[NEWBIE LOUNGE] Ask Your Questions Here (flame free)
 

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

The Newbie Lounge is a place where you can get answers to your questions about the oneworld Alliance. No question is too stupid, nothing is taken for granted, and anything about oneworld you were afraid to ask elsewhere, or weren't sure where to ask, you can ask here.

We realize that FlyerTalk is a huge place. Until you learn your way around, feel free to post here without fear of retribution or reprimands for not using search. Our volunteer Ambassadors will be monitoring the lounge to assist you in finding your answers.


We're all glad you are here.

Randy, thank you for creation of this Newbie Lounge for onwrold Alliance questions.
I also like to thank the "volunteer Ambassadors" in advance.

I am not exactly a newbie to FT, but my questions prove that I still am :D

Here are 2 questions:
1. I want to get AA credits for flying on CX, JL, BA, AY & RJ metal. Can someone spell out the fare codes that qualify for such. I am AA plat, and want to travel economy. Am aware AA codeshare flights are sure bets. {note: I have read a chart posted by Gardyloo sometime ago, and individual airlines web sites & still unsure}
2. Am I allowed to book an (one) AA codeshare flight that is NOT a trans-ocean flight, and NOT connecting to any AA flight?
Thanks

You can find the eligible fare classes for earning AA miles for each AA partner by looking here:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/pa...n.jsp?from=Nav
Specifically for CX here:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/pa...hayPacific.jsp
JL:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/pa...anAirlines.jsp
BA:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/pa...ishAirways.jsp
AY:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/pa...es/finnair.jsp
RJ:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/pa...lJordanian.jsp
Although the AA/BA/IB joint venture might affect this normally you could not book an AA codeshare without a long segment on AA. For example, to book the AA codeshare LHR-NCE you need to be connecting from an AA flight into LHR, so something like JFK-LHR-NCE. Also see the discussion in these threads:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...are+connecting
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...are-aone5.html

In addition to what jerry a. laska said, the only way this could work is if this is a codeshare inside the US or to/from the US. So something like an AA flight LAX-YVR operated by AS. So yes, you can book short AA codeshares but I guess this wasn't what you had in mind.

I had flown Malev operated and MA coded flight BUD-HEL, and then a Finnair operated, but AA coded flight HEL-JFK.

However, I was not able to book AA coded BA operated BUD-LHR without an immediate LHR-USA flight. Does anyone know if there are general rules for such connections, or it depends on each individual fare?

BA questions
 

I am best qualified to answer BA questions (particularly as they relate to Europe and TATL).

There are some great 'stickies' at the top of the forum where many questions are already answered. The wisdom, experience and typically British humour of the BA board is second to none IMHO, but it is wise to research your issued on the stickies first to avoid the sensation of a Bunsen Burner behind you!

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...tive-club-446/

Feel free to fire any questions my way, or PM if you are really shy ;).

And another BA thing
 

Many BA (and other FTers) log their flights on BA97

http://www.ba97.com/ba97/calendar/ba97.asp.

It is good fun to see which other FTers are traveling with you; you can even send them a message and say hello over a glass of champers!

Planning a RTW trip with Oneworld Ticket
 

I thought I had my air route figured out until I tripped over your forum. Wow there is so much going on here!

We are a family of 4 looking at a 1 year world trip with a departure of Sept 2011. YYC-ord-jfk-LIM-IPC-PPT-akl-SYD-MNL-hkg-HAN-BKK-AMM-CAI-MAD-lhr-YYC (lower case are cities we don't really want to stop in). In Peru, Australia and SE Asia we will probably need to purchase a few short-haul flights. We removed Tanzania as it appears easier (and no more expensive) to fly from Egypt on another carrier. I have been looking for a route that flies fairly directly but without any really long hauls. Easter Island to Papeete looks like the way across the Pacific but that forces us into the Global Explorer ticket (since buying a land segment Papeete-Auckland is cost prohibitive).

A Global Explorer ticket takes into account how many miles you fly and there is a wider range of airline carriers to choose from. Are there any other differences between a oneworld explorer and a global explorer?

Are there any fees in addition to the $5999 quoted fee that I should be aware of (what kind of passenger fees and charges)? I don't have a feel for how much the taxes are and if this should affect my choice. My assumption is that as long as I don't change the route, I can change the time/date for free.

