Congratulations!
(was the AAgent called Rebecca by any chance? She dealt with my DONE6 as was a real pleasure to interact with:D)

I have never had a problem changing dates on a business class RTW; if you were trying to change today for a flight tomorrow then maybe, but a reasonable time into the future should be no problem.

Edited to add:
You can check the status of your booking on-line. You will see when it has been priced and so can then pay.

Thank you! I believe her name was Kathy. She was nice and very efficient! :D

Both good to know! Thank you!

You were able to backtrack and include South Africa?

It seemed to be okay. The AA person didn't question it. Hopefully no one else does. I thought that it wasn't backtracking because I returned to Africa via LHR as opposed to DOH.

I believe that you have to book it initially using your AAdvantage number if you want to benefit from eVIPs or sticker upgrades. I'm going to be doing the same thing as you. Will book it initially with AAdvantage then change at least the QR flights to QRPC at the gates before I board.[/QUOTE]Perhaps, but I'm on an AONE4 so no need for upgrades, nor am I flying any international AA metal where I might use them even if I were on a DONEn.

I know through CX web site I can change my FF number for all segments online, which I just did for my current AONE3 ex-NRT that was purchased from CX. I think I can do the same thing on AA's web site. I have no need to use different FF numbers for connecting flights or other reason to change my FF number at the last minute, so hopefully for my next RTW ticket, an AA issued AONE4 ex-MPM, this will be easily done on aa.com; or if not, then make a quick call to AA RTW desk to do so.

Start with AA FF #
Fly MPM-DOH-xORD
Change to BAEC FF #
ORD-DFW-XEGE-LAX-xJFK
Change to AA FF #
JFK-HKG-XHKT-HKG-xLHR//ARN-HEL-xPRG
Change to BAEC FF #
PRG-LHR-CPT

As far as the discussion and supposition on ticket numbers and AA 75K max, I'll let others be the guinea pigs on that one and will be very grateful for the info from their experiences. Until then I'll check out BAEC Gold.

Correct, or more importantly according to AA you have no flights between Europe and the Middle East.

I just set up an AONE4 with the AA rtw desk with the following for next June (ticket sent to the rate desk for pricing tomorrow):

MPM-DOH-CDG-LHR-LAX-JFK-HKG-HND-HKG-JNB

They were initially concerned about the DOH-CDG-LHR-NA but finally decided that was ok as long as I was not trying to fly back to the ME before proceeding on to NA. They would not allow MPM-DOH-LHR-DXB-LHR-NA. I know I have segments available but this was just a placeholder and I will do a change later.

You won't be able to change your itinerary to include three flights between UK and Middle East, DOH-LHR-DXB-LHR, as this is not allowed on any RTW ticket due to the condition below from section 4 (h):

This has absolutely nothing to do with Africa.

Darn typos. Meant to type DOH-CDG-LHR-DXB-LHR-NA as DOH-CDG-LHR is the routing I currently have.
I am aware of the rule which is why I was routing thru CDG. I have exactly 0 segments right now between the UK and the ME. I have 1 segment between France and the ME. With the DOH-CDG-LHR-DXB-LHR-NA added to my existing routing I would have 2 segments between the UK and ME. That rule was not their concern -- it was segments between EUR and ME with Africa on the ticket.

No worries, I've done my share of typos, some very recently.

It's a D fare, the availability is whatever is offered in D class on a particular flight (although availability can vary by point of sale). (There are some booking code exceptions, such as access to A class where D is not sold.)

It will be the same availability as if you booked an overpriced LON-LON DONE6 for departure this afternoon. This fare is not being treated specially.

Yes, but that directly contradicts what I was told. I asked for HKG-LHR-CPT to finish and was told no. She didn't even try, just said it was backtracking and I couldn't do it. Never said anything about doing Europe-DOH-Africa. She would only let me do Asia-DOH-Africa or HKG-JNB.

I'll call back tomorrow.

A very interesting thread. Please post any successful experiences of starting in MPM, including any overnight visa problems.

HI
Just wondered if you could share the BA RTW phone no you were provided with by AA ..
Thanks

In general, when the operating carrier switches equipment so that your booked class is no longer available, it's treated as a schedule change and you are usually allowed to re-route to maintain the ticketed cabin. This has been my experience.

I ran into this at the beginning of the year booking CPT-DOH- ... - BCN-DOH-CPT. The AA RTW people insisted in was invalid. Mindpearl in S.A. agreed is was valid, but went round and round with AA in DFW before finally just rating and issuing it themselves.

I think many of us are eager to learn first-hand reports of this. I'm planning on an ex-MPM xONEx, using JNB-MPM for positioning. I'm wondering how early I should get to MPM to have time for whatever is needed.

Just curious about your SAN-YYC. That's the AA code on Westjet? Why do that rather than book actual AA and fly in domestic F/J rather than Y?

