samwise6222

Can you separate your ticket?

You can't have QR segments w/ TLV in one ticket.

TLV-AMM flight is one of the biggest rip-offs that's around. $600+ for a 40 min flight.

SeeBuyFly

So who is right?

travel214

Thank you all for your feedbacks and suggestions. I was not able to find RJ award availability between US and Amman for my date of travel, that’s why I am routing through Qatar (that and I wanted to fly Q suite.. haha). I didn’t think about the Qatar/UAE restrictions since it is not a stopover just connection. I will call AA later tonight to find out a little more about the open jaw restrictions JonNYC mentioned and report back. Stay tuned...

swingaling

I know there was an OJ restriction on the LAA program regarding Israel and Arab League Member states. No idea if this rule is still in effect, but it wouldn't affect an OJ between TLV and AMM regardless.

Specifically:
Presumably, this exception exists because Jordan and Egypt are the only Arab League Member states that have scheduled air service to/from Israel.

As I stated, QR publishes a JFK-TLV (and v.v.) fare (both as RT and OW in both directions). It's a valid fare and can be booked via OTA (I checked), so it should be bookable per AA rules. Unless there's some obscure unpublished rule against this, I really don't see what the problem is.




Says who? QR may not sell you this ticket via their website (TLV isn't an option), but it's a valid publicly filed fare that can be purchased from Priceline, Expedia, etc. EK and SV are a different story.

SeeBuyFly

(a) Where is the quote about open jaws from? (JonNYC also refers to open jaws, but isn't sharing any details.)

(b) As you said, the OP is going into AMM and returning from TLV so the rule does not apply to the OP. Open jaws could be a problem if land or air travel to close the loop isn't possible, such as BEY and TLV; but it isn't a problem here.

(Actually even BEY-TLV is possible via AMM, CAI, LCA, IST, etc on 2 separate tickets; but I can see the point of the rule in that case. Like you, I don't understand how the rule applies to the OP.)

samwise6222

Said AA agent earlier this year when I was trying to construct an award trip to ME.

I ended up having one ticket to TLV - and another out of AMM.

awayIgo

As said, this has nothing to do with TLV or AMM and everything to do with Qatar. Jordan and Israel have diplomatic relations. A peace treaty was signed years ago. If you look on a trip advisor Israel forum you will see many travelers go through one country enroute to the other, ( or do a land crossing with a ticket showing home country to TLV and than Amm to home country ( or reverse)

kszary

Actually my intention was to give him an alternate way of getting back to the states via Oneworld awards. So, yes, I do think it's still relevant.

swingaling

Found it in some of the deprecated LAA award threads. Section 4 on the following page: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18267662-post1.html


Understood, but the fact remains that QR sells tickets for travel to/from TLV despite the fact that they have no diplomatic relations with Israel. The TLV-XXX (or v.v.) segment is operated by other carriers (RJ via AMM, A3 via ATH, PC via IST, etc) of course. By comparison, SV and EK do not sell such tickets.

JonNYC

a -slightly- more recent version (but still several years old, and 90%+ chance it predates QR joining OneWorld)-- which still wouldn't seem to apply to the OP's itin (and yet seems to be what's being invoked, best I can tell) is this.

I've requested the current "AAD ISRAEL" to see what it says:

JonNYC

O.K., I think I'm coming around to seeing that the above posters are on the right track and the AAdv rule I -thought- might have been updated, was slightly and still isn't the culprit.

(these are 2 different rules below)

travel214

I just confirmed with AA that indeed it’s the routing through Qatar that is the issue and nothing to do with OJ as I was originally told. The list that JonNYC posted is still up to date. I would need book a separate ticket between Amman and TLV or OW so I am not backtracking to/from TLV before I head back to US. As many of you also pointed out, I’ll need to be careful with not getting stamped by Israel at the border before my return trip to US otherwise connecting through DOH might become an issue (will it?)

thanks everyone for your inputs.. it was certainly educational

samwise6222

It's easy to get around if you know the rules.

Plus, if you have Avios, TLV-AMM flights are one of the best value flights out there

4,500 Avios for a flight that could easily be $450++

travel214

mvoight

I have flown an award from the US to LHR-AMM-TLV (forgot which US city was involved, possibly ORD) in 2014. I don't know if there have been any changes regarding this
I remember AMM being the only airline lounge I had been to that charged to take a shower ($15, at the time, I think)
My passport has never been stamped by Israel, and I have never asked them not to. They generally give you a small paper stating it is a B1/B2 with your photo, etc