OW Circle Pacific J - Can it be purchased from someone other than QF

[daysoff]

I have just been introduced to this type of fare (yesterday thanks Alanslegal) . I will be leaving from SYD (I assume thats what you do). I work for a small company so Y is my normal mode although if I can get J for around the same price as the individual flights I may be able to justify it and then also take advantage of the AA F cabins (and SCs) on the USA legs. Because I am in AUS is QF the only option?

I need to be in LA, DFW, NYC and on the way back SIN PER to SYD.

 

[Danger]

I believe the rules are similar in this respect to those for a oneworld Explorer: any oneworld carrier can sell and ticket a Circile Pacific, provided the carrier can be included in the far (so, for example, you probably couldn't ticket one with Iberia or S7). You may, however, encounter difficulty with ticketing with a carrier other than the first carrier used on the itinerary and may need to delicately push.

 

[simongr]

This should be the same as a DONEx fare. I have booked these through AA previously. They do push for the transpac and trans Atlantic segments to be booked on their flight numbers. No real issue unless flying QF and wanting to upgrade using points.

 

[daysoff]

Thanks Danger and simongr - I will shop around. Just looking for the cheapest fare that gives me access to the F in AA internal US legs to max SCs. Its around 12k for QF in J for 26k miles.

 

[Alanslegal]

I'm not very versed in xCIRyy fares where x = cabin class, yy = mileage however for a DCIR26 which is what you have asked, a simple route like SYD-LAX-DFW-JFK-HKG-SIN-PER-SYD will be under the 26K mile limit (24,259 miles according to MM) and should earn 860 SC.

As you can have upto 16 segments, throw in a few extra domestic F flights and you get more SC. Eg. SYD-LAX-LAS-DFW-ORD-JFK-HKG-SIN-PER-SYD and that becomes 950SC and will be under the 26K mile limit.

However the rules says a maximum of two stopovers per region, which will make it difficult given you want to be stopping in Los Angeles, Dallas and New York.

 

[daysoff]

me either clearly I also just read rule 15 that says you cant purchase in another country cheaper than the country of origin so looks like I am stuck with the QF fare? - thanks again

 

[jamesatfish]

If you are planning on taking multiple trips in a 12 month period, and can handle pre-paying for two tickets, you can save money over the long run by booking your first trip ex-AU but the others ex-USA.

For instance, if you plan on making two Business class trips to the US in a 12 month period using DCIR26 fares ex-AU, that'll cost you $22198 AUD plus taxes.

As an alternative you could book one DCIR26 ex-AU and the other ex-USA (ticketed on AA and paid in USD), with the flights overlapping ie:

AU-USA on DCIR #1
USA-AU on DCIR #2
AU-USA on DCIR #2
USA-AU on DCIR #1

Which comes to a rough total of $21562 ($11099 AUD for #1 + $11200 USD = $10463 AUD for #2). Not a huge saving, but if you do this over multiple trips it does add up, especially when our dollar is doing so well against the USD.

Of course the downside is that the first time you do this you need to pay for both trips up front.

Perhaps more usefully you can also use this method to work around some of the Circle Pacific fare rules, such as minimum stays and stopover requirements. An example is if you wanted to do a quick (1 night) trip to the US in First on a paid ticket - a straight return ticket comes to about $28,000 AUD using the Qantas site. Booking two ACIR22 fares (one ex-AU and one ex-USA) comes to about $24,000 AUD, and having the two fares allows you to work around the minimum stay / minimum stopover requirements as well as a significant cost saving over the direct fare.

 

[daysoff]

great stuff - mate its is a science. This is my attempt to finally fly J to the USA.. I am mostly in Y with points upgrades to J when I am able so every $ does count in a small company - I am also looking at all in Y + the USA internals in YUPP - still working through the options to balance comfort, SCs and $. I will do 5 or 6 trips in the next 12 months so I have to get better at this - thanks everyone for your input. I may have further questions, cheers

 

[melbourne rebel]

I start my ACIR26 fares from NZ.

Historically has been a cheaper option than from Australia.

 

[daysoff]

OK so do you start the trip from NZ as well as purchase?

 

[melbourne rebel]

yes to both.

 

[daysoff]

OK so Fly to NZ, purchase , and begin, on which airline in NZ $ ?

 

[Danger]

OK so Fly to NZ, purchase , and begin, on which airline in NZ $ ?

From AKL you could obviously fly with QF. There is also LA (but only to SYD) and CX to HKG. I haven't checked the timetable but you may also be able to fly with JL to NRT. However, I'm guessing you're going to want to get back to Australia, in which case QF and LA are your only options.

On the price front, all the fares were removed from the oneworld website about six weeks ago. However, someone with access to the relevant software or website will post but you're looking at a fair fare (!) saving.

 

[serfty]

Current base D fares:

ex NZ:

DCIR22 NZD 8,799 (~AUD6,930)
DCIR26 NZD10,499 (~AUD8,270)

ex Oz:

DCIR22 AUD 9,299
DCIR26 AUD11,099

 

[daysoff]

Danger thanks again as I say this is all goodness for me still dont understand who to book it with. I am actually sitting the the F lounge waiting for the delyed JQ35 to Melb - I still havent worked out how to book it as QF267 - anyway I am sure someone will know - serfty - now thats looking attractive for a small company - So I need to start in NZ right and book with who QF?

 

[Danger]

I'm fairly sure the Jetstar codeshares can't be booked as QF flights unless they are part of an itinerary that includes a QF flight (ie. QF flight number and metal).

 

[daysoff]

Danger OK tks - well thats good then I dont need to feel stupid when I hand my boarding pass to the F lounge people and sort of half apologise that its not a QF boarding pass ?

 

[piperlance]

How does one find the fares these days? Last time I looked they'd disappeared from the OneWorld site. Have they re-appeared?

 

[tuapekastar]

How does one find the fares these days? Last time I looked they'd disappeared from the OneWorld site. Have they re-appeared?

Nope.

Not sure where serfty got those from but they are certainly available from Expert Flyer (paid), though a little more coughbersome to display and compare than when they were on the oneworld site.

 

[serfty]

How does one find the fares these days? Last time I looked they'd disappeared from the OneWorld site. Have they re-appeared?

I subscribe to Expert Flyer, others to KVS and others have a relationship with someone with access to a GDS.

These return the base fares.