Not that simple.
Departures from most, but not all, UK airports has the UK APD -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty
For UK transits (<24hrs) APD is not charged.

Yes, indeed - this is why I have limited the transit in London to less than 24 hours.

If RGGA is Pakistan Federal Excise Duty as per @izzik then I wonder whether I should just start in Japan to ditch this and a ton of YQ/YR?

Doh !! I even knew that! Serves me right for not reading the itinerary properly.

Japan is regularly cited as one of the cheaper places to start a RTW ticket so might be worth a look if it's an option for you.

Yes, start in Japan.
DONEx starting in Pakistan and India look cheaper, but both carry significant tax burden that is impossible to avoid .. so in the end, it's not really worthwhile if you have a choice.

This is very kind, thank you! I will try to change to ex Japan and report back.

I am looking for suggestions for the first part of a DONE5. I am looking to credit to AY+ but the tracking year ends part way through the ticket. At this point I will have needed to get from OSL to EZE and looking at options to collect at least 37500 tier points (happy to buy remaining 7500 with Avios). Travel will be in 2nd week November 26 and ideally will not require too much additional travel time. Would also be good to avoid using more segments in EMEA than is necessary to allow extra holiday at end of ticket when returning to OSL.
The alternative is to give up on getting AY+ Gold at the start of the ticket (or do additional points run prior to RTW) and maximise use of segments in second part of trip (to be taken in 27). If I did this I would likely start with OSL-HEL-DWR-EZE using AA codeshare where possible

Edit: in some way related to this. Is the restriction on OSL-DOH as first leg a limitation of the Oneworld tool or a RTW restriction?

limitation of the tool.
don't use the tool.
frankly that should be the first thing people see on this forum.

Agreed.

As an aside I did notice the tool seems to have had an upgrade as a couple of the bugs appear to have gone and it now shows seat availability by fare bucket when you select flights. Still plenty of bugs left though like not being able to select QR on the first sector, the flights it offers being randomly a bit random (eg sometimes LAX-HKG only QF via SYD not CX direct !!!) and it not being able to tell the difference between a <24 hr transit and a >24 hour stopover.

I don't know why they can't fix all of the bugs. They only have to try and use the thing with real itineraries people have booked through agents or airlines to see it doesn't really work very well. If they did that, added the ability to select any oneworld operated flights, including code shares, that we know exist for a given route (as ITA matrix pops them out so the data is available) and added an option to let you select the ticketing carrier then it would be very useful. But they haven't, probably won't and it isn't !!

Now this one could be interesting. If you're not otherwise traveling to SWP and it gives you that routing, are you charged for the additional continent?

Yes !!

Darn! I thought that maybe we were looking at a way to get a free continent.

First of all, thanks everyone for contributing to this chat, which has been invaluable. I'm halfway through my RTW booked through BA. Their service was irritatingly poor last Autumn (when I made my initial flight bookings) and worse when I made a change in November; but now I've come to book the final few flights, and their lack of ability to service my bookings is driving me to despair. I've had five (long) telephone conversations with them this week, each one ending with a promise to process the order, followed by an email the next day asking me to call them (no number given of course), which resulted in them saying "we're not sure why you've been asked to call us but there seems to be a problem". When I ask what, they say that it's been flagged by "the back office team" but I can't talk to them, so they'll ask for me. Then I wait for the next email and on it goes. The latest call suddenly increased the promised response time from "24–48 hours" to "5–7 working days"! I still don't know if I can have my flights, which aren't unusual ones.

I guess the lesson is, if you can't book the whole RTW trip through the online form, or want to make changes, be prepared for a lot of grief if you're dealing with BA.

Doesn't surprise me one bit. Anecdotally the only airlines which seem to have any competence in dealing with these tickets are AA and CX and even that depends on who you happen to get hold of. Booking through the online form is at best a lottery and at worst a nightmare so that's not generally recommended. I appreciate that often circumstances change but the best chance of a stress free experience is if you can avoid changes to the itinerary after booking. I was fortunately able to do that with mine and the actual flying part went perfectly. Actually getting all the flights credited to my FF account afterwards has been a total nightmare but that's a whole other OT story!

ChristchurchParkBlue Welcome to FT
What was the route as booked? What route do you now want? A D L class are not always available.
Any over water segments on AA? General opinion is that the AA RTW desk gives the best service and knowledgeable on the rules.

Thanks!

I'm just trying to add in some further flights in North America before flying back to the UK. It all meets with the 'rules', as long as they can get me the flights. The real problem is just the disorganisation at BA's end – nobody who can deal with RTW bookings seems allowed to face the public, so we're just going through a third party (the front line phone people) who have barely heard of Oneworld Explorer, never mind knowing how to handle it. The call handler who took my call today admitted as such when I demanded (politely) to talk to somebody who deals with RTW bookings – "they're all in our back room team so aren't able to talk to you".

Having done everything through BA so far, I assumed I'd have to continue that, even though the extra flights I want will be with AA.

