry-on. Got the flight, waited in the plane at least an hour before takeoff, as the people who weren’t actually striking were going slow. Eventually got to Frankfurt, happy that we hadn’t taken the later flight, as we would have missed our connection.
At this point I should mention that we have once before flown Business Class with Lufthansa, and vowed never to do it again. On that occasion, virtually everything went wrong, from mix-ups with planes, being kicked out of the Business Lounge because it was closing (delayed flight) bad food, etc. It seemed that this trip would be a repeat when we discovered that the first Business Lounge we came to was actually closed for renovation – but we could have coffee outside the Lounge! Luckily we discovered we weren’t yet in the correct terminal, and eventually found the Lounge we were looking for, which was open, and quite comfortable. What was surprising - and the only place anywhere on our travels that we discovered this – was that they charge 8 Euros an hour for Internet access. Seems rather cheap when they are giving you free food and drink.
Got on the plane, Airbus A340, which was comfortable, had ‘Pod’ shaped seats, food good. No problems.
TORONTO-CHICAGO-HONOLULU: 7 November 2010. United
Leaving Toronto we took United to Chicago, and then to Honolulu. This was meant to be a highlight, as the Chicago-Honolulu flight had been upgraded to First Class. Big mistake. First of all, very long line-ups to clear Customs and Immigration in Toronto. Probably easier than doing it in Chicago, but still took a long time, even though we were travelling on our Canadian passports, which makes the process faster – but still not fast. Got through to Chicago and our first experience in a long while of a big American airport. Everyone seemed to be eating, presumably because they wouldn’t be fed on their flights. It wasn’t worth searching out the Lounge, as we didn’t have long between flights, but the 40 minutes or so we had was quite enough.
On to our long awaited First Class experience – and a great disappointment. The plane was a Boeing 777, which had seen better days. Comfortable seats, but not pods, acceptable food, but not special. I seem to remember a large slice of breaded chicken and a lot of mashed potatoes. Probably tastier than it sounds, but not up the other airlines we travelled on. The cabin crew were friendly, but again, not what I expected from Business/First Class. No individual entertainment system either. Basically they didn’t have a Business Class on this flight and the First Class was not up to business class on any other airline we used.
Similarly, on leaving Honolulu, we found the Business Class Lounge small and crowded – the least comfortable of any we tried. We did however have priority treatment going through security, and so got sent to the front of the line – not popular with everyone else waiting. Then I got my first experience of the more intensive pat-down. Probably no more fun for the person doing it than the person receiving it. Enough said.
HONOLULU-AUCKLAND (and then Nelson) 12 November 2010. Air New Zealand
And then we found Air New Zealand - if only they flew to more places. I would probably fly anywhere with them. As soon as we boarded the plane (Boeing 767) it was clear that the seats were special Seat expert says it’s one of the best Business Class seats in the world. (http://seatexpert.com/seatmap/29/Air..._%28Suites%29/) Even the ‘Crazy about Rugby’ safety video with the All Blacks was funny, as well as doing the job. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDgWR...feature=relmfu. Plus people were professional, food was wonderful. Before arriving, the purser came around to advise us on how to get to our connecting flight – again something that hardly ever happens. Could happily have stayed on board longer.
Arriving in Auckland, we were connecting to a budget fare Air New Zealand internal flight to Nelson, with a long wait. Since it was a non refundable ticket, I left lots of time in case of delays. We weren’t sure that they would let us into the Business Class lounge in the Domestic Terminal, but decided to try. We were welcomed at the entrance to the Lounge (another first), explained we’d got off the Business Class flight from Honolulu, and were waiting for our flight to Nelson. ‘Let me show you around the Lounge – and you’d probably like a shower after such a long flight.’ She showed us around, we did indeed have showers, had coffee from the barista, along with breakfast, read a bit, checked the Internet, and then took the special back route back to the terminal. All in all a VERY satisfying experience. Far and away the best Business Lounge we were in.
AUCKLAND-SYDNEY: 11 December. Air New Zealand
Leaving Auckland, we spent some time in the Air New Zealand International Lounge, which was also excellent, but didn’t seem as outstanding as the earlier one. Or maybe we weren’t as tired as we’d been earlier. Anyway, took another Boeing 767 to Sydney, and again very happy with everything on board. This time priority service getting through the screening of luggage on arrival.
