Just booked a DONE5 ex JNB through the AA RTW desk in Dallas....That was the easy bit....Had it priced in Rand in less than 24 hours then when time to pay with my Australian AMEX card problems began....For whatever reason the system in Dallas didnt like my registered address and so after nearly 2 hours gave up and rang the Sydney number....They repriced in AUD and the payment went through not as one payment but as multiple payments with one payment too many processed....Rang back Sydney and they couldnt understand the overpayment and said could do nothing and said ring Dallas....Rang Dallas and they said the extra charge pending will drop off...not too sure about that !!!....Then needed an eticket receipt and they couldnt do it claiming the RAND numbers were too large for the system to handle hence the multiple charges were then broken down into acceptable numbers for the computer to recognize !!...Finally an agent at the RTW desk was able to manually produce my eticket receipt that came in four seperate emails ( 2 passengers on the one PNR )....Then a seperate email again manually produced that just has our eticket numbers....A complete shambles and I have done this booking with AA for many many years and this experience was really testing !!!....Last year priced the itinerary in Rand and one charge in AUD hit my card an immediately and eticket receipt with ticket numbers and a cost summary was correctly emailed !!!
Now to wait and see what posts to my AMEX card but not confident that the correct charges will be posted...hmm
Think next time I may just get AA to price in AUD.

Another data point,
Want to change next sector on a DAS13. Booked flight is tonight. Want on next available flight (ITM-HND) approached JAL, they said no, contact QF. Even though JL has changed their own flights on non JL tickets on oneworld tickets before. -_-


This is getting quite annoying.
For tickets that are flexible, that, in theory and according to oneworld any oneworld member can change, the airlines are getting rather difficult about actually making changes.

In years past, I've had CX, JL, BA, QF, AA and AY all make changes to in progress bookings, to both their own flights and others, no matter what stock the ticket was on.
However, in the past 2 years or so, they've been much more difficult. Some agents have outright refused. Others have attempted to charge the reroute fee for changes that didn't require it.
This current trip, a few weeks ago, I asked to change a flight that was 3 weeks later. QF ticket, AA code, CX flight. I asked QF to change it as ticket issuer. They said to talk to CX as it was a CX flight. CX said to talk to AA as it was an AA code and AA said to talk to QF as it was an QF ticket.
Then today, something came up that made me need to spend the day in Tokyo instead of Osaka. Had been expecting an easy change. Show up at airport early, ask JL to change a JL flight. They say to go talk to QF. QF doesn't respond, contact travel agent. Spend 2 hours trying to get replies from QF or agent while watching as flights I could be on with open seats depart.
Travel agent has no luck changing the flight, can't see the availability that I can see on the airport screen in front of me. The JAL international connections counter reopened, and I spoke to them. They said to talk to QF, but by then QF had finally responded that they can only see waitlisted, they don't get live availability from JAL. That message was enough to get JL to open a seat and contact QF to make the change.
So, on a flight, 4 hours later then planned.

This has become much harder then it used to be, or needs to be.

It’s a shame we can’t go back to paper tickets. ;)

Did JL give a reason for refusing to make the change? With their current migration to Amadeus in progress it may have been temporarily beyond their capabilities. (I am an optimist.)

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japa...l#post29086180

This is nearly a year old now, anyone know if anything has changed or is MPM still the best price starting point?

I believe a few of the African points have had further price increases. The cheapest list changes daily with FX fluctuations.

DYOR. ​​​​Get a ExpertFlyer subscription, plug into a spreadsheet and add FX rates.

It would be nice if somebody who did the research could post some findings. Usually FX fluctuations don't change the ranking too much.

But also everytime a 'good' starting point is published on forums the price quickly changes.
It's also a big exercise to pull info for all the XoneXs and then you have all the Circle fares as well.

CMB, KHI in mid-2000s.
JNB more recently (though it lasted longer than many expected)

JNB and MPM were wonderful for a long time. If you're prepared to maximise it (particularly now you can get two European stops), JNB is still good value, but it's not the no-brainer it once was.

I'm pricing a 16 segment JNB DONE4 at 97,800 ZAR (~$7,150usd) using the OW booking site.

A quick and very informal scan of Expert Flyer today reveals the five cheapest origin (in USD) base fares for a DONE4 are:
NRT
ALG
OSL
KWI
TLV

...ranging from US$6924 to US$7200 before taxes and fees.

Thank you, much appreciated.

I'm a bit confused and hopefully can get some accurate information. At the RTW OW site I am able to construct a DONE4 that takes me to the payment page with a total price of 97,800 ZAR (first seg JNB-MAD). I wanted to book via the AA RTW desk but they kept faring the base at about 15% more with the total at 111,000 ZAR. I had them reprice it and it came back the same. The explanation I got was that they have to use either the AA/BA/IB fare and the OW site was using the QR fare but couldn't explain why the fare difference. She also said "AA RTW desk is the OW desk for all RTW tickets and we can do all changes you need in the future regardless of the carrier".

I will need to make date changes in the future and maybe routing and wanted it to be easy and thus prefer AA but not at a premium of 15%. If I book it via the RTW OW site do I need to deal exclusively with QR for changes and seat selections if issued on their stock?

Thanks

Looks like it's because QR has not adjusted the price. There was an increase to ex-JNB price recently. If you can still get the old rate from either the website or QR, you are lucky!

The first time I ever changed a OW ticket, was my first RTW trip in 2006, an LGLOB26. Had to do an xGLOBnn in order to use JL as they weren't a OW member at the time, so they weren't on the xONEx. Did a date change on the JL KIX-LHR. Paper ticket. I went to the JAL downtown Osaka ticket office (now closed) and ask them to change the date. They called QF asking for permission, then put a sticker on the paper coupons relevant to the flight.

