Around the world part III, this time maybe I can get going
The last time I wrote about my world tour project was January 2, 2021, practically passed [...]
Lufthansa
All Nippon Airways (ANA)
Air New Zealand
Air Canada
Star Alliance
YVR
The last time I wrote about the project of the my world tour was January 2, 2021, practically a lifetime has passed. The only thing that has still not changed since then is that the Japan still has closed borders, or nearly so, and is unlikely to be open to tourists this summer.
Summary of previous episodes
In this article:
I booked this ticket During the first lockdown, spring 2020. Little did I know yet that the world would take over 2 years to return to apparent normalcy. In the dungeon of my home, I had therefore invested a whopping £550 to book this itinerary, which involved a round-the-world trip: departure from London, quick stopover in Frankfurt and then stops in Tokyo, Sydney, Honolulu and San Francisco. I was supposed to leave in early 2021, but we all know how that turned out.
The madness was born out of a desire to travel again, so I had planned a crazy itinerary in just 5 days. Such a trip takes no less than 20/25 days to be well experienced, but mine was more of a craving to have a beer on 4 different continents, a kind of mirage in the midst of lockdown. An original way to celebrate the return to freedom. Of course, I had not reckoned with the subsequent waves and variations.
Unable to leave, I had thus moved the new departure to August 2021. Again I thought the world would reopen, but instead I was wrong, or rather it reopened in spots, but not enough to allow me to make my trip.
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Thanks to flexible policies and especially the desire of airlines to avoid any possible refunds, I was thus able to move my ticket from August 2021 to July 2022.. Compared to the original idea, the new trip included: one night in Tokyo, two in Sydney, and one in Honolulu after a change of planes in Aukland, so much less stressful than the original.
Japan's problem
With such a note, consisting of so many flights and booked so far in advance, it was a foregone conclusion that something would happen to my itinerary; it is a strategy I have used often during the past 18 months. Taking advantage of extremely advantageous prices hoping/knowing that at the slightest change I could change my ticket.
So in the past few days I again contacted the Lufthansa call center and, after a couple of phone calls, found an agent willing to help me reinvent my itinerary. The first attempt was to Building an itinerary that would no longer pass through Japan, but from Thailand and Singapore. Choice, however, rejected by the LH ticketing office. No problem changing dates, but the itinerary was to remain the same.
At the moment the borders of the Rising Sun are open, but it is a feigned opening since it is necessary to be in possession of a work visa, which is practically impossible to obtain. On top of that, entries are restricted, maximum 10 thousand per day and travel really difficult. Therefore I had to find an alternative solution.
After almost an hour's phone call, I was able to reconstruct a new itinerary that would allow me to fly to Tokyo under these constraints, so simply making a stopover and departing a few hours later. In doing so, my round-the-world trip loses one stop, that of Tokyo, but gains two nights in New Zealand.
Since it has been over two years since I booked this ticket., the goals in terms of points accumulation and status renewal have also changed. I dropped Tap Portugal, as a flagship program in Star Alliance, Moving on to Singapore and the Krisflyer program. So I decided to use my Gold card in the Asian carrier's loyalty program: all points from flights will be credited to my card to be able to renew the level until the end of 2024.
In conclusion
Going around the world is a dream in the drawer, of course there are ways and ways to do it. Doing it in 6 days is definitely not the ideal way, but anything happens here at TFC.
Proving that our flight reviews are not just business or first class, this itinerary, unless upgraded, it will be all in economy and will allow me to try three airlines that I have not yet reviewed on these pages: ANA, Air New Zealand, and Air Canada.
In addition to the three companies, I will get to try out numerous lounges, because if it is true that I will travel in economy because of the status Gold Star Alliance I will have access to waiting rooms, fast track, and priority boarding at all airports.
With the exception of Japan, all the countries I will visit Have removed almost all restrictions for vaccinated travelers, the only hassle will be having to take a swab before leaving for Honolulu, because the U.S. currently has not yet lifted this requirement.
