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Old Jun 15, 2023 | 6:04 pm
  #1351  
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Originally Posted by SP0
OK, I'll give up on that one.

AA are also refusing to book a QR metal flight DOH-LHR with a BA flight number -- they say it has to be booked as QR -- what do you think about that? Will HUACA get a different answer or is this policy too?
i have not used the AA RTW desk in a few years. They use to be great. Asked some of the same type of questions and got three different answers frrom 3 agents. The biggest one for me was

Do you have to use at least one AA over the water flight ?

#1 No segments on AA for us to ticket the DONE5
#2 Yes one longhaul is required
#3 The ticket must be issue by the first international carrier ? !!

With the answers all over the place , it appears they don"t have their act together.
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Old Jun 16, 2023 | 5:01 am
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Originally Posted by SP0
OK, I'll give up on that one.

AA are also refusing to book a QR metal flight DOH-LHR with a BA flight number -- they say it has to be booked as QR -- what do you think about that? Will HUACA get a different answer or is this policy too?
I've a similar issue with my DONE5, where AA can't see availability on AA codeshare for CAI-DOH and DOH-DFW (first 2 segments of my trip). I have searched Expert Flyer in many different ways and I can always see the D fare availability for both segments, but 3 different RTW agents at this stage have said they can't see it. I also tried messaging AA twitter team also to see if they could see availability and they couldn't.

Originally, when the RTW was being planned at first, there didn't seem to be an issue with selecting the AA codeshare, but when it came back from Fares team, it was moved to QR and can't be moved back to AA since. It actually means that AA have ticketed my DONE5 without any overwater segments on their code.

I'm a bit baffled - I wonder is there some issue with codeshares on QR flights, where QR aren't allowing them to be used for RTW segments. I'd really like to get those 2 segments on AA as I will be crediting to BAEC and it will be a lot more valuable to me Avios wise to book on AA codeshare.
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Old Jun 16, 2023 | 5:56 am
  #1353  
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I tried a well known TA to price the following routing:

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

They said it fails on two counts - you can't visit the same place twice (in my case LHR, SAT and SYD) and the BDA/MIA/LAX legs there was availability as two sectors but because there was no married availability (same day flights), it wouldn't price

It would appear that they are using Sabre, so might not be able to use them.

Is this definitely a valid routing and if so who do I use - Carrier BA, AA, QR or suggestions on a TA ?

Last edited by petez; Jun 16, 2023 at 7:11 am Reason: .
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Old Jun 16, 2023 | 6:26 am
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Originally Posted by pandaperth
It counts as one of the allowed 16 segments in a Oneworld itinerary,
BUT is also counts as "touching" Asia, and so increases the continent count by one.
So I assume that if you have already been to Asia (in my case Tokyo and Singapore) on my way down to Australia, you can't use QF9 as it it counted as going back to Asia ?
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Old Jun 16, 2023 | 10:50 pm
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Originally Posted by petez
So I assume that if you have already been to Asia (in my case Tokyo and Singapore) on my way down to Australia, you can't use QF9 as it it counted as going back to Asia ?
I think you're OK with that. There was a post recently in the Rule Sheet thread about that. Seems it used to allow it in your situation specifically from Australia to Europe, but now it seems to have gotten more flexible since May.

Originally Posted by petez
I tried a well known TA to price the following routing:

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

They said it fails on two counts - you can't visit the same place twice (in my case LHR, SAT and SYD) and the BDA/MIA/LAX legs there was availability as two sectors but because there was no married availability (same day flights), it wouldn't price

It would appear that they are using Sabre, so might not be able to use them.

Is this definitely a valid routing and if so who do I use - Carrier BA, AA, QR or suggestions on a TA ?
I'd give BA a try. I've read that QR doesn't issue RTW tickets. If your TA was using Sabre and getting the error, then I would expect exactly the same result from AA. Married segment availability though seems to be required no matter who tickets it. I had a travel agent try the same thing last year and couldn't do it on two of my sectors. Tried again during a change in January with some QR flights and same issue, they couldn't processes it unless it was married segment and that availability was only on the flight with a ridiculous 11 hour stopover in DOH. Even tried again once I landed in DOH but that segment still wouldn't unmarry to allow the earlier flight.

