Govt's can change real taxes and the rate of currency exchange can/does vary.
Far safer to fly the first segment and only then make changes, Even minor time/date changes

First segment now has D-availability
 

Had booked our rtw at the pre-hike exJP fares, with CTS-HKG, the first sector in coach because D hadn’t been available then. It is now available.

Am I correct in guessing that unless willing to pay the new fare, we’ll have to live with that segment in coach because reissuing would increase to the higher fare level?

It would appear so. The relevant rule states:

Hi everyone,

First off thanks for all the contributions here, they are all super helpful as I'm starting to look into this! I had a few questions to try to optimize our trip. Apologies if they have been answered before

Acceptable Itineraries:

• ...-JFK-LHR-DOH-LHR (ground segment) CDG-DOH--CDG-HND...
  • Am I right to think that this should work? 4 flight segments (LHR-DOH, DOH-LHR, CDG-DOH, DOH-CDG), with no 2x flights on the same exact city pairs
  • Or is there a chance that this constitutes as "excessive backtracking"? If it does -- would it be less egregious if I removed one of the DOH returns (still backtracking, but less)?
• To go in/out of MLE, am I allowed to transit (not stopover) via DOH, without it counting as entering / exiting the continent?
  • (The reason I am asking is to optimize for "real" F segments, of which only QR serves MLE)
• As long as I don't start the RTW in Japan, am I right to think that I could do Asia --> SWP --> North America via HND (transit, not stopover)?
  • This is because I would love to test out the JAL F product
• Am I understanding correctly that the only way to go to HNL is by stopping there in between Asia/SWP and North America?
  • Given the "no backtracking" rule, it's impossible to do e.g. HND-LAX-HNL

Other questions:

• I've read on the booking thread that some people implied that there could be restrictions on availability depending of the point of origin / ticketing carrier. Is that truly the case? If yes, how can I take that into account? Is there any way to check for that (e.g. on EF)?
  • If paying $1-2k more means I get better availabilities, I would consider that
• Speaking of availability -- I've looked on EF at some flights and it looks like inventory in A seems *very* limited on certain carriers (e.g. JAL), even one year out. Would availability show up later during the year or not? i.e. should I book without the right class and hope I get to change it?
  • I know that the general advice is to fly the first segment and then change later, but I'm afraid I'll just never be able to fly in First and end up being downgraded on most segments... Or have to change all my hotel bookings
• Apart from the taxes / surcharges differences by point of origin (e.g. Japan having less fuel surcharges), are their differences in taxes by ticketing carrier?
• I'm a bit confused re. choice of ticketing carrier: everyone seems to agree not to use QF (because they're bad) / BA (because they add a ton of fees). What is the best to use? AA? JL? CX?
  • If I book through a TA, does it matter?
• [This is probably a question for the BA forum] is there any ticketing carrier that's best when crediting miles / tier points to BA?

Thanks!
Hennebou

Have you downloaded and read the rules?
No such thing as "excess backtracking".

Real taxes are 100% the same for every airline flying the same route-class of travel.
Carrier surcharges can and do vary by airline.
If you book on line the OW system chooses the issuing airline. QF seems to be the default issuing airline for many origins. Other times can be the airline of the first flight.
If your first flight JFK-LHR in on AA you have AA issue the ticket. Contact them by phone.
When FJ and the AS brand HA become full OW members the rules may change. Will be more pacific routes for *ONE*. FJ are in ^GLOB* now.

Yes I've read the rules (extensively) of course, I just thought I remembered someone around here saying some agents once refused to ticket due to *excessive* backtracking within a continent, but glad to see that this is not a thing!

Thanks!

OW RTW best way to book // open dates
 

Hi - great thread and FAQ. This is my third time booking a OW RTW itinerary but still learning. I have two questions which I can't see in the FAQ.

Q1. (a) What's the current preferred way to book these? The first time I booked online, issued by Qantas, which was massively difficult to change (I'm in UK, no Qantas loyalty, inexperienced operators). Second time I got BA to book it for me (GCH), but that too was painful and took multiple calls over weeks. (b) Is using a travel agent recommended? This itinerary starts CMB-NRT -so (c) any good / bad experiences booking a RTW with Sri Lankan?

