Need help with a DONE3/DONE4 Itinerary

[iqis60]

Hi Everyone, I have a big favour to ask, I'm planning an around the world trip in June/July and I need to sort out an itinerary that maximises QFF status credits earned. I need to get payment into my travel agent by Thursday, so any help you can give would be invaluable.

The plan would be do either a DONE3 or DONE4 out of Korea, depending on which option will work out the best value. I have 92000 QFF points that I can use to get to Korea, but its not enough to get back again when flying via Hong Kong. So the DONE4 option that has a second last hop in Sydney may be the go.

I want to visit friends in Asia, North America and Europe and finish by watching the Tour de France. I plan on traveling light, but bringing a bike along the way.

I was initially thinking of doing South Korea, Manila, Singapore then North America, but my travel agent tells me that I need to transit via Hong Kong on each of those hops, which takes me over the limit for Asia. I was also planing on doing San Fransisco, Portland, then on-wards, but my travel agent tells me that option isn't available on the 10% discount One World fare.

So with all this in mind, my draft itinerary looks like-

South Korea
Hong Kong
Singapore
Hong Kong
San Fransisco
Florida Keys 19/7/09 (Not necessary if it isn't that helpful)
New York 21/7/09
Boston
London
Germany (southern Germany)
Switzerland (might do this by train)
Southern France (Tour stage finishings in Mont Ventox, may go by train) to Paris 25/7/09 Evening
Necessary transit flights
Sydney or South Korea depending on options

The rough time line is one week in Asia, two weeks in North America, one week in London/UK, one week in Southern Germany, two weeks in Switzerland/France (the tour goes through both from Sunday 19/7/09 till 25/7/09).

I'm happy to do extra flights in the US or Europe to maximise Qantas status credits and I would like to exploit the routes that only have an economy and a first service that automatically upgrade to first from business for this purpose.

Obviously, I don't know the rules that well as far as direction and hops in each continent, so your help there would be great too.


So if anyone has time to come up with a modified itinerary that maximises status credits, that would be fantastic.

[Danger]

My first suggestion is to double-check that you can use QFF points to travel to Seoul (ICN). I understand (from elsewhere on this forum) that SYD-ICN cannot be done on points, only a paid fare.

My second suggestion relates to your sectors in Asia. Yes, I think you will go over the limit. If you can, it may pay to fly, say, Sydney to Manila (QF19, can be done with points) and then look for a cheap flight to ICN. Similarly, use points to fly to another Asian destination that you wish to go to and try for a low cost flight from there to ICN. It may also be possible to use your points to fly from wherever in Asia to ICN.

And my third suggestion concerns the DONE3 or DONE4. If my (quick) read was correct, you would like to go through Sydney. My understanding (again, from this forum) is that any itinerary that includes the southern hemisphere is at least a 4 continent fare.

[iqis60]

Hi Danger,
Thanks for the reply. I have basically given up on making it to Manila on this trip, I will just do Singapore.
I am also willing to do a DONE4, as it wouldn't work out much cheaper for me to do a DONE3 and then have to get back to Sydney anyway.

Your right, a classic awards flight to Korea isn't an option, but I can book a Sydney-Hong Kong then Hong Kong-Seoul for 30K+20K points as far as I can see. I have 92K in QFF points and 60K in CBA points that I can use with travel plus, so I will utilise these to get to the start of my journey.

[Hawkeye]

You could do something like the following which would satisfy the basic needs:

ICN-HKG-SIN-HKG-SFO-MIA-JFK-BOS-LHR-FRA-MAD-ORY,CDG-HKG-ICN

It had 14 segments, including the maximum of 4 in Asia.

Note that JFK-BOS will be on an Embraer service so will be Y only. By my quick calculations, it could get you 1150 SC's if you choose to fly a 2-class service MIA-JFK which will net you A, rather than D, SC's (plus A SFO-MIA). You could add an extra couple of segments in NA to get to the limit.

Anyway, gives you something to ponder.

[iqis60]

Thanks for the tips Hawkeye. I'd definately be interested in adding a few more segments in NA to pick up more status credits. I'm starting to think I would be best just to get out of Asia and into North America with as few a hops as possible. I can use so QFF points to do some travelling before or after if necessary.
I have no idea what are the best flights to go for to grab more status credits, other than to choose the routes that only book two classes. Further help there would be great.

[Hawkeye]

OK, how about:

ICN-HKG-SIN-HKG-JFK-ORD-DFW-BOS-MIA-SFO-LHR-FRA-MAD-ORY,CDG-HKG-ICN

Gives you the chance to see Chicago (plus Dallas). Also, the intercontinental flights take you across the continent to maximise earning. You could get ~1530 SC's with this routing by choosng 2-class flights, & there would be no Y travel.

Also remember that you can have only 2 stopovers in continent of origin, so one of the HKG visits will need to be a transit.

[iqis60]

That's starting to look really good Hawkeye. If I did a DONE4 rather than a DONE3 with the plan to do my second last hop in Sydney, would that be better or worse for status credits?

[Hawkeye]

With a bit of re-jigging:

ICN-HKG-SIN-HKG-JFK-DFW-BOS-MIA-SFO-LHR-FRA-HEL-CDG-HKG-SYD-NRT-ICN

This is where the 16 segment limit makes planning tricky. I've dropped ORD from North America, removed the surface segments between the two Paris airports (Orly is a nicer airport to use, and seemed to be closer than CDG), with a trip to Helsinki via Finnair. FRA-BUD-CDG is another option, but I don't think Malev have 2-class flights on those routes.

All in all, you are looking at ~1710 SC's. Keep in mind, once more, the 2 stopover limitation for Asia.

[iqis60]

Thanks again for the help Hawkeye. I should note that the plan would probably be to finish in Sydney and not do the final hops.

I think I'll wait till tomorrow to make my final decision, we can see if anyone else has some good ideas before then.

[iqis60]

I just had another thought. With a DONE4, would I be better off doing the Singapore hop on the way in on frequent flyer points and start in South Korea with a plan to transition straight out of Asia. ie. Seoul-Hong Kong- North America.
If I did that, we could schedule more hops in Australia/Newzealand or elsewhere. I'd only do that if its likely to pull more status credits.