Originally Posted by
serfty
US location is not relevant. The xONEx's can be booking from any oneworld port to start from any oneworld port. The higher of the base fares between the booked and start locations will apply.
The trick is to use email/phone to book, pay and start from the cheaper location. e.g. When CMB was in the loop I communicated with a Cathay Pacific Agent in Sri Lanka via EMail. I 'wired' the fare to them and collected the tickets at CMB airport from where commenced my DONE4.
I think the poster was questioning whether one could telephone the airline office in NRT from the USA, book and pay for an eticketed xONEx, and expect to pay ex-Japan prices.
Chances are high that they'll find out the awful truth and charge NA prices. If they're kindly, they'll find a way to complete the payment in Japan, and call that good enough for Japanese prices.
There used to be a line in the star file apparently designed to stop foreigners like us showing up in a cheap country, plunking our c/c on the counter, and walking away with cheap tickets, pretty much against the spirit of SITI pricing. It said that the price would also be adjusted to a higher location based on the paying currency. Pay in USD, enjoy the North American rate. Absolutely no one ever enforced that provision, afaik, the excuse being that the transaction was being done in the selling country's currency.