Originally Posted by
herschelflyer007
Hi,
Firstly,thanks for all the input, its has been very helpful.
From looking at my options(flights/trains/time constraints) the DoneX seems cost effective for my Europe travel.
A few follow up questions:
1)So if take out SYD sector it makes it a Done 3? Giving me 4 Europe sectors,instead of 2 transits <24hrs?
2)If i want to take advantage of as many Europe stops(as possible) would a Done 3 from ex Asia be a better option. Can anyone suggest a good price point ex Asia ?
Thanks for ex TLV suggestion Gardyloo, i would have not thought of that departure point.
3)would it be possible to end DXB/AUH(making awards flights easier) instead of originating point and how much would it add to the costs?
4) instead of LHR departure tax and BA fuel charges, could someone suggest an alternative departure to East coast USA i have been looking at MAD?
Appreciate all the help, thanks in Advance.
Removing Australia would make it a DONE3.
You're allowed four segments in the continent of origin but only two stopovers (24h+).
By originating anywhere in the Middle East you can end anywhere in the Middle East, so ending at DXB (or TLV or AMM or AUH or MCT...) would be easy. A problem has cropped up with the online booking tool in that when you use this option (ending in a different Middle East location) it erroneously prices the trip based on the ending country's prices rather than the departing country's. The work-around to this is to book the trip as ending in the starting point (e.g. CAI > CAI) but then paying $125 to re-issue the ticket with the new endpoint. The humans doing the reissue will interpret the rule correctly.
The BA fuel surcharges come when BA issues the ticket. The online tool will have the first airline issue the ticket and if it's BA then you'll get whacked for the maximum fuel surcharges. These are not taxes (unlike the UK air passenger duty) but merely additional revenues pocketed by the airlines. Have some other airline (including American through one of its ticketing offices or GSAs) do the issuing and you'll reduce the amount of fuel surcharges.
There are plenty of departure points from Europe to the US besides London - Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Helsinki, Rome, Frankfurt... you name it.