ckpeter

Probably. Considering how your trip is only a few months away, it is possible that when you release the held award seats, some of them will not come back as award seats.

The key will be to have backup options on each of your segments. This way, when the agent attempts to release-and-rehold for you, you will be able to piece together an itinerary, even if you lose some of the original pieces.

BrewerSEA

My bad, I didn't read the post in context and assumed WAS was not the origin. Starting and ending in coterminals counts as neither a segment nor an open jaw.

marata28

I'm thinking about pursuing a oneworld award but have never redeemed one of these awards before and was hoping for a little guidance. For an itinerary I am thinking of two possibilities:

JFK-MAD(stop)-AMM-BKK(stop)-HKG(stop)-JFK
or
JFK-MAD(stop)-TXL-BKK(stop)-HKG(stop)-JFK after March 20 when Air Berlin joins the alliance.

In either case, the Great Circle Mapper tool estimates the total distance at about 19,200 miles so this should be Zone 6. I would be hoping to book 2 business class tickets for 130k miles each. I am also willing to be flexible about the length of the stops but in general would be thinking about 4-6 days in Spain, 6-8 days in Thailand, and 3-4 days in Hong Kong.

So I've done a little bit of work planning what I would like but have two questions I'm hoping the knowledgeable folks here can help me out with.

1. Any estimates for what the total taxes and fees I will be paying for each business class ticket? Carriers would likely be AA, IB, RJ or AB, and CX. Not looking for anything exact, but a rough estimate would be helpful. I don't believe any of the planned carriers are known for large surcharges, but I'm not positive.

2. For a couple of reasons, I will not be able to book these tickets until late March/early April. Also, I would be planning to travel during the 2012 holiday season with limited flexibility. I would plan to depart Dec. 21-26, have a trip length of 15-21 days, then return to New York sometime around Jan. 6-13. So while I will have some wiggle room I realize this can be a busy time to travel. I've already checked using the Qantas tool and acceptable flights are currently available. But will this persist? My question really is what are the odds I can realistically snag two of these business class tickets at 8-9 months in advance?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Jwerking

Wow, I am surprised that you were able to find availability for departing on Dec. 21-26 even now - perhaps you searched just as they loaded the seats at the 330 window. This is the likely one of the highest travel times during the year based on my experience with award travel. In the old days, I could always call AA on the day the seats were loaded and grab 4 seats, but that has not been my experience in recent years. I don't know when they load them anymore or if they load any for this time of year.

FlyerMC

ckpeter,

Thanks. Tomorrow, I will attempt to rebook the ticket and will try to have backup options. If none are available, I will just book on AA First Class metal transcontinental. I will keep everybody apprised and thanks again for all the help.

Jwerking

Spending lots of time trying to figure out all my options before I call to book my first OW ticket. It is very scary - like movingto college on the first day and not knowing what to expect. I guess I just need to do it and just see what happens.

Anyway, please clarify the 6 hr connection rule. So does a connection have to be made with 6 hrs - so I can book on any flights with award availability during that 6-hr window???

What if there is no award availability during the 6 hr window? Am I permitted to book on the next flight with award availibility up to 24 hrs - without it counting as a stopover??

What happens if there is no connection scheduled within 6 hrs? Am I allowed to book on the next scheduled flight - without it counting as a stopover as long as I don't exceed the 24 hr rule ? Same question as above on award availability - so can I book on the next flight with award availability as long as it is within the 24 hr window?

Am I only allowed to use use airlines listed in the first section of this forum ? For example, Japan Airlines apparently codeshares with Korean Airlines. But on a OW award, I cannot use the Korean airlines flight even though it has a JL codeshare flight number - is that correct - I must stay with only JL flights themselves?

Last question. What happens if you miss a connection and they re-route you or cannot schedule you until a day or two later? Since this could possibly result in violating the OW rules by an having an extra stopover or exceeding 16 segments - what happens?
Sorry for all the stupid questions, just trying to figure out all my flight options. This is very complicated.

Joyce

Austinrunner

Yes, pick the one you want.

After the 6-hour "pick any available flight" window ends, there is the 18-hour "must take the first scheduled flight, regardless of availability" window.

After the 6-hour window ends, you are required to book the next scheduled flight. If it's not available (because, for instance, other people have taken the award seats), you have a stopover. If there are no scheduled flights within 24 hours after arrival, you have a stopover.

You cannot book codeshares (except for the QF flight numbers on JQ-operated flights).

tennisboy

Thanks everyone for helping me out. One more thing: Any way I can fly to Bora Bora on the OW RTW award??

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

The closest you can get to BOB on a oneworld award is PPT on LAN, from either SCL or IPC.

FlyerMC

I was unable to re-book my ticket because I would lose business class in the last segment (Madrid to Miami) and there was not any way around this. So my dreams of flying JAL First Class from North America to Tokyo have been left unfulfilled.

I am temporarily flying on April 3rd out of Chicago. With two flights per day I am hoping something opens up a few days earlier to give me more time in Tokyo.

tennisboy

Nice about Faaa. What is the routing if coming from Asia on a OW RTW? And has anyone been there - is it as beautiful as Bora Bora looks?

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

All oneworld awards are distance-based; none requires a round-the-world itinerary.

As previously noted, the only oneworld metal serving PPT is LA, which only provides service from SCL and IPC. If you are in Asia, you would have to first get yourself to South America to get to PPT on a oneworld award.

