Hi guys, to escape from BA's surcharge, I was thinking to issue a ticket as JNB-xLHR-LAX on AA code-share than change it, before start of trip, to JNB-LHR-LAX.
Beside of charging the changing fee, will AA cancel my ticket and force me to issue it with BA?
I know that AA charge surcharge for BA flights but if ticket is issued by BA, BA will charge their surcharge for every other flights and the ticket end up costing almost U$ 1200 more.
Please advise....

While I cannot say with 100% certainty, I seriously doubt that AA will cancel your ticket and tell you to get lost (i.e., force you to buy it somewhere else).

No experts yet? My non-expert opinion is that the rules say if you make a significant pre-departure change they tear up your ticket and start again.

ITA doesn't think there's anything wrong with including the LHR stop, by the way, so chances are you can ticket it the way you want to fly it. Taxes and fees for JNB-LHR-LAX are about ZAR5800 (in a premium cabin) about evenly split between AA's YR (ZAR2210) and the UK's APD (ZAR2063).

As I've mentioned a couple of times I booked an AONE4 a few weeks ago by calling the South African "American Airlines" number, without having set anything up with the famous RTW desk. Very painless and professional, other than having to talk to them during their 9-5 (?) business hours, which barely overlapped my own awakefulness hours.

I did know which flights I wanted and knew there was A availability, and I booked a very simple trip knowing it was going to eventually cost me an extra USD125 to flesh out. When I called back to get the price a couple of days later, and the rate desk still hadn't gotten around to doing their job, the agent simply calculated the price himself and queued it for ticketing, which happened immediately. The price he calculated was satisfyingly close to what I'd calculated using ITA's numbers, so I was satisfied. They charged USD45 for the ticketing service.

My skeletal trip continued to HKG and JNB and total taxes and fees weren't much greater than the ZAR5800 mentioned above. I've reported the details in another thread.

Just call the AA and book it over the phone. The online tool only sends it for booking with the marketing carrier of the first flight due to technical limitations. There is no rule saying the first carrier has to ticket.

As stated by Himeno, if using the online booking tool it defaults (in most situations) to the first carrier to do the ticketing. Instead, just have the AA GSA in SA book it. AA doesn't care if your first segment is on another carrier, historically AA has only cared about getting at least one of the overwater(intercontinental) segments.

Thank you for inputs.
I called AA GSA 2 months ago and was told that I have to issue on line.
I think best for me now is to call RTW desk and see what happens.
Thank you guys again.

If the aim of this exercise is to change the initial LHR stop to a stopover from a transit, then you'll probably run into trouble with the AA codeshare unless your intent was to fly AA metal to LAX and not BA anyway. You might run into a "married segment" issue (which I confess is still a very mysterious phenomenon to me so I could be mis-speaking.)

At any rate changing it to a stopover will certainly whack you with UK APD on the departure, a goodly number.

I would call the RTW desk and ask them about both issues - the AA code on the London leg, and what happens if you re-issue after purchase changing the transit to a stopover (which requires a re-issue anyway due to tax changes.)

Also you do realise the ex SA fares went up significantly last week?

I've never used the on-line tool but people use it because it seems to get a ticket issued at the originating-city price despite where the purchaser lives/is at the moment/has his credit card from. Calling AA RTW desk at DFW will get the USA price unless you can talk them into queuing the ticket to their South Africa agency, which some post suggest may take some persuasion.

I'm surprised at the report that the SA office didn't want to deal with you. I booked with them perhaps 6 weeks ago and it couldn't have been easier. The agent who picked up the phone was as ready for my "AONE4 booking, please" request as the DFW desk and was at least as competent and customer-friendly as some of the better people at DFW. And as I noted, went ahead and did the fare calculation when the rate desk wasn't fast enough.

I had done my homework, knew my flights, had verified availability, and booked a simple 4-segment trip with him (worrying about that price rise). To me knowing I was "wasting" $125 was worth the slick and almost instant ticket-in-hand. (It did take a couple of days, waiting for the rate desk.)

Regarding code-shares, ITA will not offer the AA code-share if you ask for JNB-LHR. It will if you route JNB-LHR-LAX with or without a stop in London. And I believe that is indeed the deal AA and BA have in that region. The code-share saves a couple hundred bucks, the difference between BA's YQ and AA's YR.

Unfortunately AOne5 is ZAR 111020, around U$ 11000.00.
Well......
Anyway, I called RTW Desk, really nice and easy, and they are calculating final price.
Once is ready, I will call GSA CPT to pay.
Thanks again for all your inputs

JNB probably still the cheapest AONEx fare, next cheapest may be CAI where an AONE4 costs about USD12912. For those who really want the African continent, AONE5 ex-CAI is $14650.

In comparison, D fares from either JNB or CAI remain attractive, about half the price of A class. DONE4 from CAI is about $5851, DONE5 from JNB costs $6666. Especially nice if it's possible to upgrade selected segments with miles

My understanding is that the AA code is available if connecting to another AA code, so it doesn't have to be a connection to AA metal, but it does need to be a connection and not a stop. Even an overnight, still a connection, has been difficult or impossible for me.

No need to mention who in South Africa will issue the ticket, or where you will be. Just request the RTW desk to have it priced for issue in South Africa.

I haven't tried ITA, but EF requires it be a connection, and I've had problems booking even overnight connections as codeshares. I'd be surprised if AA let you ticket as a codeshare with a stop. As for the fuel surcharge difference, I was under the impression that AA now charges the full BA amount. Has that changed back?

Despite its eclectic UI, I find ITA to be far more reliable in determining availability and obtaining detailed pricing for a planned trip. (I do maintain a subscription to EF for other uses, though)

I asked ITA for A space JNB-LAX for next Wednesday using the qualifying line
AA+ X:LHR /f bc=A
and got a bunch of flights - probably all the chronologically-possible combinations - and have zero doubt that they're bookable. The fare breakdown included USD220 for AA's YR on the trip; my recollection is that BA's YQ is a couple hundred dollars more, but you can find out for sure simply by changing the AA+ to BA+.

As far as allowing the codeshare with a stop in London, I don't recall why I opined that it was okay, but you can try that too - just use the multisegment input. Given the huge difference in Passenger Duty if you stop, you do need a good reason for it.

Not sure I'd call it eclectic. Abstruse, maybe. (My problem with the UI is that I have problems with combinations, e.g., forcing connections in LAX and LHR and forcing AA operated flight between LAX and LHR but allowing BA and IB for others -- it usually barfs or tells me there are no flights.) That said, I do use it to price all-in fares, since EF usually gives the pre-tax&tip amount.

Given my experience in booking AA codes, I wouldn't trust ITA if it told me it was fine, absent direct or credible reports of actually being able to book it.

Just booked a DONE ex JNB-lhr-vce- lhr-yvr-dfw-LIR-dfw-JFK-lax-Mel-bne-Mel-syd-JNB thru the AA office in Capetown and was not allowed the AA code share on The BA flight to London with the agent advising that BA won't permit it and further no code shares were available to Venice and return but a code share was available for the flight to Vancouver ....hope that helps