Last edited by dvs7310; Jun 16, 2023 at 10:56 pm
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Old Jun 17, 2023 | 2:36 am
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Originally Posted by petez
So I assume that if you have already been to Asia (in my case Tokyo and Singapore) on my way down to Australia, you can't use QF9 as it it counted as going back to Asia ?
Yes - it is counted as going back to Asia
BUT that is allowed
So you can take the PER-LHR flight even if you have already been to Asia
The relevant rule is:
4(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.
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.
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Old Jun 18, 2023 | 7:12 pm
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Questions about choosing airlines/codeshares

I'm in the midst of my third DONE3 (from CAI) and planning a 4th as it is probably the most advantageous way to get home from Cairo. I am not sure how AA credits the flights on an Explorer fare. I've always ticketed them through AA's RTW desk. Does the whole trip then fall under the cost of fare x cabin bonus x status bonus? Or do they somehow sort it so the partner flights accrue LPs based on distance? If so, would you want to use AA code shares on shorter flights, partner codeshares on longer ones when available? Is there still an advantage to maximizing distance on partner flights? It's been so much less stressful "blowing" segments on getting to and from my "spoke" hometown--no worry about missing my nested flight to get to the hub.
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Old Jun 18, 2023 | 8:27 pm
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Originally Posted by Padkir
Hi all.
So I've priced up a DONE5 Oneworld Explorer ticket (details below), and I have a question about the taxes and charges. The total is running at about 41% of the base fare, which is a bit higher than I'd have expected. On looking at the breakdown on AA.com (also copied below - the block of text is the various taxes, which totals about $450, which is fine), I can see that $1,508.70 of the total of $1,961.19 is down as "Carrier-imposed fees". I don't have any more detail as to which carrier or which flight and the AA rep wouldn't send me any more details.
Would anyone have any idea or recommendations as to how I could potentially reduce these carrier fees (would anyone know which legs are driving the highest ones)? Sorry I'm not sure of the proper way of showing all the details on the below, so I've written it out underneath also for clarity. AA may have grouped them slightly differently as I was just booking them on dummy dates (e.g. grouped Chicago to Honolulu via Anchorage as one flight with a stopover) - not sure if that matters?
Thanks!

CAI(QR)-xDOH(QR)-xDFW(AA)-SCL, BAQ(AA)-xMIA(AA)-ORD(AS)-ANC(AS)-HNL(JL)-xHND(JL)-SYD(QF)-NAN, AKL(MH)-KUL(MH)-DEL(BA)-xLHR(BA)-AMM

Cairo to Santiago, transiting Doha and Dallas Fort Worth (Qatar flights on CAI-DOH and DOH-DFW; I asked to be put on American Airlines codeshare but they said they couldn't) (AA on DFW-SCL)
Surface segment to Barranquilla
Barranquilla to Chicago via Miami on American Airlines
Chicago to Anchorage on Alaskan
Anchorage to Honolulu on Alaskan
Honolulu to Sydney via Haneda on Japan Airlines
Sydney to Nadi on Qantas
Surface segment to Auckland
Auckland to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysian
Kuala Lumpur to Delhi on Malaysian
Delhi to Amman via Heathrow on British Airways