Other than two short internal flights in Australia (one more than expected, because flooding had closed off the roads) we had a rest from airports. We even took the train across Australia from Sydney to Perth, instead of flying. More expensive but more interesting.
PERTH-BANGKOK 11 February 2011. Thai Airways
Back on our Around the World ticket. Perth to Bangkok – Airbus A330. Everything acceptable, except that it was classed as ‘Non-stop with a technical stop in Phuket.’ I’ve never come across that before, and don’t understand how with a non-stop flight you have to get off, clear Immigration, and then wait in a crowded lounge to get back on. The only thing I remember about the food was something called ‘macaroni’ which was very weird pasta. Nothing memorable.
BANGKOK-FRANKFURT-TOULOUSE . 3 March 2011. Lufthansa
By now we were REALLY tired of airports, having been to Burma (Myanmar) as a side trip, which had entailed another 6 flights. Interesting internal flights, in very small airports, with no real signage – someone just comes in and holds up a sign for the next flight, you all get up and walk to the plane). Just really happy to get to the airport after a long time in Bangkok traffic. It took us longer to get out through Immigration, despite a Priority Line, than it had taken to get in. (Not as long as getting out of Myanmar, but that’s another story) Big, busy Business Class Lounge once we found it, which wasn’t terribly obvious. Then another comfortable flight on a Boeing 747 with lie-flat seats– the first time we’d been on a 747 in a long time. Found ourselves up in the nose of the plane, which was fine. Very good food, good service. And surprisingly even the short flight from Frankfurt to Toulouse had good, and memorable food. (On our previous, unhappy Lufthansa business class flight Toulouse to Frankfurt the flight attendant actually apologized for the food, which was inedible, as they’d had a last minute problem and decided to leave on time rather than wait for the ‘real’ food.)
Finally home again, and now dealing with jet lag and trying to process 4 months of memories. VERY happy we chose Business Class, and wondering how we will go back to the ‘back of the bus.’
We are Canadians who have lived in France for the last 17 years, but still have family in Canada – and in Australia. So, rather than doing two return trips, we decided to start in Canada in late October, and then just keep going – along the way missing the winter, which even though it is much milder in the Dordogne than in Canada, is still worth missing.
We settled fairly quickly on Star Alliance, as we have points with Air Canada, and often fly Lufthansa, which has flights to Toronto and Cape Town, another favourite destination, from Frankfurt – an easy flight for us from Toulouse.
We used ‘Book and Fly’ on their website, which was pretty easy and straightforward http://www.staralliance.com/en/booking/book-and-fly/. Just click on the destinations that interest you, choose flights from the suggested list, and they quote a price. Since we wanted to be in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, principally, after some back and forth, we decided on
Toulouse – Frankfurt –Toronto: Lufthansa
Chicago – Hawaii: United
Hawaii – Auckland: Air New Zealand
(Auckland to Nelson on another Air New Zealand internal flight, not on the Around the World ticket)
Auckland-Sydney: Air New Zealand
Perth-Bangkok: Thai Airways
(More flights not included in the ticket, to Yangon and around Myanmar and back to Bangkok)
Bangkok-Frankfurt-Toulouse: Lufthansa
Also decided that we really wanted to go business class – we ended up with 17 flights, most of them on Star Alliance, some internal ones not included – and didn’t look forward to the really long ones. The whole process was quite easy and not as expensive as we thought – it certainly seemed much less than individually flights to all those places.
Got ourselves organised and decided that despite Business class extra baggage allowance we would go with carry-on only. With all those airports, we didn’t want to hang around waiting for bags all over the world. Plus, we were either staying with friends/family, or doing house exchanges, and so would usually have access to laundry facilities. I didn’t believe we could really do it, but do it we did.
TOULOUSE – FRANKFURT – TORONTO: 28 October. 2010. Lufthansa.
First problem: gearing up to leave on October 28, we ran afoul of French strikers objecting to pension reform. Although they weren’t striking every day, the week before we left they blocked the entrance to the airport at Toulouse. Then they announced that the day we were leaving was a strike day (they have to give prior notice in France, although the blockades were a way to get around this.) Before panic set in, we considered two options: get to the airport a day early or actually leave a day early.
A phone call to Star Alliance revealed one of the peculiarities of this fare – although you can change flight days with no penalty AFTER you leave, you can’t do this before you leave. So, to leave one day early would mean a complete recalculation of that fare, with surcharges, no discount for early booking, etc. It seemed to be heading toward 1,000 Euros for the two of us to leave a day early, and so I stopped before hearing the full extent of the damage.
