Forget bar service...I've been doing my research this week and best you'll get at the lodges is a fridge with a few cold beers in it...it really is a middle of nowhere place. I expect it to be like Tarawa or Tuvalu....where the only thing to do is...chill

Island Hopper was super cool...planning it again in 2025 with longer stops along the way. There's some super J fares if you know where to look... (sorry for the off topic)

The travel agent I'm working with can't autoprice these but I can't understand what rule I've flouted, any diagnosis would be appreciated...

​​​​​CAI-LHR-DOH-LAX-JFK-EZEo-JFK-HND-SINo-NRT-KULo-DEL-MEL-NRT-DOH-DUBo-DOH

CAI-LHR-DOH-DFW-EZEo-JFK-HND-SINo-NRT-KULo-AKL-MEL-DEL-HND-DOH-DUBo-DOH

Not an expert myself, but aren't you entering Asia twice?

Both itineraries appear OK to me

Yes this is true, but is allowed. As are the two entries to North America.
The relevant rule is:

1. Two permitted in North America.
2. Two permitted in Asia.
3. Two permitted in Europe/Middle East for travel to/from/via Africa. If travel is to/from Europe in both directions, itinerary may not include Mauritius/South Africa.

I should probably already know the answer to this question, but can I convert from a DONE3 to DONE4 or DONE4 to DONE5 during a change? (Assuming the $125 fee for changes to ticketed points + the fare difference between 3 to 4 or 4 to 5)

Yes, I believe so.. but I only have my own ticket as a data point.

Others have reported the same, although individual AA agents may interpret it differently.

I called the AA RTW desk. To meet the requirement, it has to be AA metal. One thing that she told me was interesting. They can/will book any flight as an AA codeshare regardless of whose metal it is. You can use that to increase mileage earning depending on the rules of the program to which you're crediting.

FWIW, *A removed CAI from their list of possible starting points on their site.

what are the examples of the ticket prices from CAI before and after? i got 4700USD including the taxes, is that the normal prices exCai or is it cheaper because devaluation? I keep reading much cheaper prices but i am not sure if people talk about the base fare vs tax inclusive prices...

Those would most likely be the post-devaluation prices. The cheaper prices listed are going to be the base fares. Anything short of $3500 US is definitely a base fare.

4700 post tax is a on the higher end these days - you’re probably choosing carriers with high fuel surcharges. Most of the tickets I’ve priced recently have come in closer to 3900-4400.

For comparison, pre devaluation fares were roughly 1500 higher.

Be careful when booking an AA codeshare. There may be different availability on the codeshare vs the metal airline For me, no A class on JAL from TYO on the AA codeshare, while JAL metal did have seats. Also, the JV airlines may have better inventory amongst themselves. I thought that to use a codeshare flight the prior flight had to be the same airline as the marketing codeshare airline, AA -> AA codeshare, but not AA -> QR codeshare.

thanks, not many options. I am flying IB (transathlantic), BA(only in and out of CAI, short flights), JAL over pacific and CX back to EU. On the flight options I got, I swtiched all the flights, and these were the cheapest. JAL flight from HND was not available on Business, so I booked CX with a stop in HKG. If I change it to the direct JAL flight later, will it reprice or is it only the change fee of 125USD?

Wasn't a critique - merely answering your question re: how these compared to pre-devaluation

Reprice is only triggered if you change routing. A change in carriers might trigger some additional YQ or taxes in addition to the 125, however.