{"id":3535,"date":"2015-09-28T18:12:48","date_gmt":"2015-09-28T22:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointswithcrew.wpengine.com\/?p=3535"},"modified":"2015-09-28T18:12:48","modified_gmt":"2015-09-28T22:12:48","slug":"hows-this-round-the-world-rtw-itinerary-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pointswithacrew.com\/hows-this-round-the-world-rtw-itinerary-look\/","title":{"rendered":"How’s this round-the-world (RTW) itinerary look?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was intrigued by a post by MileValue that I saw on Twitter<\/a> this morning –\u00a0EXAMPLE OF SIX STOP RTW TRIP YOU CAN BOOK FOR $111 PLUS FIVE CREDIT CARD SIGN UPS<\/a>\u00a0(all caps in the original). \u00a0Since my wife and I recently got back from Europe<\/a>, I thought it was about time to start planning our next trip.<\/p>\n

Round the world trip<\/h2>\n

One of the things on my travel bucket list<\/a> is a round the world trip. \u00a0It doesn’t have to be non-stop, but instead I was imagining something with some stopovers so that we could experience 2-3 cities for 2-3 days each.<\/p>\n

My initial thought was to do it in first-class style, by using 100,000 Alaska miles to fly Emirates first class from North America via Dubai to somewhere in Southeast Asia<\/p>\n

Then I’d pick up the award in Asia, using 67,500 American miles to fly Cathay Pacific first class back home. \u00a0Total would be 167,500 miles (per person), plus nominal taxes and fuel surcharges<\/p>\n

Using 100,000 Alaska miles to fly Emirates<\/h2>\n

You can fly from North America to Dubai in Emirates first class for 90,000 miles, but for only another 10,000 miles, you can go all the way to Asia. \u00a0Here’s a screenshot from Airline Route Mapper (one of my Top 10 miles and points tools<\/a>) of the Asia routes from Dubai<\/p>\n

\"dubai-asia-routes\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have not been anywhere in Asia, so I’m open to really any of those destinations. \u00a0I guess my Top 5 would be (in no particular order)<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Bangkok<\/li>\n
  2. Hong Kong<\/li>\n
  3. Seoul<\/li>\n
  4. Tokyo<\/li>\n
  5. Singapore<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    All of those would probably be super interesting and amazing. \u00a0Any suggestions?<\/p>\n

    Heading home using American miles on Cathay Pacific<\/h2>\n

    Cathay Pacific awards from North America to “Asia 2” (Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Saipan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam) are only 67,500 American miles.<\/p>\n

    Cathay Pacific has a very highly-rated First Class service, so they were my thought on the best way to get back home from Asia.<\/p>\n

    The problem booking an Alaska award<\/h2>\n

    One problem I’m having booking an Alaska Airlines award is that you can only use 1 partner (along with Alaska itself). \u00a0Since I live in the Alaska Airlines “dead zone”<\/p>\n

    \"alaska-airlines-checking-offers-route-map\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    I’d pretty much need to get to an Alaska-served airport (likely Chicago, Washington or New York) before flying my Emirates flight. \u00a0Something like<\/p>\n