That's a pity. Was hoping to swap some flights around in due time (traveling second part of my itinerary in April '25.

Mainly looking at the NAN - SYD leg for the moment

apologies if these were addressed previously in this very long thread but some questions and notes:

- on a DONE3 currently booked through AA, tried to fly HEL-MAD and was not able to find any flights over a decent range of dates due to some weird codeshare thing that was explained to me but I still don't understand - seems bizarre given Finnair Helsinki hub and Madrid Iberia hub.

- considering my next rtw as i am wrapping up the current one. it's my first one to have booked via AA RTW and I found it convenient to be able to call someone directly who is familiar with these tickets. is it still the case that RTW tickets are issued and managed by the carrier of the first flight and does that mean any new booking I would need to be on AA metal for the first flight to consider? i saw in the wiki that for the online tool Qatar cannot be used as first flight but are they bookable direct somehow and do they have a direct RTW desk? or in general any experiences with booking RTW with qatar or is that not possible?

Were you trying to a book a AA, IB or AY marketed flight? Operated by?

From reports I have read Qantas QF issue RTW tickets when Qatar QR fly the first the segment. QF phone agents can be poor and only sometimes OK.
From reports I have read having a long over ocean flight with AA marketed and/or operated AA will issue the tickets.
But with these tickets can be a lot of variation.

IME RTW tickets are issued by the carrier with which you booked it. If your ticket is issued by the AA RTW desk, your ticket number will start with 001, regardless of who's operating or marketing your first flight.


The online tool doesn't seem to work if your first flight is marketed by QR (i.e., has a QR flight number) regardless of who operates it.


You can book with QR if you can get to the right people. Generally, it's best to book with an airline or travel agent which has tons of experience booking and issuing these tickets, and that would not be QR. These tickets have lots of rules and restrictions, and inexperienced airline reservation desks or travel agencies don't particularly want to book them because it's too easy for them to make an error (which will eventually be charged back to them), and incredibly time consuming for them to become familiar with each provision of the rules. (Years ago, the BA staff at MRU used to issue these tickets, but they misunderstood the rules, allowing us flyers to do things with them that the rules did not permit. Those were the good old days.)

The AA RTW desk requires that one "over water" segment (i.e., TPAC or TATL) have an AA flight number. AA codeshares on other carriers' metal are considered to meet this requirement.

On the topic of distance based earning for AAdvantage accounts, it seems that if you have AA flight numbers included on a non AA pnr, those will accrue as distance based instead of fare basis. I recently ticketed the following RTW itinerary. There are 2 PNRs - one for AA and one for the partners. Only the bolded flights are shown on the partner pnr, whereas the AA pnr shows everything because it was ticketed with AA.

HND-DFW-RNO / RNO-DFW-BOS / BOS-PHX-RNO / RNO-PHX-LHR / FCO-DOH-SYD / SYD-SIN / SIN-HND

My theory is that only the flights on the partner pnr will post as distance based. If this proves true, perhaps there is value for travelers who wish to optimize their AAdvantage earnings.

When AA went to revenue based earnings instead of distance, I stopped using my AAdvantage account. I credit everything to QRPC now. While I understand the valid business reason for AA's making the change, it cut my earnings substantially.

Definitely not true. I've had both so far. QF issued ticket in 2022/2023 ended up crediting as distance on AA coded segments. 2023 CX issued ticket ended up creaditing as revenue (which was laughable, nearly nothing) on AA coded segments.

Agree, don't even bother credtiing AA codes to AAdvantage anymore on these. I have 1 more to test it on in August, QF issued again, so I'm curious but it's only a few hundred miles DFW-STL one way or the other, just for a data point.

South America seems to work as an over water segment too, as per recent data points in this forum. That might be significant for xONEx folks because if you're crediting to AAdvantage then being forced to put TPAC or TATL on AA codes is a gigantic waste in LPs (revenue credit) but everywhere in South America only has AA codes except GRU and seasonal GIG (assuming to / from USA) so that looks to be a great loophole to maintain more advantageous codes on TPAC and TATL. They might only allow South America on Flagship routes (meaning south of Peru / Bolivia) but still more palatable for an AAdvantage member than crediting a TPAC or TATL on an AA code that otherwise could be JL or AY, or QR coded.

