Because AA RTW desk stopped selling ex-Egypt tickets a few years ago.

Looking at a DONE 4 ex-CAI and needing to start westbound. Couple of questions:

A. If I don't want to burn my Europe/Middle Eastern stop or visit to start. I understand I must do CAI-DOH/AMM/CMN/LHR-USA/GRU with a <24hr transit in DOH/AMM/CMN/LHR?
Because If I try something like CAI-DOH-MAD-EZE I would have visited Europe and at the end backend of the RTW I'd only be able to transit through it on my way back to CAI (or whatever other ME final destination?)

C. If I end up doing CAI-DOH-MIA-EZE/GRU and the MIA is a transit under 24hr, would that mean I can then go up EZE/GRU-DFW and have 5 segments remaining for use within NA?
Or in case that MIA stop is over 24hrs would I have burned my NA segments and when I go back up EZE/GRU-DFW then that stop in DFW would have to be under 24hr before continuing to Asia/Australia?

Thanks for the clarifications.

I'm sure the Aa RTW desk would be happy to book the QR flight as an AA code. Just as a note, when I've had AA codeshares operated by QR, I've had difficulty assigning Qsuite center seats (QR blocks them so AA can't assign them, and the QR web page and app balked at assigning seats on an AA code, and I even had QR phone agents claim they couldn't touch the booking.)
AA can redirect you to your agency, but in my experience the RTW desk usually is happy to make changes provided the itinerary is on an AA ticket. You might try American Express travel; in my experience, they will create the record and queue it to AA for pricing, just as the AA RTW desk does. I thnk they are still waiving their fees, at least for some cardholders.

​​​​​​I called in and Janet helped me set it up.

Looks like a stopover is allowed on the way out and in. DONE4. Itinerary was placed on hold successfully like this:

CAI-DOH-MAD-EZE-JFK-MEX-LAX-ANC-DFW-ICN-HKG-SIN-HND-BKK-HEL-CDG-DOH

MAD and CDG are both stopovers of +24hr.

Now to figure out what the hit will be in taxes and surcharges.

Got the quote. Around 6,150 USD. Over 800 USD in surcharges despite avoiding LHR and British. Didn't realize IB YQs were this dirty.

Is it a coincidence both surcharges of MAD-EZE and LHR happen to add up to $583?

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a801af3e97.png

BA isn't the only carrier charging YQ or YR. IB, AY, RJ, are all in on the game.

Aware. For example RJ's for a AMM-ORD is around $300. AY for HEL-DFW is about $230.

Just wasn't expecting Iberia to pull a full BA :td:

Doesn’t surprise me. My RTW just bought (ex OSL) had USD898 taxes and charges on it.

Mind you I had a bit of a panic when I saw this:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...53cedee00.jpeg


Oops, someone forgot to include the right currency sign (NOK in this case) :-)

Whats the best way to get in touch with the AA RTW desk? Looking to book an ex HND DONE4 and the tool is hopeless!! thanks

I don’t know whether their number is public. But if you poke around in this forum you will find it - that’s what I did.

Gotcha... thanks

It is. +1.800.247.3247 US toll free number which is no charge using Skype.

Hours
M-F 0700-2230 CT
S&S 0700-2000 CT

CT US Central Time (Dallas, TX)

Does anyone have any recent experience how AA flights are credited. By milage or cost of segment ? The last one I did in 2017/18 the AA segments I flew were by milage and the ticketing was done by QR. But even back then some folks reported it was by cost of the segment. Kind of luck of the draw.

It’s probably best if this pricing thread is left to pricing and similar routing experiences/questions and questions like this that are unrelated to pricing or routing are directed to one of the other threads.

Now to reply to your question there has been some recent discussion regarding AA crediting in this thread:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...-free-156.html
Start at the last page.

Scratched my original reservation and tried to call in again to make a new one (I'm currently in Europe)

The agent that picked up refused to help me because the first flight is not operated by AA...tried HUCA'ing 3 times and kept getting her :(

The two I did before COVID and the new loyalty point earning scheme were done by fare. I flew MIA-SAN in A for one leg and got like 83 miles for it.

I bet lots of inquiring minds want to know. If you find out, please post prominently with screaming headline.

RTW planning - who will ticket it?
 

Not sure whether to put this in the newbie forum or in here, but hopefully people with experience here can steer me right. Sorry if it's a bit long-winded and sorry if my lingo isn't spot on. This is based on my wife and I taking a year off work and travelling for leisure.

I have a proposed RTW route that I've been working on for the last while, as follows: CAI-xLHR-SCL-xDFW-CUN-ORD-ANC-HNL-HND-SYD-NAN-xSYD-AKL-KUL-DEL-xDOH-AMM.

This is based on ex Cairo tickets still being good value when I want to book in a couple of months, as DONE5 is very little more expensive than DONE4. If something changes there, I'll probably leave SCL off the ticket and just go to CUN (and then do all of South America on my own), so as to only need a DONE4 ticket.

