New to FT, have been going through this thread but its pretty long and when I see info dated over a few years I don't know whether to trust its up to date. Been a dream to book a DONEx flight forever but only have the time and routing flexibility now for the travel.
Welcome to FlyerTalk.
- Are the ex-MPM DONEx fares still good
They exist but they are not as good as they were. Not much saved over originating at JNB.
or ex-JNB, and by how much better are these fares than the US. Or is there any other good location to start from in Asia, particularly north Asia (NRT?)?
Ex-Japan is traditionally quite good for Asia.
- if ex-MPM DONEx fares still a no brainer, must routing always go first to DOH (i see its the only direct connection)?
Yes. There is no alternative oneworld flight out of MPM.
or can i go MPM-JNB then other points in africa before going to "europe". Reason being I am looking to go JNB (can also go MPM too as its all for scuba diving), in July, followed by Europe
Comair (a BA franchisee) used to run a flight from MPM to JNB back in 2013, but it wasn't profitable. They axed it pretty quickly.
- Additionally how would the routing look from North America back to Africa over the atlantic? I didnt see any direct flights from NYC to Africa on the OW RTW tool (is direct needed?).
You'll have to go via Europe/Middle East. You're allowed to touch the continent for a second time but only for a transit.
- Is there a time limit to how long the full RTW journey will take?
One year from date of departure.
Can I have my last leg as far out in advance as possible like over a year, allowing some flexibility?
You can leave the last leg open if you like, if you can find a ticketing agent capable of doing that. But it is more practical to put in a dummy sector that you change later.
For instance I travel HKG-JFK alot and reside in HKG but if i start elsewhere and book a last leg on HKG-JFK way out in the future is that possible?
A leg can be booked up to one year in the future, and sometimes less, depending on the airline. However the ticket (like all air tickets) is valid for one year after departure, and date changes on the ticket are free after departure of the first leg. So you can change the ticket later. (But there is a no show penalty.)
- If i am looking optimize accrual of CX MP club points for status, generally should i always be going for the CX codes on any codeshare flights?
Yes. You'll probably also want to look at the Marco Polo web pages to find out which alternative partners are better than others. But in general you'll want as many CX codes as you can get.