Option 2; get to the airport a day early. Found an airport hotel within walking distance, just in case there was a blockade of the entrance. We ran around and got last minute details sorted out, established that our friends who were dropping us off on the way to Barcelona were quite happy to get there a day early, and set off. We arrived at noon, and within 5 minutes got a call to say that our next day’s flight was cancelled because of the strike – but that we would be on an earlier flight the same day.
Not a good start to a long journey – an afternoon wandering around the least interesting part of any city, the airport, dinner at our hotel, and up at 5.30 the next morning to walk our luggage over to the terminal. Already we were happy that we had decided on carry-on. Got the flight, waited in the plane at least an hour before takeoff, as the people who weren’t actually striking were going slow. Eventually got to Frankfurt, happy that we hadn’t taken the later flight, as we would have missed our connection.
At this point I should mention that we have once before flown Business Class with Lufthansa, and vowed never to do it again. On that occasion, virtually everything went wrong, from mix-ups with planes, being kicked out of the Business Lounge because it was closing (delayed flight) bad food, etc. It seemed that this trip would be a repeat when we discovered that the first Business Lounge we came to was actually closed for renovation – but we could have coffee outside the Lounge! Luckily we discovered we weren’t yet in the correct terminal, and eventually found the Lounge we were looking for, which was open, and quite comfortable. What was surprising - and the only place anywhere on our travels that we discovered this – was that they charge 8 Euros an hour for Internet access. Seems rather cheap when they are giving you free food and drink.
Got on the plane, Airbus A340, which was comfortable, had ‘Pod’ shaped seats, food good. No problems.
TORONTO-CHICAGO-HONOLULU: 7 November 2010. United
Leaving Toronto we took United to Chicago, and then to Honolulu. This was meant to be a highlight, as the Chicago-Honolulu flight had been upgraded to First Class. Big mistake. First of all, very long line-ups to clear Customs and Immigration in Toronto. Probably easier than doing it in Chicago, but still took a long time, even though we were travelling on our Canadian passports, which makes the process faster – but still not fast. Got through to Chicago and our first experience in a long while of a big American airport. Everyone seemed to be eating, presumably because they wouldn’t be fed on their flights. It wasn’t worth searching out the Lounge, as we didn’t have long between flights, but the 40 minutes or so we had was quite enough.
On to our long awaited First Class experience – and a great disappointment. The plane was a Boeing 777, which had seen better days. Comfortable seats, but not pods, acceptable food, but not special. I seem to remember a large slice of breaded chicken and a lot of mashed potatoes. Probably tastier than it sounds, but not up the other airlines we travelled on. The cabin crew were friendly, but again, not what I expected from Business/First Class. No individual entertainment system either. Basically they didn’t have a Business Class on this flight and the First Class was not up to business class on any other airline we used.
Similarly, on leaving Honolulu, we found the Business Class Lounge small and crowded – the least comfortable of any we tried. We did however have priority treatment going through security, and so got sent to the front of the line – not popular with everyone else waiting. Then I got my first experience of the more intensive pat-down. Probably no more fun for the person doing it than the person receiving it. Enough said.
HONOLULU-AUCKLAND (and then Nelson) 12 November 2010. Air New Zealand
And then we found Air New Zealand - if only they flew to more places. I would probably fly anywhere with them. As soon as we boarded the plane (Boeing 767) it was clear that the seats were special Seat expert says it’s one of the best Business Class seats in the world. (http://seatexpert.com/seatmap/29/Air..._%28Suites%29/) Even the ‘Crazy about Rugby’ safety video with the All Blacks was funny, as well as doing the job. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDgWR...feature=relmfu. Plus people were professional, food was wonderful. Before arriving, the purser came around to advise us on how to get to our connecting flight – again something that hardly ever happens. Could happily have stayed on board longer.
Arriving in Auckland, we were connecting to a budget fare Air New Zealand internal flight to Nelson, with a long wait. Since it was a non refundable ticket, I left lots of time in case of delays. We weren’t sure that they would let us into the Business Class lounge in the Domestic Terminal, but decided to try. We were welcomed at the entrance to the Lounge (another first), explained we’d got off the Business Class flight from Honolulu, and were waiting for our flight to Nelson. ‘Let me show you around the Lounge – and you’d probably like a shower after such a long flight.’ She showed us around, we did indeed have showers, had coffee from the barista, along with breakfast, read a bit, checked the Internet, and then took the special back route back to the terminal. All in all a VERY satisfying experience. Far and away the best Business Lounge we were in.
