1. Instead of DFW-SFO, can I do DFW-YVR-JFK? .Which carrier to go with for bonus miles for this leg YVR-JFK?) [NOTE: I may still go home to SFO from LAX as side trip; OW tool did not flag YVR-JFK].
2. Do I get bonus miles on JL as AA Gold?
1. Yes. CX is the carrier for YVR-JFK, so bonus miles fine.
2. No. No bonus miles for any AA elite on JL. All you'll get is the 25% class of service bonus on top of the base miles. You'd get bonus miles if your JL flight is a codeshare carrying an AA flight no. (or any other OW partner's code provided the partner awards AA elite bonuses.)
However, I think I mentioned that you should sign up for the Platinum challenge so that as soon as possible you hit 10,000 EQP, 'cause from then on you'll get the Plat/EXP 100% mileage bonus instead of the Gold 25% bonus. Thus on, e.g., CX or QF flights (and of course AA) you'll get 225% of the miles flown in business class, e.g. YVR-JFK, and 250% in first class (e.g. DFW-ANC) - 100% base miles, 100% bonus, and 25% (business) or 50% (first) cabin bonus. This is why RTWs are so good for your mileage balances.
However, when tried to choose flight for LHR-MCT (despite red-flag), only BA73 shows up and it is NOT an AA code-share flight. Am I reading it right? Does that mean 25% bonus miles only? The return MCT-LHR is BA72.
Right. You can only use the AA code on BA flights when you're connecting directly off of, or on to, an AA metal flight, without stopover. So, e.g. you can use the AA code on BA 72 when your itinerary is MCT-xLHR-USA, with the LHR-USA flight on AA metal. Same thing going the other way.
Looking at the route, you might consider giving up the JFK-HKG leg on CX and substituting JFK-NRT on AA, connecting directly onto NRT-SIN, using the AA code on JL. You'd need to rework your Asia segments, but the AA Plat bonus on NRT-SIN might be worth the effort.
jerry a. laska is right - I put that route together to allow you to use the AA code on ARN-LHR, thereby trying to trick the online tool into letting AA issue the ticket. I don't know if the robot
can be tricked in that regard, but the AA RTW desk, fine humans all, can easily set that up, thereby saving you hundreds of dollars in BA fuel surcharges.
The other reason I put the ARN-xLHR-LAX... itinerary together was to dissuade you from any stopovers at LHR outbound. A year or so ago I went CPT-xLHR-HEL-xLHR-xMCT-xLHR-LAX with only a hotel night in Helsinki splitting it up. (Couldn't leave the airport in Muscat due to pesky Israeli visa stamps in my passport.) I didn't want to stop over in London in either direction so I could avoid a couple hundred bucks in British Air Passenger Duty charges (big hit in J and F on longhaul departures from the UK, but waived for <24h transits.) I was shattered on arriving in LA - too many plane hours in too short a time. Your experience may vary, but it seemed to me like a high price to pay for around 3000 extra FF bonus miles generated by the AA codeshare on MCT-LAX. YMMV as we say.
At this moment, I am stuck in LHR. Technically 2 segments will be allowed in continent of origin. It does not seem to grant me even 1 segment. Any idea what’s wrong here?
I think you're hitting one of the many bugs rife in the online tool. There's a whole sticky thread above on this. I personally think once you've got an itinerary finalized (dates and all) you should
1. Post it here so we can kosher it (no dates) and
2. Phone the AA RTW desk, 1-800-247-3247 and have them book it. That way you can get the AA price, and the AA codes on your itinerary.