Dan Poynter of AirTravelHandbook.com is planning to fly around the world on commercial flights in 2 days.  If everything goes to plan it will take Dan just over 50 hours to fly from Los Angeles to Los Angeles, via Washington, Dubai, Singapore and Taipei.  Strictly, his trip meets the airline definition of an around the world, but not the Guinness World Record definition (since there is no crossing of the equator).

Some people may think Dan is a bit mad, but who am I to talk?  Four years ago I flew around the world on Air New Zealand in under 60 hours - Auckland to Auckland via Los Angeles, London and Hong Kong.  Due to airline schedules I even had time for a side trip to Belfast from London.

Flying to central Asia on an award ticket, an around the world fare or other discounted air fares has long been problematic.  This is because there have been few flights to Central Asia and most of these originate in Europe.  Backtracking between Europe and Asia is not permitted on round the world fares.  Availability of award and discounted paid seats are also relatively low.  Flying to central Asia is becoming easier as more flights to the region are being added, and with a rule change.

In Star Alliance, Asiana provides a Central Asia connection with South Korea through flights to Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan), while various airlines fly from Europe.  In Sky Team, China Southern Airlines now provides flights from China to several cities in Central Asia with Aeroflot providing connections to Europe.  To date Oneworld has no service to central Asia other than on codeshares.

With the pending entry of S7 to Oneworld, the rules for the Oneworld Explorer RTW have been amended to include Central Asia within the Europe continental definition, which means back-tracking is permitted.  S7 flies to all the major cities in Central Asia so these will all be available from later this year.

Sky Team is offering a discounted around the world fare to mark their 10th anniversary.  According to the SkyTeam website this saves up to 30%.  I’m not sure which countries/class of travel this worthwhile level of saving applies to.  Please add a comment if you find some good fares.

There are some significant restrictions – maximum 20k flight miles (except for Kenya origin 22k miles), bookings by 30 September for travel commencing between 15 July and 31 December 2010, a maximum 6 months duration (minimum 10 days), and no more than 5 stopovers.

FTer og alerted me to Oneworld alliance’s change in the baggage allowances for around the world (RTW) and circle fare products.  Up until now they use the piece allowance (because they include North America) which provided for 2 bags in economy/coach and 3 bags in business or first class.  The new rule is 2 bags of checked baggage of up to 23kgs each.

This is yet another example where the pursuit of simplicity (in this case no messing about with different limits set by various airlines) means less is provided.  Other examples in the past few years include the restriction to 16 segments, and removal of city co-terminals.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

Uganda

Source: Ed Wright

There are bus services from all neighbouring countries to Uganda. Airlines flying to Entebbe, Uganda include:

• Star Alliance – Brussels Airlines, EgyptAir, South African, Turkish
• Oneworld – British Airways
• Sky Team – Kenya, KLM
• Other sSelected – Emirates, Ethiopian

TIP Longhaul travel to/from Uganda most likely requires flying through Europe.  There are relatively few flights intra-Africa and none between Asia and Uganda.

TIP The Oneworld continent-based Explorer around the world fare allows back-tracking through Europe from Uganda as an exception (along with Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania). Only one of the transits through Europe can have a stopover.

TIP For awards, Star Alliance offers the most routing options. However on some programs which limit the number of transfers there may be difficulties due to the lack of flights from any major hubs.

Reader Nun recently made the following comment

I’ve been following “How to get to” for a while. One thing I don’t understand is the strict treatment of the term “alliance.” Just because an airline belongs to an alliance doesn’t mean that’s all the partners they have or that’s all the routes they have. It’s often possible to get somewhere in a codeshare. For example, Iberia has lots of IB coded flights which are actually flown by Vueling. Vueling isn’t part of oneworld but the codeshares are. There are lots of examples. Just a thought…

Good question Nun, and of wider relevance than just for the “how to get to” series of posts.  It is true I base the information on the airline operating the flights, not allowing for codeshare or partner flights. There are reasons for this, which I’ll explain below.

What is a codeshare?

A codeshare is where an airline markets a flight but it is actually operated by a different airline. Eg Air New Zealand codeshares on Aircalin flights between Auckland and Noumea, and Aircalin codeshares on Air New Zealand flights on the same route.  There are different types of codeshare agreements between airlines but that is not important for this discussion.

What is a partner flight?

Most frequent flyer programs (FFPs) also partner with some non-alliance airlines. Sometimes this is limited to a specific route, and other times all routes are included. Some FFPs even partner with airlines that are members of a competing alliance.  For the purpose of this discussion a partner flight excludes flights by other airlines within the same alliance.

Why the operating airline matters (codeshares)

Almost all alliance fare products are limited to flights on airlines within the alliance. There are some limited exceptions (such as Oneworld distance based Global Explorer around the world fare). The fare rules require both operating airline and marketing airline to be within the relevant airline alliance.

