My understanding for an AA 001 ticket only BA carrier surcharges are charged.
My understanding for an QF 081 ticket QF & BA carrier surcharges are charged. The online OW booking tool often defaults to QF ticketing
[but may be incorrect]

With just those five cities you specify, that makes it a DONE5.

Be careful with the terminology. 'Flight segment'? Going into ICN and out of GMP does not count as one of your four permitted flights in Asia but it most certainly does count as one of the 16 segments allowed on the ticket.

By way of a sanity check - I have a 16 Segment DONE 4 all booked and ticketed (thru BA)

I have a segment from JNB - SYD which lands at 1430 and the same day I have another segment - SYD - PER domestic.

Have no idea whether it was booked as a "thru flight" (ie JNB-PER with a connection in SYD) or two seperate and non-connected flights (doesnt really matter except availability in fare buckets are different)

Anyway - given that I land into SYD at 1430 (from JNB) I went for the last connecting flight of the day which is the QF 655 at 1945. Strangely, when I booked there was no D class availability on the actual QF655 but there was D class on the code share - Fiji Airlines FJ 5252 so that was booked and confirmed.

FJ have now moved their code share FJ5252 to the earlier Qantas flight (QF653) which departs at 1830 and this was done quite a few weeks ago. My ba.com booking still shows my departure as FJ5252 at 1945 and I called BA again today to insist they correct the flight (having done so before with no result as they told me their systems were still showing 1945 departure not 1830).

They finally have agreed that the FJ5252 now leaves at 1830 so I asked they put me back on the 1945 flight which is now plain vanilla QF655. They told me they could only see one seat in business class (I need 2) so I could either stick with the new departure at 1830 or book another day.

There are currently 6 J class seats available on the QF655 (I called Qantas who confirmed and EF shows the same thing) so I told BA I wanted the original flight as booked and they have emailed QF to ask that I be put back on the 1945 but said that they may refuse (no doubt due to lack of D class)

So................I presume I can "insist" they put me on QF 655 - as there are J seats available and its not my fault that Fiji Airlines moved their code share flight earlier. 4 hours is probably enough time to connect in Sydney (and make the 1830) but the JNB-SYD flight is on an A380 and I want as much time as possible to allow for any delays.

Thoughts ?

This is a D fare and you need D availability.
6 seats open doesn't necessarily translate to D=6, so why the fuss? Codeshares change all the time and you can probably get a free rebooking,but now you are asking for space to be opened up which is different.you can probably get one business seat and one economy seat on the same flight.

I think on QF ticketed, the QF surcharge may depend on the point of origin. My very first one was ex-TYO QF plated, and I had SYD-DFW on QF with no noticeable surcharges on the ticket. ex-TYO (well ex-Japan) tends to be minimal across the board (though not zero). Similarly on an ex-Japan CX plated the year after, I had AKL-DFW, AA operated, QF coded with no extra surcharges.

I suspect on (potentially) high surcharge points of origin like OSL or what CAI used to be, it would have been far more variable. Then you have to be a lot more cognizant of plating carrier and / or marketing carrier.

Maybe you missed the point or else you think its ok that an airline can just move your flight to some other time that suits them ??? A job with BA surely beckons ;-)

I'm not sure this is correct. BAs schedule change policy says rebook into the next available booking class in the same cabin, so if J is available but D is not, then the OP can push to rebook under J.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...df5ecfe281.jpg
EDIT: I see the time difference is less than two hours, which is the required threshold for the schedule change policy to kick in, so the OP has nowhere to go actually.

You are still on FJ5252, albeit a different time. Very common for airlines to have schedule changes. But yours is a very usual schedule change.

QF64 JNB-SYD SYD landing at 1430 is a quite time for SYD T1 arrivals. Transfer 2hrs international to domestic is tight. Will need to check, but I think its within the MCT.(90min?).3hrs is OK and 4hrs generous for afternoon T1 arrival. At SYD T1 domestic check in/bag drop desk can ask for earlier fight. Maybe ask for a later fight. Staff on that desk are more pragmatic and seem to have more discretion on the day than phone agents. I would stay on FJ5252.
If QF64 is late its QF's problem. A quick check SYD-PER QF655 usually listed as A330 and QF653 listed as B737.. The A330 a *lot* better. But aircraft type can change.