No. But AA tend to want over water intercontinental flights, which can include AA codeshares, to be interested. Worth a phone call to AA RTW desk. But AA may not be willing to take over management of your ticket. Are you in USA now?

What was the route as booked? What route do you now want?

Hi folks,

looking for some thoughts and guidance. I have read recent posts on this thread and the other booking one. I think I’ve managed to get my head around the basics, but still a little uncertain and have a few newbie questions……..
I’ve had a play with the OW online tool and have managed to get a routing that whilst not optimal I can live with.
Basically, departing OSL and heading west to NA, then onto Japan, NZ, then OZ.
Continuing on from OZ ideally I’d like to head for SEZ, I can’t seem to avoid connection in DOH which is triggering the one intercontinental departure/arrival rule.
Is anyone aware of a work around?
Ive read a bit on here about differing YQ charges, how do I minimise these?
Im currently Finnair Plus gold and had assumed that I’d just credit there, but I’m beginning to realise that this may not be most efficient. How do I figure out who the sweetest FF airline is?
This trip is for spring 2027, so I’ve plenty time to figure it all out. Should I book as soon as first flight is available, then take advantage of free date changes or is it better to wait until closer in? I had used some dummy dates in Autumn to price up, and then tried for spring this year and found price dropped by about 10%????
Happy to share itin if that’d help?
From what I gather, AA RTW desk may be currently best option for booking???
thanks in advance

I'm not physically in the USA now – I'm dealing with BA while back in the UK – but my RTW is parked in the USA. My original route was UK – Australia (via Middle East) – USA – UK but I'm trying to add in some additional legs inside the USA before the final leg home. On hold to BA for the fifth day in a row as I write, hoping this time they will be able to tell me they've found someone to look at my request! UPDATE: No luck. Once again: "It's still with the back room team, sir" and a surprise that I've been sent yet another email to call them when nothing has been done. At least they've now promised to call me in 24 to 48 hours.

​​​​
So you're essentially looking to do Europe-NA-Asia-SWP-Europe(DOH)-Africa-Europe.

There's no workaround required - SEZ counts as Africa, and as per rule 4(e) you are allowed "two [intercontinental departure and one intercontinental arrivals] in Europe/Middle East for travel to/from/via Africa".

Book via the AA RTW desk or a travel agent - chances are that the online tool just can't handle that exception properly. Using the website is usually a waste of time because of things like this.

From SEZ entry in Wikipedia QR is the only oneworld airport that fly's to SEZ.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seyche...tional_Airport
Airlines - routes to SEZ are limited. A separate ticket from/to somewhere to SEZ (cash or ff miles)??

Yes, QR is the only Oneworld airline that flies to SEZ nowadays
Pre-Covid BA also flew there

Adding SEZ adds an extra continent to the itinerary, which increases the base fare by ~8,000NOK
An option is to substitute MLE (Maldives) for SEZ
UL flies SYD or MEL to CMB, and CMB to MLE, and QR flies MLE to DOH

So a good reason to buy a separate ticket DOH-SEZ 2076 miles
8,000 NOK = US$841 = UKP616

Though tickets to SEZ are apparently not inexpensive.
roundtrip exDOH is likely more than $US1000 in economy.
exCMB would be a much better choice (via AUH)
I believe in less expensive wandering
Fred

Agreed. For the OP, I managed to book the following via the AA RTW desk:

OSL-DOH-SEZ-DOH-AKL-SYD-JFK-GRU-MIA-PHL-EYW-PHL-DFW-SFO-JFK-DOH-OSL. So there are two intercontinental Europe departures (DOH-SEZ and DOH-AKL) and two intercontinental Europe arrivals (SEZ-DOH and JFK-DOH). I'm basically doing something like you want, only in the opposite (easterly) direction, with the SEZ stopover near the beginning of the trip versus at the end.

My reading of rule 4(e)3 is that two IC departures and two IC arrivals are allowed in Europe if one departure and one arrival are to and from Africa (SEZ), which is why my RTW is legal.

So if you want to do Europe-NA-Asia-SWP-Europe(DOH)-Africa-Europe, it would have Europe-NA as Europe IC departure #1, SWP-DOH as IC Europe arrival #1, DOH-SEZ as IC Europe departure #2, and SEZ-DOH as IC Europe arrival #2.

I'm guessing the OP tried to book this using the online tool which is unlikely to give good results for edge cases like this one.

And SYD-JFK is actually SYD-(AKL)-JFK all sold as QF3, with 2:05hrs in AKL.

Edit
Same concept as LHR-(SIN)-SYD by QF & BA with 1 flight number
For ff earnings (redeemable miles & status) taken as SYD-JFK and LHR-SYD, even if the distance traveled is more.

Correct. I just figured that the nuances of how a "direct" SYD-AKL-JFK flight with one flight number is counted as one segment for RTW purposes would muddy the waters a bit for the OP's situation.