AUCKLAND-SYDNEY: 11 December. Air New Zealand
Leaving Auckland, we spent some time in the Air New Zealand International Lounge, which was also excellent, but didn’t seem as outstanding as the earlier one. Or maybe we weren’t as tired as we’d been earlier. Anyway, took another Boeing 767 to Sydney, and again very happy with everything on board. This time priority service getting through the screening of luggage on arrival.
Other than two short internal flights in Australia (one more than expected, because flooding had closed off the roads) we had a rest from airports. We even took the train across Australia from Sydney to Perth, instead of flying. More expensive but more interesting.
PERTH-BANGKOK 11 February 2011. Thai Airways
Back on our Around the World ticket. Perth to Bangkok – Airbus A330. Everything acceptable, except that it was classed as ‘Non-stop with a technical stop in Phuket.’ I’ve never come across that before, and don’t understand how with a non-stop flight you have to get off, clear Immigration, and then wait in a crowded lounge to get back on. The only thing I remember about the food was something called ‘macaroni’ which was very weird pasta. Nothing memorable.
BANGKOK-FRANKFURT-TOULOUSE . 3 March 2011. Lufthansa
By now we were REALLY tired of airports, having been to Burma (Myanmar) as a side trip, which had entailed another 6 flights. Interesting internal flights, in very small airports, with no real signage – someone just comes in and holds up a sign for the next flight, you all get up and walk to the plane). Just really happy to get to the airport after a long time in Bangkok traffic. It took us longer to get out through Immigration, despite a Priority Line, than it had taken to get in. (Not as long as getting out of Myanmar, but that’s another story) Big, busy Business Class Lounge once we found it, which wasn’t terribly obvious. Then another comfortable flight on a Boeing 747 with lie-flat seats– the first time we’d been on a 747 in a long time. Found ourselves up in the nose of the plane, which was fine. Very good food, good service. And surprisingly even the short flight from Frankfurt to Toulouse had good, and memorable food. (On our previous, unhappy Lufthansa business class flight Toulouse to Frankfurt the flight attendant actually apologized for the food, which was inedible, as they’d had a last minute problem and decided to leave on time rather than wait for the ‘real’ food.)
Finally home again, and now dealing with jet lag and trying to process 4 months of memories. VERY happy we chose Business Class, and wondering how we will go back to the ‘back of the bus.’
Mar 13th, 2011, 11:59 AM
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Great report, thanks. I've done several of the Star Alliance RTWs (and a few OneWorlds), and they are good bargains. You pay a decent price, and you can build up huge amounts of FF miles in your account. (Until a few years ago, they were great bargains, but alas prices for RTW tickets have risen dramatically in the past 5-6 years.)
Mar 15th, 2011, 11:10 AM
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Carlux, thanks for this. I have had my eye on Star Alliance RTWs for several years.
About Lufthansa: I have completed seven segments with them since December and am about to do another four on a trip to Istanbul. I have so far been impressed by their professionalism, consistency, and communication. I do wish they had free wireless in their business class lounges, however.
About Lufthansa: I have completed seven segments with them since December and am about to do another four on a trip to Istanbul. I have so far been impressed by their professionalism, consistency, and communication. I do wish they had free wireless in their business class lounges, however.
Mar 16th, 2011, 09:53 AM
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Well, as I said we had people in Canada and in Australia that we wanted to see, and this was one way to do it. Being self-employed/semi-retired means that we had the time to do it. A small inheritance that we decided to spend meant that we could fly business class. And being able to arrange house exchanges really kept the costs down. That really worked for us, using http://www.homeexchange.com/
Mar 16th, 2011, 10:20 AM
#10
Great info - I'm starting to look at a similar trip for next year (we arrived home last night from 3 months away - I think I've waited a respectable amount of time to start planning the next trip!) - we are also Canadians.
