I have what is I think a basic question about RTW fares and purchase location. What I understand is that for some fares, the fare is only applicable if the ticket is purchase in the country where the journey begins. Where this is the case and the purchaser is not actually in the country how is this normally done? Is it sufficient to contact a travel agent in the departure country and buy the ticket from them and have them mailed or does a person actually have to travel to the departure country to get the tickets? And does it matter what credit card is used? For example does using a credit card issued in the US automatically trigger the higher fare priced for the US market?

BigKing - as you are based in the US. This rule does not apply. You can get any US based Oneworld airline or travel agency to assist you in your ticket. The fare is based on which country you are originating from. But you MUST still start your travels from that country.

This 'special' privilege is only for the OneWorld RTW fares. Other RTW fares are based on the higher fare rule application. ie if the US fare is higher than say the ex-JNB fare, as long as the ticket is purchased in the US, the US fare applies. This rule however does not apply for fares purchased in Canada.

[This message has been edited by Guy Betsy (edited 01-16-2002).]

Guy Betsy, I am confused by your post. As a novice to all this, but one who will soon be buying a OneWorld RTW ex-YYZ I'm not quite sure what the second paragraph of your post means. Is it that only OneWorld offers this type of pricing?

So, if I am buying an ex-YYZ RTW on OneWorld I can still get Canadian pricing?

If you want to buy a ex-YYZ Oneworld, you can get it in either the US or Canada at the Canadian price. If you want to buy a ex-YYZ Star Alliance, you will only be able to get it in Canada at the Canadian price.

Edited to add "at the Canadian price". Thought it was self explanatory.


[This message has been edited by Darren (edited 02-05-2002).]

No no no.

For Oneworld RTW fares, you can issue and pay for your ticket in the originating country's currency without paying the higher US fare levels if you are ticketing in the USA or Canada. The Oneworld RTW fare permits this kind of special arrangement. ie You wish to buy a RTW ticket ex-Thailand, you will book your ticket and issue it in either USA or Canada, either through the airline or through a travel agency, the ex-Thailand fare applies.

If you are buying another RTW ticket which is not OneWorld, say Star Alliance or CX/UA fare. If you book the fare ex-Thailand again for example, neither of these tickets have the special conditions that make the Oneworld RTW so attractive. These other tickets must be issued in the country of origin only. If you issue the ticket in USA, the USA fare will apply if it is HIGHER than the fare ex-Thailand.

The only exception to this rule will be if your ticket is issued in CANADA. Only then will your ticket be priced at the ex-Thailand fare without paying for the higher ex-Canadian fare. This is a certain ruling (don't know what it is really) that applies to all tickets, not just RTW fares. Which is why in some circumstance, it's cheaper to do split ticketing on a point to point basis. Say its cheaper to do oneway from YVR to HKG and oneway from HKG to YVR than a return YVR-HKG-YVR in Business Class. If you try to price the ticket HKG-YVR oneway on a CRS other than it being based in Canada (ie from USA), it will quote you the higher YVR-HKG fare even though you are flying HKG-YVR if the ticket is issued any other place other than HKG. This is called an "MDP" check. But Canadian law on ticketing permits this 'reverse' process and will quote you the fare as though you are issuing the ticket in HK. This system will not work for US based CRS systems.

As the Red Rose Tea commercial says..."Only in Canada, you say? Pity!"

[This message has been edited by Guy Betsy (edited 02-05-2002).]

NO. It doesn't matter where the credit card is issued. As long as they can authorise the creditcard, you're as good as gold.