Q2. How easy is it to open date some of the later legs if they are outside the 330 days of availability but still within the 365 of the first leg, or do people just put in placeholder dates within the 330 window and then change them later?

Thanks for any hints / help.

26left

If you know of a competent travel agent then yes that's the best option. Otherwise AA.

My own experiences had been:
Best was to use AA to issue ticket (around here, most would say you have at least 1 cross ocean segment on AA or AA codeshare).
My experience with CX was great including subsequent date changes on itinerary.
Had NO experience with JL.

Unless the first segment is JL, JL agents will direct you to use the online tool which is almost guaranteed to be QF (which we ALL should know by now is a miserable experience).

AA has a significant number of agents dedicated to the RTW desk.

This is far from a ‘solid’ data point to the contrary. A TA/ someone experienced in ticketing might know better.

Slow as I am, took me a while to figure that there wasn’t any harm in trying. Called CX, but, D availability was gone by that point. The agent added a waitlist (same flight that we were in B class on).

While trying to check-in for the original booking, got an e-ticket error & realised that the waitlist had cleared. Called in and the agent created a ‘case’ to send to the rtw team on priority and told me that they would call me the same day to confirm on things. While I was reachable, I asked for a comment to be added to just get the change (B->D) done, in case there wasn’t any difference to be collected.

An hour later, got an updated itinerary, with the B booking for the 1st segment dropped. Still noted the same e-ticketed numbers as earlier & couldn’t check in still.

Some half an hour later, got new e-tickets. They note “NO ADC”.

While it (no re-faring higher) might be all within the rules, I am surprised. I’ve had a tax recalculation done in such cases in the past & the JPY has moved a fair bit since we booked. CTS-HKG is a tricky sector for CX this time of the year- 4pax on the booking- CX DM/GO/2xSL (OWE/S/R). Wife did have a separate outstanding issue with CX (bag missed connection to CTS, wrong info given on arrival causing a day without winter gear in a remote resort). I have seen CX ‘make up’ via other/unrelated means- but that would typically be something like clearing the D waitlist- not, ticketing.

Are Guyana and Suriname considered North America? It confuses me as IATA seems to group them Area 1C Carribean Islands...

https://www.qantas.com/content/dam/q...continents.pdf

Both Guyana and Suriname are considered to be in South America
Hopefully that will not disrupt your wandering
Fred

Doing my first booking pretty soon with AA's RTW line, hoping to get a couple of answers before we take the plunge.

1. If we book the first flight nearly a year out, is it free to change the dates of the subsequent flights if we plan for the trip to take place over the course of the subsequent 8 months?
2. What happens if some flight routes are only operated seasonally, and so you can't put in dummy dates yet?
3. Can you open date some flights to avoid this problem?

The route is likely to be OSL-DOH-MEL//SYD-AKL-JFK-LAX-DFW-JFK-LIR-JFK-DOH-NBO-MAD-TOS

MAD-TOS and JFK-LIR are both seasonal (both being winter routes), but I appreciate AKL-JFK is super in demand so needs to be snapped up in D quite early on, so trying to figure out how to square this circle

What flights are on AA?
AA uses SABRE GDS with a 330 day limit.
Date changes are (supposedly) free. Route changes have a $125 fee.
Do you plan to stop in AKL? QF3 is SYD-(AKL)-JFK and AKL-JFK.
Others will know better, but NBO may add another continent.
Not using all 16 segment, but have not checked if all your routes are non-stop.

IMHO booking first flight nearly a year out is being a tad keen. Will be difficult. Routes and timetable will change.
In 2025 FJ and the AS brand HA hopefully will become full OW members. When you book you are subject to the rules (and airlines) applicable at that time.

A map from the Great Circle Mapper - Great Circle Mapper

I see, thanks!!! Looking at expert flyer, there are a few days even next month for the AKL-JFK flight with multiple seats in D available. I trust this information is reliable, because it suggests we definitely don't need to book so far in advance, if we can still get seats closer to the travel date.

I do worry that the base fare for ex-OSL will rise. Is this likely? I do want to lock in a rate given how the ex-CAI fares disappeared.

