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-   -   Oneworld booking and pricing experiences (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/oneworld/1776577-oneworld-booking-pricing-experiences.html)

paul4471 Jul 25, 2024 1:06 am

[QUOTE=pandaperth;36401221]

RATS!



Under the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, travelers in the following categories must obtain a visa prior to traveling to the United States as they are no longer eligible to travel under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP):
Thanks PANDAPERTH - yep I have had to get paper visa's for the last 10yrs and I get pulled into secondary processing by CBP about 50% of the time. I visit or transit the US 3 or 4 times a year so it is a PITA bacause the wait times in secondary can be 30mins to 2hrs, sometimes causing connecting flight misses (I now allow extra for this). I once had a really nice supervisor at the CBP counter in DFW who said he'd done something to the system to hopefully stop it happening. Alas it made no difference. To be fair the CBP officers that call you up to the counter when you sit in secondary processing are always very nice and literally rubber stamp me through in about 2 mins - they have clearly seen my scenario many times. But what I can't get straight from any of them is why 50% of the time I am waved through and not sent to secondary processing.

The CDG-MIA looks to be seasonal on AA so might end up swapping out CLT or JFK if needed, both have onward to SJO as well.

chan1108 Jul 25, 2024 7:40 pm

Is any body who have access to GDS can help me find some availability of D class on PVG-HND and HND-JFK on 5th-10th Sept. for ex-CAI DONE3? I tried to check the availability on QF twitter but some of the agent told me there was availability while others told me no.

serfty Jul 25, 2024 9:11 pm


Originally Posted by chan1108 (Post 36406302)
Is any body who have access to GDS can help me find some availability of D class on PVG-HND and HND-JFK on 5th-10th Sept. for ex-CAI DONE3? I tried to check the availability on QF twitter but some of the agent told me there was availability while others told me no.

Try asking here:
Flight Availability/Loadings & Upgrade Probability Help Desk | Australian Frequent Flyer

paul4471 Jul 25, 2024 9:12 pm


Originally Posted by chan1108 (Post 36406302)
Is any body who have access to GDS can help me find some availability of D class on PVG-HND and HND-JFK on 5th-10th Sept. for ex-CAI DONE3? I tried to check the availability on QF twitter but some of the agent told me there was availability while others told me no.

I don't have access to GDS but expertflyer showing:

PVG-HND wide open availability on all days on JL80 and JL86 (ie D9 on all dates)
HND-JFK also wide open on most days, there is JL6, AA168 and JL4 at least D7 every day with the exception of JL6 on 8&10 Sep showing D0

chan1108 Jul 27, 2024 8:53 am


Originally Posted by kayzng (Post 36362662)
Update
Day 6 - first call was answered by Fijian, I wanted to hang up, but she sounds friendly and wanted to help. Indeed, after 30 minutes she able to change my booking, where first 10 minutes going through the routine, then next 20 minutes she referring to support. This was unexpected, I didnt give her both booking numbers, when I told her I have another booking for my wife that need to change as well, she said she have to re-do the same process. Sounded like she need high level authorization to make the changes. She said will call back in one hour. Didnt call back, it's fine because it should be after her working hours.

So, I am not sure if this is 50% done, or making it worst. Because my wife is now pressuring me to change hers.
Then I attempted the second call.
It was Fijian as well, I told her I want to speak to the first call rep, she couldnt identify her within the team. But she said she will handle my case. Unfortunately, the call was dropped.
I have to make the third call, answered by call rep in Manila, similarly she need to refer to "support". And the "support" was Manila based. She was kind enough to update every 5 minutes. Such as, we are pricing the ticket... there are errors.... both me and my support cant make changes... eventually after about 45 minutes, I gave up, and requested call back. Surprisingly, I received a call back, the call rep was kind enough to call to update, 10 minutes before she clock off. She told me, it is now confirmed there will be no charges, and her supervisor is going to make the date change manually, requested me to hang on, as it should be done any minutes now. Unfortunately, after 7-8 minutes, still not shown in system, I suggested her to clock off first. Then we follow up tomorrow, as I know in Manila, most of the call rep need to catch van/bus to commute back 2~3 hours. She gladly agreed, and gave me a 8 digits reference number for me to follow up, in case I got the different agent tomorrow.
About 10 minutes after we end the call, I received email from Qantas on ticket changes.

Finally, it's all done. Just sharing my experience, hope it can be useful data point.

Are you able to stay in a city twice with phone agent? And what's the price for your change, tax difference or total repricing?

Padkir Jul 27, 2024 9:06 am

Hi!

I'm currently in the middle of my first ever Oneworld Explorer trip. I've caught the bug and we are already considering extending our travel and starting another one...

My expert flyer subscription has expired so I was wondering if some kind soul could give me the base fares through AA for DONE3 and DONE4 from Oslo, Cairo and Tokyo, so I can think about our options? Thanks!

Also, one other question. I know BA tend to add a lot of extra charges, but is that still the case if it's ticketed by AA. For example, if I started OSL-LHR-JNB on BA, would that add a lot of extra surcharges? I'm considering Mauritius, but it's a bit of a hassle to get there since from what I can see, you can only go from Gatwick.

Thanks in advance!

dvs7310 Jul 28, 2024 9:59 am


Originally Posted by Padkir (Post 36409591)
Hi!

I'm currently in the middle of my first ever Oneworld Explorer trip. I've caught the bug and we are already considering extending our travel and starting another one...

My expert flyer subscription has expired so I was wondering if some kind soul could give me the base fares through AA for DONE3 and DONE4 from Oslo, Cairo and Tokyo, so I can think about our options? Thanks!

