Help with Swiss RTW fare

[estate]

Hi all,

I'm a long haul novice, so please excuse any dumb questions that may follow.

I've booked a round the world fare with Swiss, through Flight Centre.
My itinerary is currently
SYD-NRT-ZRH-GVA (6 days break)
GVA-LHR (12 days break)
LHR-ZRH-JFK (3 days break)
JFK-SYD.

This is across Xmas and New Year if that's helpful/relevant.

Got a great deal on J class for the above which is nice.

Now, the questions:
I've seen on here people booking round the world fares and including domestic stops in Australia at either end. Is this always possible? A mate in Brisbane is coming with me, so could he tack BNE-SYD flights onto his fare and not pay any extra?

I fly to Brisbane a lot throughout the year, could I also put a SYD-BNE-SYD leg on the end of the trip and not be charged extra (or perhaps a minimal amount), and defer it to a later time?

We're coming back on QF108 from JFK, I understand this has a stopover in LAX. What does that mean exactly? We just land, refuel and take off again? Or will people be getting on and off the plane? If so, do I have to get off or do I just sit and wait onboard?

I'm a QF member, but my friend isn't, can I book his ticket under my membership # so I get the large number of points and status credits on offer? The itinerary lists the Qantas legs (which are SYD-NRT and JFK-SYD) as "Business Class Discounted". Do I still earn the same number of points and SCs as I would if I was paying full-price - ie the amount the Qantas points calculator shows?

Thanks for your help one and all.


In return, if anyone has any questions about CL, as it seems membership even here is relatively rare, I'd be happy to share what I can. My parents have been members for a while and I've often flown with them domestically.

[NM]

I've seen on here people booking round the world fares and including domestic stops in Australia at either end. Is this always possible? A mate in Brisbane is coming with me, so could he tack BNE-SYD flights onto his fare and not pay any extra?

That depends completely on the fare rules. The ones you have seen here will be the OneWorld Explorer fare which allows up to 4 segments and a maximum of 2 stopovers in the continent of origin, but does not permit travel beyond the point of origin. You need to check the fare rules for the fare which you have purchased.

I fly to Brisbane a lot throughout the year, could I also put a SYD-BNE-SYD leg on the end of the trip and not be charged extra (or perhaps a minimal amount), and defer it to a later time?

The answer is almost certainly "No" if the point of origin in SYD or BNE.

We're coming back on QF108 from JFK, I understand this has a stopover in LAX. What does that mean exactly? We just land, refuel and take off again? Or will people be getting on and off the plane? If so, do I have to get off or do I just sit and wait onboard?

You will need to disembark the aircraft, but as its a domestic arrival from a USA port you don't need to clear any security or other formalities.

I'm a QF member, but my friend isn't, can I book his ticket under my membership # so I get the large number of points and status credits on offer? The itinerary lists the Qantas legs (which are SYD-NRT and JFK-SYD) as "Business Class Discounted". Do I still earn the same number of points and SCs as I would if I was paying full-price - ie the amount the Qantas points calculator shows?

No, the membership name and the ticketed name much match.

[estate]

That depends completely on the fare rules. The ones you have seen here will be the OneWorld Explorer fare which allows up to 4 segments and a maximum of 2 stopovers in the continent of origin, but does not permit travel beyond the point of origin. You need to check the fare rules for the fare which you have purchased.

Ah I see. Thanks.

You will need to disembark the aircraft, but as its a domestic arrival from a USA port you don't need to clear any security or other formalities.

So we would clear customs and security etc and "officially" leave America at JFK is that correct? We just hang around in the airport for a couple of hours and then reboard the plane? Or is the first leg considered a full domestic flight and we must clear customs at LAX prior to leaving for SYD?

No, the membership name and the ticketed name much match.

Sorry, should have clarified - I have booked and paid for both tickets, he is refunding me the money personally. Does that change it in any way?

[moa999]

So we would clear customs and security etc and "officially" leave America at JFK is that correct? We just hang around in the airport for a couple of hours and then reboard the plane? Or is the first leg considered a full domestic flight and we must clear customs at LAX prior to leaving for SYD?

Correct. Clear customs/immi at JFK.

Sorry, should have clarified - I have booked and paid for both tickets, he is refunding me the money personally. Does that change it in any way?

Nope. Would be well worth your friend joining QFF to get the points and SCs however, particularly if they can join for free has an overseas member


On your offer for info on the CL lounge.
Would be very interested in the new Sydney CL lounge and how this compares to food/ beverage offerenings in the new Sydney Business lounge.

