There is certainly nothing in the rules about a subsequent routing change triggering a re-pricing and therefore there is no valid reason for AA pricing/accounting to re-price it to the current price.

We have an ex-KRT DON4E, which we will be starting in April'13, and I do want to make changes to the last few segments (to add one that was not loaded when I purchased in October, and now also to change the final end point because it will no longer be useful to return to KRT)

So I will be very interested in hearing about others' experiences making routing changes to these tickets

A couple of questions re: changes:

1. With date/time changes, I assume that the both the carrier and routing for a given segment has to remain the same?

Also, I'm currently booked on an AA flight (operated by BA), am I able to switch this to an AA flight operated by AA without any issues?

2. I have a flight that arrives/departs within 24 hours. If I change this to a >24 hour layover, will there be any issues? (presumably taxes will need to be recalculated, so should I wait until the trip commences?)

Cheers

Date/time changes include carrier changes. As long as the exact routing remains the same, you may change at will and only pay tax and fuel fine differences (and get refunds if lower) plus any reticketing fees imposed by whomever issued your ticket (none if AA issued it).

You may switch from an AA coded BA flight to an AA coded AA flight without problem (same for switching from any carrier's code to any other's.)

Layovers make no difference except for tax issues (e.g., when departing from the U.K. in a premium cabin you must pay a hefty tax unless it's a connection). No need to wait until the trip commences for these sorts of changes.

Note that this is specific to the xONEx product. The xCIRCxxxx product has different and more restrictive rules. I've not used the xGLOBxxxx product yet but I think it has rules very much the same as the xONEx product.

In most places taxes are unaffected by whether a stop or a transit there, but UK is one very costly exception to that.

Obviously any transfer being changed to a stopover can only be changed subject to the usual rules (eg max 2 in continent of origin).

OK, I finally have time to report back on my experience in mid December.

I flew into KRT on Fly Dubai from DXB as it was a cheap flight and I had flown ex-US to AUH on Etihad (using AA miles; EY released an F seat about 3 days prior to flight, so I switched from a previously booked RJ flight via AMM; nice complimentary limo from AUH to Dubai.)
I had arranged an airport entry permit through Waleed, but agent at DXB did not ask to see any evidence of visa for Sudan.

On arrival at KRT, it took about 20 minutes for visa to be processed as they shuffled my passport and forms around a couple of (open) offices.

I stayed four nights in Khartoum; interesting but probably only needs two or three nights to see the few sights.

Departing to start my RTW: it's fortunately only about ten minutes from the centre of the city to the airport and little traffic at that time of morning for the 06.25 RJ flight to AMM.
You cannot check-in online for RJ flights from KRT.
Check-in is handled by contract agents, not RJ, and there is little organisation, no signs, and no J class lane. I asked a porter if there was a check-in area for J and he told me just to go to the front, which I rather reluctantly did and asked the check-in agent where J passengers check in, and he stopped what he was doing and took my passport and checked me in! No premium baggage tags available, and my suitcase was automatically checked through to DEL.
No queue at Immigration counter, and I asked two different Immigration agents if you can do Transit Without Visa if arriving on RJ and departing on same plane, and both said it would be fine, though they couldn't understand why I would want to do it, and were more concerned that I wouldn't have enough time to meet whomever I was planning to meet at the airport for business!

There's no shopping after Immigration except a small souvenir stall, but there's a small contract J lounge before security with sandwiches, salad and hot & cold soft drinks. An agent calls for Y passengers first, and later calls for J passengers who go on the last bus to the aircraft.