About a month ago I booked something similar (OSL-DOH-SEZ-DOH-AKL-SYD-(AKL)-JFK-GRU-MIA-PHL-EYW-PHL-DFW-SFO-JFK-DOH-OSL) starting this March (many thanks to the FT folks that offered advice...). I booked it through the AA RTW desk, and also had the objective of maximizing earnings on AA. I originally tried to include a stop at HND, but it didn't work out due to extremely limited availability of RTW D on JL flights. IME you can see a ton of JL D availability on EF, but the AA desk can almost never access it as part of a RTW ticket.

This. For maximizing AA earnings on longhaul QR, QF, and JL metal it's almost always better to use their Prime flight numbers versus an AA codeshare flight number. I was able to take advantage of the single segment SYD-AKL-JFK flight on QF, but availability was scarce. Prepare to be flexible with dates...


It's difficult for me to know exactly how much of the carrier fees on my ticket can be attributed to each flight/operating airline. However, I have a strong suspicion that the longhaul QF flight added considerably to the fee, and the QR flights had less impact. My trip is a DONE6 and I had almost $2500 in fees (ouch).

Thanks - good to know that its (generally) quiet at 1430. I appreciate that I currently have 4 hours with the "new" schedule but an extra 1 hr 15 mins will be better especially as I really need to be in Perth the next day (but not life and death).

Look here --> https://www.sydneyairport.com.au/fli...&showAll=false
SYD T1 06:00 - 08:30 is very busy with long haul wide body aircraft.
Been to SYD before? ----> https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ocea...transport.html

Does anyone know this for QR plated, surcharge sensitive origins? Is it QR, QF & BA surcharges are charged?

Actually, you misunderstood my post.
Please mind your manners.

Why would they protect you? Your retimed flight still meets I-D MCT in SYD (75 minutes). And having four hours is far more than any case that merits escalation.

Also, in the event your JNB-SYD is seriously delayed, QF will deal with it then? Not now.

I'll defer to some of the experts here though I believe this may have something to do with married segment logic. I've found availability changes for the better where there's a stopover, rather than transit. But you're right, JL does constrain its D class availability.

I tried to get SYD-HND-JFK on JL using several combinations of different dates, stopovers at HND, and transits at HND. Granted it was mid-November and I was looking at late March, so RTW D inventory may have been long gone. I was able to get SYD-HND on JL for a few dates over the latter half of March, but HND-JFK on JL was a no go for that entire timeframe. Plenty of availability on AA metal though.

I was also unable to get AKL-JFK on QF on any of the dates I wanted, but was able to get SYD-AKL-JFK on QF on some of those dates. The airlines definitely play some games with their RTW inventory.

Airlines are playing with inventory based on Point of Commencement (POC), not on RTW per se. The origin of the 1st sector in your PNR sets the POC. EF does not have the ability to display availability based on POC but only Point of Sale (POS), which is less relevant these days.

On the topic of JL availability, does anyone know why a JL flight that appears to be wide open (D9) both on EF and to the AA RTW desk would come back "unconfirmed" every time they tried to book it? I've been trying to switch from JL38 to JL36 for months with no success, and with the departure date approaching (February) the situation seems unlikely to improve.

I suspected it might be a POC thing but that doesn't explain why the agents are seeing availability only to then fail to book the flight...

Possible to book flight for DONEx for Dec 19,2026?
 

Currently trying to make date change for a DONEx. On EF, I saw schedule up to Dec 19, 2026.
Before calling AA RTW desk, thought I'd ask it here first. Is it possible to actually book flight for that date?
TIA

yes, but when is the first flight for the DONEx?

Not sure if you are aware but QF has recently recommenced the JNB-PER flights (3 x week) and AKL? Maybe QF has finally realised that PER flyers do want to go other intl destinations than just Europe.

