Perhaps there is a need for RTW forum here...

In the Oneworld Explorer rule, there is a routing restriction "Europe & Middle East: four sector of which no more than two may be to/from Middle East". As I want to visit Tel Aviv and Istanbul in the same trip and would probably have to transfer via London, does anyone know what Istanbul falls under ? Surely Tel Aviv is considered Middle East, but what about Istanbul ? Is it considered Europe ? BA shows their business class service to Istanbul as "Club Europe" where the Israel business class is under "Club World".

Everything West of India falls under the Europe / Middle East cateory. Also, the rules for the fare differ depending on where you originate. i.e. for the one I just bought in India from Qantas I am permitted 6 sectors in this region but only four in Asia.

Moved to the OneWorld RTW fares topic

[This message has been edited by terenz (edited 12-23-1999).]

I need to re-state my question.

Is Instanbul considered Middle-East or Europe ?

I know they're considered the same zone as far as Oneworld Explorer RTW fare (North America and Australia rules) is concerned, but the four sector limit in Europe SPECIFICALLY say that you may not travel to/from the Middle East more than two sectors. Since Europe is best covered by BA:

LHR-TLV-LHR-FRA-LHR: Four sectors, two sectors to/from the Middle East (LHR-TLV-LHR), thus allowed.

LHR-TLV-LHR-Dubai-LHR: Four sectors, but all to/from the Middle East, thus not allowed.

So my question is, if IST is Europe, then LHR-TLV-LHR-IST-LHR is perfectly legal, but if IST is considered as part of the Middle East, then I'll have four "Middle East" sectors, thus not allowed.

To my knowledge - ISTANBUL has always been considered "european".

Israel, Egypt and anything beyond east is considered "middle east".

Best try asking your airline issuing your ticket because each airline has their own interpretation!

If you can try using QF to issue your tix. I have found that they either know the least about the rules or else care the least about them.

They allowed me two extra sectors, booked me in A instead of D on a couple of US sectors , and booked me in Y instead of M on a couple of single cabin flights. All on one RTW ticket.

I concur with Indogulf. All three people that I dealt with personally for extended periods of time pretty much let me tell them how to do it. Since I had read the rules, I knew more than they did and did the interpretting.

indogulf: Thanks for the QF suggestion, but I don't think they have much of a Canadian presense. Perhaps their US office...

You should be able to book it over the telephone and have them mail you the tix. Assuming you have enough time before the trip. Be careful about having it ticketed at a US office as you will get charged the higher USD amount.

Hsi

QF has a ticket office in Vancouver. 604 682 3647

Called the AA RTW desk, and they've indicated that all of Turkey is considered Europe. Joy. Now just have to suffer a 15.5 hour journey (Tel Aviv - Heathrow - Istanbul) to cover 704 total miles between Tel Aviv and Istanbul by connecting through London with BA (5.5 hour lay-over in Heathrow). Anyone else have a better idea to cover this segment with the Oneworld Explorer RTW and NOT pay for a direct flight via THY or ElAl ?

On a somewhat related question, in Business class, which is preferrable for SIN-LHR ? BA or QF ?

Try IB via Barcelona. There is one non-stop a day TLV/BCN and one non-stop per day BCN/IST. I'm not sure if the connection works or not. Also look at IB via MAD. Either way, you're going to save time vs. LHR.

ka9taw: Thanks for the suggestion. The IB connection wouldn't work unless I overnight in Barcelona, which I may just do for a couple of evenings just to break up this awful segment. Life would be easier on Oneworld RTW traveller if they had more European (Swissair) and Asian (JAL) partners.

How do people rank the Asia - Europe service in Business for BA, QF, and CX ?

Enjoy BCN, it will be the perfect city in which to do your break. And given the various influences on the city from the cultures of the mediterranean, an ideal bridge between Israel and Turkey. Check out the new Museum of the History of Catalonia by the Old Port, and just gawk at the wild architecture all over town! The only problem with BCN is how full the hotels can get, particularly on the weekends, and how expensive most are. Getting to and from BCN airport to most points in town is also easier than in MAD.