I start my ex-MPM DONE5 in June, and first leg is MPM-xDOH-HKG.

I'm planning to call QF when I'm in HKG and change the dates of the second half of flights.

Really hoping I don't have too much hassle with them, especially after your experiences making changes with them.

Have the rules ready. The same agent - who was, as 99% of Qantas are in my experience, very polite and helpful - first wanted to charge me USD125. Then she said open dates couldn't be done. And then it was the Africa issue. It's oneworld's fault, though. The rules are ridiculously convoluted.

Sometimes it is worth a few extra $$ to book via a TA that understands (at least) the basic OW xONEx rules...

Happy wandering


Fred

Both Star and Sky RTW products autoprice in Sabre. Imagine if oneworld tried that.

They do.
https://www.oneworld.com/news-inform..._col_count%3D5

Which, by itself, is pretty funny given that AA founded SABRE and owned it until 2000.

Does such a TA exist?

The CX Tokyo office agents are good. I've been "training" a local TA on some oneworld products for the last few years.

I know of two. One in PER (since 2003) and one in CMB (since 2005)

Happy wandering

Fred

Yes of course. I had one in HK for several years (for most of which she was also my gf!); she was primarily a corporate TA for one of the big agencies here. I don't think competent TAs are that hard to find.

Awesome! I haven't logged into Sabre to see the update. I'll need to play around and see how easy it is.

Hi experts! I need your help...again.

I'd like to make a change to my husband's DONE4. Currently he has san-phx-den-phx-san. I don't think that is good use of this ticket, as we can fly SAN to DEN inexpensively. So, we are considering the Caribbean. The issue I am running into is the transcon rule (rule K). We use our Transcon for SAN to JFK. In order to get to the Caribbean (open to locations) from SAN, we would have to connect in one of the major airports on the East Coast. I am considering starting at DFW. There are no direct flights from DFW, so it would use all four segments available. If I did that, wouldn't the surface segments (SAN-DFW-SAN) put him over the 16 total segments?

ex-mpm-doh-sin-hkg-nrt-san-jfk-tus-san-phx-den-phx-san-lhr-cdg-doh-sez

Any creative ideas to pull this off?

As always, I appreciate your help!

I've had an interesting issue arise with Qantas, which could be a problem for other people if it's not a one-off, and I'd very much appreciate your thoughts.

I had the same problem as danger and thois - date changes prior to departure (not to the first segment) on a QF-issued oneworld explorer are having QF state that the ticket must be repriced. I think I've worked out why this is - Qantas is interpreting the fare rules to be read together - i.e., that a) and b) of the rules (briefly pasted below) both apply at once.

That is, their interpretation is that date changes are permitted, only if ticketed points are the same, these [date & time only] changes 'to [the] ticketed points' require a $125 fee, and changes to the cities flown to aren't permitted at all. By their interpretation, this is why they're then trying to reprice one of the popular ex-MPM/JNB/CAI fares for a date change, as fares from those countries have risen in price.

A follow-on from their interpretation is apparently that changes to the flown cities after departure would again require a reprice due to paragraph d) (again, briefly below),

Their logic here is essentially reading out a few words, to be along the lines of 'If rerouting results (which they are using as a verb), if there is an increase in the number of continents, or if extra flight segments are charged, the ticket shall be recalculated'.

I spoke to the Qantas Premium desk, the (very lovely) consultant there spoke to the Premium desk's oneworld explorer expert, and they checked with the team leader at the ticketing desk in Auckland, and they're staying firm.
Obviously, I disagree with their interpretation, and it's certainly novel compared to everything else I've seen reported, but I'm struggling to convince them of that. I see how they've got to their position, they see mine, but they're adamant that they're right and I'm wrong (and I'm not sure how I, as a traveller, can convince Qantas how to read their own fare rules differently). I'm going to talk to them again tomorrow and keep going. This may arise for anybody with a QF-issued explorer in the future if they want to re-route, so I thought it would be worth sounding out before I do so.

Alternatively, since I'm not familiar with it, under what circumstances can I have another carrier to take over the ticket? Are they going to be happy to do so, will the notes in the booking (QF are quoting 'the ticketing desk has already noted this in the booking' as though it's final) cause problems at another carrier, and so on?

san-ord-mbj-ord-san ?

But your original routing isn't valid (and hence nor is my suggested replacement) - it has 7 sectors in N America and you're only allowed 6!

SDandi – if I’m understanding what you’re trying to achieve, it is:Also:After all that, here’s my suggestion:

ORD is an option! Thanks!

Apologies, I left two important pieces out: the lax segement and that tus-san is a surface sector.

ex-mpm-doh-sin-nrt-san-lax-jfk-tus-san-phx-den-phx-san-lhr-cdg-doh-sez

This route is already ticketed, so hopefully my bad typing is what threw it off.

I know :( SAN is a disappointing "International" airport.

I was hoping to get to the Eastern Caribbean, but BZE or CUN may be the better options.

All great ideas- thank you!

