Hi everyone, planning a RTW business flight for myself and 3 family memers oct and nov 2020

[Justine01]

Looking to book 4 rtw business flights for travel oct nov 2020. Seems like Finnair offer good deals around feb. Cant book just yet as not all dates released. Itinerary will be adelaide singapore paris or london malaga barcelona then cruise to miami las vegas los angeles then back to Oz. Any tips would be appreciated. Cheers

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome to AFF @Justine01 .

That's a pretty broad question. Yes Finnair are known for their good sales. Lufthansa often have similar good value RTWs.

Also have a look at OneWorld 'Explorer' fare RTW. They give you a bit more flexibility, and more flights, I think.

I think if you use a travel agent agent, you might be able to start booking now, although unless its a very long trip, that may not be an issue.

 

[RooFlyer]

Also, are you a member of any Frequent Flyer programs? With 4 x J RTW, there is some serious points earning possibilities, and while that shouldn't dictate your itinerary, there are ways to optimise.

 

[JohnM]

Will a 'mini' RTW on Finnair work for that itinerary? I think it's required to go through HEL on those, but happy to be proven wrong.

Have you dummied it into the Finnair RTW option on their website using earlier dates to see that it will work?

 

[Himeno]

It depends what sort of RTW you want. There are a number of options (awards, alliance based tickets, airline packages) each with their own pros and cons.

 

[jase05]

Very keen to follow this for ideas as we too are looking for something similar from ADL in Oct/Nov 2020. We are looking at heading to the US and flying in to the West Coast and out of the East Coast or YYV/YUL. At the moment I’ve found some one way fares and pieced them together roughly for what I think is a decent price and I might use some VA or QF points to finish off a leg if required.
A RTW ticket may be more beneficial though.

 

[JohnM]

It depends what sort of RTW you want. There are a number of options (awards, alliance based tickets, airline packages) each with their own pros and cons.

The OP seems to already have the Finnair 'mini' (my shorthand - to distinguish it from a DONEx) RTW in mind. But don't they have to go through HEL? The OP made no mention of HEL as a destination or xHEL.

 

[JohnM]

Very keen to follow this for ideas as we too are looking for something similar from ADL in Oct/Nov 2020. We are looking at heading to the US and flying in to the West Coast and out of the East Coast or YYV/YUL. At the moment I’ve found some one way fares and pieced them together roughly for what I think is a decent price and I might use some VA or QF points to finish off a leg if required.
A RTW ticket may be more beneficial though.

Have you looked here: oneworld to plan, price and book? *A presumably has something similar.

 

[Himeno]

The OP seems to already have the Finnair 'mini' (my shorthand - to distinguish it from a DONEx) RTW in mind. But don't they have to go through HEL? The OP made no mention of HEL as a destination or xHEL.

Yes, Finnair's own 'mini' RTW offer requires transiting via one of AYs Asian ports (often SIN, BKK, HKG or Japan), then into Europe via HEL. Then back via HEL to North America.
It also has an included limit of 1 or 2 stopovers per continent.

 

[jase05]

Have you looked here: oneworld to plan, price and book? *A presumably has something similar.

Yes, the dates aren’t available yet but played around with some others and the pricing is quite steep. The SkyTeam RTW priced at over $10k each. The OW planner kept freezing up so will try again later.

 

[ftm]

With the cruise segment from Europe to North America, you’ll need either a fare that allows that (the Finnair doesn’t) or you’ll need to look at a series of one ways, or a ME airline open jaw (but if you’re finishing in LA, that is a looooooong way home). Your traditional OW and SA round the world fares will be too expensive for you, given the itinerary. They’re not designed for this sort of structure.

 

[kiwitripper64]

In the past, arriving at one airport and departing from another counted as one segment. Ie Barcelona-Miami may count as 1 sector. It was even a rule for the same city, ie Landing at Heathrow with a stopover and then departing London City. Not sure if this is still the case?

 

[JohnM]

In the past, arriving at one airport and departing from another counted as one segment. Ie Barcelona-Miami may count as 1 sector. It was even a rule for the same city, ie Landing at Heathrow with a stopover and then departing London City. Not sure if this is still the case?

It certainly is on an xONEx.

In the distant past going between same city airport pairs (eg. LHR-LGW) did not count as a sector, but that changed quite some years ago. Can be an absolute PITA to lose a sector for the sake of crossing a city.

 

[Himeno]

In the past, arriving at one airport and departing from another counted as one segment. Ie Barcelona-Miami may count as 1 sector. It was even a rule for the same city, ie Landing at Heathrow with a stopover and then departing London City. Not sure if this is still the case?

Yes, surface sectors count as a segment on the ticket as they use a "coupon" on the ticket and there is a limit of 16 coupons allowed on an e-ticket. Prior to e-tickets becoming a requirement, surface sectors still used a coupon, but it didn't matter as there was no limit to the amount of coupons used on a paper ticket.

A BCN-MIA cruise would use a surface segment and would need a ticket that allows intercontinental surface segments. Many don't.