Yes, plan on stopping in New Zealand for travel plans.
Happy to see another continent, this will be a DONE5, but visiting Africa for a safari makes it worth going from DONE4 to DONE5.

​We're currently at 15 segments, keeping 1 spare in case things go wrong.

The flights in AA will be codeshare AKL to JFK, and then the North American ones. Potentially the codeshare of JFK to DOH. Not sure if we need AA metal for crossing the oceans?

I've just booked with JL (LAX based team as I was in that timezone) for the first time as I wanted to avoid QF and my first international flight was with JL.

Took a bit of convincing that telephone was booking possible as they want me to book direct using the OW online tool.

I explained a) the tool wouldn't let me book as it was throwing an error and b) some dates would need to be open dated as >330 days out (which the RTW fares allow).

They then asked me to use the JAL website for multi-city booking - but I explained that only allows 6 segments...

So eventually they very patiently took down my itinerary over the phone, and then sent to the back office for verification and pricing.

The JAL team is far quicker in turning this around than BA (i.e. a few hours rather than few days) which makes a big difference when some airlines only hold seats until next day, causing you to start all over again...

It took a few tweaks with flight availability and routing to fit the GLOB rules, but overall I'd give JAL 5/5 for their diligence and keeping their promises re following up.

My itinerary FWIW
NGO-HNL-SEA-YLW-LHR // LHR-ATH-LHR // LHR-PER-BNE-ADL //SYD-HND-OKA-NGO
Using JL / AS / WS / BA / QF / JL / NU on OW RTW Global Explorer, just less than 34,000 miles (LGLOB34).

A polite reminder that this thread is dedicated to the oneworld Explorer product. The Global Explorer product is very different with very different rules.

The fare does allow open dated segments - for all segments after the first international segment. My experience with airlines (looking at you QF) is that you have to really fight for date changes, and for these be free, so persevere.

Agree that routes / timetable changes are likely if you book way in advance (which might be necessary to secure seats on popular segments) - however one advantage to this is that it creates a cancel for free option: BA refunded me the entire price of my tickets, instead of paying the cancellation fee (5% for J, 10% for Y) due to time/date changes to confirmed flights.

(deleted - duplicate)

Apologies - is there a separate xGLOBx thread? Regardless there are clearly some similarities between the two, and I think the shared experience is valid.

I recommend checking each segment on the BA calculator if you have a choice of airline, remembering that RTW tickets book into specific fare classes which vary by airline (see table at 5(b) of Rule 3015), and that the Avios and Tier Points awarded can differ between airlines that fly the same route.

e.g. SYD-HND - you could fly JAL or QF on that route, but JAL are more generous.

Sadly with the latest changes as of 3 hours ago, it looks like BA isn't the best one to credit these flights to. The base fare plus fuel surcharge in GBP is equal to the TP you'll receive, but it's not clear which airlines BA will get fare information from. Presumably only from AA, IB and BA flight codes. The rest have variable %s on distance travelled, which makes this a nightmare to calculate!

Apparently from the aftermath of the soon going to change rules on BAEC and discovering this subforum, I spent a few days trying to understand the DONEx rule and it looks like still doable with BA in a well-planned itinerary with maximize usage on AY/QR/JL.
based in HKG, so apparently taking advantage of the ex-Japan fare would be most convenient not to mention the low yen environment(currently).

tried to construct the below routing that might suit my travel needs but not quite sure it is valid with the rules as oneworld's online tool keeps hanging. if that's valid so far only filled 13sectors in it but seems to cover my travel this year. for sure welcome suggestion to fill up the rest.

HND-JFK-LAX-SEA-DOH-VIE-DOH-LHR//CDG-DOH-AKL-SYD-HKG-BKK-HND

stopover likely on JFK/SEA/VIE/LHR/AKL/HKG/BKK, haven't checked on anything yet but seems some sectors are likely facing D fare availability issues.

once again ,appreciate for any help

Original itin

HND-JFK-LAX-SEA-DOH-VIE-DOH-LHR//CDG-DOH-AKL-SYD-HKG-BKK-HND



Suggested 16-Segment Itin:

HND-JFK-LAX-ANC-DFW-SEA-DOH-xLHR-DOH-CDG-DOH-AKL-SYD-HKG-KUL-BKK-HND

Around here at FT, most of us like to max the 16-segment itinerary, and eliminate any ground segments if possible. You have 14 segments including 1 ground.

