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I would say at least one of the principal reason that COPA is less expensive is that the flights all include a stop in Panama before heading to MIA. Some of the COPA flights don't have too much of a time penalty as opposed to the AA nonstop, but it is a smaller aircraft and there is always a possibility of issues on any connection. BTW - my only anecdotal information on COPA is from a friend who flies to Ecuador on occasion and doesn't really like the economy passenger experience. Of course you are looking at business which could be much different.

That's what I thought this coffee was when I saw the picture posted. As a dessert person, I hope I get to at least try something similar.

In terms of your Europe segments, maybe you can consider dropping at least one location as you are trying to make lots of stops in a very short amount of time? Each stop will eat up some amount of time traveling and checking in and out of hotels or other forms of accommodation. Be optimistic that you'll have additional opportunities to pick up another trip in the future. Good luck!

This would be the worst and is what I fear. People that are unable to go out on their own and expect to be together 24X7. It could be that the people we are traveling with and their expectations and for lots of together time might be too much for our style. The couple has other friends that they travel with frequently and it sounds like they are together all the time or the wives go one way and the husbands another. Most things are tolerable for a bit of time - like a week end - but would be rough over a couple of weeks. 100% - we just need to be in agreement before the cruise with the couple we are traveling with.

That is something I think we will need to do. We like to explore much more than our friends and tend to be more active. Exactly! We went on a vacation once where we sacrificed our plans somewhat to conform to others desires. Probably true as it is the closest you can come to living with another person/couple. That's something we don't want to have happen.

The AA RTW desk charged my credit card this afternoon. The final price went up by about $300 to $6400 / ticket. Regardless, I feel this is an incredible deal and will result in a great travel experience. For grins, I asked the agent doing the ticketing why such discrepancies exist between ticket prices depending on where you start. As you can imagine, I didn't really get a very understandable answer so I guess it's a simply a matter of market demand for these fares.

We are committed to go. We didn't really think about it too much before agreeing. You are correct on the need to establish "ground rules" before we go.

My wife and I have come to the conclusion that we aren't really all that good traveling with other people. It seems most times that we travel with others our schedules and interests tend to diverge if we travel with others. This includes friends that we spend time and socialize with on a regular basis at home Are we in the minority? How do you get along with others during cruises and trips? We have a cruise of 15 days coming up at the start of 2025 with another couple where are daily routine and interests are somewhat different. BTW - our rule for traveling with our kids, now all adults, is simply that everyone simply needs to show up for dinner. I may try to extend that rule to traveling with another couple on our upcoming cruise.

As an aside, I have always wanted to stay at Las Brisas Hotel - aka "the Pink Palace" - where my parents stayed in the 1960's. Sadly, I haven't made it to Acapulco yet... Thanks for the reminder

I am curious why you believe people can't have a meaningful experience in a port visit? I am 100% in agreement that one cannot truly get to know a port in a six to ten hour port visit but that to me is different than having a meaningful experience. I personally have some super fond memories from some of those short cruise stops. Were those short port visits meaningful? I think so, as these visits created memories that I have held on to for a long time.

When my kids were young at that age 7 & 9 for us, we got a single large balcony cabin. As they got older - maybe when the youngest turned 10 - we "graduated" to adjoining rooms. This was nice as we had more space and another bathroom. Our favorite situation was when we could get an adjoining cabin with one balcony and one ocean view.

My only issue with beach in front of these places is that the level of vendor activity can be quite overwhelming. I will no longer sit on the beach here and only up in the restaurant/bar spaces off the beach. With the info on your map, my preferred place for the Medano Beach is actually called "Playa El Farito." I never knew it had a distinct name.

The part of the beach nearest to the marina doesn't have any sort of trench as far as I remember. The slope of the beach is kind of steep but there aren't really any waves to deal with. Many families use this part of the beach for swimming.

I talked to my wife this morning and she did indicate the food was also pretty expensive - well over $100 for lunch. Cabo isn't necessarily a bargain these days.