Any recent experience to call AA RTW to switch flights to AA codeshare flight?

I am trying to change all flights using AA codeshare number flight for mileage purpose. (operated by Qatar or BA). Anyone has done it before?

Honestly, I think you should just give it a go and see what happens. It would probably help to look up availability under the AA flight numbers first.

Regardless of what people here say, do you have anything to lose by calling and trying?

Hi,
Would like to check if anyone has experience on changing the ex-Cai itinerary,
1. Add final segment from DOH-DXB. QF told me it will be F class, and checking on charges. Has anyone done this before? Do they just charge for 1 extra segment or reprice the whole RTW?
2. Change from DONE3 to DONE4. I flown the first segment, wonder would it be total re-pricing if I add another continent. Agent that I spoke to, is unclear about this. Need to check.

On point 1) this is always the case for many of QRs regional flights, they're marketed as F and it books into A. It doesn't change the price on a DONEx. Just have them price it and it should come back as normal with just differences in YQ and taxes.

2) I think there's a data point somewhere that someone has done this post-repricing. I did it but was before ex-CAI price went up. When I did it (was a DONE4 to DONE5), it was a non-issue because the price difference was only about $80, DONE3 to DONE4 was something in that range too before the increase, so as long as they use historical pricing you should be ok, but as we know QF is inconsistent in what they tell you. Do let us know what you find out.

Hi,

1. They have to reprice and reticket. Taxes, etc., may be different, even if there's no fare difference. And there's the USD $125 change fee. Rule 16(a)2.b.

2. Complete reprice if you add another continent. Rule 16(a)2.d.

I think the real question for number 2 though is if the first segment is already flown, is it a repriced on historical fares (as it should be) or is a complete reprice on current fares? (which hasn't been been the norm until maybe now since fares have been stable for a number or years)

Frankly we're in new territory here because so many of these are QF issued and they're inconsistent at best. Some may have results as they should be on any decent airline ticket, but we know that doesn't apply to QF... so data points are important, especially for the next year when all of these 'sale' fares play out.

I agree, before departure rule 16(a)1.b not 16(a)2.b would apply. Compare the two:
PRIOR: "CHANGES TO TICKETED POINTS ARE PERMITTED AT A CHARGE OF USD 125.00 PER TRANSACTION. IF THE FARE LEVEL HAS INCREASED SINCE TICKET ISSUANCE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW FARE WILL ALSO BE CHARGED. IF THE FARE LEVEL HAS DECREASED SINCE TICKET ISSUANCE NO REFUND WILL APPLY.
FEE WAIVED FOR CHANGE OF FLIGHT WHERE NO CHANGE TO TICKETED POINTS OCCURS"
AFTER "CHANGES TO TICKETED POINTS PERMITTED AT A CHARGE OF USD125.00 PER TRANSACTION." and no mention of re-pricing.
However, looking at fare rules from expertflyer (RJ) there is this: "C. IF THE REROUTING RESULTS IN A CHANGE TO THE TOTAL TICKETED MILES THE TICKET SHALL BERECALCULATED.
TICKET MAY BE REISSUED TO ANY APPLICABLE EXPLORER FARE VALIDATING ALL RULES OF THE NEW FARE EXCEPT FOR RESTRICTIONS ON RETROACTIVE USE. REROUTING FEE APPLIES WHEN THE RESULTING FARE IS LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO THE ORIGINAL
FARE. NO REFUND APPLIES. SEE UPGRADING PROVISIONS WHEN RECALCULATION RESULTS IN A NEW FARE BASIS AT A HIGHER VALUE."
So basically this C point negates the no re-pricing if routes are changed as presumably the number of miles would change. These are the provisions I retrieved from Expertflyer using RJ CAI-CAi DONE3 for ticket on 3/18/24

It is important to have the rules as for my second DONE3 issued by BA, they are resistant to change the dates unlike QF due to lack of specialized department to deal with these tickets. I tested the waters a while back with a date change of one flight before the travel and they came back at first, no fee, then some bull* phone fee which they "waived" for Gold members, and I am concerned to preserve my right of free date changes as the flights will go into 2025.