Here are some suggestions (may or may not work for you)

1. To cover VIE, I’d use an inexpensive side trip from CDG (separate return tickets), but not from LHR as the APD is rather ridiculous. I’d transit LHR only. If you need to be in UK for more than 24 hours, take the EuroStar from CDG.

2. In the US (North America), you can add more segments. I took the liberty of modifying it as shown above. There are more possibilities. BTW, Alaska is a fantastic state to visit.

3. I added 1 more segment in Asia KUL-BKK (note that MH metal is 738 and not great, but gets you more RDM etc.

4. I think LAX-ANC is on AS metal. Please check if that is seasonal.

Hope this helps

Welcome to the world of xONEx planning :D
Your itinerary, HND-JFK-LAX-SEA-DOH-VIE-DOH-LHR//CDG-DOH-AKL-SYD-HKG-BKK-HND, is valid
It has

• 14 segments (the surface segment between LHR and CDG counts as one of the allowed 16 segments)
• Four flight segments in Europe (the maximum allowed)
• Two stopovers in Asia (the maximum allowed in your continent of origin)

You could use the remaining two segments to have more flights in Nth America (Alaska perhaps, or the Caribbean), or in the Southwest Pacific (Fiji perhaps)

Happy planning!

ETA allset2travel beat me too it - with some good ideas

Last but not least -- try booking with CX...the online tool will ticket with QF and any subsequent changes will incur pain for yourself.
There are quite a few travel agents in HKG as well, I think?

FWIW I just priced up an ex-JAPAN DONE4; first flight with JL
When I clicked on "Book Itinerary", I was offered the choice:

• Book with JL (would have to phone JL to pay), or
• Book with QF (could pay online and then auto ticketed by QF)

Really appreciate for the suggestion. Didn't think of ANC actually, so might be worth a transfer in LAX then get up to ANC and back to SEA before leaving US alone.

The VIE option is more leaning to a MR so I might just keep it or replace it further west in Europe or Nordic could be an option tho

Just figured out CX did a 5th freedom flight between SIN-BKK so it might be better to replace the KUL leg as HKG-xSIN-BKK and come back to HKG on a separate ticket

You guys are a quick and expert :D
though even the original itinerary is a bit stretched for me, likely I will need to break it once I am back in Europe and travel back to HKG just to not leave home for too long away.
Did have a thought on ex-OSL but seems not worth the travel from Asia just to start the journey and seems a bit troublesome to get myself back to Europe somewhere in the middle of the itinerary:(

Thanks, was thinking to book with JL from the beginning if I really press the call to book. will check with CX in parallel but not sure if CX could book on those JL codeshare AA flights for US domestic.

Not quite sure about the travel agent part but I would imagine it quite challenging for normal agent here in HKG

I would like to check validity of this itinerary to make sure I understand rule correctly.


HND -> xDFW -> BUR -> xDFW -> SCL -> xDFW -> LAX -> xDOH -> AMM -> CAI // IST -> xDOH -> MLE -> xKUL -> BJS// PEK -> HND

1. 14 flight segments and 2 surface segments (CAI//IST and BJS//PEK) for total 16 segments. (Max 16 segments)
2. Asia 2 stopovers- BJS//PEK and MLE. (the maximum allowed in the continent of origin)
3. 3 flight segments in Europe (xDOH -> AMM -> CAI, IST -> xDOH), (Max 4 flight segments in Europe)
4. 3 flight segments in NA. (Max 6 segments in NA)
Anything else I am missing? BJS//PEK (2 different airpots in Beijing count as one stopover?)

All your points are correct.
Including BJS-PEK counting as one stopover. That they are in the same city doesn't matter. You could say travel by train down to Hong Kong and fly to Japan from there. Still just one stopover.

