Thanks for your reply! I am ticketed with CX. I am here to report that CX does allow a second stopover in HKG on my way back. Thanks everyone for the help!

Thanks for your reply! It is indeed a glitch. CX does allow a second stopover in HKG on my way back.

EU/ME Segment suggestions for ex-TYO OWE
 

Hi
Firstly thanks for all of the really useful info on this forum. I am starting to look at a xONEx and because of holiday allowance restrictions am planning to start in TYO and travel eastbound with first holiday in North/Central America. Then have a break in Europe until my next holiday year when I'd like to travel out to SYD for a coupe of South Pacific visits then via Asia to TYO before travelling home.
The question I have is on how to best use my EU/ME segments. I am UK based and thinking of a couple of shorter trips to Jordan and Morocco. For these short trips it would be easiest but not essential to depart from UK although I could do a self funded reposition. For 2nd main holiday to SYD I'm thinking I don't want to be departing from UK to avoid steep APD. With the 4 segment limit I'm thinking I'm being too optimistic but would appreciate any advice. The other idea was to not travel to UK with xONEx but use DUB as a hub but I have checked for direct routes to possible short holiday destinations,

The AONE3 e-ticket itself says only 2x23 which is the same whether Y/J/F (which I find strange for what’s arguably each airline’s most premium sale). This I checked up-thread in February before buying, so I was somewhat prepared for the worst possible.

My experience so far seems that additional allowance reverts to if each carrier offers more for their class of service booked. Obviously I had no troubles with JL checking in at their First Class living room in Haneda where I probably could have given them anything and they wheeled it away to be checked in. Up to the chair I was sitting in LOL.

Interesting side note there… I had only two pieces (but a lot of hand bags - not a problem for JL F) since I knew I was connecting to AS, but they were packed to the gills at probably around 30k each, and the baggage receipts they brought back to me in the lounge together with my AS connecting pass were for 2x23, so maybe they did that since their system might have asked for an ADC just because of the AS flight, but it would have been rather impossible for AS to do an ADC for baggage on a direct connection in SFO between HND and RDM… pure speculation

it was the RDM-SFO segment where I had the near problem. And when I checked in the first time for the 25th, no one batted an eye but there was also an IRROPS situation. It was when I went back on the 26th that I had the stricter interpretation and then only waived because “the agent the day before made a mistake.” YMMV

AA Flagship First also has clearly published allowances (3x32) for transcon F (less for short haul J, which was why I called to check and they told me, vaguely to my surprise, that the PHL-JAX and JAX-MIA would have the same as the transcon). So they were applying the allowance of the most significant leg to the whole part of their itinerary… which is not uncommon but I suppose AA policy and not explorer policy.

Obviously BA allowed MIA-LHR with 3x32 so although I didn’t have much more weight I did use the 3 instead of two in order to pack more easily.

I’ve yet to do the LHR-NCE segment (that’s the one I need to reschedule as a no-show next but my times keep shifting). It used to be that BA kept the same allowance as the most generous among all their flights on the PNR (which would be MIA-LHR in F) but I think I read a change to this. Once I get booked into the flight I want to NCE I will check by phone like I did with AA, and either pay the fee or leave a bag to re-collect in London from my hotel here… A lot of what I have is winter clothing from my departure to Japan in December before the RTW, and I sure don’t need it in May, so if it’s free to take it to my home in NCE I’ll do so, otherwise I’ll leave it with my hotel here as I’ve done before and make a lightweight trip later.

Back to your point, however, AS has been the outlier thus far in my trip, but I only have JL, AA and BA to balance them against. Strictly strictly speaking, the ticket says 2x23, but almost every other carrier considers 3x32 the normal for F. I think in retrospect that’s why I have AS marked as my AmEx $200 airline incidental reimbursement. No other airline in memory has charged me for anything on the tickets I buy, and AS is indeed an outlier but at least one I don’t fly much. Their onboard team is quite nice, but their rules and enforcement is more of a discount carrier.

Final final afterthought… wondering if it would have made a difference if the AS flights had been booked under AA or JL codes… probably not but it wouldn’t make anything worse.

Will you be going back to your hotel only to collect your bag? There used to be a Left Luggage storage facility at LHR T3 on the ground floor. There was a charge, of course, and bags were x-rayed before acceptance. I have used it many times, but haven't been to LHR in a number of years.

Thank you!
 

This forum has given me some great information thank you!!!

The advice to book using the AA Round the World desk was excellent! They have been extremely helpful and I ended up paying less than the OneWorld tool was quoting for our trip.

Also the tip to call using Skype was invaluable because I am in Sweden. Saved me a lot of long distance call costs over the last week!!

has the wiki disappeared? Not showing for me

It's showing OK for me.

