I don't know, but there are a couple of threads on Flyertalk (AA board) that might be helpful.

Maybe a little off-topic, but for anybody seeking Oneworld status, you might want to look at Finnair's FF program. It might be an easier and cheaper route to reach Oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status, one benefit of which is access to Oneworld lounges even on AA domestic flights, which AA's plan doesn't allow.

>> the rules of the Circle Pacific is the need to cross both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

For the oneworld CP ticket the Pacific is divided into two regions and you have to travel via both. I assume the *A rules are same.
oneworld Circle Pacific Explorer 15 DEC 2025

No, the prices aren't seasonal.

Yes, airlines add various surcharges (usually shown as "YQ" or "YR" codes in the fare construction) and it's hard to sort them out before you're ready to pay.

The rule to cross both oceans is an RTW rule, not a Circle Pacific one.

It looks to me that Star's Circle fares aren't much of a bargain compared to their RTW ones; in fact they seem more expensive in many cases.

I can't speak to the availability of first class seats on those carriers. I imagine the FC fare buckets are very limited on some sectors, but that's just a guess.

Finishing another round of flying Star Alliance RTW fare. Previously flew HND-SYD-ZQN break CHC-SFO-SMF in late November to early December. Just now flew SMF-IAH to SCL with return SCL -IAH-SFO for a trip to Santiago and northern Patagonia. Only issues were a 5 hour delay in Houston outbound due to a faulty power module and no Global Entry upon return to the US in Houston. Fortunately the MPC passport AP worked well instead of Global entry. Next SFO probably to Paris in September.

Will a TR of the South America trip be forthcoming?

I see the MPC app can be used by non-US passport holders.
Mobile Passport Control | PHL.org

Looking to purchase another RTW ticket before prices go up any further. We end in Tokyo October 2 and will look to return to LAX for a few days before returning home to SMF. We then plan to fly to Paris or London next May to go to the Dordogne with the whole family to celebrate my wife's birthday. We then plan on going to either Kenya or Tanzania in mid September before heading back to Tokyo on October 2 2027. We prefer flying LH or Brussels air to Africa but might have to use Ethiopian airlines. Plan on putting flights in a itinerary with the idea that we can change dates as the 2027 schedule opens up. Airfares on the RTW have gone up about 40% since I first started looking 2 weeks ago so I think it makes sense to book now since I can always cancel for $150 or change things for $120 plus changes in taxes or fees. Interesting that I am not finding any Turkish airlines flights and I have tried 50 or 60 different ways to/from Africa. TR of Northern Patagonia almost done.

Are you coming back to the US between France and Africa? Presumably that would be on a separate ticket as backtracking over the Atlantic wouldn't be allowed on the RTW.

If you're set on Tanzania, you'll need to decide which airport(s) to use- DAR (Dar es Salaam,) JRO (Kilimanjaro,) or ZNZ (Zanzibar.). Turkish fly to all three; Brussels, Lufthansa and Swiss to one or another, plus Ethiopian and Egyptian, both to one or two of the above. Lufthansa and Swiss both appear to use "leisure" subsidiaries like Edelweiss, so not in the same league as the mainline carriers.

Out of curiosity, where would you go after Africa? It might make a difference in your flight planning.

I'm going to comment on your Africa thread with my views on safaris but of course this is your party.

Edited to add: Given you're talking pretty far out, and since you're already thinking about a reissue at some point to update the plan, you might think about booking a "minimalist" route - just a few stops and flights - to lock in the base price and avoid price increases and new surcharges and fees that might be levied on a more complex route. Nobody knows what's going to happen with airfares or fuel surcharges, but having an existing ticket with a working PNR might be useful months or a year from now.

Having a PNR (probably issued by Lufthansa) would enable you to talk with a human for any changes, rather than a very clunky bit of software.

Correction - Just checked the rules and Edelweiss isn't allowed on RTW tickets.

This year our international travel plans include the Galapagos in May on a separate ticket, then complete our current RTW flights by flying SFO to CDG in September for a few days then fly to Tokyo to finish our RTW trip. We will then fly to Hokkaido for a holiday before returning to Tokyo where we will start another RTW trip to LAX/SMF on October 2.
The travel plan for next year for international is Kyoto in April for a meeting/holiday that I will do on a separate ticket, continue RTW to Dordogne in late May to early June, and Kenya or Tanzania in mid September with ending in Japan on October 2. Plan on going to the Dordogne by either flying into London with separate flights to BOD or CDG with train to Bordeaux. Could fly SFO to TLS. The issues are where to pick up a Lufthansa or Brussels air flight to either JRO/DAR or NBO. Much easier to do via Ethiopian air but would rather fly an European carrier if possible. We will return on our own back from the Dordogne in June and fly back to Europe in September to continue our RTW flights to Africa. I have tried all sorts of airports in Europe to fly to NBO/DAR or JRO but the only airlines I see for business are Lufthansa/ Brussels/ Ethiopian/Cairo/Agean. Swiss only seems to fly to JNB from ZUR. Have not seen any Turkish flights even if I start in Istanbul. Have looked at returning from Africa to Asia without going back through Europe but most options require Ethiopian airlines via ADD. Could fly back to Japan with some combination of SQ/ANA/THA but that requires getting to JNB but that takes 2 flights from either Tanzania or Kenya and most of the whole day.
Am trying to lock in my next RTW as prices have gone up from about 5.5 K to 7.5 K in the last 2 weeks. If prices go down I can always cancel for $150 before starting. I can make changes for $120. I am having no problems with HND-LAX-SMF in October of 2026. Trying random dates into early 2027 for flights onto LHR or CDG or TLS, then random later dates to NBO/JRO to DAR and back to Japan right after Africa. LH/SN (Brussels) seem to fly only on Saturdays and Wednesday to JRO or NBO. Would make adjustments to dates as flight schedules become available.
When you are talking about locking in a ticket are you mostly thinking about getting a PNR with miles in mind? Star Alliance has ticket tranches or <29K/<34k and >39K. My current RTW was 38.111 miles due to flights to NZ and Chile. My next RTW will be less then 32K unless I add in some flights to visit my daughter in Boston etc.
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Lots to unpack there, but quickly, from DAR there's a daily SA flight to Joburg, connecting to a Singapore flight to SIN, then on to Japan.