Hi all

BAEC member who is now looking at options without paying BA a fortune for a cr*p product and the RTW options (enjoying QR/QF/JAL etc.) seems a very cost effective way of doing it.
I have played around with the OneWorld site this morning and just crudely put together this itinerary

Oslo - London - Doha - Sydney - Singapore - Tokyo - New York - Helsinki - Oslo

The only BA leg is Oslo to London and I had to go with QF on SYD-SIN even though the earnings are lower. I think this would net around 14,550 nTP's for around £5,220 but I can't find the fare code on the site, will all Business class flights (which all of them are) definitely book into 'D' class?

This comes out at 29,300 miles (out of a maximum allowed of 34,000) so if anybody has ideas to increase the milage / nTP earnings while still being able to route via QR/JAL or AY, suggestions are very much appreciated.

Pilot37

Hi Pilot37

If you haven't already done so, I recommend you read the wiki to this thread.

Some responses for you:
"...I had to go with QF on SYD-SIN"... Well yes, the only Oneworld airlines that fly between SYD and SIN are QF and BA.

"...will all Business class flights (which all of them are) definitely book into 'D' class?". Yes, definitely.

"...out of a maximum allowed of 34,000...". Oneworld has two round-the-world products. The GlobalExplorer (which has a limit of 34,000 miles for Business and First class tickets), and the Oneworld Explorer which has no mileage limit and instead is charged based on the number of continents touched. Your proposed itinerary would be a four-continent ticket. The on-line tool can book either product, and often gets itself confused, which is why you were no doubt getting messages about exceeding the 34,000 mile limit.

Many thanks pandaperth !
I'll review the Wiki again and play around with options on the OW tool - but very helpful responses. I had the BAEC earning data learnt by heart, so feels like teaching an old dog new tricks having to learn a new mileage accrual system from scratch!

Pilot37

My first DONE3
 

Hi all,
Been reading this forum for a long time but first time posting here :)

Due to BAEC rule changing i'm planning my very first DONE3 trip in May. After reading this super helpful thread and some quick research i'm now trying to look into this route, starting from japan:
HND-SIN-oHKG-DOH-oMAD-DOH-oLHR-DOH-LAX-oSFO-oANC-SEA-oJFK-HND
My goal is to maximise total miles travaled so I can try to reach BA gold under the new system. If i did the calculation correctly this route should provide me ~19k new BA TP, only 1k more needed to gold

I tried to validate this route on the xONEx online tool but it told me "You can take only one flight from Alaska to any city in US and one flight to Alaska from any city in US.", and the choose flight button was grayed out.

i'm confused:
1. Is my current route valid? I believe i'm allowed to fly from the mainland to alaska and back. Am i wrong?
2. The online tool refused to price the ticket due to the error above so i guess i have to call someone to issue ticket? I'm now considering JL as I've read in this thread that AA may refuse ticketing if theres no transoceanic flight on AA, or QR may refuse it if theres multiple transfer at DOH, are these still the case?
3. Any suggestions to my current route would be super helpful. It would be great if i can get 1k more new BA TP on this trip

It would be really great if any of my questions could be answered, and thank you all in advance as this thread has already helped me a lot :D

Return flights between mainland and alaska?
 

Trying to book my first DONE3 trip, and my current plan is asia-europe-oLAX-oANC-SEA-oBOS-asia. Tried booking on the online tool but it kept saying "You can take only one flight from Alaska to any city in US and one flight to Alaska from any city in US." and the find flights button was grayed out.
I've checked the rule and i believe i can fly from the mainland to alaska and back. Am i wrong? Or thats an error on the tool?
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Accidentally posted the same question twice, sorry!

The online tool is buggy! But the rules clearly state "Additionally, only one flight to Anchorage (ANC) and one flight from Anchorage (ANC) permitted." You have to book by calling sadly.

Yes, AA need an AA-marketed flight to cross Pacific / Atlantic which contradicts the goal of maximising new Tier Points. I am solving this by using a Travel Agent hopefully.

To explicitly maximise miles you could do something like (with o I think meaning a layover rather than stopover)
HND-DEL-oHND-SIN-oHND-oDOH-CMN-oDOH-LIS-oDOH-LAX-ORD-SEA-JFK-ANC-JFK-HND

That's 61k miles as per gcpmap and most of these you can get JAL / DOH / AY codeshares for pretty much all of them? So 30k nTP which is overkill for the new Gold (and wouldn't get you anything towards GGL because that requires BA-marketed flights I believe?)