We used the Star Alliance Circle Pacific Business Pass about 3 years ago and were happy with it - would you mind saying how much the above travel cost? If you prefer to email it - here is my address
eseibertca AT yahoo DOT ca
We used the Star Alliance Circle Pacific Business Pass about 3 years ago and were happy with it - would you mind saying how much the above travel cost? If you prefer to email it - here is my address
eseibertca AT yahoo DOT ca
Mar 16th, 2011, 11:59 AM
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Elizabeth_S, a Star RTW in business class originating in Canada costs US$11623 plus tax/fuel surcharges, with a maximum of 29,000 miles. (If you bought the same ticket 3 yrs ago, my guess is that you paid considerably less.) You could save about US$800 if you originate in the US.
A great deal of info in available in www.staralliance.com
A great deal of info in available in www.staralliance.com
Mar 16th, 2011, 12:08 PM
#12
Thanks rizzuto - ugh - you are right....it was a lot less in 2007, and there was quite an advantage originating in the US (which is what we did, in fact).
Plan B...I guess....know anything about business class consolidators?
Thanks!
Plan B...I guess....know anything about business class consolidators?
Thanks!
Mar 16th, 2011, 12:34 PM
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We originated in France, booked in June 2010, and paid in Euros - considerably less than $11000 - but the easiest thing is just to input a few itineraries on www.staralliance.com and they will provide an estimate. Our final price didn't differ much from the estimate.
Mar 16th, 2011, 01:18 PM
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Liz and Carlux, I priced a business class RTW of just under 29,000 miles last night, originating and ending in Montreal, and it came out to CDN $14,000-ish. One of the things I noticed is that there are some flights that carry a premium over the quoted business class fare — AC's HKG-YYZ non-stop, for example, was a couple of hundred more than AC's HKG-YVR-YYZ flight. And business class on Singapore's A380 also carried a premium over one of their 777s flying the same route.
It might be cheaper to fly to a different country and start and end there, as rizzuto notes, above. The question then would be, who has the cheapest RTWs?
It might be cheaper to fly to a different country and start and end there, as rizzuto notes, above. The question then would be, who has the cheapest RTWs?
Mar 16th, 2011, 01:23 PM
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It was around 7 years ago I did a round the world with similar stops but with a mix and match of airlines. I paid around 4000 euros for each biz class ticket originating from London but bought in Germany and I used an agent
Mar 16th, 2011, 01:37 PM
#16
The prices for RTWs vary considerably with the country of origin. For example a 29,000 mile business class ticket purchased in France is €6436 (around US$9010) plus tax; the same ticket bought in Canada (but starting and ending in Canada) would be C$10799/US$
EUR 6684 USD 9357 OW
EUR 6684 USD 9357 OW
Mar 16th, 2011, 01:50 PM
#17
..Cripes. Sorry, hit the "submit" button in error.
<B>FODOR'S, PLEASE GIVE US AN EDITING FUNCTION!</B>
(Ignore the EUR/USD numbers at the bottom of the previous, please.)
As I was saying...
the same ticket bought in Canada (but starting and ending in Canada) would be C$10,799/US$11,100. If bought in the US it would be US$10,799. This is using Star Alliance carriers.
The Oneworld equivalent, which is sold based on the number of continents touched, rather than the miles flown, would be around €200 more if bought in France, but around C$/US$500-600 cheaper if bought in Canada or the US.
The Oneworld Explorer ticket (4 continents - Europe, N. America, Australia, Asia) would cost US$7,200 plus tax in business class if bought in Israel or Jordan (both considered "Europe" for these purposes.) These savings can easily exceed the cost of flying to, e.g., Israel, in order to start/end the trip.
I know that's confusing, but as you can see the numbers are significant.
It's also worth noting that planned carefully, a decent RTW itinerary can generate a lot of frequent flyer miles, as well as elite status in one's airline of choice. I do a (Oneworld) RTW every other year on average, which generates enough FF miles for another business-class RTW using miles in the "off" year, which I regard as excellent leverage.
<B>FODOR'S, PLEASE GIVE US AN EDITING FUNCTION!</B>
(Ignore the EUR/USD numbers at the bottom of the previous, please.)
As I was saying...
the same ticket bought in Canada (but starting and ending in Canada) would be C$10,799/US$11,100. If bought in the US it would be US$10,799. This is using Star Alliance carriers.
The Oneworld equivalent, which is sold based on the number of continents touched, rather than the miles flown, would be around €200 more if bought in France, but around C$/US$500-600 cheaper if bought in Canada or the US.