Many of us do this every year. I've even done a second one in the same year. I almost always book about 10-11 months before my first flight, using dummy dates for every subsequent flight, and then change as the booking window opens up. Usually, D is easy to come by when booking far out. There have been occasions where D is not available (e.g., HKG-HKT or HKG-DPS or sometimes QF routes). You can waitlist for D.

Sure! 800-828-7797.


I'll post back here. If I can get an itinerary put together and approved, I'm trying to do one towards the end of this week. I'd love to know the ground setup at MPM for transfers, etc.

Yikes! Where are you seeing that it's Westjet? It comes up as operated by AA on the OW booking system and Kayak.

So good to know! Thank you!

On ExpertFlyer the only AA SAN-YYC flight is AA8194 (operated by WS)

Sadly for you, AA's pricing department will likely knock this back - because codeshare flights operated by non-Oneworld partners are forbidden (except for QF flights operated by JQ(JetStar)

My flights are: AA1086 - AA2473 Return AA1166- AA1500

Ah, my mistake. Good
So you are on connecting flights, not the non-stop
Those flight numbers look fine (high numbers, such as AA8194 indicate a codeshare)

Hallelujah! Yes! Connecting through DFW both ways.:D

So with everyone booking these currently cheap southern africa tickets via the RTW desk in Dallas, I assume that no one has had any issues getting the correct pricing or needing "local" cards?

I purchased two ex-MPM DONEx last week

One via an Australian travel agent - correctly priced in AUD, and I used my Australia credit to pay (ticket issued by QF)

The other via the AA ATW desk, again correctly priced in my chosen currency (AUD); I telephoned AA's Sydney office to pay, again using my Australian credit card (this transaction has yet to go through - AA ticketing has not yet issued my ticket). No issues were raised with getting it priced in my chosen currency and paying in Australia.

Great
Many thanks
and look forward to hearing about your travels - fingers crossed for you !
Cheers

This is VERY good news! Thanks for posting

I have just checked AA fare rules in ExpertFlyer - they have not yet been updated (but I can see that Qantas' rules have been updated).

While this will be good for people purchasing fares from here on forward, I'm hoping that AA will acknowledge that its interpretation of the now deleted words was incorrect and so allow those of us who have already purchased our tickets to re-route them to have segments between Europe and the Middle East (maybe even waive the re-routing fee!)

One thing

JAXBA invited us to "Discuss!", which if course is what we love doing on FlyerTalk

BUT can we please discuss it in the more appropriate thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...ule-sheet.html

And the party seems to be over if Expertflyer is to be believed .... the ex MPM fares have been reviewed ....

Perhaps the extensive chat on FT has, in part, led to them recognising the pricing anomaly. Maybe it's sometimes better to chat privately about such matters.

No doubt, but, as always, a bit of a pipe-dream in this era.

I doubt that the chat was what did it. I think it was the number of ex-MPM DONEX and AONEX tickets being issued by the AA rtw desk, since the rule change allowing tickets starting anywhere to be sold anywhere. The agent I dealt with yesterday said he had booked "dozens." Tickets were actually being issued (maybe in response in some part to the "chat") but the tickets themselves is what got their attention not the "chat."

You certainly 100%right, but, as you allude to chat-on-FT is what, IMHO, created the demand, almost exclusively, I'd personally opine.

Honestly the fare has been around since 2013, but for the most part gone under the radar, because it was too difficult to book in relation to other options. I mentioned it several times both in this forum and via PM. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22683581-post353.html

The sudden increase in exMPM bookings is due to a few reasons

1) The large increase in South Africa fares
2) The relaxation of the local currency requirements
3) The sudden devaluation of the MZN making the prices even lower

People have been trying to book exMPM fares for a while, but QR wasn't the easiest to work with.

The currency has lost about 50% in the past year: http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?fr...to=MZN&view=1Y

Something strange here -- I just looked at oneworld rtw MPM fares on expertflyer.com (8.55pm, NY time), and I got US$ 2722.83 for DONE5. This actually nearly the same as I paid on July 11th. Maybe my connection to experflyer.com is faulty?

Check BA or AA. Looks like AA updated theirs, too.

I guess you must have better access to expertflyer.com than I do. My display doesn't even look like the above. And BA is still the same as all the other airlines. What about WDH?

Just checked and both BA and AA have raised WDH as well. It appears to be the same price as South Africa now.

I was on the phone with AA at about 3:00 PST. I was quoted a base fare of $2398 for a DONE4. She said it had not gone up, yet. It's been sent to be rated and I'm supposed to call back in the morning. How does that work? If she is sending it over when it is still $2398 does it stay that way (aside from taxes and fees) or, does the rate department send it back with the new fare?

If you notice the fares I posted were after your call. It will depend on when they price it. Watch the itinerary on AA.com and it will give you your price before you call. Good luck!