For mileage earning and redemption the situation is more complicated, as follows:

• intra-alliance codeshare (eg American codeshare on Qantas flights between USA and Australia) – full earning, status earning, award redemption okay
• marketing airline is the airline of the FFP, operating airline is not in the alliance (eg Air NZ codeshare on Aircalin in relation to Airpoints) – full earning, may or may not earn status miles, award redemption okay
• marketing airline is not the airline of the FFP but is another airline within the same alliance, operating airlines is not in the alliance (eg Air NZ codeshare on Aircalin in relation to United Mileage Plus) – in Oneworld generally earn miles and status miles and allow award redemption, in Star Alliance and Sky Team generally non mileage earning and no award redemption
• marketing airline is not in the alliance but is a partner of the FFP, operating airline is in the alliance (eg Aircalin codeshare on Air NZ in relation to Airpoints) - earn miles, may or may not earn status miles, generally allow awards

Why not include partner airline flights?

Partners of one frequent flyer program are not normally also partners of all other frequent flyer programs in the same alliance.  A Flyer Talk thread on Star Alliance partner airlines illustrates – for example Virgin Atlantic is a partner of several Star Alliance airlines, but others are not partners with Virgin Atlantic.

Going back to Nun‘s question. I haven’t included partner airlines in the alliance listings in the “how to get to” series of posts because they are useful only to some frequent flyer programs and generally not useful for alliance products or awards.  To include every airline flying to a country would mean some long lists and information that would quickly become out of date. I get around this by listing the main non-alliance airlines as “other”. The reader is left to check which ones may be useful for them for mileage earning or award redemption purposes.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

Kyrgyzstan

Visitors to Kyrgyzstan arrive by taxi or bus from neighbouring countries, or by air. Relatively few airlines fly to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and they include:

• Star Alliance – bmi, Turkish
• Oneworld – none
• Sky Team – Aeroflot, China Southern
• Other selected – S7

TIP The only alliance around the world tickets which can easily include travel to Kygyzstan are on Sky Team.  A Star Alliance around the world ticket would require a surface segment since backtracking to Europe is not allowed.

TIP On some Star Alliance and Skyteam frequent flyer programs longhaul awards to Kyrgyzstan are a bargain (the ones which ignore the transit through Europe) and on others very expensive (the ones which take the routing into account).

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

Cape Verde

The only convenient way to visit Cape Verde is to fly.  Relatively few airlines fly to Cape Verde, and they include:

• Star Alliance – TAP (to Sal & Praia)
• Oneworld – none
• Sky Team – none
• Other selected – TACV (from several Cape Verde airports), some European low cost airlines (to Sal & Boa Vista), TAAG

TIP There are far more flights to Cape Verde from Europe than from nearby Africa, or South America or Central America.

TIP Including Cape Verde on a Star Alliance around the world requires backtracking and thus uses up a significant amount of the mileage allowed.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

Central African Republic

Overland travel is not simple with some borders closed (eg the one with Sudan).  There are buses from Cameroon and boats from Brazzaville.  The few airlines flying to Central African Republic include:

• Star Alliance – none
• Oneworld – none
• Sky Team – Air France, Kenya
• Selected other – Royal Air Maroc, TAAG

TIP As with many places in central & west Africa, fares tend to be high.  Thus an award or around the world fare to Bangui is a good option.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

This post is how to get to China generally. There are separate posts for some places in China (see the index).

China

Source: Samuel Li

Many airlines fly to China.  For flights to Hong Kong refer to the separate How to get to Hong Kong post. The main international airports are Hong Kong (HKG), Beijing (PEK), Shanghai Pudong (PVG) and Guangzhou (CAN). Many Asian airlines also have flights to other regional or primarily domestic airports.

• Star Alliance – Air Canada (HKG/PEK/PVG), Air China, Air New Zealand (HKG/PEK/PVG), ANA (CAN/HKG/PEK/PVG), Asiana (CAN/HKG/PEK/PVG), Austrian (PEK), Continental (HKG/PEK/PVG), EgyptAir (CAN/PEK), Lufthansa (CAN/HKG/PEK/PVG), SAS (PEK), Singapore (CAN/HKG/PEK/PVG), South African (HKG), Swiss (HKG/PVG), Thai (CAN/HKG/PEK/PVG), Turkish (HKG/PEK/PVG), United (HKG/PEK/PVG)
• Oneworld – American (PVG), British Airways (HKG/PEK/PVG), Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Finnair (HKG/PEK/PVG), Japan Airlines (CAN/HKG/PEK/PVG), Qantas (HKG/PVG), Royal Jordanian (HKG)
• Sky Team – Aeroflot (CAN/HKG/PEK/PVG), Aeromexico (PVG), Air France (CAN/HKG/PEK/PVG), China Southern, Delta (HKG/PEK/PVG), Kenya Airways (CAN/HKG), KLM (HKG/PEK/PVG), Korean (CAN/HKG/PEK/PVG), Vietnam (CAN/HKG/PEK/PVG)
• Other selected – most Asian airlines, most Middle Eastern airlines

TIP Longhaul fares are generally cheaper to Hong Kong than to Beijing or Shanghai, due to greater competition.

TIP Intra-asia fares are also generally cheaper to Hong Kong than to Beijing or Shanghai due to the presence of more low cost airlines.

TIP For award or discounted alliance fares (eg around the world), there are far more options (and thus generally better availability) on Star Alliance and Sky Team than on Oneworld.

TIP For intra-China travel there are far more options on Sky Team than on Star Alliance.  Oneworld intra-China flights are very limited.

UPDATED August 2010 – Updated for TAM and Aegean joining Star Alliance, Shanghai leaving Star Alliance, Vietnam Airlines and TAROM joining Sky Team. Advice is changed.