The Oneworld Explorer ticket (4 continents - Europe, N. America, Australia, Asia) would cost US$7,200 plus tax in business class if bought in Israel or Jordan (both considered "Europe" for these purposes.) These savings can easily exceed the cost of flying to, e.g., Israel, in order to start/end the trip.
I know that's confusing, but as you can see the numbers are significant.
It's also worth noting that planned carefully, a decent RTW itinerary can generate a lot of frequent flyer miles, as well as elite status in one's airline of choice. I do a (Oneworld) RTW every other year on average, which generates enough FF miles for another business-class RTW using miles in the "off" year, which I regard as excellent leverage.
Mar 17th, 2011, 03:11 AM
#18
Thanks all for the excellent information - Gardyloo I agree that the extra benefits (status/points) should factor into the decision to buy a RTW --- when we did the Star Alliance CP2 it generated Elite Status on AC the next year and about 40,000 miles - not enough for a Business Class seat although a good contribution towards it.
Which OW airline do you use? I am also a Delta Skymiles member so should probably check out SkyTeam as well.
I'm also considering upgrading to the Amex Platinum card for the free companion seat - checking that out to see if the airlines work for us/value is there, etc.
It should be obvious by now that we have finally exhausted all our Aeroplan points!
AA - we flew home on Tuesday on Lufthansa from Frankfurt - while the cabin crew was great the ground service in Frankfurt was awful. We observed (or were the recipients) 4 different occasions of LH staff yelling at customers. Yikes!!
Which OW airline do you use? I am also a Delta Skymiles member so should probably check out SkyTeam as well.
I'm also considering upgrading to the Amex Platinum card for the free companion seat - checking that out to see if the airlines work for us/value is there, etc.
It should be obvious by now that we have finally exhausted all our Aeroplan points!
AA - we flew home on Tuesday on Lufthansa from Frankfurt - while the cabin crew was great the ground service in Frankfurt was awful. We observed (or were the recipients) 4 different occasions of LH staff yelling at customers. Yikes!!
Mar 17th, 2011, 07:43 AM
#19
<b>Elizabeth_S</b>, I use AA, which I regard as having the best FF program (for my purposes - YMMV.)
Here's the Skyteam RTW page: http://www.skyteam.com/about/product...dtheworld.html Skyteam's prices and rules are quite similar to Star Alliance's - i.e. mileage-based, not continent-based.
The various alliances' RTW products all have their strengths and weaknesses, due largely to their respective members' route structures. Skyteam is quite weak in Australia/NZ service, as well as South America internal flights; Oneworld is weak in Africa and the South Pacific; Star is weak in internal South America and within Australia itself. So choosing a product must be done carefully, and IMO one should plan a route first, then go shopping for the best carrier options to meet that route.
Because all RTWs are limited to a maximum of 16 segments, using them for long or complicated travel often requires that the RTW be used as a "backbone" for long haul flights, supplemented by local carriers - budget airlines, cars, trains, etc. - for the short hops. Using expensive RTW segments to fly from London to Paris is not a good use of the product IMO.
Here's the Skyteam RTW page: http://www.skyteam.com/about/product...dtheworld.html Skyteam's prices and rules are quite similar to Star Alliance's - i.e. mileage-based, not continent-based.
The various alliances' RTW products all have their strengths and weaknesses, due largely to their respective members' route structures. Skyteam is quite weak in Australia/NZ service, as well as South America internal flights; Oneworld is weak in Africa and the South Pacific; Star is weak in internal South America and within Australia itself. So choosing a product must be done carefully, and IMO one should plan a route first, then go shopping for the best carrier options to meet that route.
Because all RTWs are limited to a maximum of 16 segments, using them for long or complicated travel often requires that the RTW be used as a "backbone" for long haul flights, supplemented by local carriers - budget airlines, cars, trains, etc. - for the short hops. Using expensive RTW segments to fly from London to Paris is not a good use of the product IMO.
Mar 17th, 2011, 12:50 PM
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"Because all RTWs are limited to a maximum of 16 segments, using them for long or complicated travel often requires that the RTW be used as a "backbone" for long haul flights, supplemented by local carriers"
That's what we found. Why we ended up taking budget Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Nelson, other budget flights from Sydney to Byron Bay and back, other options for getting across Australia. But the long haul flights were a good deal on Star Alliance.
That's what we found. Why we ended up taking budget Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Nelson, other budget flights from Sydney to Byron Bay and back, other options for getting across Australia. But the long haul flights were a good deal on Star Alliance.
