Round the world planner - The Great Escapade

Hate starting a new thread for this but can anyone remind me the website which is a RTW planner for VS and SQ etc flights. Its the great escape or something like that I'm sure..

Cheers!

Dean

Title changed by Nottingham Nick 13/8

It's http://www.thegreatescapade.com

Cheers Onionz!

I'll bookmark it from now on. Moderaters please feel free to now cancel this thread..

Dean

Thanks again for this posting...

I was looking for the same thing!

Actually...

I was wondering if anyone knew of this kind of offer for the United States.

Thanks again...

OWEN

Its still not showing the route i want to do, with the carriers I want to use. Thought I would be able to do LHR -> SIN (the arrange my own SIN-KUL etc etc) -> JFK -> LHR.

Its not picking up that you can fly from SIN to JFK because I would be curious how much that RTW trip would cost.

Dean

That's interesting, i hadn't thought of trying out a RTW routing solely via SQ and VS using a Great Escapade ticket. The SIN-JFK is very new, so perhaps thats why you can't select it[?]

Or, judging by what the Great Circle Mapper is showing as the shortest route, the SIN-JFK portion is over the Arctic, so your itinerary won't include a Pacific crossing as is required. Thus the online tool doesn't allow it.

hi all - I've been lurking a whille - great forum you've got here.

I'm off on a great escapade ticket later this year, you can do the EWK-SIN flight, but it doesn't show on the planner as its too new. Its a $100 supplement which is good value considering the seats are all a form of premium - there's no true economy, only 'exec economy' 2-3-2 vs normal 3-4-3. There's even apparently a little snack/bar area for exec economy. It counts as 9000 miles of your 29000 mile great escapade allowance.

Total fare in economy for great escapade is around £1100 (varies a bit by departure date) with £275 to upgrade a virgin flight to PE, and £150 of taxes. Business/upper is £3300 in all seasons.

Our routing is LHR-EWK (PE), EWK-SIN, SIN-MEL, MEL-KUL (via SIN), KUL-LHR (via SIN). Gets us about 28,000 miles and 11-13 TPs depending on how they calculate some flights (ie whether MEL-KUL via SIN counts as 2 flights or one - anyone know?). Unfortunately it breaks across my year end so I'll probably get booted down to red next year.

Strikes me as a great way to collect a lot of miles & TPs on a US trip if you have time to continue the long way. In upper, you could probably get c. 20 TPs and 60k miles all for an upper class return to NY.

Aardvarkdave: Hi and welcome to the forum. Thanks for sharing the info about the Great Escapade ticket - i'd like to give that flight from SIN to EWR a try simply to know what 18 hours on an aircraft feels like - probably quite tiring, and possibly uncomfortable if not in business, but still an exciting trip i think.

The website http://www.nonstop2newyork.com is very interesting. For the EWR-SIN journeys, you arrive TWO days after you started [8D], although it's cheating a bit because it takes off at about 11pm.

quote:Originally posted by aardvarkdave
.
Our routing is LHR-EWK (PE), EWK-SIN, SIN-MEL, MEL-KUL (via SIN), KUL-LHR (via SIN). Gets us about 28,000 miles and 11-13 TPs depending on how they calculate some flights (ie whether MEL-KUL via SIN counts as 2 flights or one - anyone know?).

TP's as follows
LHR-EWK (PE) 3
EWK-SIN, 2
SIN-MEL, 2
MEL-SIN 2
SIN-KUL 1
KUL-SIN 1
SIN-LHR 2

Total 13

since your paying for your SIN-KUL flights anyway?
you might want to upgrade your SIN-KUL flights to Fist Class as you'll get 8 more TP's than Y..

Two questions about the SIN - NYC. The non stop flight has better seating than the 1stop flight, seems this way according to SQ website. And do the non stop flights fly to EWR whereas the 1stops fly to JFK?

Dean

[Nottingham Nick]

quote:Originally posted by Wolves27
Cheers Onionz!

I'll bookmark it from now on. Moderaters please feel free to now cancel this thread..

Dean

Dean

It is developing into a good thread, so I won't cancel it. I am planning a Great Escapade, so any info anyone has is welcome.

Have changed its title though for ease of future searching.

Nick

quote:Originally posted by Wolves27
Two questions about the SIN - NYC. The non stop flight has better seating than the 1stop flight, seems this way according to SQ website. And do the non stop flights fly to EWR whereas the 1stops fly to JFK?

Dean

Yes on the seating (37" pitch, 2/3/2 config, 20" wide), and also yes on the EWR/JFK. (sorry- I've been calling EWR EWK! sounds like a cartoon character!). IIRC the 1stop goes via frankfurt.

The big difference from a great escapade perspective is that GE (like many RTW tickets) doesn't include a flight across the US, so if you go into the east coast and out of the west coast, you need to get yourself across the US. The real swindle is that overland legs still count against your mileage usage on the 29k budget! Thus previously to fly to SIN you had to transport yourself across america, and carry on from the west coast as the 1stop flight went the wrong way for a great escapade. Without this new flight our routing wouldn't work as going via other places would blow the miles limit.

Jonathan- Thanks for the TP info. Another question: My card expires 12/04. My first 7 points (up to MEL) accrue by end of Nov 04, but the next 6 are in Dec-Mar. If I get another 2 by end of Nov 05 will I get back to Silver? (ie do I lose the first 7 when I roll back to Red and go into a new card year, or is it a rolling year from when you collect TPs?). Unfortunately I was told that you can't upgrade individual sectors within the GE ticket - virgin won't even let me pay extra for UC or use miles, altho' hopefully at the airport they'll be more forgiving.