I haven’t been able to see it for the last week either. 🤔

OK for me on a lap top (do not use a phone to view web sites)
Can you see wiki bottom right, as below?
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4383aa713b.jpg

Cn you see wiki top right (as below)? Click on the square icon to turn wiki on~off
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8b7952967c.jpg

Quick question; which twitter account did you succeed with reaching out to?
I've contacted the official Qantas account and they just told me to call (before I had provided any details, so can't be the change itself)..

These days you have to explain why calling isn't viable. They used to just do it but I suppose a lot more people started using that channel.

When is Oman Air joining Oneworld?
 

When Oman Air joins Oneworld, other things being equal, it will be possible total a scenic route and fly DOH-JRO-DAR as a single Oneworld Explorer flight rather than the direct DOH-DAR.

Does anyone have any insight on when in 2024 Oman Air is likely to join?

Topic is discussed in this thread: Who will be the next oneworld member? + New membership announcements [merged] - FlyerTalk Forums

I had a DONE3 ticket, the last segment is LHR-CAI which has a stopover in DOH. I want to change the destination to AMM or IST. Will I pay another ex-England tax if I make this change?

Where you booked might be relevant. I know from experience that when you change the cities and your booking was with the AA RTW desk (and you call them to make the change), the AA rate desk only charges the difference in taxes. I recently changed my current itinerary, and the taxes on the new itinerary were lower. The difference consumed most of the change fee and I only had to pay USD $17.

Overall, I would guess that you don't have to pay the ex-England (or any) tax more than once, but you should def check. Why not call and ask? You'll obviously get a more definitive answer from an airline rate desk, and any answer you get here will be unhelpful, anyway.

Thanks. Because I have not flown my first segment to lock the fare, thus I cannot call to ask them what should I pay for the changes.

Are the rules different for a DONE and a Global Explorer ticket?

AA advised me when I booked my Global Explorer ticket last week that any route changes will incur a 125 dollar charge plus the difference in taxes.

Both charge for routing changes, and you'll always pay the tax difference. Other rules, of course, are different between the two.

AKL-Africa on DONE5 for new QF Platinum: QR vs QF experience
 

As a new QF Platinum going AKL-Malawi on a DONE5, Mrs Jrobin and I have a choice of
AKL-DOH on QR 921 (Airbus A350-1000 according to Expertflyer) and ~ 4hrs (10pm-2am) in Al Mourjan? lounge in DOH, then likely to LUN on Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner or
AKL-SYD on QF 140 (Boeing 737), perhaps an hour 8:00-9:00am in the QF International F Lounge, and QF63 SYD-JNB (Boeing 787-9), arriving same day (16 hours earlier than QR) so could have an overnight near JNB at a hotel and start adjusting to time change.

Our only prior experience International business class was JFK-HKG-PER on CX.
Any suggestions?
Thanks

I'm trying to make the simplest of changes (move a single segment by exactly one day, same flight number on the same route) and while I've gotten past the "call us" response from the Qantas team on twitter, I've now been advised that this will incur a 125 USD change fee.
The agent, upon my request, double checked this with the "the team" but came back with the same response.

Looking at the fare rules in expertflyer, I can see why they would want to say so, while the fare rules actually only specify the change fee for a no-show or changes to the ticketed points.
For changes, which don't do either, it just specifies that changes are permitted.

However the wiki and previous posts in this thread suggest that simple date changes should be free of charge.

Any advise on how to achieve date changes with Qantas without a change fee?

I did SYD-JNB a few weeks back, and would choose that option (and saving lots of time) over the QR option any day of the week. I am not at all a fan of the very open-cabin 787-8 QR seat, and that middle of the night connection and subsequent redeye to LUN is going to be rough. However, if it's your ultimate destination you can also consider adding in overnights to arrive more rested. I'd also overnight in SYD to spare yourself the super early departure from AKL.

They should be free. Hang up, call again. Such is life with the QF desk. It may sound terrible, but after a few dozen calls on my first DONE if I can instantly tell the agent is Fiji after a few sentences/questions "oops, something's on fire in the kitchen, gotta run, thanks for your help"

I was told last week by AA when I booked my global explorer ticket that date and time changes would not incur a charge, only route changes including no shows.

Unfortunately this is the twitter contact channel 🙈

Might have to resort to the hotline.

It's been reported lately that QF is trying to charge for everything, regardless of the rules (this was reported pre-Cairo sale). With the twitter team I'd ask them to reference the rule that points to charging it? I'd dealt with them a year ago and they tried it but I pushed back and they did the change free after some back and forth. I seriously doubt you'll get anywhere with the call centers, but yes instantly hang up on anyone who sounds Fijian.

With QF quite often you have to teach them the rules of these fares, don't expect them to know it already. But the call centers aren't given the tools to learn, while the Twitter team is capable of learning. Hold your ground, go back and forth a bit, quote the fare rules, not Flyertalk and you'll likely prevail. The important part of the fare rules to quote is the difference between changes in ticketed points ($125) and date changes "changes allowed".

AKL-Africa on DONE5: QR vs QF experience, JNB airport hotel suggestions
 

Thanks for this advice.
Any suggestions of airport hotels at JNB?

