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  • *A airpass help?

    Hi all,

    Tried searching for some airpass information help but seems strings like "rtw" and "airpass" give nothing very useful? Was wondering if any of you have experience using any of the *A or OneWorld airpasses, and if they are good value for money vs. buying point to point tickets for travel to only two continents (Europe and Asia). Just doing some research at this stage.

    In the midst of planning a trip next year, which will see me probably start with a SIN-LIS to start the trip, then a massive overland by train and then do a PEK-HIJ [system says direction of travel reverses here??], followed by Japan rail up to Sapporo, then back via CTS-SIN. Quite minimal flying, and I do not mind doing an extra trip or two to make up the minimum mileage required for an airpass if it is cost effective. Seems I am penalised quite heavy mileage for my big overland portion. Would I be better off looking for cheap point to point tickets or another airline group airpass?

    Would this kind of round the world airpasses be more for those who want to do a real SIN-LHR-JFK-NRT-SIN kinda trip instead? Any pros and cons for these airpasses as well? Please advise, thanks!

  • #2
    I have found oneworld Explorers (OW's continent based RTW product) to be exceedingly good value for my needs. Particularly as I bought mine in countries where the fares were comparatively low. But even if I'd bought them ex-MEL they'd still be far better value than if I'd bought point to points One such ticket almost sorts out my entire year's travel needs (even domestic!) as I'd simply break them into a few different trips and use miles to get home in between. It can be a lot of money to pay up front for premium fares, but split over a few trips and it cost no more than doing the trips individually in economy.

    Having said that, I don't think your itinerary qualifies for a RTW per se.

    OW offers a Circle Trip Explorer fare which seems to be more in line with what you need: http://www.oneworld.com/ow/air-trave...-trip-explorer ; your travel can start in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, or the South West Pacific - and you can travel between these regions in a circular direction. The catch is you need to choose at least 3 continents, one of which needs to be Africa.

    *A doesn't seem to offer an equivalent fare.

    Both OW and *A offer Asia air passes. However you can't be a resident of Asia to use them IIRC, and you'd also need intercontinental flights in and out of Asia to qualify for those fares.

    You might be better off with point to point air fares.
    All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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    • #3
      Thanks for that KeithMEL, had a look at the OneWorld option recommended and the price estimate was pretty steep! Looks like I will probably get the point to point tickets instead if I do make this trip, given my requirements. Thanks!

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      • #4
        I think an airpass would probably worked only for your Japan visit. But airpass are only valid if you fly into that region.

        There's a Japan Airpass available offered by both 1W & *A and also JL & NH http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html but at the same time, there's a Japan rail pass as well http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html. Depending on your itinerary, one may work out better than the other

        Having said all that, airpasses may not always be cheaper than point-to-point tickets. Sometimes, one can find really cheap point-to-point tickets if you're flexible with dates and times of flights
        Last edited by 9V-JKL; 22 October 2008, 10:16 AM.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by 9V-JKL View Post
          I think an airpass would probably worked only for your Japan visit. But airpass are only valid if you fly into that region.

          There's a Japan Airpass available offered by both 1W & *A and also JL & NH http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html but at the same time, there's a Japan rail pass as well http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html. Depending on your itinerary, one may work out better than the other

          Having said all that, airpasses may not always be cheaper than point-to-point tickets. Sometimes, one can find really cheap point-to-point tickets if you're flexible with dates and times of flights
          Thanks for that 9V-JKL. I was actually intending to use a Japan Rail pass for the Japan leg of my intended trip, which is why I intend to either fly into or out of Hiroshima and Sapporo (or other North and South cities with major international airports), so I do not have to backtrack. I think the rail experience in itself will be quite a good one, especially if you get to ride on the differing types of Shinkansen.

          Noted about the point to point tickets.

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          • #6
            ANA StarAlliance Japan Airpass http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/general/e/t...l/airpass.html

            1. it says Applicable routes : All domestic ANA routes within Japan. does that include NH3124 13:50-15:25hr CTS-NRT operated by IBEX CRJ (need to connect SQ11 NRT-SIN at 19:00hr on same day). IBEX is codeshare, right? the other flight NH2152 07:50-09:25hr is too early; and trying to avoid Haneda > Narita (typo corrected) train transfer (if flying CTS-HND)

            2. Fare is JPY 11,000 (the website mentioned no consumption tax since connecting in 24hrs). is there any other tax (airport tax?) or fuel surcharges/insurance?
            Last edited by dsim; 2 August 2009, 10:39 AM.

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            • #7
              1. Yes, it'll work.

              2. Yes, there is... well, back in Jan and Feb there was. Was reasonable though.

              How is it possible to do HND-CTS train transfer? Do you mean HND-NRT?

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Kyo View Post
                1. Yes, it'll work.

                2. Yes, there is... well, back in Jan and Feb there was. Was reasonable though.

                How is it possible to do HND-CTS train transfer? Do you mean HND-NRT?
                yea, i meant Haneda -> Narita (typo)

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