Adult (per passenger)
$4,700.00 USD
CARRIER-IMPOSED FEES$1,508.70 USD
PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGE (UNITED STATES)$9.00 USDSEGMENT TAX (UNITED STATES)$14.40 USDTRANSPORTATION TAX (UNITED STATES)$52.80 USDUS APHIS USER FEE (UNITED STATES)$7.66 USDUS CUSTOMS USER FEE (UNITED STATES)$13.04 USDUS FEDERAL INSPECTION FEE (UNITED STATES)$14.00 USDUS SECURITY FEE (UNITED STATES)$22.40 USDPASSENGER MOVEMENT CHARGE (AUSTRALIA)$40.50 USDPASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE (AUSTRALIA)$46.90 USDAIRPORT TAX (COLOMBIA)$49.00 USDDEPARTURE FEE (EGYPT)$1.60 USDDEVELOPMENT FEE (EGYPT)$9.70 USDEMBARKATION TAX (EGYPT)$25.00 USDSERVICE CHARGE AT CAIRO AIRPORT (EGYPT)$2.00 USDSOLIDARITY TAX (EGYPT)$13.00 USDPASSENGER SERVICE FACILITIES CHARGE (JAPAN)$10.90 USDBORDER CLEARANCE LEVY (NEW ZEALAND)$3.30 USDPASSENGER SECURITY CHARGE (NEW ZEALAND)$10.70 USDPASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE (NEW ZEALAND)$11.20 USDAIRPORT FEE (QATAR)$16.50 USDPASSENGER FACILITY CHARGE (QATAR)$16.50 USDPASSENGER SAFETY AND SECURITY FEE (QATAR)$2.70 USDPASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE (QATAR)$0.50 USDPASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE (UNITED KINGDOM)$53.20 USDOTHER TAXES & CARRIER-IMPOSED FEES$5.99 USD
Total$6,661.19 USD per person
This is a super interesting one for me, glad you posted the full breakout like this. I was looking at a somewhat similar itinerary but was comparing doing ex-TYO and ex-CAI. The base price of ex-CAI is a lot less but looks like you're getting hit with a lot more YQ and your total price is quite similar to the last ex-TYO I priced out. I'm doing Africa this time instead of South America (did that last year). I'm getting between 960,000 JPY to about 1,100,000 JPY depending if I use QF or AA for New Zealand to North America (QF cheaper interestingly but VERY hard to find D availability), so that's just a hair more than your ex-CAI itinerary and I wouldn't have to deal with positioning flights to CAI (I hate that airport).
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Old Jun 18, 2023 | 8:40 pm
  #1359  
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Originally Posted by skipaway
I'm in the midst of my third DONE3 (from CAI) and planning a 4th as it is probably the most advantageous way to get home from Cairo. I am not sure how AA credits the flights on an Explorer fare. I've always ticketed them through AA's RTW desk. Does the whole trip then fall under the cost of fare x cabin bonus x status bonus? Or do they somehow sort it so the partner flights accrue LPs based on distance? If so, would you want to use AA code shares on shorter flights, partner codeshares on longer ones when available? Is there still an advantage to maximizing distance on partner flights? It's been so much less stressful "blowing" segments on getting to and from my "spoke" hometown--no worry about missing my nested flight to get to the hub.
Look at this site Loyalty Points Calculator (lpcalculator.com) You will see that the D fare on AY,BA,IB,QR have a 3.7 x miles flown for an AA EXP crediting to AA ADV. There are reports in this and other OW/AA threads that spell out how AA segments are credited on a DONEX and its not good. Minimize your AA flights as best you can.
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Old Jun 18, 2023 | 8:42 pm
  #1360  
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Originally Posted by skipaway
I'm in the midst of my third DONE3 (from CAI) and planning a 4th as it is probably the most advantageous way to get home from Cairo. I am not sure how AA credits the flights on an Explorer fare. I've always ticketed them through AA's RTW desk. Does the whole trip then fall under the cost of fare x cabin bonus x status bonus? Or do they somehow sort it so the partner flights accrue LPs based on distance? If so, would you want to use AA code shares on shorter flights, partner codeshares on longer ones when available? Is there still an advantage to maximizing distance on partner flights? It's been so much less stressful "blowing" segments on getting to and from my "spoke" hometown--no worry about missing my nested flight to get to the hub.
I've seen reports of both, some people said they only got cost based credit and LPs from AA and I suspect that's going to be true if AA ticketed. Also of note, AA won't use partner codes on AA metal flights. My RTW last year had 2 fairly substantial AA segments on it (DFW-GRU-JFK) and fortunately they credited by miles flown as special fares (so base + cabin bonus + elite bonus). Mine was a QF issued ticket and suspect that does matter. I had one other AA domestic segment but managed to get it ticketed on the QR code.

When crediting to AA, basically for max mileage / LPs, the pecking order is
1) QR, BA, IB, AY codes
2) AA codes only if Special Fare
3) QF codes on flights to / from North America
4) Pretty much everything else since I think all other OW carriers credit D at 125% (+status bonus) to AA
5) AA codes if cost base
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Old Jun 18, 2023 | 8:54 pm
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Originally Posted by skipaway
I'm in the midst of my third DONE3 (from CAI) and planning a 4th as it is probably the most advantageous way to get home from Cairo. I am not sure how AA credits the flights on an Explorer fare. I've always ticketed them through AA's RTW desk. Does the whole trip then fall under the cost of fare x cabin bonus x status bonus? Or do they somehow sort it so the partner flights accrue LPs based on distance? If so, would you want to use AA code shares on shorter flights, partner codeshares on longer ones when available? Is there still an advantage to maximizing distance on partner flights? It's been so much less stressful "blowing" segments on getting to and from my "spoke" hometown--no worry about missing my nested flight to get to the hub.
Here is one post discussing LPs:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35223293-post1297.html
But, your question is about earning in the AAdvantage program so is probably best addressed in the AA forum.

