Intercontinental Travel with the oneworld Circle Trip Explorer

oneworld® Circle Trip Explorer makes it simple to plan intercontinental "grand tours", that do not involve flying right around the world¹. To keep things easy, straight forward and flexible, without complex rules or mileage restrictions, oneworld Circle Trip Explorer product uses four different continental stepping-stones:

• Africa (excluding Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia)
• Asia (including the Indian Sub-Continent)
• Europe / Middle East (including Algeria, Ekatarinburg, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia)
• South West Pacific (including Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia)

The fare you pay is based upon the number of continents you visit or pass through (including your continent of origin) and the class you fly in².

If you are a member of any oneworld airline's frequent flyer programme, you will earn miles/points on eligible flights³. You will also enjoy all the privileges to which your membership status entitles you⁴.

Planning Your Trip

Routing

Travel must be on the services of British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, JAL Japan Airlines, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas or Royal Jordanian Airlines and their affiliates only.

Your journey has to include three oneworld continents, one of which needs to be Africa.

Your routing from one continent to another must move forward in a circular direction (clockwise or anti-clockwise). However, there are no backtracking restrictions, so you are free to roam locally at will within a continent, as long as you don't go back to your point of origin⁵.

Please note you may need to travel through a hub city to get to your desired destination.

A maximum of 16 flight segments are permitted for the entire journey. Travel between two airports by surface transportation will count as one flight segment.

Flights and stopovers

You are allowed to take two stopovers in total within your continent of origin in order to get to a gateway to begin or return from your international travel.

After departing from your continent of origin, you may take up to four flights to explore each of the other continents.

You can book up to two additional flights per continent (except your continent of origin), on payment of a published supplement.

Class of travel

You can book a Circle Trip Explorer in first, business or economy class².

For an extra charge a Circle Trip Explorer fare can be booked in: World Traveller Plus, British Airways premium economy cabin; Qantas premium economy cabin; JAL premium economy cabin.

Fares

Your fare is determined by the class you fly in, the number of oneworld continents on your itinerary, including your continent of origin and any continents you pass through.

Fares apply all year round except some seasonal fares, which are calculated on two seasonal rates: high and low⁶.

Duration

You can stay from a minimum of 10 days and have up to 12 months to complete your trip⁷.

Reservations

You can make your reservations anytime prior to departure.

You can leave all your subsequent flights open-dated. You can then schedule your trip as you go along. Local fees may apply.

All reservations and ticketing can be handled by any oneworld airline.

Change of plan

You will find that the oneworld Circle Trip Explorer offers plenty of flexibility, should you unexpectedly need to alter your travel arrangements. A charge may be payable for this service and if your ticket needs to be re-issued this may take up to 24 hours. When making changes to your itinerary, please plan accordingly.

oneworld affiliate airlines

When you are planning your oneworld Circle Trip Explorer, you are not restricted to our member airlines. You can also use the oneworld affiliates of the following oneworld member airlines participating in the oneworld Circle Trip Explorer: British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, JAL Japan Airlines, Qantas.

Example Itineraries

Each oneworld Circle Trip Explorer journey is unique. There are endless combinations to be explored. But to give you an idea of how Circle Trip Explorer works, here are a couple of sample itineraries: a three-continent itinerary beginning in Madrid and a four-continent itinerary beginning in Sydney.

Three continents

Sydney-Johannesburg-Hong Kong-Bangkok-Sydney

Four continents

Sydney-Hong Kong-Amsterdam-London-Cape Town-Johannesburg-Sydney

Fare Estimate  

Please refer to the rule sheet for the full technical product details: oneworld Circle Trip Explorer rule sheet (59kb, PDF)

Booking Your Trip

Booking cannot currently be made on-line because of the complexity of building and pricing individually itineraries. Booking can be made using a reservations office of any oneworld member airline or a travel agent. For contact information for oneworld airlines, click below on carrier of your choice:

Terms and Conditions

• All information, routings, available destinations and fares are subject to change without notice. These fares are limited to availability and capacity control. Some penalties may apply concerning re-bookings, re-routings, cancellations and refunds.
• All destinations you wish to travel to must be stated at time of purchase, before departure from country of origin. Local fees may apply for booking open-dated segments.
• Children and infants: Children pay 75%. Infants pay 10%.
• Minimum stay: 10 days. Maximum stay: 12 months. (Except if originating from South West Pacific or Hong Kong where there is no minimum stay for first and business class fares but 10 days minimum stay for economy fares.)
• A maximum of 16 flight and surface segments will be permitted for the entire journey. Intermediate surface sectors between two airports are permitted at passenger's expense. 
• Conditions of carriage and regulations. The carriage of passengers, baggage and cargo is subject to the conditions of carriage and regulations of the carriers concerned, copies of which may be requested from each oneworld airline.
• Further conditions apply. Please speak to any of the oneworld member airlines (American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, JAL Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév, Qantas, Royal Jordanian) or a travel agent if you have further queries in connection with your travel.

1 oneworld Circle Trip Explorer is available on scheduled flights that are both operated and marketed by a oneworld airline, or on a oneworld member airline affiliate. (Marketed means there must be a oneworld airline flight number on the ticket.)

2 If an aircraft serving part of your itinerary doesn't have a first or business cabin, customers will be booked into a lower class cabin. Mileage and tier points can only be accrued from eligible fares in the cabin flown.

3 American Airlines AAdvantage and British Airways Executive Club members can earn and redeem miles and earn tier status credit on all eligible flights except:

- British Airways Executive Club members will not earn or redeem miles or earn tier points on American Airlines transatlantic flights. BA miles and tier points may be earned though miles may not be redeemed on all British Airways codeshare services operated by American Airlines when the booking is made under the BA code.

Class of travel restrictions apply. Some programmes exclude earning in economy class. Check with your programme for details. Each oneworld alliance airline reserves the right to change its frequent flyer programme rules, regulations, travel awards and special offers, and to end its frequent flyer programme in accordance with its relevant frequent flyer programme rules. Miles/points may be earned only on purchased, published fares.

4 At peak periods, access to certain lounges may be restricted due to capacity constraints. Access is available on the day of departure when the next onward flight is with a oneworld airline. Access may not apply at a limited number of third party operated lounges.

5 The same city-pairs cannot be flown more than once in the same direction.

6 If originating from South West Pacific or Hong Kong where, if in first and business class, there is no minimum stay.

Further rules and conditions may apply.

All information contained herein is correct as at 01 May 2009 but is subject to change without notice.

American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, JAL, LAN, Malév, Qantas and Royal Jordanian are trademarks of their respective companies.