Dr. HFH

Yes. Remember, though, that AA codeshare availability is different from the availability on the operating carrier's number; so you may not be able to get it on every flight.

skipaway

If you have that long, maybe you should try to book with QR. When I tried, they never said they wouldn't do it, they just kept finding one little nitpicking problem after another (like they got stuck on the flight number to and from Anchorage being the same, said I couldn't stop twice in Hong Kong, etc).

However, ta da!, I am writing this in the BA lounge in CPT--the journey begins!

Thanks to all who were so helpful. I hope someday to be able to return the favors.

pyffii

My first leg will most probably be JNB-MAD on IB so QR not going to be in the picture.

headinclouds

The plot thickens. The long awaited JNB-GRU flight has been loaded into the GDS for flights stating in October. I tried this routing

JNB-GRU-DFW-NRT-HKG-JNB (the JJ flight was available and selected).

Naturally, I got an error 300: Due to traffic restrictions on this flight you must be booked on the operating carrier. Change this segment accordingly.

Looks like a problem similar to QR. i.e. you can't use the online booking site for a flight that starts with JJ. Thoughts?

AAExpDFW

It looks like JNB GRU is still flagged as "SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENT APPROVAL" in the GDS. That might be the reason for the rejection.

MiamiPrep

I was able to book LAX-AKL even tho that route was still "...subject to approval". More likely the well known technical issue, don't you think?

Kiwi Flyer

I tried the reverse direction and GRU-JNB does not seem to be available for any month (at least for DONEx), according to the tool.

Viajero Millero

They say they are waiting on the approval of the South African government. That Brazil-SA process may be a little more complex than a US-Australia venture.

skipaway

I am booked on the DFW-ANC-DFW portion of my RTW on July 5-10. This isn't going to work for a couple reasons. One is I want to take my grandson, 15, on an award ticket, so I'm juggling two separate tickets. I have one on hold for him. When I called BA to change my date, the agent couldn't do it, said I'd have to call my travel agent, which I don't have, then gave me the number 041-441-8600 Finallly said she'd have someone contact me within the next couple days so I wouldn't have to call overseas. So I tried the AA RTW desk. A very pleasant agent said they might be able to help but would have to send to fares to make sure all the taxes were collected properly and reissue on American stock. She said there may be costs due if not correctly processed. I wouldn't mind that so much, but I fear they will re-price at the fare as if originating in US. I purchased from BA at CPT origin price.

What do you think? Should I wait for a call, call the number in SA myself, or hope for the best with the AA desk? I'd love to be on AA since I have some further changes to make down the road, and I know others have done this without penalty. Is the "repricing" as ominous as it sounds?

JonNYC

I don't see where in your narrative anyone actually told you of any prospective re-pricing.

AAExpDFW

The key with AA is - do you have a credit card wth am SA address? They are on that silly kick about credit card billing addresses right now.

If you do - then use AA. Just make it clear you need for them to reprice everything in Rand. If they do, you will still have to call SA to pay for the reticketing.

If you have already flown your first leg you should be fine regardless. They can't reprice from anywhere but SA if the first segment has been flown. They may do an add-collect for taxes in USD but they cannot redo the base fare. If they try to you can argue that your ticket started in SA and it should be peiced accordingly.

skipaway

She didn't say she'd reprice the ticket as far as point of origin, just that "fares" would have to go over it flight by flight to make sure appropriate taxes (and fuel fees?) were collected because it would have to be reissued as an AA ticket. But she didn't say they wouldn't reprice it, and of course I didn't ask. I just got a little concerned when she mentioned sending it off for the fine tooth comb treatment. It seems it would be so easy to just move the flights which I'd already picked on Expert Flyer. They did see them as available, but she wouldn't do it without the OK. This would be good for later since I have lots of dates to change and no one beats AA's RTW desk (in my not-too extensive experience)

Yes, I've flown my first segments already, so that sounds reassuring. I have not tried to add a South African address to my credit card, and I wonder if anyone has had success with that gambit yet. I think what I'll do is cough up the $50 it will cost to call the SA BA desk that I originally used to ticket. If that fails in a timely manner, I'll call back AA (that was my AA agent's best suggestion.

AAExpDFW

I have found Skype to be a huge benefit in my overseas phones calls. Its about $1.00 versus the $50...

skipaway

Well, thanks. I always thought Skype was for calling home to another computer. I've never used it, but took your advice, loaded on to my computer and sent them $10. My 15 minute call, plus a couple failures due to my mike, cost a little more than the advertised 4.7 cpm, but still a bargain at 6 bucks. And minimal hold time! Got the dates I need, and my grandson is booked to go to Alaska on an award ticket.
Easy Peasy!

MiamiPrep

I believe my Skype calls to 800 #'s are free. If I call AA or RTW desk 800 #'s there is no charge.