I am SO embarrassed to write this, but this entire time, I was under the impression that a surface sector counted as a segment. ugh.

Thank you!!

It counts towards the total sector count (this is for technical reasons---the surface sector has to go on the ticket to explain the "gap" between cities) but it doesn't count towards the number of sectors within a continent.

(apologies, double post from above).

AA flies LAX BZE and LAX MBJ.

I contacted to the AA RTW desk to change this QR flight to AY coded and also one JL flight to AA (thought they would handle this better if I also change one flight to AA coded).

They said that they can`t find it with my booking reference because it has letters and numbers so it is Amadeus and they use Sabre.. And I don`t have any AA flights on it so they can`t find it with flight number also so there wasnt anything they could do. So no luck there either.

This is getting really hard to change. Any Ideas?

Are you going to tell him, or let it be a surprise for when he gets to the airport and checks in? ;)

What booking method do folks recommend?
 

I've been enjoying planning my first RTW (a Sept departure) for while now and am finally about ready to actually take the leap on purchasing it. I've read a lot of comments on here about different booking options but am a bit confused about whether/how things have changed over the years. How would folks recommend I book this itinerary? (Background: I live in the USA, only speak English, am an AA member w/ no status, this is a leisure RTW not a mileage run, and I will only be arriving to JNB a week before departing)

1. JJ | JNB-GRU
2. JJ | GRU-EZE
3. LA | EZE-SCL
4. LA | SCL-IPC
5. LA | IPC-SCL
6. QF | SCL-SYD
7. QF | SYD-BKK
8. surface sector
9. MH | KUL-DEL
10. JL | DEL-NRT
11. JL | NRT-PEK
12. CX | PEK-HKG
13. RJ | HKG-AMM
14. RJ | AMM-BCN
15. surface sector
16. BA | LGW-MRU

So far, I've been thinking about:

• Calling AA (is there still an RTW desk–if so how do I find that number?) - Not sure if it's currently unlikely they would book it for me with no AA flights.
• Calling QF (general number, I think, is only option?)
• Booking it via the online RTW tool with LHR-JNB as the last flight and later pay the change fee to correct the itinerary.
• Or, alternatively, is there a way to just partially book it online and then call someone and have them change that final flight pre-ticketing? Does AA still ticket on behalf of JJ when using the online tool?

Thanks very much in advance for the advice - and also feel free to point out any glaring oversights in my itinerary!

The possibilities of changes to a exCAI xONEx are becoming interesting.
1. The AA schedule changes when matched with separate bookings (mixture of award and paid) for one's partner.
2. QR insisting that if it flies the intercontinental routes, they won't ticket someone else.

I finally resolved the trans-Pacific schedule mis-connect with the help of the AA RTW desk (though only because we both mis-connected). But kudos to the person manning the RTW phone line for the interest in resolving it with the AA award area (though I had to find the QF award flights domestically)

Now if I could just get another airline to re-issue rather than saying QR must make the changes.

Again only wandering

Fred

AA RTW is 1-800-247-3247

Thanks, JAXBA and skunker! Will report back after I give it a shot.

I get an error with the online tool with any itinerary ending at a different location than it began (even though starting in JNB and ending in MRU is obviously permitted).

Maybe the online tool is getting the S. Africa/ Mauritius rule confused. You aren't hitting Europe/ME twice, so it shouldn't matter.

Since you're losing a segment by transiting LHR/LGW have you considered just flying LHR-JNB and then JNB-MRU? I know it's a four hour flight on a 737, but it seems to give you another option (as well as more miles) and you will have a long (more comfortable) segment on a 747/380.

Edit: I see your surface segment is BCN-LGW rather than simply transiting LHR/LGW. So obviously you're only left with that one segment so obviously my suggestion wouldn't work unless you could get to MAD rather than BCN. Just a thought. :-)

OTA to book complex OW trip
 

I am looking to book a multileg all OW HKG-AKL-LIM-MAD-PVG-SGN and I just see priceline showing it but then it doesnt process after putting in the card details and its not a card issue for sure. Any pointers where to book it?

Via a travel agent?

I have found that the online booking sites don't know how to use these specialized OW global fares. The default tends to be the sum of one way fares for each segment.

In theory, any OneWorld airline can take over the ticket. In practice, some are much more willing to do so than others, and it certainly helps if they have flights in the ticket. AA RTW desk is quite good, but they won't touch an ex-CAI ticket that was issued after they pulled the fare. Other reports are that CX did a nice job in person at HKG, although it took quite a few hours (the poster had an 8-hour transit).

I assume this was issued after AA pulled the fare? AA RTW told me that's why they couldn't take over my ex-CAI ticket. Can your original ticketing airline make the date/time changes?

Successfully booked first RTW!
 

As promised, reporting back now that my RTW is (finally) successfully ticketed. This is my first, and I can't emphasize enough how essential FT was to making this – and my now-upcoming yearlong vacation – a reality. Thanks to all the experts here who are so generous with their knowledge!

