Advice needed- "good value" RTW fare with one or more oneworld carriers?

[Lendav Orav]

Hi all

Does anyone know of a good value round the world fare that uses oneworld carriers (specifically that would give points/SCs to QF FF)? Would be wanting to go to Europe and North America in economy in February. North American destination(s) flexible. Europe need to get to/near Latvia/Estonia (so HEL is fine). DXB stop would also be desirable on the way to Europe. oneworld explorers come in at just over $5k which is a lot when we just really want to go to Europe but via Asia one way and North America the other. It would be possible to do it on oneway fares for less but would be good to get it all in the one booking. I've had a bit of a Google and found this https://www.roundabouttravel.com.au/deals/cathay-pacific-economy-rtw/. They also have an AY fare. Any experiences, good or bad? I'm also curious as to why online agents have these but they don't seem to be bookable on the carriers' websites. I can't find them in expertflyer fare searches either- I assume they are combinations of two return fares. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

LO

 

[Mattg]

One option would be to do a multi-city booking on the Qantas website. You can usually get something like SYD-DXB-LHR-JFK-LAX-SYD (as an example - different cities in Europe/USA, and different Australian departure points are possible) for around $3,000.

Roundabout travel is certainly another option, and in particular the Finnair fare you have found. These fares are special RTW fares offered by various carriers for simple itineraries only. In your case I think it would be perfect. These are offered by various airlines, including Lufthansa and Swiss Air, but I believe only Finnair offers it of the oneworld airlines. You should be able to book the Finnair RTW ticket with any travel agent that's worth their fees.

 

[ausfox]

We used roundabout travel to access a J round the world with AY mostly. Good service and happy to fly AY. Flew QF to HKG then AY into Europe and across to USA. QF from JFK. Goodly points and SC's. Did a bit of an SC crawl while in the USA on AA.

 

[Lendav Orav]

One option would be to do a multi-city booking on the Qantas website. You can usually get something like SYD-DXB-LHR-JFK-LAX-SYD (as an example - different cities in Europe/USA, and different Australian departure points are possible) for around $3,000.

Roundabout travel is certainly another option, and in particular the Finnair fare you have found. These fares are special RTW fares offered by various carriers for simple itineraries only. In your case I think it would be perfect. These are offered by various airlines, including Lufthansa and Swiss Air, but I believe only Finnair offers it of the oneworld airlines. You should be able to book the Finnair RTW ticket with any travel agent that's worth their fees.

Thanks for that- I'd forgotten that you can still do multicity bookings like that on the QF site. Very helpful I'll look into the AY option with Roundabout- it seems like it would suit well. I'm not a fan of AY longhaul in Y though- but it's been a while since I have done that and they may have improved. It was an MD11 last time I did that! I wonder if the booking class for AY would still give QF SCs on that fare. I guess I'll have to call and find out...

 

[Lendav Orav]

We used roundabout travel to access a J round the world with AY mostly. Good service and happy to fly AY. Flew QF to HKG then AY into Europe and across to USA. QF from JFK. Goodly points and SC's. Did a bit of an SC crawl while in the USA on AA.

Thanks! This would just be in Y, sadly. So points and SCs might be quite minimal on AY these days I'd imagine... Still I'd be happy as long as there were some SCs!

 

[maroonone]

I've booked with AY Australia direct RTW in Business which was $6500 so I imagine the Economy fare would be comparably cheaper. Routing is SYD-LAX-JFK (QF flight number full SC earn). JFK-HEL-BCN, BCN-HEL, (AY Full SC) HEL-HKG (AY - Poor SC), HKG-BNE (QF flight number - full SC). Only lose about 100 SC compared if it was done without AY through Asia.

 

[Lendav Orav]

I've booked with AY Australia direct RTW in Business which was $6500 so I imagine the Economy fare would be comparably cheaper. Routing is SYD-LAX-JFK (QF flight number full SC earn). JFK-HEL-BCN, BCN-HEL, (AY Full SC) HEL-HKG (AY - Poor SC), HKG-BNE (QF flight number - full SC). Only lose about 100 SC compared if it was done without AY through Asia.

Thank you! When you say you booked direct, did you call AY or do it online?

 

[maroonone]

Thank you! When you say you booked direct, did you call AY or do it online?

I booked direct by phone - their online multi secctor is worse than QF and that's saying something. I don't believe there is a "tlelephone booking fee".

 

[Lendav Orav]

I booked direct by phone - their online multi secctor is worse than QF and that's saying something. I don't believe there is a "tlelephone booking fee".

Perfect, thanks. Good to know!

 

[kermatu]

I booked direct by phone - their online multi secctor is worse than QF and that's saying something. I don't believe there is a "tlelephone booking fee".

Hard to believe there's worse than QF but I agree - have experienced several that actually are poorer.

Great info on this thread. Thanks for posting.

I wouldn't baulk at all flying long-haul on AY. It's a much more modern fleet now and pretty comfortable.

 

[Lendav Orav]

Hard to believe there's worse than QF but I agree - have experienced several that actually are poorer.

Great info on this thread. Thanks for posting.

I wouldn't baulk at all flying long-haul on AY. It's a much more modern fleet now and pretty comfortable.

Ok thanks for the info. They charge for booze in longhaul Y on some routes though, right? I believe BKK and even JFK?

 

[Basalt]

I've booked with AY Australia direct RTW in Business which was $6500 so I imagine the Economy fare would be comparably cheaper. Routing is SYD-LAX-JFK (QF flight number full SC earn). JFK-HEL-BCN, BCN-HEL, (AY Full SC) HEL-HKG (AY - Poor SC), HKG-BNE (QF flight number - full SC). Only lose about 100 SC compared if it was done without AY through Asia.

Sounds similar to what we want to do next year. How many SC's will your trip be in total? Is every leg Business?
We're looking at MEL-LAX-JFK (MEL-SYD-LAX-JFK if we have to), JFK-HEL-DUS, DUS-HEL, HEL-HKG, HKG-MEL in late 2017.

 

[maroonone]

Sounds similar to what we want to do next year. How many SC's will your trip be in total? Is every leg Business?
We're looking at MEL-LAX-JFK (MEL-SYD-LAX-JFK if we have to), JFK-HEL-DUS, DUS-HEL, HEL-HKG, HKG-MEL in late 2017.

I worked out 800 SC with all legs in Business - had to be a bit flexible +/- 1 day for the Europe to Aus to get the best fare. You can travel through HKG/BKK/SIN but HKG had the best connection time as we are not stopping over. AY may offer Cathay or BA out of Asia which will cost you SCs. I was surprised (and delighted) that the leg to Aus was not on the AY codeshare on QF which would halve SC earn for that leg.

 

[kermatu]

Ok thanks for the info. They charge for booze in longhaul Y on some routes though, right? I believe BKK and even JFK?

Beer and wine are free but spirits have a charge - I think.

 

[RTWtraveler]

We have booked several J flights with Roundabout Travel using the Star Alliance network. Their staff is very helpful.