Can anyone assure me I haven't misunderstood this ticket? I've now been on eight long calls with BA, and they're refusing to make the amendments I'd like, although I suspect it's just through lack of understanding. The long calls are always with front-line staff who have no idea what I'm talking about and are sending messages to the "pricing team" which may be completely wrong, for all I know.

Here's where I'm at: I've flown LHR – via Doha – Australia – North America, where my ticket has reached currently. I have so far made 7 flights, 2 of them in North America. I have a flight back to LHR booked for the summer, within a year of my first flight. That would be leg no.8 as it stands. However, now I wish to add in 4 more flights in North America before flying home. I'm aware of all the rules about the maximum number of flights in North America, the coast-to-coast limits, etc. The problem is not about the technicalities of the rules, they're simply saying "adding more flights isn't possible". But surely it is possible?

All I can suggest is that you go on the BA website and raise a customer case using the form there. Make sure you set out clearly and concisely what the situation is, what changes you are trying to make and provide references to the RTW ticket rules that support your assertion that the changes are allowed. Keep a copy of the text you put in the form. This will achieve a number of things; it will give you a formal reference number for the issue, it will remove any risk of the telephone agent misrepresenting what you say in any internal communication to the back office and the case will end up with the back office ticketing department.

Now based on anecdotal evidence (usual caveats apply), BA are useless with these tickets and worse, have a tendency to make up their own rules so getting to the right people is no guarantee of success, at least immediately, but it is a step on the way. Be prepared to have to go through multiple frustrating iterations of rebutting their replies with more references to the ticket rules. Then next time, if there is a next time, book with someone competent.

So that we on FT can give an opinion of the itinerary vs rules please advise

• full route as booked
• full route you now want

post 1254 (14 Feb 2026) by ChristchurchParkBlue https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/37595301-post1254.html Also post 1257 & 1260

If within the rules more flights can be added with a US$125 fee. FT is not BA, so we can't make BA reissue the ticket.

Thanks Mwenenzi. My original route booked was London – Perth (change at Doha) – Adelaide – Brisbane – LA – Dallas – Washington DC – London. The trip began in November 2025. I have got as far as Washingon DC; only the Washingon DC – London leg remains unused from the original plan. I wanted to add some additional flights within the USA for this summer (June – August) but did not know what they would be at the time. Now I do know, so I've asked:
1. To cancel the booked final leg home, Washingon DC – London
2. To add four new flights (Washingon DC – Montreal, Boston – Dallas FW, Dallas FW – Bozeman, Seattle – Dallas FW)
3. To add a different flight home, Dallas FW – London
I'm convinced this is within the rules. I think if there was an issue with the rules, they'd have told me what it was, but the only message I'm getting (eight phone calls now, total about 5–6 hours being passed around) is a flat "we can't do that" with no explanation. I genuinely think my request simply hasn't reached someone who can handle it.

As of this morning, because of my insistence on being put in contact with the people who my enquiry is permanently being referred to (variously called "the back office team" and sometimes "the pricing team"), I was told that "the pricing team will email you with details". That would be a real breakthrough if it happens.

Get AA to take over the ticket by flying AA USA to UK. Are the extra USA-Canada flights AA or AS?

Thanks, I'm sure that's very sound advice. All the internal flights are AA, and the one back to the UK can be too. I'll wait a day or two to see if I get BA's promised email communication line going, then that'll be my next move. I'll report back.

Is there a problem with the number of flight segments in North America?
Looking in Expertflyer, I'm not seeing any direct Oneworld flights between Washington DC and Montreal. If that is correct then a connection will be required, and that would take you up to seven flight segments in North America
LAX-DFW-IAD/DCA (already flown)
IAD/DCA-XXX-YUL
BOS-DFW-BZN
SEA-DFW
???

I think ChristchurchParkBlue needs to consider //PHL-YUL instead

Good suggestion. ChristchurchParkBlue has ground segments available. DCA/IAD to xxx
Wikipedia YUL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montr%...tional_Airport
In Washington DC if DCA and IAD are both used that is another ground segment between.

A better thread for this type of question. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...periences.html


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...04ec0584f1.jpg

Flight change waivers?
 

Hello all, apologize if this was asked previously. I am transiting DOH towards the end of the month from JNB enroute to OSL to finish up a DONE4. Has there been any history of allowing itinerary changes and waiving change fee? We will likely change regardless, but curious if there are any data points from previous conflict zone airspace closures.

It's not the end of Match now.
Who issued the ticket? First 3 digits of e-ticket. 001 = AA, 081 = QF, 125 = BA, 157 = QR
JNB-DOH-??-OSL on QR/??. Do you really want to complete the ticket to OSL?

When COVID was causing chaos I recall airlines allowing great flexibility in itineraries to help get passengers to their destinations.
And I expect the same to happen now

I should have been flying right now: KTI-DOH yesterday as part of my current RTW and then today a separate ticket DOH-NBO. But both flights were cancelled.
I have rescheduled the KTI-DOH to next week, and have cancelled the onward flight
If the airspace shutdown lasts too long I will request a free re-route (KTI-LHR via either HKG or KUL)