I have come to the conclusion that BA Exec Club is the best loyalty program for us (currently don't have any status or miles with any airlines), particularly since I'm based in Ireland and their relationship with Aer Lingus. I can get to bronze status very quickly (after a few flights) and silver not that long after if I make sure to hit the eligible flights. I understand generally that BA tend to be one of the worst for adding surcharges, but that they can also be applied on other flights too. So probably best to avoid having them ticket the RTW if possible. I also understand that AA have a dedicated RTW desk that would generally accepted to be the best for dealing with set up, questions, changes, issues, etc.

What are the chances that AA would ticket the above RTW for me? There wouldn't be any overwater flights on AA based on this - just South America to North America and a few internal North America flights. If they insist on having an overwater segment, I had looked at an alternative as follows (with the LHR-DFW flight being AA codeshare on BA metal, so as to satisfy both having an eligible flight for BA status purposes, and an AA overwater flight so they will ticket it): CAI-xLHR-xDFW-SCL-xDFW-CUN-ORD-ANC-HNL-HND-SYD-NAN, AKL-KUL-DEL-xDOH-AMM

I believe both options are valid itineraries. I can tweak this as we investigate other places to go and it's up for debate of course, but generally speaking this is the routing we largely want to follow to make the most of weather, etc. in the different areas (South America - North America - South Pacific - Asia - Middle East). The HNL-HND-SYD is purely in place because it looks like torture to try find D fare direct HNL-SYD flights. We have been to Tokyo before so wouldn't mind leaving it out. I also know that I could save a segment on the original itinerary by doing SYD-NAN and then surface to AKL, same as the alternative itinerary.

Would generally appreciate any feedback on the routing, but particularly in relation to who I should get to ticket the flight. Thanks.

What I do is first manually check my itinerary against the RTW rules, then I use EF to verify D availability on each flight, and pick which flight and which codeshare (when available) I want for flight comfort and earnings. As I do this, I put the flights into a spreadsheet (just to make it easier to see connection times and calculate earnings). Then when I call it's easy to just feed the agent the exact flights. Note that you don't have to wait until all flights are in the booking window (331 days for AA, I think 365 for BA but am not sure); you can book with dummy dates and change later for free. If you want to book with AA, give them a call and see if they will book it.

Booking and pricing DONE3 from CAI
 

Yes, it can happen! AA's RTW desk was a pleasure to work with. I wish I had asked for the agent's name. She thanked me for doing my homework and kiddingly asked if I'd like to work for the RTW dept. After verifying all flights, fixing a couple glitches, she told me to hold while she pulled up the base fare and expressed surprise at the ~$4200 cost. "No wonder you are starting in Cairo." Brace yourself though, taxes and fees, mostly taxes, were a surprise. I was expecting 10-15%. I've attached the details here

Your trip total

Price for all passengers

Includes all taxes and carrier-imposed fees
$5,437.27View DetailsPassenger

Base Fare
$4,251.00
Taxes $1,133.27
Carrier-imposed fees $53.00
Total (all passengers) $5,437.27

• Bag and optional fees
• Reservation and tickets FAQs
• Price and Tax Information

************************************************
Still, quite a bargain, and I think I've found a good positioning award (by today's standard) as far as Doha, then will purchase a flight to CAI. Haven't decided on that part yet.

That doesn't look right to me. $1,300 in taxes and only $53 in carrier-imposed fees looks like an error. I'd ask for a detailed breakdown of the taxes and surcharges, by code.

Routing check - pls can someone help?
 

Hi,

Planning a DONE5 (or is this DONE6?) ex CAI. Ideally I want to go to LHR to start then on to SIN, back to LHR and then RTW eastbound. I suspect this isn't permitted in the rules but wanted to check. Here's what I'd like to do;

CAI-LHR-DOH-SIN-DOH-LHR-PER-SYD-SIN-TYO-HNL-LAX-JFK-MIA-GIG-LHR-DOH

LHR-DOH-SIN-DOH-LHR doesn't work. You are only permitted one entry into the European continent (except for going to/from Africa)
Also, LHR-PER counts as passing through Asia, so you're entering Asia three times in total, which isn't allowed either.

LHR-DOH is only permitted once.

[/color]

Hi! I'm looking for alternatives to cross the Atlantic from Europe to some destination on the US east coast or midwest on a Sunday evening with a oneworld airline.

One such flight that I have found is BA181 from LHR to EWR departing at 19:10. Are there any others?

The EWR one is good because it avoids the JFK hellhole. I don't know what else runs on Sunday - you can do your own searches - but try looking at BOS PHL IAD BWI or even Charlotte and Miami. Or get FlightRadar24 and look at what took off last Sunday :-)

Thanks for the ideas! Checked those airports and none of them have evening flights that I could make it to. Let's see what Flightradar24 suggests.

