Okay, I am going nuts trying to figure this one out. Maybe someone has some advice.

I need to meet my daughter in Bangkok in mid- August. She'll be vacationing there 8/15-8/22 with boyfriend, then he'll go home and she and I will fly to Delhi for a week before she joins up with her university for semester abroad.

After my week in India , I need to meet husband and younger daughter in Boston for her freshman orientation, then fly home to Honolulu.

So...any ideas on airlines that will do this very short RTW? I have quite a few United miles, but not enough to fly free..just to do some upgrades perhaps.

I will do more research here on the India week..with only 6 days and the August weather, I'm guessing Delhi and Agra (taking the afternoon train, then staying next to Taj?) will be enough.

For now, I'm just trying to book the flights.. The boyfriends flights, my daughters, mine, husband's HNL to Bos, Daughter's HNL to Bos (returning in May 06) all need to intersect at least once. Arrgh!

oops, meant to end with a Thank you in advance!
Lucy

This recent thread has some round-the-world air-ticket info.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34607013

There are RTW tickets within one of three major global airline alliance and there are also non-alliance tickets. Of the three alliances, Star will have the best itinerary because it has Thai Airways for flights into/out of Bangkok. Then you can fly DEL-BOS on Air Canada, Lufthansa, or others...

Rkkwan has given you the info, United/Star Alliance would be the way to go as between Bangkok and Delhi you only have Thai, Indian Airlines and Air India, the Thai flight is daily and they are Star Alliance so that gives you ease of RTW fare.

we use northwest to and from boston..they also go to HI

If you have United miles, remember that you can use points on their partner airlines which include Thai, Singapore, ANA, Asiana and Lufthansa. It is unlikely that your routing will have any direct flights, possibly from Bangkok to Delhi, but other than that, you are looking at connecting flights. As you have long flights on all legs, try to take flights with a minimum number of changes whenever possible; IMO, it is worth paying extra to only have to change once rather than paying a cheaper fare with a lot of connections. A combination of the United and its partner airlines should enable you to get around with as few connecting flights as possible and using points to upgrade when possible.

I think this routing is a case where a good travel agent can probably get you the best fare, but do try United’s website to see what airlines and fares show up.

You most likely to will have to change in Japan to get to Bangkok, as there are few if any non-stops to Bangkok and virtually no flights between Honolulu and other south Asian hub cities like Hong Kong or Singapore.

Going to Boson from Delhi will most likely mean a change in Europe somewhere like Amsterdam or Frankfurt.

Agree that in the heat of June just doing Delhi and Agra at a slow pace is the best idea. Take a lot of rest stops.

This may not meet your RTW objective entirely but may still be worth considering. Thai has just launched a non stop Bangkok NY flight which would probably be very efficient to get you to NY then Boston. In this case u will need to do Bkk-Del-Bkk outside the RTW but the time saving may be worth it plus you can then look at which ever airline schedule works for you.

Sorry - the last bit re airline schedule which works for you is on the Bkk-Delhi-Bkk sector.

If you have Premier or Premier Exec status with United, call your priority reservations number. I have needed complicated international itineraries at times and have done best by calling United directly.

Good luck!

Your post is a little confusing but here's my guess as to the routes you are trying to plan:

For yourself: HNL - BKK - DEL - BOS - HNL

For your older daughter: BKK - DEL

For the boy friend: BKK - HNL

For your husband: HNL - BOS - HNL

For your younger daughter: HNL - BOS

The Star Alliance is the way to go. The easiest way to check flights is to go on United's website. A quick check shows that to go between Bangkok and Honolulu you and the bf will have to connect through Tokyo or Osaka on United, All Nippon or Thai. Thai has a daily direct flight to Delhi. From Delhi, you will connect through Frankfurt on Lufthansa to Boston. United flies between Honolulu and Boston, connecting in Los Angeles.

As for upgrades, you can only upgrade on United, not on Star Alliance partners.

In India, Delhi and Agra will be enough. I suggest hiring a driver for at least one way to take in the Indian "color" - you won't see much from the train. Also consider doing two nights in Agra, seeing the Taj at sunrise, and visiting the abandoned city of Fatephur Sikri about 45 minutes away. You might also have time for Agra Fort. If you do Agra Fort, then you can skip the Red Fort in Delhi as they are architecturely similar. For hotels, Amarvilas is the only way to go in Agra. I highly recommend the Imperial in Delhi.

Check out this link for great information and additional links for Star Alliance around-the-world airfares:
http://www.airtimetable.com/star_all...orld_fares.htm