Originally Posted by
Dr. HFH
Yes, that is how it works. At least that's how it has worked many times for me. The AA RTW desk fares the ticket and sets it up for ticketing in the country you specify. Then the TA in that country calls AA and picks the itinerary up for ticketing.
From my recent experience, calling the overseas AA office in South Africa reached very knowledgeable and helpful agents who produced AONE4 tickets within a few days. The only significant downside was the time offset from my California base.
A plus was that, when the rate desk hadn't gotten around to pricing my tickets after a couple of days, one of the agents in South Africa priced it himself. I did purposely start with a minimalist trip - I didn't know what I was going to fly beyond the first couple of segments, and $125 seemed small change for having ticket in hand.
English seemed to be the default language; I don't know if you'd find the same in Japan (assuming that's your language too). And I don't know if the folks there are as well trained. But the agent in Cape Town was not the least surprised when I asked to book an AONE4 and took and processed my booking in a most professional manner, and I'd hope for the same in Asia.