Agree that if the agent can see D availability within your PNR, POC is already taken into consideration. If the agent knows how to and is capable to do that, try to use the "long sell" command for waitlist (for Sabre, used by AA, that would be 0JL36D01FEBSINHNDLL2 for 2 seats on 01FEB) and see if the waitlist request then comes back as confirmed. If that still doesn't work though, c'est la vie. It happens occasionally, unfortunately. Obviously, this is assuming SIN and HND are both stopovers (>24 hours), or else Married Segment Control (MSC) might be the reason.

Just curious, -- if people here say that it's not possible, are you not going to call and ask anyway?

Cool.
First flight was Nov 29, 2025.

If that's your first flight then you definitely can't book anything on Dec 19,2026.
All flights must depart within a year.

Similar experience here though for HKG-SIN-HND-JFK, though a couple of months later than you in May. In the end I was able to get JL HND-LAX. Availability then opened up for HND-JFK in December. I ended up not making the change, as didn't want to incur a change fee. I noticed similar availability constraints for JL LHR-HND. D class seats to seem to be released closer in to travel, on some routes as little as a week or so ahead.

If anyone else is an EF subscriber, do please send them an email asking if POC can be added to its development backlog. I don't know whether it's even technically feasible for it to achieve.

Yes, thanks - was aware but sadly I land from Entebbe the day it flies so dont want to take the risk on a non connected ticket and the next day is not running so stuck with connecting thru SYD.

BTW, re my last post - (the FJ5252 one) - BA did move me back to the 1945 and now on QF655 (original flight but not on the code share portion) - so a good result

An email from EF confirms this is on its backlog and it hopes to offer this functionality sometime in 2026.

When ExpertFlyer (EF) has the ability to display availability based on Point of Commencement (POC) in addition to Point of Sale (POS), that will certainly help 'round the world (RTW) planning.

3 or 4 continents?
 

Hi experts... wondering if I am looking at a DONE3 or DONE4 for this type of routing?
OSL/HEL/LHR/PER/MEL/SYD/TBU/SYD/LAX/ATL/JFK/OSL

OSL/DOH(nostop)/PER/MEL/SYD/TBU/SYD/LAX/ATL/JFK/OSL

essentially can you use QF10 LHR to PER and if flying QR does viaDOH add a continent if not stopping over?

Thanks for your help!!!
​​​​​​​

They're both DONE4.

ok thanks.... is that still the case if on the QF LHR/PER direct flight (presuming can get a sest!!!)

There's plenty of ambiguous wording in the rules, but the answer is clearly yes based on the fare rules I quoted:

It even cites the specific example of travelling on a direct LON-PER flight. It doesn't really get clearer than that.

thank you! Thats super helpful!

Since you are paying for Asia, you may as well stopover there, either between Europe/Middle East and South West Pacific, or between South West Pacific and North America, or both!

Do you think it can work with Europe to Australia with the QF10 direct to Perth and then Asia after Australia ... that wouldn't be backtracking? That would make a huge difference!!

Most certainly you can do that.

ETA
As a data point, on my current (ex-MEL) RTW I am visiting Asia twice - after starting in Australia and again before I return to Australia at the end.

Well that works perfectly, thank you. Now to work through some decent stop off points !

I was trying to consolidate experiences of booking directly with airlines...

Do we know which airlines will ticket DONE/DGLOB fares without longer legs on their own metal or codes?
Or, which airlines simply won't ticket these fares over the phone?

While there's no clearly formal rule, it seems there are several experiences where, when calling airlines directly, agents refuse to price itineraries without a long TATL or TPAC sector on their own metal.

I've been trying to find and consolidate experiences through this long long thread, what I can see so far is:
AA - Often demand a TATL or TPAC sector on AA codes
AY - Won't ticket anything
BA - Often demand a TATL sector on BA codes
IB - Won't ticket anything
QR - Won't ticket anything
QF - Seems to be very flexible, but agent experiences tend to be poor - also default for the OneWorld tool

Does that list look right? Do we have any experiences of other carriers (JL, AS, EI [for DGLOB], FJ, or any of the African/Asian carriers?)