Knowing I would always find a flight between Nice and Hong Kong (I could have chosen another pivot point in Asia, the following cities also have good US<>Europe connection capabilities Tokyo; Beijing, Shangai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Bangkok, Jakarta) later on (as there are many carriers flying there), I've first focused my searches to book my circle trip around the Pacific.
Using this super flexible search engine (http://matrix.itasoftware.com/), I've entered my destinations: HKG (Hong Kong) > AKL (Auckland) [surface sector] CHC (Christchurch) > MEL (Melbourne) > DFW (Dallas) [surface sector] ATL (Atlanta) > ORD (Chicago) > HKG. The website allows you to select the day of departure in a very flexible way (this day only, +1day; -1day, +/-1day, +/-2days).
This helped me to find a very good bargain, in one ticket, using American Airline as validating carrier (~1500 Eur). It was impossible to find these flight in an online travel agency, thus I've called few brick and mortar Travel Agents around where I live, and was astonished to hear that some of them were collecting 9% of the ticket price just to issue it... I've tried to explain that I know exactly which itinerary I want, what classes etc, and thus it would take them only 5 minutes to book it... a true rip off... Nevertheless, one accepted to issue the ticket for 50 Euros, which would have been affordable.
I was in hurry, and booked my flights on Fiji Airways and American Airline website (more details can be found here.). It cost me more, but at least I've two checked bags on the whole AA ticket (MEL>DFW/ATL>ORD>HKG).
After looking at the distance between Aukland and Christchurch + the price of the ferry between the Northern and Southern island in New Zealand, I've realised, that it was much more convenient to fly above the Tasman sea from AKL, thus I've found an interesting Emirates flight (most of the EK flights to Australia continue to NZ, and with their a380 almost empty, the Dubai based carrier can offer very affordable fares : ~100 Euros for 4 hours in A380, 30 Kg Checked bags and cutting edge IFE system available from gate to gate). I had few miles remaining with Emirates thus I had only to pay ~25Euros for this flight.
My circle trip was booked ! (with already 3 PNRs: FJ, EK and AA)
Using this super flexible search engine (http://matrix.itasoftware.com/), I've entered my destinations: HKG (Hong Kong) > AKL (Auckland) [surface sector] CHC (Christchurch) > MEL (Melbourne) > DFW (Dallas) [surface sector] ATL (Atlanta) > ORD (Chicago) > HKG. The website allows you to select the day of departure in a very flexible way (this day only, +1day; -1day, +/-1day, +/-2days).
This helped me to find a very good bargain, in one ticket, using American Airline as validating carrier (~1500 Eur). It was impossible to find these flight in an online travel agency, thus I've called few brick and mortar Travel Agents around where I live, and was astonished to hear that some of them were collecting 9% of the ticket price just to issue it... I've tried to explain that I know exactly which itinerary I want, what classes etc, and thus it would take them only 5 minutes to book it... a true rip off... Nevertheless, one accepted to issue the ticket for 50 Euros, which would have been affordable.
I was in hurry, and booked my flights on Fiji Airways and American Airline website (more details can be found here.). It cost me more, but at least I've two checked bags on the whole AA ticket (MEL>DFW/ATL>ORD>HKG).
After looking at the distance between Aukland and Christchurch + the price of the ferry between the Northern and Southern island in New Zealand, I've realised, that it was much more convenient to fly above the Tasman sea from AKL, thus I've found an interesting Emirates flight (most of the EK flights to Australia continue to NZ, and with their a380 almost empty, the Dubai based carrier can offer very affordable fares : ~100 Euros for 4 hours in A380, 30 Kg Checked bags and cutting edge IFE system available from gate to gate). I had few miles remaining with Emirates thus I had only to pay ~25Euros for this flight.
My circle trip was booked ! (with already 3 PNRs: FJ, EK and AA)
| The Circle Pacific ! Not proposed by the Pan Am in 1955 (cf earlier post) |
| Origin | Flight details | Destination | ||||||||
| Date | Time (local) | airport code | city name | Airline | Flight number | Duration | Date | Time (local) | airport code | city name |
| 2-Nov | 16h55 | HKG | Hong Kong [Intl - Chek Lap Kok], HK | FJ | 392 | 11h15 | 3-Nov | 8h25 | NAN | Nadi [Intl], FJ |
| Connection 1h20 | ||||||||||
| 3-Nov | 09h45 | NAN | Nadi [Intl], FJ | FJ | 411 | 2h00 | 3-Nov | 12h45 | AKL | Auckland [Intl], NZ |
| New Zealand - Northern Island 5.5 days | ||||||||||
| 9-Nov | 18h50 | AKL | Auckland [Intl], NZ | EK | 407 | 4h00 | 9-Nov | 20h50 | MEL | Melbourne [Tullamarine Intl], Vic, AU |
| Melbourne 36 hours | ||||||||||
| 11-Nov | 11h20 | MEL | Melbourne [Tullamarine Intl], Vic, AU | AA (QF) | 7349 (93) | 14h20 | 11-Nov | 06h45 | LAX | Los Angeles [Intl], CA, US |
| Connection 3h00 | ||||||||||
| 11-Nov | 09h45 | LAX | Los Angeles [Intl], CA, US | AA | 2434 | 3h00 | 11-Nov | 14h45 | DFW | Dallas-Fort Worth [Dallas/Fort Worth Intl], TX, US |
| Dallas to Atlanta 4.5 days | ||||||||||
| 15-Nov | 21h25 | ATL | Atlanta [Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta Intl], GA, US | AA | 3143 | 1h55 | 15-Nov | 22h20 | ORD | Chicago [Chicago O'Hare Intl], IL, US |
| Chicago 36 hours | ||||||||||
| 17-Nov | 10h35 | ORD | Chicago [Chicago O'Hare Intl], IL, US | AA | 289 | 14h30 | 18-Nov | 15h05 | PVG | Shanghai [Pudong Intl], Shanghai, CN |
| Connection 2h20 | ||||||||||
| 18-Nov | 17h25 | PVG | Shanghai [Pudong Intl], Shanghai, CN | KA (CX) | 5369 (369) | 2h50 | 18-Nov | 20h15 | HKG | Hong Kong [Intl - Chek Lap Kok], HK |
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