I have no AA miles and don't see getting any before our trip starts. Should I be worrying about all this frequent flyer Gold status stuff? I am all for maximizing my rewards but am I flying enough to worry about this?

Thanks:)

Welcom to FT bjarmstr

You have obviously already invested a lot of time and thought into your planned trip
(just like a true FTer:D)

Some comments/ideas for you below
I cannot see any valid flight HAN-BKK (in other words that is on one of the allowed carriers). So I think you will have to buy an extra ticket there.
Yes, we all wish that a OW carrier flew PPT-AKL/SYD
There are other, slight, differences. But Global Explorer's mileage-basis and that it allows certain non-OW carriers are the primary differences. The rules for both tickets are available on the OW site.
Yes - there are fuel surcharges and country taxes

The ticketing carrier decides the fuel surcharges. These can vary from $0 (if LA or IIRC AY does the ticketing) through to lots of $s if QF or BA does the ticketing

The country taxes are fixed. In general there are charges for landing in a country, and then more charges for leaving the country. In general, if you are only transiting the country (in other words <24hrs between flights), then the charges are lower. Much lower in the case of the U.K.

So the more places you land at and takeoff from, the more charges you will pay.

To get a feel for the country taxes I suggest you plug your itinerary into the OW on-line booking tool. Once you've entered all your flights (with dates) then you can see the total costs, and a breakdown of the taxes.
(Since the tool only does OW Explorer tickets, you will have to make your PPT-AKL flight into a surface segment; but you'll still get a good feel for the total charge you will be up for.
Correct. (with the exception that if you were to change a transit into a stopover, then that counts as a change that triggers the USD125 change fee and also the country taxes will be re-computed.
I wouldn't worry about them at this planning stage, but we FTers always look for good mileage accrual opportunities.

Happy planning!

Welcome to FT, bjarmstr, you have come to the right place.

This certainly looks like a trip of a lifetime. A few comments.
You are currently planning to fly in Economy class. On this fare, this often books into L class, a very low booking class. On some flights you can have days after days without any L class seat available at all. And you need 4 of them. So you need to book very early and be flexible with the dates. And changing later can be problematic. I know $4500 is a lot of money, but you should seriously consider to fly Business Class for this epic journey. This will also help with flexibility. And the extra points you get compensate a lot for the extra money.

[QUOTE=bjarmstr;15050402]I have been looking for a route that flies fairly directly but without any really long hauls. Easter Island to Papeete looks like the way across the Pacific but that forces us into the Global Explorer ticket (since buying a land segment Papeete-Auckland is cost prohibitive).

If you skip PPT you could backtrack to IPC and stay with a OW Explorer. PPT is nice but the really nice places are Bora Bora and the Marquesas which add hundreds of $ in domestic travel to the budget (each).

Yes there are some more but nothing out of the ordinary.

Taxes and fees can be anything from $500 to more than $1000 per person. Just make sure you get the ticket issued by a good airline like AA.

Yes, but you need availability. Which can be a problem on some routes. And be aware that some airlines charge service fees for changes so it is not really free.

You should always worry about that. L class often doesn't earn much miles, flying business would be much better. You would get status and lounge access on the way.
If you can't fly business, then it might make sense to buy a Qantas Club membership, which also gets you into the BA and AA lounges. However, you donät have many AA, BA, QF flights so it might not be worth it.

Thank you and welcome all our OW Volunteer Ambassadors: thadocta, Dr HFH, DownUnderFlyer and squeeler.

Jerry a. laska & DownUnderFlyer,
Appreciate the info re my question #2 "Am I allowed to book an (one) AA codeshare flight that is NOT a trans-ocean flight, and NOT connecting to any AA flight?"

Jerry,
I’ve copied and pasted the fare code & reward mile charts per individual OW partners, and consolidatde them for fast reference. Thanks for the links.

I started that thread on a DONE4 (as provided by your link) some months ago, and the input from there plus further research and other factors prompted me to look at a DONE3 now (under separate thread).

Welcome to FT, bjarmstr!

I hope we aren't scaring you off with all the details and "yes, buts..." as you plan your family's great adventure.

So having said that, I'll throw in more "yes, buts..." :p

You're probably aware by now that RTW tickets carry different prices depending on where you start and end the trip. Sadly, Canada is among the more expensive origination countries for all classes of Oneworld RTW products - Oneworld Explorer, Global Explorer, etc., in economy, business and first class categories.

