2016 RTW Planning
Well, the addiction has begun. Once you do one round the world, you gotta do more. I enjoyed my 2015 round the world trip, covering 7 countries in 23 days, but there's always room for improvement. My objectives for the first trip was to get a tasting menu of different countries to decide where to spend more time. This time, my goals were slightly different.
First, I wanted to bring my boyfriend with me. Trips for one are way way easier to plan, but considering how homesick I was at the end of the trip, a little companionship is always a good thing!
Secondly, I wanted to spend a bit more time in specific locations. Given the whirlwind nature of the last trip, this one should be a bit more focused. My boyfriend loves to hike, so something with an outdoorsy vibe was going to be the goal.
Third, I wanted to fly on Etihad again. I can't say enough about how amazing that experience was and couldn't wait to pull it together again.
This was the itinerary that we came up with.
The 2016 Round The World Series
- 2016 RTW Planning
- American Airlines AA73 777-300ER LAX-SYD Business Class Review
- Park Hyatt Sydney Review - The Best Hotel I've Ever Stayed At
- The Milford Track - 5 Day Hike in the South Island of New Zealand
- Emirates EK407 A380-800 AKL-MEL First Class Review
- Intercontinental - Melbourne the Rialto Mini-Review
- Etihad EY461 A380-800 MEL-AUH First Class Review
- Etihad EY103 A380-800 AUH-JFK First Class Review
We'd start in our hometown, flying out from LAX to SYD, spending a few days in Auckland before hitting the "goal" of the trip, which was a five day hike in the south island of New Zealand on the Milford Track. From there, we would head back to Melbourne. There, my boyfriend would head home one way and I would continue on to complete a round the world the other direction.
You could say it's cheating because I barely did anything going the long way around, but it's for the fun of it!
I used the following miles to get there:
| Airline | Departure | Destination | Class | Quantity | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | LAX | SYD | J | 90000 | AA |
| VA | SYD | AKL | Y | - | |
| NZ | AKL | ZQN | Y | - | |
| NZ | ZQN | AKL | Y | - | |
| EK | AKL | MEL | F | - | |
| EY | MEL | AUH | J | 60000 | AA |
| EY | AUH | JFK | J | 90000 | AA |
At this point, I had quite the bank of AA miles and really wanted to make sure they didn't go to waste, thus the "long way around". I should also note that my obsession with round the world flights was not shared by my boyfriend and after Melbourne, he ended up flying home via LAX (on a Qantas 747 in First Class, I'll have you know!)
I also had quite a few paid flights on the shorter hops around Oceania, including a splurge on Emirates First Class, which had a fifth freedom flight from Queenstown to Melbourne.
Planning the trip came with its own challenges, as shopping for two award tickets to Oceania is always difficult, let alone in business or first class. Also, finding award space on Etihad was very difficult as the award flight industry continued to get more competitive.
But all in all, it was a great experience and I enjoyed the journey as much as the destination!