The short version: After a few phone calls and a lot of messages with their Twitter support team, Qantas successfully ticketed my ex-JNB LONE5 for only a little more $ than the online tool (which errored out every time) indicated it should be.

The long version:

1. First Attempt - Call with QF (30 min) - Agent said they had no way to book any RTW if the website didn't work, and that if there was an error at payment it meant the itinerary was invalid in some way. :td:
2. Second Attempt - Call with AA RTW Desk (15 min) - Agent said it was impossible for AA to ticket any RTW without an over-ocean marketed by AA. :td:
3. Third Attempt - Call with QF (3 hours) - Got lucky and got an agent who was willing to try hard to make it work. We spent the first hour walking through my full itinerary in the online tool to "prove" that it was a payment-related error, not an invalid itinerary. Spent the second hour mostly on hold while she manually constructed that itinerary in a different system. And then spent the third hour in a game of telephone between me, her, and the rate desk as they claimed a number of new reasons my itinerary wasn't valid (detailed below). Call ended when I asked the primary agent to allow me to speak to the rate desk agent - I was transferred and while introducing myself she hung up on me. :mad:
   • Royal Jordanian isn't a Oneworld carrier. :confused:
   • You can't start and end in different parts of Africa. (pointed out the exception in the rules)
   • You can only start/end in different parts of Africa if you also have an intra-Africa segment as part of your overall itinerary. :confused:
   • The website says "additional terms and conditions may apply" so we can say no to whatever we want. :rolleyes:
   • Mauritius is an island so it's not actually part of Africa (or any other continent). :eek:
   • "I looked at a map with my supervisor and Mauritius is clearly not part of Africa." :td:
   • You can only book to Mauritius using a travel agent, it's impossible for us.
4. Fourth Attempt - Call with QF (2 hours) - Called back immediately and somehow was lucky enough to get an agent who knew the agent I just spent 3 hours on the phone with and was willing to find out from her where my itinerary was temporarily saved. She tried one more time with the rate desk - who again told her Mauritius wasn't part of Africa - and then I gave up and had her take my payment with LHR-JNB as the final segment instead of LGW-MRU. :(
5. Success! - Messages with Qantas Twitter Support - At this point I wrote a direct message to QF's Twitter support succinctly detailing the above and asking for help. They took over my reservation and over the next 24 hours figured out that I was correct it was valid and promised they'd figure out how to ticket the itinerary with MRU in it. It took a full week from first message to receiving my ticketing confirmation, but was so much less painful than any more calls. :D

The final price (3080 USD including taxes/fees) was a little higher than expected from the online tool (2954 USD including taxes/fees) but oh well. I was curious and figured out the price difference was mainly due to an additional YQ charge of $120 - couldn't figure out which flight that came from.

If I had this to do over again I think I would have simply gotten a QF agent to the point where the itinerary was input manually into their system & had a record locator and then switched to Twitter messages for the full pricing/questions back and forth. When I need to change dates for the second-half of my RTW I'll try just messaging them the changes I want.

One other note I hadn't seen posted here, so sharing in case it's not well-known: While you can only select seats for LA flights on LATAM.com - not JJ flights - you can select seats for your JJ flights on the RJ website. :cool:

What an extraordinary tale. It's almost unfathomable how difficult oneworld makes it.

Christep: I notice that you regularly tell people to use a travel agent as the answer to oneworld booking problems. Do you represent one or more?

I've found that many TAs just don't want the bother of dealing with RTWs - the rewards are too slender for the hassle involved.

No I'm not, but in the past when I have done many OWEs having a good TA set them up for me was invaluable.

Just for everybody's information, Qatar stated that the 'original travel agent' needed to make any and all changes. This was about midnight at the transfer desk in Doha, so there may not have been the most experienced team on rotation at the time. There was nobody with any experience with oneworld fares around at the time, and I only had an 8 hour transit, so I flew the original itinerary.

The AA RTW desk took down my desired changes, but called back the next day to decline to take over the booking, as 'not enough had been paid for the ticket' (a pre-price rise ex-MPM fare). I gather this was in reference to the prices ex-MPM having risen since the purchase.

Qantas had originally issued my ticket, and after several false starts (hours on hold, disconnections, etc., I got through to an agent who was able to at least make the most pressing changes. I didn't get everything I was after, but time was short so I'll have to sort out the rest once I'm not in transit, and pay a second set of change fees.

Move to different thread

XONEx date change: QF v BA
 

I am trying to make a simple date change to a QF Oz domestic sector. Its a BA issued ticket (xONEx). The friendly guy at QF Reservations absolutely refuses to make the requested date change and states that BA is the only airline that can make changes. He wouldn't listen to my comment that QF have happily made date changes previously. He also refused to listen to my comment that henis inconsistent with previous QF actions or the xONEx fare rules.

Have things recently changed regarding fare rules or is the QF phone rep wrong?

My option to phone BA is not currently viable given their IT issue and call centre volumes.