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BD: Best airline to book RTW....

BD: Best airline to book RTW....

Old Jun 10, 2003, 3:54 pm
  #1  
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BD: Best airline to book RTW....

I've found that BD is the best airline for booking RTW's. Here's why:

1) Agents are wonderful
2) Itinerary easily viewable on checkmytrip.com
3) I've been able to purchase and ticket trips here in the US that start abroad (at the foreign rate). None of this travel agent in Canada stuff.
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Old Jun 10, 2003, 4:13 pm
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1) Congratulations...with LH, I have found some agents great and some were really bad...I think that, with any airline, it's a bit of a matter of luck what kind of person you get - but then again, there seem to be some overall differences between different companies (perhaps better training, other incentives, etc.).

2) That is actually the same with an LH RTW (or any ticket that has an Amadeus booking reference, I think).

3) That goes against the Star Alliance RTW rules, so I assume they either didn't know or didn't care...sometimes they do that. BA Germany was willing to ticket a Oneworld RTW ex CAI for the ex CAI fare for me as well.
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Old Jun 11, 2003, 2:45 am
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BD's US telephone staff are extremely good in general, a real asset. I've always found them to be enormously helpful and informative.

As for the easily viewable itinerary though, BD use the same system as LH, OS and SK, so you should be able to view RTW reservations made with those carriers in the same way.
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Old Jun 14, 2003, 12:20 pm
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Well, I called and BD in the US. They have processed a grand total of one RTW and they readily admitted that they had no clue what they are doing! "Did you talk to Mr. S**p**o. He's the only person we have done one for."

The agent asked if I was flying BD... negative. Therefore, they politely declined to help me. Apparently zrs70 had his first intercontinental segment on BD and therefore they felt compelled to process it in that case.

Clearly, their processing the ticket in the US was against the rules and a function of their lack of knowledge.
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Old Jun 14, 2003, 12:59 pm
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I am surprised they shared my name with you. I hope I did not put BD on the spot. Didn't realize they hadn't done them before.
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Old Jun 14, 2003, 1:30 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by zrs70:
I am surprised they shared my name with you. I hope I did not put BD on the spot. Didn't realize they hadn't done them before.</font>
I said an "acquaintance of mine". I don't think you put them on the spot. They have no idea that they made the mistake. I think they should have prepared the ticket and asked you to purchase from them in the country of origin. If it's Sweden, for example, then it is complicated by the fact that SAS does the ticketing for BD.

Speaking of which.....

I booked my RTW with SAS ex Sweden at Swedish prices. I have a PNR, priced in SEK, tax calculated, booked on first two segments, so all they have to do is run my CC when I get to ARN. That's probably just as good as having it ticketed in the US. I called OS first since they are operating my first two segments, but they were not willing to do anything. On my first attempt I was on hold for 15 min before hanging up and I had selected "Grand Class customer" from the menu!

How is the revenue on a RTW split? Does the issuing carrier get a commission of sorts? SAS seemed motivated to help me out whereas OS did not.
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Old Jun 14, 2003, 1:46 pm
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This raises other issues....

According to *A, you can call any carrier to issue the RTW. But according to mnay carriers, your first intercontinental flight must be on the issuing carrier.

When it comes to reissues, again *A says that anyone will do it. But in my experience, airlines want to pass the buck. (In one case, LH wanted me to go to SQ, as they were the next intercontinental segment. I wanted to keep my reservation on Appollo.)

What are the responsibilities for *A carriers? Can I have UA issue a RTW if none of the segments are on UA?
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Old Jun 14, 2003, 2:13 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by zrs70:
This raises other issues....

According to *A, you can call any carrier to issue the RTW. But according to mnay carriers, your first intercontinental flight must be on the issuing carrier.

When it comes to reissues, again *A says that anyone will do it. But in my experience, airlines want to pass the buck. (In one case, LH wanted me to go to SQ, as they were the next intercontinental segment. I wanted to keep my reservation on Appollo.)

What are the responsibilities for *A carriers? Can I have UA issue a RTW if none of the segments are on UA?
</font>
I believe that what you described is probably less an issue of overall airline policy (well, maybe it is, of the lack of existence thereof), but mainly an issue of the agent you talked to being too lazy to go through the hassle of changing a RTW ticket or not wanting to do it because they don't have enough experience with it to really know the rules.

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