[Harpoon]

I was having a looksee at the prices of an F or J RTW ticket with OWE.

~$18k for F and ~$15k for J, for 6 continents (I think Y is ~$5)

I don;t travel in eith class very often however I did wonder if surely the extra ~$3K would be well worth it to get the first class?

When you consider the whole package - the F lounges, additional service....everything, do you think that an F RTW ticket seems far better value all things considered? Assuming that one can afford it of course.

I guess the reason for the question is I was a bit surprised how closely priced the F and J RTW tickets are. I was expecting F to be much much more.

What do you think? Do you think the other bonuses besides the in flight service and seat like F lounges and priority checkins make the F RTW actully pretty good value compared to J?

[serfty]

The problem with F bookings is finding enough flights to suit that actually have F on them.

[Dave Noble]

I wouldn't pay an extra $3000

On the itinerary, other than the inter-continent sectors, most of the flights are likely to be 2 class only

Looking at the OW ATW fares (pre-tax) the DONE4 is $10999 and the AONE4 is $15499 , so more like $4,500 extra for 1st class

Dave

[jamesatfish]

I was faced with the same decision back in June for a RTW business trip - normally I'd just book a DONE4 but my wife was joining me on the trip so I thought we'd go the extra bit of luxury and fly F instead. Previously my only F flights were award tickets booked for vacations.

Assuming I could afford to do so I think I'd certainly do the same again the next time I'd pay to fly F.

*Neither my wife or I had WP status (I was Gold and she was Silver, though we're now both 20SCs away from WP for the first time) so access to the First lounges was a pleasant feature. My wife enjoyed a spa treatment in Sydney, and delays to flights in LAX, JFK and LHR all meant that we really took advantage of the benefits of the First lounges in those cities (especially the AA lounges where the Business/Admiral's lounge is like a poor QC with paid drinks). If you're already WP and have access to the First lounges anyway then this is not as much of a selling point for F.

*Rather than fly SFO-LHR (where our business was to where our next stop was) we flew SFO-LAX-JFK-LHR. This enabled us to pick up QF107 LAX-JFK (and hence enjoy the Qantas First service on the US transcon) and then get a BA flight JFK-LHR (again nicer First than AA). Had we flown AA for these longer sectors I agree the value of a First ticket over a Business one would have been reduced.

*After 2 weeks around the world I have developed an addiction for that sweet lolly water they call Dom Perignon. At $270+ a bottle I can't in any way justify drinking that at home, but it flows like water in Qantas First.

*The extra SCs from the trip mean that my wife and I will both make WP for the first time, which will come in handy for future trips (especially future international Business trips where the First lounge access will be very useful).

All in all I think the difference between D and A class was about $4000 per ticket, and for the trip we had I think that was money well spent.

[Harpoon]

Yeah most of your comments kind of go along with my theory James.

- The extra SC's earned to attain WP has to have some sort of value.
- The F lounge access if not already WP again has some value.

Maybe those combined may not be ~$3k but then again you're getting the first class seat on most of your long haul flights, at least across the Pacific and Atlantic at the very least.

I guess it will largely depends on the whole literary and which airlines you can jump on. As you said AA First might diminish the benefits of paying for F compared to QF, CX or BA for example.

And as Dave said, many airlines on domestic sectors only offer 2 classes. So it will depend on what cites one is visiting and who flies to and from them

Thanks for the comments!

[Dave Noble]

Originally Posted by Harpoon

Yeah most of your comments kind of go along with my theory James.

- The extra SC's earned to attain WP has to have some sort of value.
- The F lounge access if not already WP again has some value.

Maybe those combined may not be ~$3k but then again you're getting the first class seat on most of your long haul flights, at least across the Pacific and Atlantic at the very least.

For a 6 Continent fare ( as referred in OP ), it is $13,799 vs 17,799 so is $4000 more expensive rather than $3000. The extra SCs , if collecting to QF, arn't worth much imo since even a DONE6 should easily be able to attain Platinum

Dave

[Leumas]

I agree with Dave, you only really get real F with long-hauls. Even with an AONE6, you're only getting ~6 long-haul flights.

Apart from a couple of locations, the differences between a J lounge and a F lounge isn't that great anyway.

Priority check-in - you get a form of that with J anyway.

SCs - unless you're aiming for LTG ASAP, a DONEx will get you WP easily.

Miles - a dime a dozen nowadays...

Tax and surcharges - Do F pays more than J, like J pays more than Y?

[v8Statesman]

Originally Posted by Leumas

Tax and surcharges - Do F pays more than J, like J pays more than Y?

From places like LHR, The cabin you are in affects the TAX, so yes it can.

[Mal]

Originally Posted by v8Statesman

From places like LHR, The cabin you are in affects the TAX, so yes it can.

For LHR, the tax is the same for J and F. However, if plating (booking) through British Airways, they have different fuel fines for different cabins. Some other airlines also have similar ideas. Qantas (and AA) don't have different fuel fines for different cabins.

My general view on whether F is better than J in this case is dependant on whether you see the difference in price as small or large (ie how much you want to spend), how many long haul flights you have and what particular route you are taking. Generally, the value of F over J is pretty small, but if this is a great holiday away that you want to remember, then F might be more appropriate. The additional $ could also be put towards some very nice hotel upgrades, additional or higher class tours, or expensive once-in-a-blue-moon 3* Michelin type meals. So they are all things to weigh up. Flying is only a small portion of most holidays.

[spiggy_topes]

I've done RTW trips seven or eight times in F using Oneworld in the last two years - and as you say, the difference in price between J and F is surprisingly little, enough so that I managed to get F travel written into my last contract. Typical routing was Brisbane-Hong Kong- London-JFK-LAX-Sydney-Brisbane, F on all legs except the first.

The fancy lounges and priority check-in are nice to have (particularly the showers) but not vital. What made it worthwhile was having a proper flat bed on the long-haul flights (particularly HKG-LHR and LAX-SYD). Providing I'd not overdone it before leaving, I actually got off the plane in London feeling I could do at least a morning's work before jetlag caught up - unlike Y where one emerges from the bowels of the aircraft looking like a particularly disreputable zombie. This might be worth the extra few thousand, depending on why you're traveling.

Another is space and privacy. I'm 6 foot and well built, and found it hard to sleep on recent overnight flights between Hong Kong and Sydney due to the slope on QF's J bed and the cramped environment.

F in the US is really not worth it - it's like QF J on a bad day and they charge you for drinks in the lounge - bit it's nice to escape from the crowds. Long-haul, on the other hand, probably is, especially if you're doing a RTW in two weeks or less. I'll be doing quite a few more RTW flights in the next year and will continue to push for F over J as overall it's worthwhile.