Also, one other question. I know BA tend to add a lot of extra charges, but is that still the case if it's ticketed by AA. For example, if I started OSL-LHR-JNB on BA, would that add a lot of extra surcharges? I'm considering Mauritius, but it's a bit of a hassle to get there since from what I can see, you can only go from Gatwick.

Thanks in advance!


US$10 a month isn't much considering everything that EF gives you. Just subscribe, don't ask other FT'ers who pay to check 3x points of departure please.

Mauritius is a difficult one to get to on a OWE ever since Comair went bankrupt. But I do see BA flights on some days of the week from LGW. If you're going to South Africa anyways then just buy your own ticket over there, it's generally not crazy expensive.

Dr. HFH Jul 28, 2024 12:14 pm


Originally Posted by Padkir (Post 36409591)
I'm considering Mauritius, but it's a bit of a hassle to get there since from what I can see, you can only go from Gatwick.


Originally Posted by dvs7310 (Post 36411749)
Mauritius is a difficult one to get to on a OWE ever since Comair went bankrupt. But I do see BA flights on some days of the week from LGW.

Thank you both for taking me back 15+ years to some great memories. My first OneWorld Explorer ticket was an AONE4 ex-MRU, at the time the cheapest place to start one. Back then these tickets were issued locally by the airline office at the point of departure. The BA staff at MRU wasn't particularly familiar with the rules, so one could often get them to issue tickets for itineraries not permitted by the rules. There was a daily 744 roundtrip LHR-MRU.

chan1108 Jul 29, 2024 5:26 am

I've already started my RTW days ago with CAI-AMM-DOH & DOH-KIX. When I chated to Qantas to change my ticket on Twitter, the agent told me the flight I want to add exceeded the limit.
​​​

For the fare that you have, you can have 4 stopovers in Asia. With the new flights you are wanting to add: KIX-HKGHKG-KULKUL-CANCAN-HNDHND-DFW You are stopping in 5 different citites, where you are able to have 4 stopovers. If we remove the CAN-HND, that means you are within the allowance of the ticket.
I checked the rules, no words limited the stopovers in continent but limited the segments in continent. Since DOH-KIX & HND-DFW is intercontinental flight, I suppose KIX-HKG-KUL-CAN-HND can satisfied with the rules, right?

pandaperth Jul 29, 2024 9:28 am


Originally Posted by chan1108 (Post 36413573)
I've already started my RTW days ago with CAI-AMM-DOH & DOH-KIX. When I chated to Qantas to change my ticket on Twitter, the agent told me the flight I want to add exceeded the limit.
​​​

I checked the rules, no words limited the stopovers in continent but limited the segments in continent. Since DOH-KIX & HND-DFW is intercontinental flight, I suppose KIX-HKG-KUL-CAN-HND can satisfied with the rules, right?

Yes. The rule is explicit - the number of flight segments in the continent is limited to four, not segments overall, not stopovers. So your itinerary is valid.
The number of stopovers is not limited. It is possible to have six stopovers there (if you fly down to the South-West Pacific and then return to Asia)

Contrast this to the Global Explorer, which limits the stopovers in Asia to four, but does not limit the number of flight segments.

chan1108 Jul 29, 2024 5:28 pm


Originally Posted by pandaperth (Post 36414056)
Yes. The rule is explicit - the number of flight segments in the continent is limited to four, not segments overall, not stopovers. So your itinerary is valid.
The number of stopovers is not limited. It is possible to have six stopovers there (if you fly down to the South-West Pacific and then return to Asia)

Contrast this to the Global Explorer, which limits the stopovers in Asia to four, but does not limit the number of flight segments.

Well, the agent just told me:

As previously advised before, these ex-CAI bookings do not quote properly for route changes. Even though the booking may meet the requirements, the system may not quote unless we remove certain flights.
​​​​​​​So I can't go these flight even them satisfied with the rules since I booked a ex-CAI ticket.

danger Jul 29, 2024 7:41 pm


Originally Posted by chan1108 (Post 36415105)
Well, the agent just told me:

So I can't go these flight even them satisfied with the rules since I booked a ex-CAI ticket.

This would annoy me no end. It's up to Qantas to fix whatever the issue. I know that's a simplistic view but I'd be pushing back very hard. You're meeting the rules.

chan1108 Jul 29, 2024 9:01 pm


Originally Posted by danger (Post 36415309)
This would annoy me no end. It's up to Qantas to fix whatever the issue. I know that's a simplistic view but I'd be pushing back very hard. You're meeting the rules.

But the Twitter agent is far more professional than phone agent. I don't think I can change the result since QF made a lot of restrictions on ex-CAI ticket including cannot stay in a same city twice. I made a lot of change for my original trip plan due to the QF's restrictions. What I learned from this is that I won't fly with QF any more. Qantas is in my blacklist now.

Mwenenzi Jul 29, 2024 9:11 pm


Originally Posted by chan1108 (Post 36415415)
But the Twitter agent is far more professional than phone agent. I don't think I can change the result since QF made a lot of restrictions on ex-CAI ticket including cannot stay in a same city twice. I made a lot of change for my original trip plan due to the QF's restrictions. What I learned from this is that I won't fly with QF any more. Qantas is in my blacklist now.

Ticketing by Qantas and flying on Qantas are not the same.

izzik Jul 30, 2024 7:08 am


Originally Posted by chan1108 (Post 36415415)
What I learned from this is that I won't fly with QF any more. Qantas is in my blacklist now.

The lesson here is that you shouldn't ticket with Qantas unless you enjoy poor customer service.
We ALL know the pain, suffering, and general misery that comes with Qantas ticketing a RTW trip. In fact, I think we would all be better off if ppl stop posting about bad experiences with QF agents.... because it's nothing new.
Maybe it deserves its own thread -- experiences with QF agents..?


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