HI, I need your help in planning my OWE 4 continets route. I am fully aware of the recent chage in their rules that now allows the exit from East Africa such as Naibori to Asia via London as long as it is a trasit.

So I planed a trip like JFK-LHR-CPT-surface-JNB-surface( actually buying separate ticket on Air Seychelles )-SEZ-LGW/LHRx-HKG. I did get an okay for this itinerary from AA's RTW desk since I was leaving from East Africa and flying on to HKG with a transit in London. However, when I went to the AA's CTO, the agent called the RTW desk again and had her examine all the itinerary who kept insiting that I was leaving from South Africa and therefore, I must fly direct to HKG from JNB. Well, as I did not have three hours not patience to stand at CTO, I simply asked the agent to ticket it as JNB-HKG nonstop and decided to reissue the ticket later on. ( I was using the first segment of the OWE ticket in a few days ).

Then I came across a newsrelease that a new
kenyan carrier , Regional air, has joined the OW frachise and will be flying under BA logo coming this summer. Well, this Reginal air flies between Harare and NBO and it therefore is possible to connect JNB and NBO via Harare. I would expect that by using this route, I will be able to go on to Kenya and make a side trip to Seychelles and return to HKG via London.

I was really upset about the inconsistency of the understanding of the rules of OWE among the presumably the professional RTW desk people at AA. I welcome any comments or suggestions from fellow OWExplorers.

Thanks much in advance,

Kaoru

Although the AA rtw desk is extremely professional, there have been times when I have received differing rule interpretations from them.

To protect myself against the problems you outlined, I try to keep a print out of the current AA star file that presents the exact fare rules and make sure I can back-up anything "unusual" by referring the objecting party to the governing section. This goes a long way to smoothing out difficulties (particularly if I avoid taking a confrontational approach and/or avoid making the AA staff member appear to be stupid). Sometimes, I'll say something like, "yes, I was surprised that I could do this, too. It looks like it was a recent rule change (even if the relevant section has been included in the rule for years).

3)FOR TRAVEL TO/FROM OR VIA AFRICA - EXCEPT SOUTH
AFRICA/NAMIBIA/ZAMBIA/AND ZIMBABWE - TWO
PERMITTED IN EUROPE WHEN ONE IS A TRANSFER
WITHOUT STOPOVER BETWEEN AFRICA AND ANOTHER
CONTINENT.

My interpretation of this is that if your itinerary includes any of the 4 listed southern african countries you cannot transit through Europe a second time.

Which rule is correct? The rule in the above post or the rule that only allows you to transit through Europe again if departing from Ghana and Nigeria?

In light of the recent events surrounding Africa, I have decided to once again reroute my itinerary. My feeling is that once you step into the African sub-saharan continent, its best to get out of there after as few segments as possible. I would not rather risk my vacation with Regional Air or transits at HRE or NBO. Perhaps, simple R/T to Victoria Falls will be sufficient for me...

As for my dream vacation destination in Seychelles, I might just use Award ticket from London.

This way, I can really have a restful journey aboard BA's First class..



[This message has been edited by Kaoru Kanetaka (edited 05-09-2002).]

I'm off to South Africa, Zambia and Kenya as follows at the end of May

JNB-LUN BA6455 30 May
LUN-NBO BA8669 31 May
NBO-SEZ BA65 1 Jun
SEZ-LHR BA64 1 Jun

Any comments, advice, tips?

Just bringing this topic back up in the hope of getting an answer to:

Which rule is correct? The rule in the above post or the rule that only allows you to transit through Europe again if departing from Ghana and Nigeria?

Thanks!!

The rule quoted above is an old one. The current rule is:

1 INTERCONTINENTAL DEPARTURE AND 1
INTERCONTINENTAL ARRIVAL PERMITTED
IN EACH CONTINENT EXCEPT AS FOLLOWS.
- 2 PERMITTED IN EUROPE TO/FROM/VIA
GHANA/NIGERIA. 1 MUST BE A TRANSIT
WITHOUT STOPOVER BETWEEN GHANA/
NIGERIA AND ANOTHER CONTINENT.
(non-Africa related exceptions omitted)

Thanks for your help, Hagbard Viking.