Flying around the world to & back from Fiji.

I am planning a diving holiday to Fiji in July 2013 with the wife. Due to the schedule of the liveaboard cruise and our plans on land thereafter, it will be most convenient for us to fly around the world while getting to and back from Fiji from the UK, where we live.

Let me explain. From London there are 2 ways to get to Nadi, Fiji. The first is via Los Angeles and the other via Hong Kong. Irrespective of the airlines used, the flight cost either way is small enough to make no difference - I checked.

Due to the flight times and the fact that flights to Fiji by either route are on certain days of the week only, it will be most convenient for us to do the outbound leg via Hong Kong and the return leg via Los Angeles - assuming that it is allowed at the normal fares.

As long as we use the same airline (BA or Virgin) for the London-Hong Kong sector (outbound) and LA-London sector (return) AND Air Pacific for the Fiji inbound & return flights, will we be offered a competitive fare compared with the 'traditional' return flights?

Have a look at airtreks.com - they deal with this type of travel. You can use their trip planner to input the cities you want to use or you can check out their specials to see if you can find one matching your requirements.

Thanks. Incidentally, I noticed an error in my wording in the original post - the editing facility seems to have disappeared this morning. I meant to say that the difference in flight costs going from the UK to Fiji either way is very small. The actual tariff is expensive, of course.

From London there are 2 ways to get to Nadi, Fiji. The first is via Los Angeles and the other via Hong Kong.

There's a third one: via Seoul (with Korean air). You would need to stay overnight in Seoul on the way back tough.

I'm guessing the cheapest way to make what you plan to make wouldn't be with the airlines you quoted but with Air NewZealand (you would need to go from Nadi to Hong Kong changing planes in Auckland though). I'd suggest to get in touch with a travel agent expert in RTW fares to get a quote for both options. Some online webs (e.g.: Kayak, Expedia, Orbitz...), although aren't specialists in RTW fares, could be useful too. If the option of Air New Zealand is the cheapest one, you could try to get a quote from their web.

why would you want to go to Auckland and return to Nadi adding several hours to the trip when you can go to Nadi direct

I think you didn't got rightly the route I quoted in #3. The route is London-Los Angeles-Nadi-Auckland-Hong Kong-London. The leg from Los Angeles to Nadi is codeshared with Air Pacific and operated by Air Pacific. The rest of the legs are operated by Air New Zealand.

I know that to go from Nadi to Hong Kong changing planes in Auckland is a big detour but if the option quoted by the OP (London-Los Angeles-Nadi-Hong Kong-London with a mix of Air Pacific and British Airways or Virgin) is outrageously expensive, this could be a reasonablily priced alternative.

#5 you can go direct by Air Pacific from Los Angeles to Nadi, and directly to Hong Kong from Nadi, also by Air Pacific I know the days are restricted but Auckland doesn't need to come into the picture,

I knew it!! Read this part of my post again (and properly):

I know that to go from Nadi to Hong Kong changing planes in Auckland is a big detour but if the option quoted by the OP (London-Los Angeles-Nadi-Hong Kong-London with a mix of Air Pacific and British Airways or Virgin) is outrageously expensive, this could be a reasonablily priced alternative.

again why fly 3 hours south to Auckland with transfer time to travel three hours back north over practically the same route.

The answer is in the paragraph I quoted above. If you save a lot of money by doing it, Why not?

In other words, I don't know if the OP can get a competitive fare flying the route London-Los Angeles-Nadi-Hong Kong-London with a mix of British Airways or Virgin (for the legs: London-Los Angeles and Hong Kong-London) and Air Pacific (for the legs: Los Angeles-Nadi and Nadi-Hong Kong) and I told him to ask an expert in RTW tickets if he could get a competitive fare flying that route. However, I know the OP could get a competitive fare flying the route London-Los Angeles-Nadi-Auckland-Hong Kong-London with Air New Zealand (the leg from Los Angeles to Nadi is operated by Air Pacific but, probably, sold with an Air New Zealand code). Of course, that means to make a big detour in one of the legs (the leg from Nadi to Hong Kong) but if you save a good amount of money (each one would have to decide what would be a good amount of money for him/her), Why not?
BTW, another question to research would be if with the Air New Zealand option you could spend a few days in Auckland for a similar price...

Thanks people. I definitely cannot take a detour through Auckland or any other destination because of the tight holiday schedule. On balance, I have decided to go either via Hong Kong both ways (London to HKG on BA or Virgin and then Air Pacific direct to Nadi) or, if fares allow it, Go via HKG but return via LA (the 'round the world' route). Yes, I knew about the third option via Seoul and in some ways it is more convenient because of the Transit Hotel facilities within Incheon airport, thus allowing the main luggage to be booked through. But the prices quoted on line for Korea Air are significantly more expensive than using those other airlines and+ Korea Air allow no subsidy whatever for the scuba gear that I have to carry. I would end up paying something like £600 +each way for excess baggage alone going through Seoul.

Going vis LA there is the "American advantage" of a additional check-in bag with most airlines. Going via HKG, BA ask for only £40 for the extra bag whereas virgin allow up to 23kg addtional allowance for scuba equipment. Air Pacific do charge a nominal fee of around £5 per kg and since I will only be some 8Kg over their limit it will not come to much.

Thanks for the feedback!

I would have been a good idea if you had tell us all the details about your luggage, time constrictions... in your first post though.