Hi All,

Not sure I'm going to do this, but if I decide to, would the following scenario work and, would a TA, in your experience be willing to do it:

Step 1: Get local TA to find a TA in CAI to work with

Step 2: Call AA RTW and set-up itinerary ex-CAI

Step 3: Give PRN and credit card # to local TA

Step 4: Local TA gives info to CAI TA who issues ticket and sends it to me or local TA who then sends it to me

Step 5: Leave for CAI with ticket in hand and no worries re: issuing it in CAI

I would be happy to pay local and/or CAI TA for their services in addition to any commission they may receive.

Thanks!

That's a reasonable plan with a couple of glitches.

First, neither AA nor BA pay North American travel agents a commission. (BA pays ten bucks!) So you should expect to pay for the service.

Second, the traveler is at least nominally supposed to be present in Egypt to purchase the ticket. There are also now words in the rules file about having to pay for your ticket in the currency of the country of issue, or else it will be repriced to the higher value, i.e. the ex-USA price. I think it's pretty clear that OW is at least uncomfortable with what you propose.

I think the only thing that might work is finding an agent in Cairo that you're comfortable in working with directly. That may be as simple as getting the number of the American Express office there. Again, of course, unless BA is more generous to its TA's in Egypt, look for a service charge.

Thanks JohnAX.

Wouldn't having the credit card number being imputed into the PNR by the TA in CAI count as having it issued in CAI?

In my scenario, the local TA is merely doing the work of finding and dealing with the CAI TA. I would pay a fee for this service as it would save me the time and expense of doing it myself.

I am not wed to making the reservation with AA, it's just that I used them before and had a positive experience. I would go with CX or QF if it was financially better for the TA.

[This message has been edited by PresRDC (edited 05-30-2003).]

Seems like a lot of effort when issuing the ticket through BA in CAI is not that big a deal. Several FT'ers have done it recently without major problems. The BA lady who handles this in CAI is very nice to deal with. It will only cost you a few phone calls and FAXes. She will have the ticket waiting for you when you walk into her office.

Another FT'er tried working through a CAI travel agent, eptours, but elected to go directly to BA after looking at what the TA needed to process his cc in Egypt. They can be pretty fussy.

Regarding the currency issue JohnAx mentioned, the ticket will be issued in Egyptian Pounds but BA converts the value (at what turned out to be a very favorable rate) to US$ when charging your US cc.

Slightly modified version:

1) Make a reservation with one of the more expensive 5* hotels in Cairo.

2) Call the concierge there to ask them to recommend a GOOD travel agent in Cairo.

3) Book with BA RTW desk for itinerary originating in Cairo (get the PNR)

4) Give the concierge at the hotel the PNR and your credit card details (and details that you want a Oneworld Explorer ticket), and have them take care of it with the travel agent which they have a good relationship with.

5) Arrive in Cairo, check-in to the 5* hotel and your tickets would be waiting for you at the concierge desk.

6) Pay the concierge a large tip.

7) Have a good nights sleep and leave CAI the next day using your RTW ticket.


[This message has been edited by daniellam (edited 05-30-2003).]

Was that based on experience, Daniella? Good luck trying to get BA Cairo to charge your card without seeing it first hand!

I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT BA CAIRO! I am talking about a reputable travel agency in Cairo.

Although I haven't actually tried this with airline tickets, I had been sucessful in dealing with travel agencies in Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai etc. when I had to book things like day tour packages etc.

I would give them my credit card number, and the travel agency would ALWAYS ask me to fax them a copy of my credit card (BOTH front/back) [sometimes even a copy of my passport] for their records. According to one of the travel agents, what they needed is a special 3 digit code on the signature strip at the back of my credit card to determine authenticity of the credit card. They were able to deliver my tour vouchers to the concierge at the hotel (I never book hotels with them, but they still do it).

[This message has been edited by daniellam (edited 05-31-2003).]

The fax I have from BA in Cairo says that if I send them a copy of both sides of my credit card they will issue the ticket in advance and I can pick it up at the airport ticket desk which opens at 6am (I will arrive at 23:55 and depart the next day at 08:00 so no chance to get to the BA office).

My fax and (brief) phone contacts with Mrs Sobhi at BA Cairo give me confidence that she knows what she is doing. I don't see any reason to involve anyone else in the process.

Having said that, since I know that I will reroute later I have asked them simply to issue a very simple ticket so there are no complex issues of rule interpretation.

By the way, I had always read the nick as Daniel Lam - is it actually Daniella M?

[This message has been edited by christep (edited 05-31-2003).]

It's "Daniel Lam" (not my real name)

Okay, apparently BA CAI is gaining experience with RTW ticketing really fast

Yes. Some of us do know your real name .

Let me say a few words... as a TA who has issued one ticket of this sort, and is going to be issuing another very shortly via CAI.

No - it will not work. No travel agency no matter what sort of working relation can take creditcrad details oevr the phone or via fax. Unlike North America where cerditcard details are protected by law for fraudalent use, it simply does not work like that in Egypt. All travel agents and airline offices want to see the actual credit card on hand before they issue the ticket.

The agency I worked with would issue the ticket without sighting the creditcard, but will hold on to the ticket till you yourself personally go and pick it up. And of course, you'd have to produce your credit card before they give you the ticket.

This company will accept credit cards without seeing them and deliver tickets to your hotel in CAI:

http://eptours.com/

They might start by answering their emails. Their name has been mentioned before, their site looks somewhat professional, but they certainly never bothered to reply to a request I sent a couple of weeks ago. YMMV, of course.

Have you tried calling them instead?