Sorry I kept writing USD when your code specified GBP.

Using AA to plate the ticket for your original itinerary resulted in a slight increase, as there is now 60GBP of YR from QF. If the ticket is issued in the US, there is also more US and XF taxes, when I specified the ticket to be issued in DFW (but still with a GBP quote just for easy comparison).

Changing LHR-SEA to AA code will save you quite a lot, as YQ changes from 262GBP when BA code is used to 140.6GBP. Changing JFK-HND would save you the 2.9GBP YQ from JL but not the main portion (214.1GBP).

If you can convince AA RTW desk to book you on AS code for SEA-LHR, though, you can eliminate the 140.6GBP YQ on that flight completely.

To share a recent experience, booking a DGLOB34 (as I wanted to go to Fiji with FJ rather than QF, and due to the 34k mileage limit on the ticket had to be creative compared to a DONE4) from Japan, with the first flight on Cathay, two interesting observations:
1. I was unable to book a last leg from HNL to HND with JAL, the system kept throwing a wait list error even after trying a few days/combinations including finishing in another city. But was fine to book HNL-NRT on the same day I wanted (note that JAL is booking D class a lot on this route, there are days at a time, Friday/Saturday/Sunday) with 0 availability across both HNL and NRT some 11 months out. Wasn't a big deal, I was willing to take the longer NRT commute to avoid having to read out 12 flights
2. I then had to call, rather than being able to pay online. CX picked up nearly instantly but clearly in the backend there was something complex as it took 20+ minutes (almost all with hold music) to get towards the payment, then another hour before the payment link was sent, but then instantly ticketed

I would say 20 minutes for a booking over the phone with CX is pretty good, I would be happy with this as these are complex tickets and usually have to be sent off.

I agree
I spent an hour on the phone with an AA Agent setting up my current DGLBO34 - see FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - 2016-2023 Oneworld booking and pricing experiences

I have booked and modified a few LONE4's in the past week with AA and QF staff, and time to do so has varied considerably. One lovely person from QF in Capetown set one up an LONE4 for me in 28 minutes, but said I had to call back later to get a price as her system was not pricing it for her.
When I called back later, I was asked by the agent who answered whether I was trying to buy a paid or a points ticket: some of the flights were in L, but others booked were in S, Y, X, etc. I them had to spend another half hour with someone correcting the booking classes in each flight to L.
So fast is not always good!

AA and QF Oneworld Explorer Pricing : Why the $1100 Price difference?
 

I had the same itinerary priced by AA and by QF in CAD.
OSL-LHR(stop)PHL-YYZ(stop)-ORD-SFO-DFW-LAX(stop)-MEL(stop)-SIN(stop)-DOH-OSL

The very same flights were used in each case.
AA quoted CA$4535
QF quoted CA$5679 for the same route and flights.

There were some differences in the marketing of flights used
For OSL-LHR, AA used an AA codeshare on BA; I requested that QF do the same, but they would or could not start a Oneworld Explorer with a codeshare, so used the BA flight.
For ORD-SFO-DFW-LAX, AA used AA flights, while QF, at my request, used QF codeshares on AA flights.

1. Would you expect prices to be more than CA$1000 different for the same flights, just different marketing of them?

2. QF quoted CA$5232 (over $400 less if I used SIN-HEL-OSL rather than SIN-DOH-OSL.
Does it make sense that QR flights SIN-OSL would be priced $400 more than AY flights SIN-OSL?

1 yep. QF YQ is crazy and that’s what they do, chuck it on everything.
2. Yep, QR YQ is flat fee I believe

Apologies if my questions are silly - but I can't seem to find decisive answers in the threads I've been looking through. My husband I are planning a DONE5 beginning March 2024, flights as below. I have asked for advice earlier in this forum but I have changed our itinerary because we're hoping to do an AA Platinum (possibly Platinum Pro) Challenge (pay upfront for the immediate status) over the year it will take to do this itinerary.
nrt-hnl-sea-cun-jfk-gru-doh-lhr-rho-hel-doh-syd-akl-hkg-sin-bkk-nrt
Some questions:
1 Is this itinerary valid?
2 Will all the DONE5 sectors be booked in J class? Or are they likely to be booked on a business fare class that earns a lower cabin bonus i.e. C, D or R? How would i know before actually booking?
3 The cun-jfk-gru sectors would be on AA metal. As I understand it, under the Special Fares rules, I take the base miles, plus 100% J cabin loading (related to my second question above), then add an additional 60% (Plat.) or 80% (Plat. Pro) of the base miles. For example, sea-cun = 2684miles. So 2684+2684(based on J class fare)+520 gives me a total of 6978 redeemable miles/loyalty points on this sector.
Is this correct or am I barking up the wrong tree? I have set up the trip sectors to hopefully allow me to earn the 42K points across each of the three x 4 monthly sessions necessary to gain Platinum Pro. We will probably be spending 5 months in the US during 2025 and hope to take advantage of Platinum Pro benefits.

As per the name, "D"ONE5 they are booked into D class...

I am potentially looking at:

OSL/LHR/BDA/MIA/LAX/SAT/LAX/HNL/NRT/SIN/SYD/HBA/SYD/PER/DOH/LHR/OSL

Does it look ok with the two visits to LHR assuming they are stops and not just transit ?

Are you also stopping in DOH or just transitting?

Yes, they are all stops at the moment - I could transit at DOH but would prefer not to ....

Only 2 stopovers permitted in the continent of origin (in your case EUR/ME).
https://assets.ctfassets.net/m9ph4qv...d-explorer.pdf

So am I right assuming any of these routings would be permitted ?

OSL/xLHR/BDA/MIA/LAX/SAT/LAX/HNL/NRT/SIN/SYD/HBA/SYD/PER/DOH/LHR/OSL

OSL/LHR/BDA/MIA/LAX/SAT/LAX/HNL/NRT/SIN/SYD/HBA/SYD/PER/xDOH/LHR/OSL

OSL/LHR/BDA/MIA/LAX/SAT/LAX/HNL/NRT/SIN/SYD/HBA/SYD/PER/DOH/xLHR/OSL

Well, they wouldn't run afoul of the 2 stopovers rule. I haven't checked the entire routing but looks okay at first glance. There is no special limitation on LHR stopovers.