At AMM, I went to transfer desk, not sure if I would clear immigration or stay in the airport as my DEL flight didn't depart until 21.15, exactly 12 hours later. Staff at transfer desk immediately escorted me to "airport hotel" desk next door, who then escorted me through Immigration without needing a visa, and then to the terminal exit where a small minibus was waiting to take me to the Golden Tulip airport hotel, about ten minutes away on the airport access road. The driver told me not to take the regular shuttle back to the airport, but that this minibus would be waiting for me two hours prior to my flight.
At the hotel, they gave me a very comfortable room, and provided lunch and soft drinks, all at no charge! I hadn't expected that. And indeed the private minibus was waiting for me at 19.15

The minibus dropped me at the dedicated J class check-in lounge, and I again asked the check-in agent about doing TWOV on the inbound and outbound flights. (I am hoping to do this in April when my DONE4 ends and I start an AONE3). He confirmed that it would be OK, but that they cannot check me in at AMM for the KRT-AMM return, but that he would send an email to their station manager at KRT who would print my boarding pass and meet me on arrival at KRT.

Sorry this is a bit long, but I hope the info may be useful to others.

Happy Travels.

Many thanks for the update NDFan

I am now looking forward to our couple of days in KRT in early April
and I will get in touch with Waleed in the near future to arrange airport entry permits

We have just arrived in amman managed to scrape through the TWOV in KRT but wouldn't recommend trying.

Prior to departure we called RJ in SYD to contact their station manager in KRT to arrange to have us met on arrival.

We took a GF flight DXB-BAH-KRT which would give us a 2 hr connection to the outbound RJ flight. In DXB, first were told we couldn't check the bag through to AMM. Then we went back later to a different counter and the check in staff did it for us without a problem.

In KRT The arrivals hall is in a completely different building to the departures building and there are no transfer desks and of course the RJ rep wasnt there to meet us. We were told by officials that a TWOV was only possible if the connecting flights were on the same ticket. After some discussion and some money discreetly changing hands we were taken on a bus back to the departure terminal, escorted to the check-in hall, checked in, and given our boarding passes for the RJ flights. Bag also arrived in AMM without a problem.

Would not like to repeat this experience.

How much did you have to pay?

USD $20 - fresh notes.

Hi guys

Today I started my first xONE from KRT (out of 3). This time things went relatively smoothly but I fear the next one will be more difficult....

The first trip is a DONE4 to Australia and South America. It will end it in KRT and will immediately (back the same flight (AMM)) start a AONE3. Then I will let it “rest” for some months in AMM, finish it in KRT and immediately start a DONE3. So far so good.

I am Austrian citizen and got a tourist visa at the Sudanese embassy in Vienna without any problems (70 Euro). Took a LH award flight to KRT yesterday (via FRA) and stayed in the German Guest House (not cheap but includes airport transfer and breakfast/dinner).
Got up at 4:45 to reach the flight to AMM. Only slight hiccup was that immigration forced me to pay an exit fee of 236 Sudanese pounds - did any of you guys ever have to pay for that? Didn’t have any local cash on me but they accepted 40 USD (probably a very bad conversion rate but I had no choice). Rest of checking in went smoothly. They could not check me (and my luggage) through to HKG (via LHR) so I will have to do that in AMM.

After my experience with immigration today and antkleve’s report I am a bit worried about the next change over in KRT as it will be a TWOV without valid visa. Fingers crossed. I will keep you updated.

Good report. My advice would be to bring some fresh usd $10 notes and look for a woman to assist you at immigration. They are usually more helpful in that part of the world and less inclined to accept bribes. It would be my preference just to simply obtain a visa if it was an easy thing for you to do.

On the RJ web site it states there is an airport tax of $20
http://rj.com/en/destinations_airports.html
So it looks the tax is genuine and not a rip-off

To cross-check I priced up a 1-way KRT-AMM flight on itasoftware, it shows only one tax
Sudan Passenger Service Charge (NY) 35.00SDG

There are a few countries that still collect an exit tax directly off the passenger - it is not included in the taxes you pay when you buy your ticket (Philippines and Bolivia come to mind)

Indonesia is also one of those countries

Indonesia as well. Had to pay in cash in local currency when leaving Bali (luckily I knew ahead of time and had the exact amount ready but it seems no one else did because everyone ahead of me took 5-7 minutes each but the same agent only needed 20 seconds for me).

I didn't have to pay $20 anywhere at the airport on my RJ tickets in/out. Though they still nailed me on the visa charges, so they made out well in the end