Malawi then Zambia and Victoria Falls are the ultimate destinations; LUN is just a little closer and more central than JNB to start.
Unfortunately I have no shortage of segments so can use one from JNB-LUN or HRE and not need to return to JNB.

Great idea about the overnight in SYD, but we are starting in RAR, and do not get to AKL until 6:25pm Last QF non-stop is at 4:05pm.
We might add in a night or two in Malawi after the night at JNB before our tour starts.



​​​​​​​

The Protea is fine and close - alternately spend 20 minutes and $15 and head to Melrose Arch. Very walkable and safe neighborhood and you could go out for a nice dinner and see a little. Plenty of great hotels there: Marriott, Fire and Ice, African Pride, etc.

Is it your first time in Southern Africa? If you're not familiar there's really not much to do/see in Lusaka, and flights to the Falls are actually easier and more frequent from South Africa.​​​​​​​

In addition to what ironmanjt mentioned, in JNB I always stay at the Hilton in Sandton, it's also in a safe area, you can take the train back and forth to Sandton if you'd like vs. a taxi but you'll still need a taxi from Sandton station.

There's no longer a oneworld airline covering those segments, so using your xONEx segments isn't an option. Pre-COVID there was a BA franchise that was really handy but unfortunately went into bankruptcy and looks like we won't have another (sub-Saharan) African carrier until WB (Rwandair) joins.

Agree with ironmanjt, JNB is a lot more convenient of a transit hub in Southern Africa than LUN or HRE. Another potential advantage using JNB as your departure point is that you might get lucky with QR QSuites, while both LUN and HRE are 788s so you know the seat you're getting there.

From JNB you have options to both LLW and BLZ, from LUN it's LLW only. Not sure where you're ultimately going in Malawi but if just the cities I'd say Blantyre is the more interesting one. Having said that I'd advise going to Cape Maclear or Nkhata Bay if you have time. I did self-drive in Malawi and had zero issues there, you don't deal with so many police checkpoints like in certain neighboring countries.

with an evening arrival from Sydney, I would strongly recommend against the Hilton unless you are a diehard loyalist to the brand. As noted, while you can take the train there, you’ll then have to take an Uber from the train station to the hotel as it is close to a 1 km walk and once you’re there, you’ll have to take another Uber to get to dinner or anything else. the reason I mentioned the Melrose neighborhood is that once you take a direct Uber from the airport you’re in a walkable neighborhood for everything else you would want

Definitely don't disagree with you on that aspect. That particular Hilton though has quite good Gold / Diamond recognition in my experience (great upgrades) and their in-room dining is very cheap if you don't feel like going out. But yes, I do end up Ubering literally everywhere when I stay there if I don't have a rental car.

If/when Hawaiian Airlines joins oneworld I assume you can include HNL-PPT-HNL in a oneworld explorer and this will be counted in TC3 and would limit you to 2 more segments in South West Pacific? This could be an issue I guess, are the rules (more segments in South West Pacific) likely to be updated to take into account the new flight opportunities?

Do the following not breaks the current "Only one intercontinental departure and one intercontinental arrival permitted in each continent" rule?:

LAX-HNL-PPT-HNL-SYD-PER-HKG

and

LAX-HNL-PPT-HNL-NRT-HKG-SYD-PER

If so I guess the rules will need to be reviewed?

HNL is in NA not SWP while PPT is in SWP. Neither of your routings would appear to be viable under the rules new or old. If and when HA joins I would expect there to be additional routing restrictions introduced.

There is an old, existing thread for suggested changes - Oneworld Explorer Rule Changes that we would like to see - FlyerTalk Forums

Can I take ORD-CDG in non-stop flight? I checked on AA, there is a non-stop flight on ORD-CDG, while the RTW tool did not show that non-stop flight. It ask me to take a stop-over at LHR or MAD which makes me cannot fly to LHR after CDG.

Last xONEx Flight: can it land the day after ticket expires?
 

Is the limit on the last flight on the ticket the departure day or the arrival day?
For example, flights to CAI often land just after midnight.
Can the last scheduled flight take off the last day the ticket is valid and arrive the next day, or must arrival also be within the ticket validity?
Thanks

If there is availability in the fare bucket and it does not break any routing rules, it should be fine.
As we know, the online tool is not reliable.

Departure date and time is what is matters.

Hi,
I will be starting my first DONE3 xCai this week.
My first flight is via CAI-MAD-VIE, via Iberia, I will land Cairo 6 hours before the flight.
Iberia can only do online check in 24 hours prior, do I need to prepare anything else apart from the e-ticket from Qantas with ticket number and PNR?

I wouldn’t count on online checkin working ex CAI. It might.

who are you flying in on? If you have to switch terminals you’ll get to experience the finest in Egyptian bureaucracy. Feel free to reach out with questions - I’ve been doing ex CAI fares for a decades.