Originally Posted by
Dr. HFH
...I suspect that you experienced precisely the reverse of what you thought when booking the AKL-MEL-PER flights. The first few agents with whom you spoke knew the rules and applied them. The last one may have been new and not known.
Actually it is the opposite. For OWE the rules concerning traffic rights and even cabotage are different. Most agents, and apparently even somewhat knowledgeable pax, know the
common rules -- which don't apply to OWE tickets. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, esp. when it is thought to be comprehensive. Similarly the automated systems are implementing the 99.99% case and ignoring the 0.01% case -- which unfortunately is what applies to OWE tickets. But all the valid codeshares are bookable by using the right technique. Now if only there was true Open Skies and all this nonsense would go away.