One thing to consider might be the potential cost-savings you could achieve by starting your trip somewhere else. For example, at today's prices and exchange rates, a 34,000-mile Global Explorer ticket in economy bought in Canada is C$5999 plus taxes and fees. A 4-continent Oneworld Explorer is C$5099++.

The same tickets bought in Spain, using todays C$/€ exchange would cost C$4360 and C$3613 respectively, i.e. around $1600 cheaper per person.

Obviously you'd have to get to Spain to start the trip, but I can't imagine a situation where you couldn't manage that for under $1600 per person.

If you went with the cheaper (Oneworld Explorer) option and avoided North America entirely on your RTW, you could do it all within the boundaries of a 4-continent ticket. A sample route could be, e.g., MAD-EZE-LIM-IPC-SCL-AKL-SYD-MNL-HKG-SGN-HKG-BKK-AMM-CAI-MAD. That would add Buenos Aires and still give you two more segments to use up somewhere (e.g. within Australia or South America) and it wouldn't violate the rule regarding only two stopovers in the continent of origin (Europe in this case) as you'd be starting and ending in Spain, with AMM and CAI as your "European" stopovers.

Using the Oneworld Explorer for maximum savings and more mileage-earning options, you could, for example, substitute the Queensland coast/Great Barrier Reef area for PPT, or possibly Lord Howe Island, in order to put some "South Pacific" back into the mix.

Regarding the limitations on "L" fares, this is highly variable from one carrier to another, and on some routes. I agree that getting four "L" seats on some flights, e.g. SCL-AKL, can be very tough, but not impossible. If, however, your budget allowed, you could also consider buying 2 business class tickets and 2 economy tickets; the miles earned by the people flying up front could easily "pay" for the upgrade differential in future award travel, not to mention the cost of the Calgary - Europe positioning flights. And if your family is anything like mine, with a year of traveling together a little "adult" time in the quiet, comfy front cabins once in a while might not be such a bad thing.

Hello all, and thanks so much for this newbie forum.

I was about to let 20,000 AA miles expire when I ran into this forum and others subsequently.... My husband and I love traveling and have flown 5 times this year for leisure, but I would always book based on the cheapest ticket out there, regardless or airline or miles.

I am in shock of all of the potential benefits and rewards that we have been missing out on!

I signed up for the Citi card offering 100,000 bonus miles promotion to get started.

I am overwhelmed by all of the abbreviations and lingo. What does YQ mean?

If I search for flights on AA.com, will codeshare flights automatically show up, or do I have to call and ask?

What should I do with the 100,000 miles??? My husband didn't want the CC, so I'd have the share them with him (or pay his way).

Would it be worth it to save the miles until we reach elite status using full-cost fares, then use the miles for the lowest redemption possible and upgrade using the elite status?

Sorry for the several questions covering a broad range of topics... but I'm as newbie as they come, so thanks for your time!

It's a pleasure to have you here. Welcome.


I'm not entirely certain. Generally, there are between two and four cabins in a plane. In a three cabin configuration, for example, the cabins are typically designated as F (first class), C (or sometimes J) (business class), and Y (economy, formerly known as coach). The cabin identifier is determinative only of where you sit. Pretty much everything else in these designators refers to the fare you are paying. Thus, without knowing specifically, I guessed wrong. See Jerry A. Laska's answer immediately following.


Nope, if you're searching on AA.com, they'll almost always be there. If in doubt, you can also check the AA Timetable, which you can download in various formats here. A lot of us also use Expert Flyer. There's a cost, but it's a very comprehensive website. I use it a lot.


Well, there are lots of things to do. Here are some ideas, here, too.


Well, that really depends on your travel habits, -- destinations and frequency.


No apology necessary. We're happy to help!!! Feel free to review what I've written here and ask follow-up questions if you like.

YQ is a fuel surcharge that is charged by certain carriers. Some carriers won't charge other carriers YQ's when booking. For example, when you book a ticket on AA, AA doesn't charge BA's fuel surcharges for BA flights. This is changing with regard to mileage bookings though, see:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-1-2010-a.html
You typically cannot upgrade a mileage ticket. What you can often do on carriers is buy a ticket and use miles to upgrade to the next higher class of service. Here is the information for upgrading on AA:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...l#post11822043

You might want to spend some time on the AA forum and specifically the AA FAQ's and Wiki which can be located through this link:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ere-first.html