Best DONE4 thread ?

[Evan]

Hi Guru's

I can't find the best DONE4 thread ? can't even remember if it was FT or AFF.
Tryied google and the search here, and i have read about 30 pages of DONE4 planning now !

Or else anybody want to add there new SC maximised itinery's now that the popular departure is ex NRT for DONE3/4 ?

Looking at prices for my next couple of planned trips to EU/US/AU i am thinking a constructed DONE3 (exclude my AU trips) or a DONE4 could be a cheaper choice than the combined whY flights.
(Plan it to credit to QF)

E

 

[Bundy Bear]

Search by user is another suggestion. QF009 started a thread in FT Trip reports giving some more background.

http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/open-discussion/the-next-done4-planning-thread-9744.html

This is probably the best DONE 4 planning thread I have been reading.

NRT is coming back into favour the AUD = 100 Yen just recently.

 

[Keith009]

I think he's looking for a specific thread in which someone posted the 'best DONE4' in terms of SC-maximising. I too remember such a post but a search has failed to reveal its existence.

Thanks for the mention though, Bundy Bear.

Evan - choice Asian segments for you may be something like NRT-DEL-HKG-KHI-HKG?
And LHR-MCT rather than DXB pushes you into the next SC zone. So maybe HKG-LHR-MCT-LHR-IST-LHR.
Then of course enter America from the West Coast and exit from the East. Also the seasonal DFW-ANC-DFW. You want to avoid LAX-JFK for transcon as it'd book into D given that route is all 3 class.
Will now back off and wait for an actual SC-maximising expert (since I'm firmly in AAdvantage land) to come along to give an actual itinerary.

Hmm someone on FT mentioned DAC as another possible cheap starting point. You could start with a BA flight to LHR, and the rules allow an ex-Bangladesh OWE to end in SIN or BKK. Only wrinkle is that there appears to be no AA contact in Bangladesh, which necessiates enduring the other carriers' nonsense fines.

 

[Platy]

A couple more tips:
- I noticed that at certain times of year it is possible to go from Port Of Spain (POS in Trinidad) to DFW on one flight number enabling a LGW-POS-DFW if you want to visit the southern Caribbean (although the POS-DFW may book as D instead of the favoured A class)
- Similarly sometimes you can go MIA-ANC (plane stops in DFW)
- Now that Jordanian go to Chicago, you can go AMM-ORD for the transatlantic leg, perhaps via Frankfurt (thus FRA-AMM-ORD)
- In Asia one of the better sectors is NRT-SIN (or KUL), but this seems to get very booked up and if you are starting in Japan you can only go through NRT at start and end (thus can't do a NRT-SIN-NRT-KUL-NRT)
- Going in and out of India has a relatively good earn for SCs (eg SYD-BOM-HKG-DEL-NRT), but when I looked at that the connection times aren't that good, so what you gain in SCs/points, you would lose in convenience and/or additional taxi/hotel bills in those places
- In Europe it is harder to maximise SCs. The LHR-MCT-LHR run has already been mentioned, but BA also goes to places llike Ekaterinberg (spelling?). Similarly, look up flights from Helsinki to the Canary Islands if you decide to use Finnair.

Maximising Scs become a little harder with the rule change to land sectors counting to the total of 20.


Final idea is that by going from NRt (Japan) it is eay to split the journey into two and then spread across two QF assessment years:

eg. SYD-NRT (to get started) then something like (this isn't maximised just an example):
NRT-SIN-LHR-MCT-LHR-SFO-MIA-DFW-ANC-DFW-JFK-SYD
break the journey
SYD-CNS-PER-ADL-SYD-BOM-HKG-DEL-NRT
then get back from NRT

 

[NM]

Serfty was the king of optimised DONE4. But the playing field has changed somewhat since he planned and executed his multi-year status earner. His was purchased ex-CMB (Colombo, Sri Lanka) and that is not really an option any more since CX ceased operations to CMB. It was also issued under the prevailing rules at the time which would be invalid under the current rules (specifically around the Australian domestic component).

I think his original itinerary was included in a thread on FT about optimised OneWorld Explorers. But it certainly has been mentioned in many threads. He managed to span two QF FF membership years and attain and retain Platinum Status for both years. It was quite a work of genius, really.

 

[serfty]

Genius?

Not just me, the collective knowledge of FT and AFF was melded into one pot and the routing produced, booked and flown. Note, my trip was optimised for earning SC's under the QFF scheme, not FF points.

Here's the genesis thread (FT): RTW ticket, longest routing's ??.

My trip earned 2360 SC's, it could have been 2400 but I preferred NRT to KHI and DXB to MCT. When combined with other travel I attained WP and retained it the following year. (FWIW, my last two anniversary dates have had 2555 ('06) and 1420 ('05) SC's expire. In 4 weeks I expect to have another 2310 bite the dust.

Actually, this gives me an idea. I may start a FT oneworld forum thread looking for longest routings under the current regime/rules. The addition of carriers (esp. JAL) has expanded the possibilities considerably.

 

[adrian]

NRT is coming back into favour the AUD = 100 Yen just recently.

Yes, but have you noticed they have increased the fair from around 743000 to 780000 yen recently? Still good value though. I purchased one about 2 months ago at 743k (105 jpy = 1 aud), and now need another. Still, I think purchase via Japan will still work out the cheapest option, at a cost of approx A$8000++ instead of the A$7000++ that my last one cost.

 

[Evan]

QF009, that was the one i was refering to

NRT looks the best, somebody also mentioned HKG but at current rates thats $9200 AUD.

DONE3 from NRT did not increase in the recent increases i believe.

Why not use this thread if you have any new rule optimised itinerys then

Going to sit down and figure mine out during the week.

E

 

[NM]

NRT looks the best, somebody also mentioned HKG but at current rates thats $9200 AUD.

With the current movement of the A$ vs US$, its worth looking at ex-USA pricing for the first time that I can ever remember.

 

[Evan]

With the current movement of the A$ vs US$, its worth looking at ex-USA pricing for the first time that I can ever remember.

How would that affect the segments in continent of origin ? ie NA you get 6 normally, but if you depart NA are you then only allowed 2 at the begining and 2 at the end ?

Of course given i am currently in Singapore Aisa makes more sense as a point of departure. And getting to Japan is easy , and on of my stops i want to be KIX (Osaka) so that may be my point of departure, and from there you can get via CX or JL to SIN.

E

 

[serfty]

Beginning an xONEx in N/A you are permitted 2 stopovers. You still have up to 6 segments.

 

[NM]

How would that affect the segments in continent of origin ? ie NA you get 6 normally, but if you depart NA are you then only allowed 2 at the begining and 2 at the end ?

Not sure which rules you are looking at. I have never seen such a restriction for NA. The only restriction for Continent of Origin is a max of two stopovers, and of course you can only have one international departure from, and one international arrival into the country of origin.

 

[Evan]

Can't see the trees for the forest syndrome !

Maybe i need some more sleep ! but hold on i did sleep in and only went to work at 11am ! hmmmm. more coffee !

E

 

[turtlemichael]

With the current movement of the A$ vs US$, its worth looking at ex-USA pricing for the first time that I can ever remember.

Even NZ is attractive now for Australian based flyers. Maybe a little less so than last week when it was just under NZD1.20 to AUD but still good particularly when you take into account cost/convenience of getting to and from AKL vs elsewhere.