I have heard back from Oneworld on this:
"No, we do not require that the first carrier tickets RTW itineraries. We do use that rule currently in the online booking tool, but even there, there are exceptions (e.g. QF tickets when AS are the first carrier, as AS wanted to avoid ticketing when they joined the alliance).
Perhaps some agents are confused by the online booking rule at AA. I will try to investigate.
Many thanks for pointing this out!"
The email is from a VP in Oneworld, so I think it carries some authority.
(As an aside, I was not aware that QF did the ticketing for AS.)
Originally Posted by
pandaperth
So I was trying to set up my next DONE4 (yay!). Starts in Asia the first carrier being UL (Sri Lankan)
Phoned AA’s RTW desk, as I’ve done before. Per AA’s previous policy I had an AA “overwater” flight in the itinerary (i.e. intercontinental flight) which is what they required to ticket an itinerary where the first flight is not an AA flight.
- First agent said they won’t do it, because AA is not the first carrier
- HUCA – and got the same agent!
- HUCA – different agent put me on hold to check with a supervisor; after 45mins on hold I hung up
- HUCA- 3rd agent said AA has changed its policy – now AA must be either the first carrier or the first overwater carrier for them to ticket
Thoughts?