[NM]

So we would clear customs and security etc and "officially" leave America at JFK is that correct?

The USA does not have a formal immigration and customs process for departing the country. They don't separate domestic and international passengers like we do in Australia. The only departure process is for the check-in agent to collect the green I94W stub that the inbound immigration officer will place in your passport (some staple it into the passport, other don't). So make sure th JFK check-in agent collect the green stub or hand it to the boarding gate attendant when boarding.

We just hang around in the airport for a couple of hours and then reboard the plane? Or is the first leg considered a full domestic flight and we must clear customs at LAX prior to leaving for SYD?

It is a domestic flight. But as I said above, there are no outbound immigration or customs formalities to be undertaken when departing the USA, neither at JFK or LAX. You get off the plane and wait in the terminal for re-boarding to be called.

Sorry, should have clarified - I have booked and paid for both tickets, he is refunding me the money personally. Does that change it in any way?

Makes no different who books the ticket or who pays for it. FF points can only be earned by the member flying on the ticket.

[estate]

They don't separate domestic and international passengers like we do in Australia.

It is a domestic flight. But as I said above, there are no outbound immigration or customs formalities to be undertaken when departing the USA, neither at JFK or LAX. You get off the plane and wait in the terminal for re-boarding to be called.

**Lightbulb moment** Brilliant, thanks for clarifying that, I had no idea they didn't split international and domestic. I think I'm on the same page as you now!

Makes no different who books the ticket or who pays for it. FF points can only be earned by the member flying on the ticket.

Wow I'm surprised at that. When we travelled a lot as a family when I was younger I remember we always ensured we had my father's QF# attached to the booking. Strange.

On your offer for info on the CL lounge.
Would be very interested in the new Sydney CL lounge and how this compares to food/ beverage offerenings in the new Sydney Business lounge.

The new CL lounge is terrific. When you're halfway around the sweep from Virgin terminal to Qantas (so you're looking directly at the very left-hand end of the Qantas terminal), look one story above the roadway - the large room with lights is the CL lounge. Very spacious. There is a relatively small range of food there, but it's all of brilliant quality. Portugese tarts, rare roast beef mini-sandwiches, miniature meat pies, smoked salmon and capers on crackers, that sort of thing. It's always kept fully stocked too, I've often taken the last of something, and go back five minutes later to find there's more there. Turnover is kept high though, they don't put much of anything out, but they keep it replenished.

I'm not much of a drinker myself (especially not while flying) so I can't comment too well on the beverages side of things. But the alcohol looks pretty much all top shelf as you'd expect. The coffee I can comment on, it's very good, and a wide range of tea.
I haven't used the International Business lounge yet but once this Swiss Air trip happens I'll be able to compare apples with apples. Hope that helps. CL has been great for my folks, especially my father, who flies the most - upgrades on domestic flights are not infrequent and he routinely gets earlier flights when going home.

[ozimax]

Recently from a Swiss RTW fare, via BKK - ZUR - LAX - SFO - SYD. Swiss is absolutely cut price, although one step above Lufthansa, which is below cut price.

I would advise you check seatguru.com before flying and try to avoid seats with the entertainment unit in front. There is absolutely no room for your feet if you get stuck with a bad seat. Swiss long haul has the worst seats in the industry, so try and get a good seat if you can.

The flight attendants however are first class, even when not in first class!

Enjoy your trip, and make sure you get plenty of the delicious little Swiss chocolates offered inflight!

[v8Statesman]

Swiss long haul has the worst seats in the industry, so try and get a good seat if you can.

Is this true in J? The OP is traveling J.

[ozimax]

Ah, J should be much better. I was referring to cattle class. A thousand pardons!

[estate]

Thanks for the info ozimax. Regarding the seats, yes I am travelling J all the way so it won't be too bad, but I have read a fair few reviews on skytrax etc and it seems their J is very behind the times and not very comfortable, especially for sleep.

In case anyone's interested - Swiss seem to know this themselves - they are refurbishing their J and F cabins from last month through the next two years. I'm booked on an A340 for NRT-ZRH which will likely be the old seats, but fortunately it's a day-time flight (and I'll be too fascinated looking at northern Russia in winter to sleep). It may actually have been updated by then, as they are upgrading the 340s this year. I've got a brand new A330-300 for ZRH-JFK which will have the nice looking full lie flats - [can't link it for you as I'm sub-10 posts]

I chose my seats with the help of seatguru and my travel agent today - windows forward of the wing and away from toilets/galleys for all flights, and upper deck on the jumbo coming home.

Don't worry, I'll be raiding the chocolate stash all the way there and back!