They didn't give a reason, just said I had to talk to QF. It can't have been the migration as once I showed them the message from QF saying that QF didn't see the availability, JAL opened the seat, then called QF and did the change themselves when QF didn't respond to my message and grab the seat fast enough.

In the past, when asking to get changes made, CX and JL (staff at ticketing desks, check in counters and lounges) have called the ticketing carrier and asked for permission, then just did the change themselves.
When I've asked AA staff, they've either just gone ahead and done it or called the ticketing office.
Prior to the more recent change issues starting, which date to the time the AA/US merger was finalized, the only times I recall an agent refuse to make a change was a CX agent at TPE saying that they couldn't find the ticket (the ticket number I had in my paperwork had changed due to other changes made during the trip) and a MH agent at the KL Sentral ticket office saying to talk to SQ.

Okay, got it. Would I run into problems with a reissue having to pay the higher fare?

Once it's issued and after the first segment is used, it *shouldn't*. Note however another poster is having difficulties getting an ex-CAI ticket reissued.

Hilarious!

How are the DONE3 fares? No access to EF at the moment. I remember that ex-Japan was about $5500.

If true, that would be great. Aside from CX and sometimes BA/QF, the other OW airlines are clueless about these products. Perhaps AA should have a dedicated deck for 12 hours of the day and CX the other 12 hours of the day.

ex-Japan DONE3 US$5800, DONE4 is US$6900 ...

I have had the fortune to buy my xONEx with very competent TAs......

Doesn't necessarily eliminate the stupidity encountered with the airline "policies", but it helps...

Just wandering
Fred

Thanks for a kind and useful reply. With no xONEx in the plans I don't check often, and the short list had some surprises for me.

Hi Fred! I need to get some info from you on your bookings experiences! On another matter, I tried to reply to your SMS but it doesn't work for some reason. I'm pm you today on AFF.

Was there a recent price hike (or USD currency drop)? I'm planning our 2019 DONE5 and I'm seeing base fares of almost $10k from JNB and $9k from MPM! NRT at $8353 isn't bad (but my practice for many years has been to originate in the Southern Hemisphere in January or February). I recall an ex-JNB price hike last year, but I thought it had gone from $6k to $8k, and that one airline still had the old fares listed.

The South African Rand has appreciated significantly in the last few months as they have gone through the process of kicking Zuma out.

I feel your pain as I am in SA now and the last few months the rand has gone from 14.5 to 11.5. I purchased mid slide when it was apparent Zuma was going. Oslo is another option.

I knew it had gone up but I didn't realize it had shot up quite so much! What happened with MPM? $9k is steep!

Too many people booking within a short amount of time made it clear to oneworld that the price was too low and was thus increased. I believe in the case of Mozambique, they changed the fare currency from MZN to USD. (Which is better then what they did with the EGP and remove the fare from sale)

The base fares just about doubled, back on August 1st 2016
(I bought 2 RTWs in the July :D On the 2nd one now)
But the fares are still quoted in MZN (the local currency), not in USD

I'm now halfway through my ex-TLV RTW bought and first flown last December. No questions were asked at TLV (nor was the itinerary checked by any security personnel/authority at all - even when my itinerary had a connection to a Muslim country right after!), so it's not that bad of a place to start for those looking for a bargain.

EF seems to indicate it is still denominated in MZN.

I believe there are IATA rules about which currencies in which you are allowed to denominate a fare.

Still, hardly the bargain it was. MZN 475,000 = ~ USD $7,723

Do you mind me asking what price it was out of TLV? I assume the connection to a Muslim country was TLV - AMM?

I have been unable to get a price out of ISB, despite the fact that QR flies there and other cities in Pakistan are valid as starting points. Does anyone know - is this just a quirk of the Oneworld website, or are there no published DONE3/4 fares from ISB?

THANKS!

Here you go:

You are AWESOME! Thank you!

With South Africa and Mozambique being so expensive, I'm considering NRT and OSL for 2019. I like to start in January/February and visit warm places, then go to U.S., then Caribbean, then Europe later when it's warm.

Here are two routings I'm considering. Curious if people have comments:

nrt-sin-syd-adl-per-syd-dfw-san-phl-gcm-dfw-lax-lhr-mad-jnb-hkg-nrt

47,200 miles. Disadvantage is QF J SYD-DFW. Starting in NRT will be quite cold in Jan/Feb, but I can overnight at the Narita Hilton for a good price (would want an overnight for safety, in case there's a problem with the positioning flights).

osl-doh-jnb-syd-adl-per-syd-sin-hkg-dfw-san-phl-gcm-dfw-lax-lhr-osl

45,303 miles. Routing HKG-DFW means I can upgrade to F using AA SWUs. Downside is I earn virtually no AA EQD nor RDM for such a long flight. I guess the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Oslo Gardermoen is connected by walkway, which is far more convenient than the shuttle required for the Narita Hilton, although I wouldn't earn Hilton (or Starwood) points. Upside is I can visit Such Africa during their summer instead of ours.

Hi Guys ....Need some help with a DONE4 or is it a DONE5....NRT-LHR-ATH-LHR-INN-LHR-YVR-DFW-LIR-MIA-JFK-HKG-MEL-BNE-MEL-SYD-NRT...is this a valid itinerary ? And what is the price ex NRT...Thanks in advance

Don't think you can touch Asia thrice

I suggest booking QF's JFK-SYD service instead

It's a DONE4 (Asia, Europe/Middle East, North America, South West Pacific)

thanks Calchas I pretty much expected your confirmation but I am not that keen on JFK-LAX_MEL !!!....Guess I might just have to do it though...Cheers