My view is that ocean cruising is a very cost effective vacation experience. It also works at all levels - budget, mid-market and luxury. One is hard pressed to reproduce the all-in costs in any other way. Maybe others can comment if the same holds true on river cruises

100% in agreement. I have found the cruise air forum to be especially helpful as just about all my travel involves one or more flights.

I flew on the IB A350 last summer and didn't think much of it either in relation to other carriers as the seats seemed really crammed together.

I second @Mike45LC's Cabo suggestion and would recommend Medano Beach as it is close to the cruise tender port. Even though it starts on the opposite side of the marina, it is still walkable. The end closest to the marina is pretty quiet and as you move to the east you'll find the beachfront bars and restaurants. Have fun!

As an epilogue, here is a snapshot of the lobster lunch from Las Mariscadas this afternoon. The report from the field was that the restaurant was very good and worth a visit for those heading to Cabo.

In addition to simply sharing viewpoints, I have found these boards to be very useful in answering questions, helping improve my overall travel experience and sometimes even save money.

I just let the agent pick my seats for me. I may go back and review them, but I am good for now. If you want to check more closely, my suggestion would be to look up the flights on line which list the aircraft type

You are correct. Both our routing in and out of DXB will be on Qatar via DOH. Interesting. I had noted the first class coding, but I had not thought about Al Safwa lounge access as part of the ticketing. It will be fun to compare the Al Safwa lounge to the Al Mourjan lounge.

Is it really that big a deal in terms of departure time? As I said above, I needed to change one of my flights to a time that was less than ideal. To me it's all a tradeoff of many factors to get a ticket. Of course you can always buy it now and try and change the flight later. I need to do this for my last flight as my preferred date isn't even bookable yet. The tool itself doesn't support bookings and forwards you to an airline for ticketing. I would simply call AA's desk. My agent was really good and if you need to make changes, you'll need to talk to the airline that created the ticket. BTW - The tool told me that my options were to call JAL or book online somehow via QANTAS.

I just got off the phone with the AA RTW desk. The agent was really quite knowledgeable and helpful as you suggested previously. The availability of one segment (DXB to CMN via DOH) changed by the time I called in so the agent made a bit of last minute adjustment to the ticket. The connection was a bit worse, but still acceptable. I guess we will run around in Doha for the day (if it's not too hot) or just hang out in the airport... The agent said I would receive the price back tomorrow from the ticketing desk via email. She said I should get the Japanese pricing. I will see what happens. If the pricing holds up, the ticket should be $6100 including taxes for a 31,451 mile journey (~$.19/mile) in business class. I priced a somewhat similar journey starting from LAX and its price came in at just under $12k which is almost twice as much as starting in Japan! Wow, what a great "hack" to start outside the US! It's basically like either my wife or I are travelling "free." Your second suggestion, or "hack," to add in supplemental trips was great too! With this is mind, I was able to get a flight to and from South America for very little marginal cost. Thanks again for all your help! I don't think I would have attempted to get this ticket without your posts as the process seemed a bit intimidating at the outset if you have never done it before. Here is my route map if you are curious: BTW - I am still not certain how we will get to and from Japan. I have a cheap points ticket reserved in an economy exit row as a place holder to get to Tokyo and maybe we will return back from Tokyo on a cruise. Also, AA seems to be unbundling their one way fares between the west coast (at least LAX) and Tokyo while JAL is not. I wonder if AA's move is a reaction to ZIPAIR as a new player in the market?

@Gardyloo - using all of your suggestions I have developed an itinerary that works starting from Tokyo. It dovetails with a transpacific cruise that heads back to the US at the end of the trip. I can also slot in an extra South American trip by picking up a couple of domestic flights as a separate ticket. I am now ready to book. Will I have any issues getting the AA desk to price it using the Japanese price which is much cheaper than starting from the US? Will they try to switch me to US pricing? My other alternative, I guess, is to try and buy it via the OW website. Thanks in advance for any additional help and insight you can provide. BTW - I was able to price the flights by entering them into your favorite tool on the OW website. I also have several tickets on AA operated flights both domestically and those to the South America. I could also switch to AA to fly LAX to Tokyo at the end, but I would rather fly on JAL.