Last edited by jerry a. laska; Jun 18, 2023 at 9:07 pm
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Old Jun 18, 2023 | 9:00 pm
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Originally Posted by dvs7310
I've seen reports of both, some people said they only got cost based credit and LPs from AA and I suspect that's going to be true if AA ticketed. Also of note, AA won't use partner codes on AA metal flights. My RTW last year had 2 fairly substantial AA segments on it (DFW-GRU-JFK) and fortunately they credited by miles flown as special fares (so base + cabin bonus + elite bonus). Mine was a QF issued ticket and suspect that does matter. I had one other AA domestic segment but managed to get it ticketed on the QR code.

When crediting to AA, basically for max mileage / LPs, the pecking order is
1) QR, BA, IB, AY codes
2) AA codes only if Special Fare
3) QF codes on flights to / from North America
4) Pretty much everything else since I think all other OW carriers credit D at 125% (+status bonus) to AA
5) AA codes if cost base
AT is between 1) and 2) as it is 200% plus status bonus and UL does not have a cabin bonus for D class so just 100% + status bonus
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Old Jun 19, 2023 | 4:10 am
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Originally Posted by dvs7310
This is a super interesting one for me, glad you posted the full breakout like this. I was looking at a somewhat similar itinerary but was comparing doing ex-TYO and ex-CAI. The base price of ex-CAI is a lot less but looks like you're getting hit with a lot more YQ and your total price is quite similar to the last ex-TYO I priced out. I'm doing Africa this time instead of South America (did that last year). I'm getting between 960,000 JPY to about 1,100,000 JPY depending if I use QF or AA for New Zealand to North America (QF cheaper interestingly but VERY hard to find D availability), so that's just a hair more than your ex-CAI itinerary and I wouldn't have to deal with positioning flights to CAI (I hate that airport).
That is interesting. Just FYI for full disclosure for you, when I changed the flight times around to get the stopovers vs transits correct, and changed the DEL-LHR-AMM on BA to DEL-DOH-AMM on QR, I was able to reduce the surcharges a bit. The full final prices was $6,383 ($4,700 base fare plus $1,683 taxes/charges).

I possibly could have moved a few other flights around to reduce the surcharges a bit more, but I ended up booking this when EUR-USD rate was briefly up over 1.10 USD to 1 EUR, so I got a decent deal I think.
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Old Jun 19, 2023 | 5:35 am
  #1364  
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Originally Posted by Padkir
That is interesting. Just FYI for full disclosure for you, when I changed the flight times around to get the stopovers vs transits correct, and changed the DEL-LHR-AMM on BA to DEL-DOH-AMM on QR, I was able to reduce the surcharges a bit. The full final prices was $6,383 ($4,700 base fare plus $1,683 taxes/charges).

I possibly could have moved a few other flights around to reduce the surcharges a bit more, but I ended up booking this when EUR-USD rate was briefly up over 1.10 USD to 1 EUR, so I got a decent deal I think.
Good note there that you got lower fees on QR than BA (though a lot fewer miles flown if that were a goal) and BA flies an A320 from LHR-AMM, not a premium experience, LOL. I did that flight CAI-LHR and then back again later and awesome crew on both flights, quite decent food, but the plane is just any ordinary Euro business cabin and BA's legroom is even more pathetic than most European carriers.

I just went back to my card statement from the DONE5 from last year, it was 991,280 JPY ex-TYO when ticketed, that was at the time $6740. I did some changes during an involuntary change by QR and shifted some other non-related flights at the same time. During that I changed one set of flights CGK-BKK from MH via KUL to CX via HKG, that should have upped my total price a bit as CX has higher fees than MH but they didn't charge me for it since I had it processed together with the invol. Looks like in terms of JPY a DONE5 is coming out nearly exactly the same now (~960,000 - 1,010,000 JPY) but the exchange rate has been unstable, today it's fairy close to my previous ticket but with the 1 year validity it's too early for me to ticket to take advantage of the current rate. This could easily swing up (or down) another $500 or so before I'm within range of when I want to ticket. I think November will be ideal but may get tempted a bit sooner if the JPY rate gets more favorable to USD, plus I think if I find the TPAC QF flight I want with D availability that may force my hand regardless because it's seemingly so rare to find.
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Old Jun 19, 2023 | 11:10 am
  #1365  
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On the subject of "pricing", I also tried to figure out the oneworld xONEx online booking tool (which I determined that it was almost totally useless). That said, I worked on a simple 7 segment ex-HND DONE3.

I found out some interesting "fees, surcharges, taxes and whatnots). Below is a screen shot. Note US & UK. I only transit LHR (less than 24 hours) once. When I tried to remove LHR and put in DUB, the tool went wonky.


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