Sorry I wasn't clear enough... this isn't my first RTW - in fact it's my 3rd. I've used Mileage Monkey to validate my itinerary and am well versed with the rules. I'm aware of the LHR stopover "penalty"... was just trying to understand why the RTW desk was giving me taxes+surcharges higher than what CX shows thru the tool - was looking for experiences in case there's been a change - in my past 2 RTW (albeit before the online tool) AA was consistently significantly lower.
Originally Posted by
aaupgrade
None of the examples you quoted above that you tried through the online tool included xLHR
The examples with the online tool were only the beginning of the itinerary. This was changed in an attempt to "force" the tool to send the booking to specific airlines by manipulating the first sector so that I could compare the charges for CX vs. JL vs. AA. The rest of the itinerary stayed the same to minimize the changes and make the most meaningful comparison. Hence, all online itineraries include a transit in LHR. BTW, the transit is exempt from the APD that generally makes LHR so expensive to stop over in.
Originally Posted by
pandaperth
A stopover in the UK adds significant taxes, especially if departing in a premuim cabin (GBP80 + GBP21.20 - furthermore the GBP80 is rising to GBP110 later this year).
However, a UK transit only adds the GBP21.20 (~KRW14,000)
Exactly - TRANSIT only... no Stopover.
Originally Posted by
pandaperth
Since AA only charges its own fuel fines and not those of other carriers, a more likely explanation is that the AA RTW desk is booking nickvora onto AA flights for two 'over water' segments (i.e. NRT-DFW and MIA-LHR) - and using the on-line tool nickvora was only using AA for one, or even none of those two segments.
Both online and RTW desk use AA for both overwater segments (NRT-DFW and MIA-LHR)
Originally Posted by
pandaperth
BOM (surface) DEL IS a stopover. End of story there.
So you'll be allowed only one other stopover the continent of origin.
Originally Posted by
Mwenenzi
MM considers its a
valid intinerary. BOM-DEL will be one stop over as
pandaperth's post
IME - MM doesn't validate stopover restrictions... at least I don't think so... if I change the routing to be ICN-HKG-NRT-[...]-BOM,DEL-NRT-ICN - it'll still show as valid in MM. It validates the routing but not the stopovers.. so doesn't help in this case...
Again, maybe I wasn't clear pandaperth. I know that BOM//DEL is a stopover. No arguments - my issue is that it's not allowing me any other stopover. The way I want to do it is start in ICN, stopover in HKG ....... then at the end stopover in BOM surface to DEL to go to NRT (TRANSIT) and then ICN. Bottom line, I'll be stopping in India want to enter from BOM, leave from DEL. I expected this to be 1 stopover, not 2... the online tool counts it as 2.
At the end of the day it's $200 I'll probably swallow it - but it seems like somethings wrong - hence my question for the collective wisdom of this group.
Thanks for your responses all - lots to think about... Thanks especially for the info about the itasoft fuel surcharge calculator - perhaps a bit of tweaking is in order....
Nick