Originally Posted by dvs7310 (Post 36086323)

Depends on your starting point. Ex-Japan then it doesn't matter, the it's YR only and they're nearly identical. Ex-OSL it seems AA code is definitely cheaper and I'm not entirely sure ex-CAI.

You can test it pretty easily in the tool though by subbing LAX in just for testing and see what the difference is using the the AA or QF flight.

Originally Posted by pandaperth (Post 36088834)

Hopefully the following will help the current discussion, rather than confuse.

If you have got an itinerary to price using the tool, then at the bottom of the third page (“Review Flights”) it will show the base fare (In its own currency), all the taxes and charges (in AUD), and the grand total (in AUD). So from that you should be able to tell the fare basis (DONE5 vs DONE5 for example) and which airline fare is being used - BA, IB and RJ fares are quoted in EGP, QR fares are now quoted in USD (and are much higher)

And

Back in February I reported a new bug in the tool ( see FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - xONEx online tool bugs thread). The tool was incorrectly pricing a 5-continent itinerary as a 3-continent itinerary. And making just a small change triggered a reprice which resulting it being priced, correctly, as a 5-continent itinerary. Perhaps this bug is playing up again. Again, this can be checked be viewing the base fare on the Review Flights screen.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by steveholt (Post 36090282)

Yes. My prior post noting this issue is quoting the change in the *base fare*, which, if anything, should be more expensive flying AKL-SYD-SIN-DOH (making it a DONE4 with US, Europe, Pacific, Asia) vs AKL-DOH (DONE3 with US, Europe, Pacific). And yet, if there's a longhaul flight from DOH to the US early in the itinerary, switching to that routing it is bringing the price *down* dramatically.

Originally Posted by steveholt (Post 36090282)

Yes. My prior post noting this issue is quoting the change in the *base fare*, which, if anything, should be more expensive flying AKL-SYD-SIN-DOH (making it a DONE4 with US, Europe, Pacific, Asia) vs AKL-DOH (DONE3 with US, Europe, Pacific). And yet, if there's a longhaul flight from DOH to the US early in the itinerary, switching to that routing it is bringing the price *down* dramatically.

Originally Posted by ironmanjt (Post 36088590)

RTW base fares don’t change. Period. That’s the fare rules.

I’m not sure how you “know” that AA will ticket any itinerary when there’s been plenty of conflicted reports here about their willingness. Can we please stick to facts and not one-off speculation? That will be most beneficial to the community.

Originally Posted by headinclouds (Post 36090923)

Will the web tool ticket a DONEx, CAI-LHR-USA-... with the 1st 3 segments on BA using the lower EGP price BA's stock, which means dealing with BA? If not, will AA ticket it if there is a USA-ASIA AA seggment/codeshare later in the itinerary? I don't mind slightly higer YQ/YR if AA will ticket the RTW since I would book a simple route, then change after flying the 1st segment.

Originally Posted by headinclouds (Post 36090923)

Will the web tool ticket a DONEx, CAI-LHR-USA-... with the 1st 3 segments on BA using the lower EGP price BA's stock, which means dealing with BA? If not, will AA ticket it if there is a USA-ASIA AA seggment/codeshare later in the itinerary? I don't mind slightly higer YQ/YR if AA will ticket the RTW since I would book a simple route, then change after flying the 1st segment.

Originally Posted by pandaperth (Post 36090888)

As Mwenenzi has pointed out, there is a specific rule dealing with non-stop flights between South West Pacific and Europe/Middle East - which is that the continent of Asia must be included.
So both of your itineraries are DONE4s.

But, as you said, maybe one of them was being mispriced by the tool.

Originally Posted by steveholt (Post 36090956)

I didn't know that rule about those longhaul fares (thanks Mwenenzi!), but as you said, there's still something off. If AKL-DOH and AKL-SYD-SIN-DOH are both DONE4's, they should have the same base fare. And the tool is pricing the base fare with a difference of several thousand dollars (*unless* I have CAI-LHR-BOS as opposed to CAI-AMM-DOH-BOS at the beginning of the ticket, in which case it prices the tickets ending AKL-DOH and AKL-SYD-SIN-DOH the same.) Looks like a bug with the RTW builder to me.

Originally Posted by steveholt (Post 36090956)

I didn't know that rule about those longhaul fares (thanks Mwenenzi!), but as you said, there's still something off. If AKL-DOH and AKL-SYD-SIN-DOH are both DONE4's, they should have the same base fare. And the tool is pricing the base fare with a difference of several thousand dollars (*unless* I have CAI-LHR-BOS as opposed to CAI-AMM-DOH-BOS at the beginning of the ticket, in which case it prices the tickets ending AKL-DOH and AKL-SYD-SIN-DOH the same.) Looks like a bug with the RTW builder to me.

Originally Posted by CargoHoldFlyer (Post 36070152)

So I've been playing around with this quite a bit, with the online tool, SABRE and with the AA desk. ex-CAI different airlines have published different fares. It appears QR and AA have published fares in USD while the rest are publishing in EGP. Further, it appears that the fare selected is based on the "dominant" carrier, which seems to be the first overwater/long-haul carrier OR the first carrier. For me here's what I saw:

CAI-xDOH-DXB-xLHR-PMI-xMAD-DFW-GRU-JFK-xHKG-DXB - priced out at USD $6K+
but changing it to
CAI-xLHR-PMI-xMAD-DFW-GRU-JFK-xHKG-DXB (and ensuring that I only use BA, IB and CX for the over water segments) - priced this at $3442. (validating on CX)

If I used the AA flight from MAD to DFW - it prices using AA base fare (>$7k), if I use QR in the first segment it uses QR base fare (>$5k).

With these restrictions in mind - I was able to get the AA desk to price the itinerary at around $3,800 (validating/ticketing on AA) - higher YQ and taxes but perhaps worth it to deal with the AA RTW.

Good luck

Originally Posted by steveholt (Post 36090956)

I didn't know that rule about those longhaul fares (thanks Mwenenzi!), but as you said, there's still something off. If AKL-DOH and AKL-SYD-SIN-DOH are both DONE4's, they should have the same base fare. And the tool is pricing the base fare with a difference of several thousand dollars (*unless* I have CAI-LHR-BOS as opposed to CAI-AMM-DOH-BOS at the beginning of the ticket, in which case it prices the tickets ending AKL-DOH and AKL-SYD-SIN-DOH the same.) Looks like a bug with the RTW builder to me.

Originally Posted by ironmanjt (Post 36088590)

I’m not sure how you “know” that AA will ticket any itinerary when there’s been plenty of conflicted reports here about their willingness. Can we please stick to facts and not one-off speculation? That will be most beneficial to the community.

Originally Posted by izzik (Post 36091235)

But this is also my experience that AA RTW desk can price ex-CAI DONEx fares as well. So, YMMV... and having AA RTW desk handle ex-CAI trips is extremely beneficial to the community instead of QF.
Perhaps the trick is to use a non-AA/non-QR flight as the first overwater segment? If AA requires their metal to do the ticketing, do it for US-Asia or US-SWP.

Originally Posted by izzik (Post 36091235)

Perhaps the trick is to use a non-AA/non-QR flight as the first overwater segment? If AA requires their metal to do the ticketing, do it for US-Asia or US-SWP.