Thanks for all your help guys - the TP guide is also great (I have read it but couldn't resolve my questions from it!).

Really tempted to try it next May to combine the now legendary SIN -KUL malarkey and a trade show in New York. Great for TP and miles but still coming up as too pricy at the mo, especially with a another USA open jaw later in the summer.

Dean

P.s ooh this is turning into a good thread!

Just curious if anyone knows if this type of ROUND THE WORLD ticket is available for US residents? Thanks in advance!

I know they don't care about your nationality or residency as my wife isn't a UK passport holder. Whether you can start the flight in the US rather than UK I don't know - the terms & conditions are detailed on the great escapade site, and there's lots of them!

[HighFlyer]

With the Great Escapade, i gather you can get TPS and miles for all the flights as you are flying as they are either VS, SQ or ANZ? (all partner airlines) Thats one way to get FC Au for sure!!

Ive been looking at the planner, and for £3300 for a J ticket, its unbelieveable value!!

[HighFlyer]

Ok, this is not fair, the other half and i are seriously thinking of doing a Great Escapade next year now after looking at that link, provided he can get the time off. We would try to fit in a jaunt through Asia, Australia and go home VIA LAX, completing it in four weeks.

So ... can anyone who has done this (or other RTW trips) please share any tips/information they have that a newbie to RTW trips may find useful? Any mistakes made or lessons learned?

Also, are there any restrictions in the T&Cs that are not clear? Such as, if i wanted a particular time flight as i want to make the most of my trip, will i get the same priority as other pax, or are there restrictions on the flights i can take?

I would be interested in the £3300 business ticket, i take it that this covers UC with VS? And does that mean that a Great Escapade ticket holder gets all the same priviledges as a normal business class pax such as lounge access?

Sorry for all the questions[|)], look forward to hearing from some of you soon

quote:Originally posted by HighFlyer


Also, are there any restrictions in the T&Cs that are not clear? Such as, if i wanted a particular time flight as i want to make the most of my trip, will i get the same priority as other pax, or are there restrictions on the flights i can take?

I would be interested in the £3300 business ticket, i take it that this covers UC with VS? And does that mean that a Great Escapade ticket holder gets all the same priviledges as a normal business class pax such as lounge access?

There are loads of T&C's!! the big ones I can remember is only 1 transatlantic and 1 trans asian flight

you need to book your fist flight the rest is open.

You get the same treatment as any other J ticket holder so yeah you get lounge access:D and J Millage & TP!!

You'll have more availability in J too as it doesnt fill as fast as Y

We did a business class Great Escapade last year. You are entitled to all the usual Upper Class stuff, although we did not get the limo transfers. The fare is capacity controlled, so you may need to play with days to get the routing you want -- SQ are particularly bad in this regard (we are just about to book a *Alliance RTW and there is literally no availability LHR-SIN for Feb).

If you are in J then you need to maximise your SQ/VS time, but note that not all SQ planes have their flat beds as yet. If you are routing through Oz/NZ then don't forget that SQ gives you a few more options as well as NZ, and you can also give yourself some flexibility by booking cheap VirginBlue tickets.

BC

[HighFlyer]

Thanks guys!

quote:The fare is capacity controlled, so you may need to play with days to get the routing you want

I was kind of expecting this to be honest! I hope that by booking it early it may allow us to get in early on the flights, unless its the case that we can only book on the flights if there is capacity after full fare paying pax. (anyone know?)

We will only have four weeks so cant afford to play around too much. I would prefer to book on all the flights required and travel on an itenary. I will have to find a travel agent who deals with great Escapades and put all my queries to them i guess.

HighFlyer,
you can book all your flights through flying club give them a call on 0845 074 5678
you can have confirmed flights all the way
VS recommend doing this on some legs as capacity is low..

you can always change them if you need to at no extra cost (except the first leg)

Although you can theoretically book through flying club, I found it impossible. They didn't know the routings, conditions of the ticket or fares (supplements, taxes, etc.) so had to call the fares department and then call you back... which they failed to do 4 times. There was no way you could speak with someone to find out if a particular routing was fell within the conditions or not, you had to submit your route and wait for the call back. I gave up in the end and used a travel agent who was vastly better and no more expensive. I used 'travel nation' (http://www.travel-nation.co.uk - no connection apart from being a satisfied customer).

We confirmed all our flights all the way through, and can change if necessary at no charge (or £10 depending on where/when), but the capacity constraints still hit us for Jan/Feb/Mar next year; we had to move flights around a bit.

[HighFlyer]

Do they deal with the Great Escapade directly then? I didnt think you could book partner airlines through FC? If you can, thats great news! I will call them and enquire! Certainly saves a trip to Travelbag.

My only real concern is not getting on the flights we want, if i can get those booked then im a happy bunny!

Thanks Jonathan

[HighFlyer]

Thanks Dave

I called FC and was told pretty much the same thing.

Good news though, the other half has asked his boss and has been granted the four weeks off work (provided it doesnt clash with anyone else) and as we are planning for June next year we should get first dibbs!!

I guess it will be easier to go and see a TA? We alraedy know what we want and ive worked out a feasible route, i just want to read all of the 'small print' before i give them my dosh! LOL