The problem with DAR is that the only non stops from Europe are KLM and Turkish, and KLM is not Star Alliance and Turkish does not show up on any options on the Star alliance RTW website. NBO to DAR very doable with Kenya air NS outside Star Alliance, then SA to JHB but that would take 2 days. Easier to stay with Star Alliance and do Air Ethiopia via ADD to JHB. JRO to DAR on Precision Air and Tanzania Air which get terrible reviews. Again better probably to go via ADD, Lastly SIN/ANA combination great but much harder to schedule than other flights. Not any cheaper to fly back to Japan via JHB or Europe.

>> Turkish does not show up on any options on the Star alliance RTW website
The TK schedule for IST-DAR ends on April 2.

Couple of things...

It's clear that Turkish not showing up when using the online "book and fly" tool is simply a glitch with the tool, which is almost as buggy as Oneworld's version (a low bar.). Fortunately, since the online tool defaults to Lufthansa to book the ticket and to respond to problems once it's been issued, and since Lufthansa has had the grace to give out an email address where bookings can be handled by. humans. Apparently some Flyertalk people have used this.method to price and book Star RTWs.

[email protected]

I came across a confusing line in the Star RTW rules - https://www.staralliance.com/en/tnc-rtw . It says this: Only one crossing between Europe, Africa/Middle East and Asia is allowed.

Does that mean you can't return to Europe from Africa in order to connect to a flight to Asia? Or does it mean that you can only fly once between Europe OR Africa and Asia? I looked at the rules published on the GDS (via Expert Flyer) for similar language but couldn't find it. This would be a priority enquiry to the Lufthansa email people.

If the former, then Ethiopian is pretty much your only choice unless you opt for the Singapore flights from JNB or CPT.

Good luck and keep planning!

Ther

I am pretty sure the one crossing allowed is between TC2 and TC3 but you can cross within each conference. I am having no problems getting flights from Europe to Africa with return to Europe on the Star alliance website. Turkish not showing up as options probably is just a glitch. Will ask. I would however prefer to fly from Europe to Africa from an airport easier to get to from the US like London or Paris or Frankfurt or Munich or Zurich which all have non stops from SFO. I know Turkish flies SFO to IST but those fares are usually higher and usually require more miles. I can often get business class seats to Europe for 80K. Would not mind flying back from Africa to IST and IST to Japan on Turkish or ANA.

Turkish air flies 737 Max 8 for flights to Eastern Africa so no lie flats . Unfortunate as they leave at about 0300 in the morning. Might be worth a look see if it makes the fare less expensive

Just Booked next RTW. Should have done it 2-3 weeks ago when it was $2000 cheaper per person. HND-LAX-SMF-SFO-CDG-MUC-BRU-JRO-BRU-LHR-HND. The lady I was booking with said I could not fly back to Europe from Africa unless it was as a transit but when she put in the details pricing came out about $150 more than what I figured online on the Star alliance RTW site. I really did not want to fly JRO-BRU-LHR-HND on consecutive flights. This way we have a one night stopover at Hilton T2 and can spend a day or so in London. As an alternate was considering leaving LHR the next morning before the 24 hour stop over rule as we arrive LHR 1005 and there is a 0725 flight to MUC and onto HND. Fortunately we can take the 1700 non stop ANA flight instead. The Lady I booked with did say Turkish airline flights were available if I wanted them and agreed fares had been going up over the last several weeks. Now have 24 hours to purchase tickets on hold United website.

Looks like you got in under the 29,000 mile tier for a CRWSTAR1 fare. Good on ya.

​​​​​It's not taxes that are going up, it's "YQ" surcharges, formerly called "fuel surcharges," which are probably going to be going up further for obvious reasons.

I imagine the extra $150 might be UK Air Passenger Duty, which is not levied on connections through the UK (under 24 hours)but are charged after 24h+ stopovers.

That makes sense as I know that taxes on leaving LHR are high. This RTW fare is slightly more costly than my current RTW fare that is 38,111 miles. I am not convinced the fuel surcharges are fully reflective of the price of a barrel of oil these days. Suspect airfare prices have run to go up further. RT business on UA SFO-TYO now $9130. That's up from $6800 in March.

>> Fortunately we can take the 1700 non stop ANA flight instead.

ANA currently has one daily nonstop LHR-HND at 7PM. It is on a 77W that has THE Room in business class:

ANA Seat Details: B777-300ER (new 212-seat) Business Class|International flights|ANA

Should be nice!

Also, the YQ surcharge could, of course, drop.