Jwerking

Listen well to advice on the forum - if you get an unknowledgable agent - hang up and call back - so why did I not listen? Ms. Dumbo could not find any availability - could not find a single flight from Tokyo (NRTor HND) to Seoul (ICN or GMP) - either of the two times I wanted to stopover in Seoul to visit my daughter. So I booked what I could with her to Tokyo and figured that I would have to pay my own RT fare to Seoul. Ouch, the cheapest airfare is about $580 RT.

Anyway, I called back this afternoon and lord and behold - almost all the flights I wanted were available - even the days I wanted- included the Tokyo to Seoul flights - go figure, when the Ms. Dumbo Agent could not find one flight in a 2-week period. Wonder what or where she was searching????

So I am a pretty happy camper right now - as opposed to very depressed this morning. Have it on hold for 5 days. Would appreciate your review to ensure I am not violating any of the OW restrictions.

IAD - DFW - NRT - ICN (stopover) April 25 - AA and JL
ICN - NRT- JFK (stopover) June 13 - JL
JFK - HND (stopover) Sept 8 -AA
HND - GMP (stopover) Sept 30 - JL
GMP - KIX - BKK (stopover) - Nov 4 - JL
BKK - SYD- AKL (stopover) - Dec 3 -QF
AKL - BNE - LAX - IAD - Dec 13 QF & AA ( will rebook this leg to mid Jan 2013 hopefully when award seats are loaded - right now Dec 13th was the only date with award seats available)

I count 14 segments, is that correct?

Got a question about JL. My plans were to fly from HND to KIX on Sept 16 and then from KIX to GMP on Sept 30. But Ms. Dumbo Agent stated that I am only able to book award seats for HND to KIX 2 months in advance because it was an intra-country flight and this is a JL restriction - is this true? Does anyone know if Japan Airlines has such a restriction on intra-country flights using miles?

Would save a bundle - as I think it would costs a small fortune to go from Tokyo to Osaka and return. As I recall - a train pass was like $700.

BTW - a helpful tip! My wonderful angel this afternoon made a "special request" for the LAX-IAD leg - as there were no FF seats available for any date after about Dec 11 for the entire month - nada seats to anywhere on the east coast period for any routing. Anyway, she made the special request via the computer and it was rejected. Then she appealed the denial and it got approved about 2 hrs later. My angel

Thank all for your help - I could not have done it without you! You guys are truly awesome!!!

Joyce

Austinrunner

I am assuming that the following is your itinerary:
That is indeed 14 segments. It appears to me that your itinerary complies with all the oneworld award rules.

I was not aware that intra-Japan flights as part of a oneworld award cannot be booked more than 2 months in advance. I knew this restriction applied for purely a JL domestic award. So, I think you should ask another AA agent about this, including a supervisor if necessary. If the supervisor confirms what you've been told already, ask him / her to check with the ticketing desk. Be very polite but firm.

Congratulations! What you've accomplished already is very difficult.

P.S. Also wanted to make sure you knew that IAD -> ORD (AA) -> NRT (AA) is available. There are good reasons to avoid ORD at all times of the year, but April thunderstorms might be a factor at DFW. Be sure to allow a few hours connection time at whichever connecting point you choose. I firmly believe it is better to be bored and unstressed with a long international connection than frazzled and frightened with a tight connection!

The earliest date I see QF availability for AKL -> LAX in Y is 13 January. That should be bookable on 17 February. Don't forget the SYD -> DFW flight. 7 January is currently available, which should be bookable this Friday. Have you thought about the following routings as backups?
AKL -> SCL -> JFK -> IAD
AKL -> HKG -> JFK -> IAD
AKL -> SYD -> EZE -> JFK -> IAD

Jwerking

Great - two segments to spare!

Thanks, called again this morning and of course, Ms. Dumbo is wrong. Added the leg from HND to KIX and from there to GMP - even got the exact days I wanted to match up with my three weeks of timeshare that I had already reserved in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto a few months ago. Couldn't believe my good fortune when I saw these consecutive Japan weeks on RCI - so grabbed them. I am truly ecstatic when I can get my timeshare weeks to match up with my award seats - at this minute, I am jumping around my office like a little kid. I am going to take another one of these RTW trips - as hubby and I opted to just fly cattle class, like we have always done, and save the extra 160K miles for another RTW ticket, instead of blowing the miles this time for a first class OW trip.

I AM VERY VERY HAPPY - CAN YOU TELL?

I agree totally and have several connections that are about one hour - which I am NOT happy with right now. Am I allowed to ask for a later flight (in some cases, there are NO other flights that day) even though they are beyond the 6-hr connection limit? Would it then become a stopover??

Ah, another question?? Once I book the ticket, am I allowed to change a connection to a stopover?? I would not mine stopping in Brisbane for a week since we did not go there during our last trip to Oz.

Okay - does QF load seats ahead of AA's 330 day window? But if I book the AKL-BNE-LAX-IAD now because no other award seats are available in the US right now, I have to stay with this itinerary. So do you see anything in mid- January on QF for AKL-BNE-LAX for two cattle?

Wow, that would work great : AKL-SYD-DFW-DCA or IAD. Lots of flight options from DFW back to the DC area. However, unless AA loads some seats for any day in January by this Friday when my 5-day hold ends, I cannot grab the SYD - DFW portion. What a bummer - my gut tells me it is not going to happen. Who knows when AA will load those award seats around the Xmas/New Years holidays. Not like the old days, when they consistently loaded at the 330-day window each day . I certainly long for those old days!


LOL - please Austinrunner - do NOT tempt me any further! Had no idea where SCL and EZE were?? Oh my gosh, I would love to go to South America - but I am not out of segments to do it! I am up to 15 segments now with the recent addition of my HND-KIX leg. It will be South America on my next RTW ticket!!!