BrewerSEA

1. I was never able to view an AA ticketed oneworld Explorer (paid ticket) with LAN segments on LAN's website.

2. I have been told the same by the AA ATW desk.

PhillyFlyers77

Thanks for the response, BrewerSEA.

I tried again on LAN website and was able to change one seat! BUT, then I was locked out from changing anything further. At least I was able to see the entire itinerary finally.

ghostboy

Hi folks,

My wife and I are heading back to Australia next Sept (2013), and I've have been constructing a number of variable itineraries in an attempt to maximise as much F action as possible whilst keeping the taxes as low as possible (same predicament as everyone I am sure).

As much as I want to try BA F, I have heeded the advice of folks on this forum and will probably bypass LHR although I built some itins to Austraia via LHR on AA/CX/QF. I've added BA F SYD-SIN in one of the 12 itins I've drafted out.

Here goes a few sampls...itinerary followed by miles count (which I calculated from gcmap.com)

lax-jfk-lhr(AA)-bkk-syd-bne-syd-lax(QF) - 24,967
san-lax-sfo(AA)-hkg(CX)-syd-sin(QF or BA)-nrt-lax(JL)-san (AA) - 24,745
san-lax-lhr(AA)-sin-syd-bne//mel-lax(QF)-san(AA) - 24,734
lax-sfo(AA)-hkg(CX)-bne-syd-sin(QF)-nrt-lax(JL) - 24,719
san-lax-lhr(AA)-bkk-syd-bne-syd-lax(QF)-san(AA) - 24,715
san-lax-lhr(AA)-hkg(CX)-syd-bne-syd-lax(QF)-san(AA) - 24,670

A few disclaimers/notes:

1. I realise this is going to be a difficult itin to ticket; mainly due to the limited F (or "P") inventory from Australia to USA. Therefore, I know we need to be very flexible with dates; I have a school reunion in Australia on Sat Setp 7th, 2013, and we plan to be away for about 10 days max. (we are leaving our [who will be at the time] 3 1/2 year old behind with my wife's parents). Therefore, depending on availability, we will either front or back ed load the trip with segments.
2. We don't need to leave from SAN; we can depart from LAX (SAN is just closer). We are also open to buying positioning flights to reach a US gateway city (i.e. we can get ourselves to SFO if necessary)
3. I understand JL has not yet loaded their spring 2013 schedule, so F is not showing in ITA Software yet - ideally we would like to try JL F in either direction (ex LAX or another US city)
4. We each have 230k miles in our AA accounts, so we're ready to pull the trigger once inventory loads in Sept.
5. The "curve ball" I've been grappling with; I/we should be prepared to downgrade the itin to J if we find the availability (therefore timing/routing) does not lend itself to maximising day flights. If I can only find availability on mostly overnight flights, then I would consider doing the entire trip in J instead. I don't have to convince my wife of that, only me! She just wants a nice meal, movie, and comfortable sleep (J would suffice) - I'm all about the experience, and I don't sleep much on planes (F please!)

Thanks for any feedback/advice.

Rgds, ghostboy

Austinrunner

You cannot do any of the above because you would not be using 2 oneworld carriers other than AA.

Austinrunner

The only surcharges that AA collects when booking award tickets are the BA surcharge and the IB surcharge.

ghostboy

Thanks for your feedback, so the following would be ok - using AA, CX, QF...

san-lax-lhr(AA)-hkg-syd(CX)-bne-syd-lax(QF)-san(AA) - 24,670

Rgds, ghostboy.

PhillyFlyers77

Thanks, Austinrunner...that makes sense now.

ghostboy

From Page 1 - is this still up-to-date? The only YQ taxes would be when flying on BA or IB metal - AA will not impose YQ when travelling on other OW carriers?


SECTION 13: TAXES, FEES, SURCHARGES, CHARGES, DUTIES, ETC.

Free award tickets are always exempt from the following:
U.S. passenger facility charges (XF)
U.S. flight segment tax (ZP)
U.S. international arrival tax (US)
U.S. international departure tax (US)

Free award tickets are always subject to the following:
U.S. September 11th security fees (AY)
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) fee (XA)
U.S. immigration fee (XY)
U.S. customs fee (YC)

I noticed another tax on a CX itin SFO-HKG; as follows:

(YR) $135.50

Will AA charge you this for AA miles redemption on CX metal?

Same question on QF as well; I looked at SYD-SIN on QF - taxes as follows:

(YR) AU$30.00
Australian Passenger Movement Charge (AU) AU$55.00
Australian Int'l Passenger Service Charge (WY) AU$25.92

Would AA pass these through? My apologies if these questions have been answered in another post/reply - I could not find the detail.

Thanks.

mtkeller

YR is a carrier-imposed surcharge that is not collected by AA for CX and QF. AU and WY are Australian taxes or fees and are collected by AA.

ghostboy

Thanks mtkeller

Mountain Trader

I believe calls on Skype to US 800 and similar numbers are free. It takes about 10 minutes to set up an account and you can use most phones that can use apps.

aktchi

Should be fine on that count. One must use at least 2 carriers other than AA. Additional OW carriers and AA may or may not be used.

Of the two occurrences of SYD in your itinerary, at most one can be a stopover; therefore at least one must be a connection (less than 6 hours).

Austinrunner

6 hours is the maximum for an international connection on an Explorer award. Refer to the first post in this thread or the website in my signature.

aktchi

Yes you are absolutely right, as always. I don't know what I was thinking. Well, I know what I was thinking about but it was not Explorer awards.

ghostboy

Thanks, sorry I missed this in the first post. So, based on that, as long as my connection in SYD on the inbound to ROK (destination of stopover), then I could overnight in SYD before the SYD-LAX outbound?

lax-lhr(AA)-sin(QF)-syd(BA)-bne-rok//syd-lax(QF) = 24,404

Thanks.