How can I be 100% sure my DONE4 has been completely issued and I won't get a nasty surprise at the airport ?

I am doing a DONE4 ex-AMM. I have booked through the AA GSA in Cairo, given them my credit card details and paid the service fee. They've since sent me an email like this: (numbers and names changed)

VIRTUAL COUPON RECORD ♦
1234567890123-99 NAME-SMITHY/DR
TTL NBR OF CPNS-16 DATE OF ISSUE-01APR13 PNR-ABCDEF 14MAR13
FF NBR-QF 9876543 SPH
CC-BAXXXXXXXXXXXX1111
CPN A/L FLT CLS DATE BRDOFF TIME ST F/B STAT
1 RJ 267 D 18APR AMMYUL 0310 OK DONE4 OK

Etc..

FARE JOD 5103.10 EQUIV PAID EGP49401.00 TAX 668.00YQ TAX
3699.00YR TAX 4030.00XT TOTAL EGP57798.00

I've also received an AA eTDS Itinerary email from AA with all the flights on it, and I can see a status of "Ticketed" when I check the booking via aa.com using the record locator.

I've done these before, but it's been a couple of years and previously I've always booked them through the AA RTW desk, never a travel agent (and never from a country I'm not living in). Sorry, I'm just feeling a bit paranoid since the first flight is in a week and I can't remember what documentation I receive to know that everything's ready to roll.

Do you have a Ticket Number yet ??

If that's the xxxxxxxxxxxxx-yy number before each of our names, then yes.

Go on AA.com and look up your reservation using the AA PNR. I assume that would be the PNR-ABCDEF noted in your OP. BTW, you may want to call AA and get the PNR for QF/BA/CX so you can book seats on their respective flights via their respective web sites.

Thanks.

When I look it up on aa.com, the status shown is "Ticketed". I've been assuming that's good.

I can also already see the itinerary in my QFF FF page (I've used my QFF number for the booking) and select seats there for the QF flights.

EDIT: Using the PNR from my QFF FF page I can also see checkmytrip.com shows every segment as "confirmed".

No - it may not be ticketed as yet.

Typically it should show "Ticketed - <date>" when properly ticketed.

AN AA ticketed booking would have ticket number starting with 001- ...

So if I look on checkmytrip.com, I can see an E-ticket issued by AA starting with 001-, but it seems to be for the HKG-CDG leg, which is the second-last on the whole itinerary. I can also see e-tickets issued by QF for my Australia-New Zealand legs.

Plus another question in this scenario - where do I put in my APIS info ? It's prompting me to do so on my QFF bookings page, but this is a ticket issued through AA with the first flight on RJ from AMM-YUL (then YUL-DFW 2 days later)...

Ha, I was being a moron and fixating on the big blue box on the right hand side with "Ticketed" in it, completely ignoring this right in the middle of the screen:

Reservation Name
AMM/YUL
Status: Ticketed Apr 01, 2013

Feeling better now. Still wondering about where to lodge the APIS info, though...

I have ticketed many DONE's ex-CAI & ex-AMM using Emeco, AA's ticket agent in Egypt. They are very reliable, accommodating & easy to work with.

The easiest way to be sure: call AA RTW desk in US & ask if it is ticketed, and to check that all the segments appear to be in order. As others have alluded, make sure you have your ticket # available (I try to print out the itinerary AA RTW desk will email which has the ticket # at the bottom). The ticket # can become very valuable with OW partners if one is in a foreign land & they can't pull up your reservation with the flight # & date. I had this happen with a LAN flight in AKL several years ago -- it was a nightmare, it may have been something to do with the recent earthquake in SCL.
Remember, certain changes to the ticket (i.e., I believe eVIP's) generate a new ticket # which is good to have on hand.

OP says he has the eTDS Itinerary email from AA, which includes the partner airlines' booking reference numbers (along with terminal info, flying time and aircraft type for each segment). Few people seem to be aware of this.

Happy Travels.

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One can't over-state the importance of knowing the PNRs for the airlines you'll be flying, often OLCI (or airport self-service terminals) will work with nothing else. Don't leave home without 'em!

Same goes for ticket numbers, as mentioned above. One time an AA computer glitch left us unticketed on an FCO departure. Everything else about the booking - including seat assignments - seemed so 'complete' I didn't notice until OLCI when the BA computer mentioned a 'slight irregularity that will require airport check-in'. "Fortunately" the glitch dated the booking a year later which thwarted the normal ticketing progression but left the reservation on perma-hold until the humans straightened it out. Good thing we were uncharacteristically early for the flight.

My wife and I were on a joint LONE4 (AA issued). Flying -LAX-xORD-FCO- as part of a this, somehow our booking became split and my ticket number changed.

Before leaving Rome, I noticed a new PNR for me and thought it rather strange. I did not worry too much though, merely making sure I had recorded the new PNR.

Checking in to go to MAD with IB a few mornings later at FCO became problematic as they could not find my ticket number. My wife's booking was fine but mine was nowhere to be 'seen' by their systems. I had no internet access or other method of finding it. It was over an hour later before they were able to find it (the agent called AA in the other terminal [who had just 'opened'] ans was able to obtain the 001- number).

So, yes - PNR's are good, Ticket numbers are even better. (And again, it was a good thing we arrived at the airport early.)

I miss paper tickets. E-tickets are ephemeral - heading for the airport, I never say "do we have our e-tickets?" I certainly don't say "has everyone logged in this morning to see if their e-tickets are still valid?" Because of e-tickets I can't have open segments on xONE trips. Because of e-tickets I can only have 16 segments (on Visit-South-America passes, among other things, tho xONEx has codified that for all media). Because of e-tickets I don't have to keep my paper tickets in the hotel safe. Oh, joy, only a fool would steal a ticket with my name written all over it.

The airlines love e-tickets because it saves them money in production and delivery. They lied about the benefits to the traveler, methinks.