Originally Posted by
Zeffer
The consensus among hardened xONEx'ers seems to be that the Asia transit rule applies in both directions. Certainly, many people report having been able to book it that way. So I'm leaning towards CAI-LHR-LAX-JFK-DFW-ANC-DFW-JFK-HKG-AKL-SYD-NRT-BKK-NRT-KUL-LHR-AUH for 58,107 miles.
It's fine if it works. Back when I booked all my XONEs through the AA RTW desk, on several queries I always received a very definitive "no" on doing what you're proposing, but it does seem like the online tool allows it, so like I say. (My concern is that the online tool is pretty buggy in the first place, and if the code mavens at Oneworld were to change it during the course of one's trip, getting a re-issue or other changes to the ticket
might be problematic.)
Originally Posted by
Zeffer
(How reliably are the fees and charges actually calculated? I kinda suspect I could submit the same itinerary and get a different quote on fees every time - in which case I might as well just fly BA from Asia to London. I wish there were greater transparency. Since it takes them days to recalculate taxes and fees, it's not easy to make comparisons. Any workaround there?)
It seems to depend on who's doing the calculating, but there could also be some forex issues that would result in different numbers. I would probably do a dummy booking using the online too, where you can see the taxes and fees broken out, and use that as a "control" or baseline when talking to, say, the AA RTW desk or maybe a GSA someplace. Be mindful too that stopovers vs. transits can make a huge difference, particularly in London.
Originally Posted by
Zeffer
My only issue is that SIN-LHR is on BA and I'd rather not pay their YQ, but if I substitute KUL then I can take MH to London for only about 100 miles less. (I'll tolerate an angled seat to save a couple of hundred bucks, and at least it's an A380.)
By using BA for your initial flight, using the online tool for booking will virtually guarantee you that the total fuel surcharges for the ticket will be as high as possible. Anecdotal, but even when using an AA GSA, if the first flight is on BA metal you'll likely see a very big and unpleasant YQ/YR total - AA now routinely passes on BA's fuel fines.
If saving a couple hundred dollars in BA YQ is justification for going to an angled seat and fewer miles on MH from KUL, what difference would several hundred dollars make to you by not using BA for the first flight at all? Granted, going CAI-AMM-JFK or CAI-AMM-ORD potentially reduces the total miles by a thousand or two,
but if the overall savings are on the order of $700 or $800 (and could be more) - then you could allocate the same dollars to travel outside the RTW that could generate equal or more miles.
Again, this could be easily investigated by running an alternate scenario through the online tool. As you probably know, AA issues xONExs on behalf of RJ, so starting with RJ you might well see a bigger overall reduction in fees (not to mention UK APD if you can skirt the UK.) It might be worth a look.