oneworld - New DONE4 ex KHI/CMB

Hi all,

Thinking of booking a DONE4 next year while the 10% special is on. This will be my first round-the-world, so is very exciting! and hope to learn from the expertise of those here.

Will be crediting to AA. Currently have planned

KHI-HKG-AMS-AMM-xJFK-xSCL-IPC-SCL-GYE-EZE-DFW-ANC-ORD-SFO-JFK-HKG-KHI

-- or --

CMB-SIN-FRA-AMM-xJFK-xSCL-IPC-SCL-UIO-EZE-DFW-ANC-ORD-SFO-JFK-HKG-CMB.

Have a few questions
1) Itineraries ticket with CX online, will there be a service or 'other' fee for changing dates and carriers? Would people recommend ticketing AA?
2) Anyone had experience starting in KHI or CMB? KHI is cheaper, but I don't know if it is entirely safe to leave the airport...?

3) Almost of the stops are places I want to visit, but happy to do short hops eg FRA to AMS. Any suggestions on routing for the best in-flight experience? My main concerns are:
- long transit from AMM to IPC, is this likely to be delayed/cause issues? I can transit via MAD/FRA, but this is less miles...
- have only ever flown J on CX, SIN-FRA will get me on QF J, is the experience different/worth the hassle of an additional trip FRA to AMS?
- DFW-EZE will be on AA, is this ok, or worth rescheduling to get on LA long-haul?
- anyway to stretch out the mileage while visiting most of the same places, with the caveat that I do want to go to AMM and not DXB/MCT. Is there for example a longer flight number to ANC? MIA-ANC would be perfect, but couldn't find anything on the schedule.

Thanks all in advance!

Congratulations on doing a DONE4 without touching LHR!

1. It will be cheaper to ticket this with AA which have a good agent in CMB. Not sure about KHI. IIRC CX does charge service fees for changes.

2. I personally would do CMB as there is a lot to see in Sri Lanaka

3. AMM-IPC. Wow, what a trip. I think your routing should be fine without problems. Just make sure you don't have any super tight connections.
QF J is different to CX J but most people will prefer CX due to the flat bed. So unless you want to experience something new or are a fan of Australia I would stick to CX (or fly HKG-LHR on QF and then LHR-AMS-AMM, however, this would waste a segment).
I think it will be better to fly LA rather than AA but you would need to do a major re-shuffle for this so not worth it IMHO.

Just out of curiousity: ANC-ORD? What is the flight number?

Just out of curiousity: ANC-ORD? What is the flight number?
AA 290. Starts mid-May, ends sometime in late September.

AA 290. Starts mid-May, ends sometime in late September.

Aha. Good to know since MileageMonkey does not have that flight.

Ex-Pakistan, see these threads:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/oneworld/653849-donex-ex-isb-khi.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/oneworld/594393-1-sept-06-price-rise-post6315523.html#post6315523

Have ticketed two DONE4s out of KHI.

AA desk (Avari) is good and easy to deal with (prefer email) if you know what you are doing. They do not accept foreign credit cards so you need to wire in money which is not always simple. From Australia I used an agent sydneyforex.com.au

Also note that they charge an agent service fee of approx US$350 to ticket.

I did both as airport turnarounds in KHI and did not get a visa (CX703/2700 is same plane in and out). Having spoken to a number of people I would not leave KHI airport without security.

CMB I also did back in 2005 and left the airport and went into the Colombo waterfront and Fort Galle Hotel.