There should be LHR-BOS on a Sunday night. Also you could try departing from HEL, MAN, DUB etc.
But your best bet would be to sign up for ExpertFlyer and do your own searches - it is very fast once you get the hang of it.

Yeah, BA203 LHR-BOS leaves at 17:15. A tad bit early unfortunately. :(

Expert Flyer really is your friend. Here, the Timetable query is what you want. Use the "Arrival/Departure" city tab and try the OneWorld destinations in Europe, then filter by OneWorld airline. Here are a few I found (a more careful search would find others):

• IB 6117 MAD 4:35 PM MIA 8:30 PM
• IB 2625 BCN 6:35 PM BOS 9:15 PM
• IB 2627 BCN 6:55 PM JFK 10:00 PM
• AY 15 HEL 5:20 PM JFK 7:05 PM
• BA 239 LHR 8:10 PM BOS 10:30 PM
• AA 141 LHR 7:55 PM JFK 10:43 PM
• BA 183 LHR 7:05 PM JFK 9:50 PM
• AA 139 0 LHR 6:50 PM LAX 10:04 PM

Started my DONE4 this past weekend!

CAI-DOH-FRA-MAD-MEX-(bunch of US stuff)-DFW-Asia-SYD-PER-LHR-DOH

Was hoping to close it out with PER-FCO-DOH, but that Rome flight is seasonal for now. Either way, really proud of that ridiculous backtracking to close it out in the Middle East 😁

Congratulations
and yes - that PER-LHR flight will probably fly right over DOH :tu:

We should have some DONE meetups in PER. I know most people only add it in for the mileage, but those of us who live here love it.

I plan to be back there in September.:tu:

We go on every xONEx. We walk around the CBD, take the train to some of the beaches, etc.

I went ahead with the BA181 LHR-EWR option.

Thank you for your help! I know feel confident that it's the best choice for my travel needs this time.

Hi All - could I check something with you?

A very helpful lady in the BA Gold call centre is trying to help me book my DONE4, but ticketing have come back and said tha the itinerary isn't valid:

OSL-LHR-HKG-SYD-NOU-SYD-MEL-DPS-KUL-KIX-HNL-LAX-MIA-BOS-PHX-LHR-OSL

The issue seems to be the Hong Kong leg - ticketing are saying that counts as me going to Asia twice, but I understood from the fare rules that you were allowed a stop in Asia on the way to South Pacific sector. Is the issue that I was stopping in HK for 2 days? Is it that I need to spend less than 24 hours in Hong Kong for the route to be valid, or are they just wrong?

I've asked them to look at BA15 from LHR-SYD instead as technically it's a single flight (albeit with a touch down in SIN) as an alternative. If I do that then I guess I could insert Hong Kong between KUL & KIX if I don't want to lose my hong kong stop? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Did they actually say that two visits to Asia is the problem?
Because that looks fine to me.

But your LAX-MIA and BOS-PHX segments are invalid. You are allowed only one flight between states in column A and states in column B
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...dad823f1a9.png

Thank you!! I thought the Asia thing was fine - yes, they've told me that I can only go to Asia once, which I didn't think sounded right.

I hadn't picked up on the US thing - so I guess I change that to LAX-PHX-MIA-BOS

It really is quite amazing how convoluted the rules are. I feel there should be a masters degree in the oneworld Explorer, conferred by FlyerTalk. I remember in the dying days of the exceptional ex-Mozambique xONEx, I ran up against Qantas telling me that Morocco is in Africa. Well, geographically it is, but not according to the oneworld hierarchy. To Qantas's credit, it honoured the very low base fare, even after it had been pulled, once I pointed out the rules about where Morocco fitted into oneworld's unique map.

Just looking at my own proposed plan based on the conversation about Asia above and think I might be against the rules here, but happy for someone to correct me.

Proposed routing is CAI-xLHR-xDFW-SCL-xDFW-CUN-ORD-ANC-HNL-HND-SYD-NAN, AKL-KUL-DEL-xDOH-AMM

The rules state:

(e) Only one intercontinental departure and one intercontinental arrival permitted in each continent
except as follows:
1. Two permitted in North America.
2. Two permitted in Asia when one is for travel between the Southwest Pacific and
Europe/Middle East.
3. Two permitted in Europe/Middle East for travel to/from/via Africa.
If travel is to/from Europe in both directions, itinerary may not include Mauritius/South Africa.

Based on this, I think I might be in contravention of this rule, as I have two arrivals/departures in Asia (HNL-HND-SYD and AKL-KUL-DEL-xDOH). But my first arrival departure is to get between Southwest Pacific and North America, rather than Europe, so looks like I'm in trouble with this rule?

It's frustrating - I am only including HND between HNL and SYD because it seems like there's never any availability on Qantas D fare on the direct route... Ugh, back to the drawing board for this section.