Everyone has suggested contacting the AA RTW desk. I'm not sure how you missed that part.

Hi!

Quick question in case I'm missing something. I'm trying to get a DONE4 ex Oslo set up through AA RTW desk. The fares/validation team came back to say that it's not allowed because of my routing through Africa, but to my mind I haven't broken any of the rules. has anyone experienced anything similar?

Relevant part of the routing is OSL-xDOH-JNB-xLHR-DUB-DOH-HKG (the rest of the itinerary is fine through Asia and North America, ending in Oslo).

They are saying that because I originated in Europe, I can't go to Africa and then come back to Europe and have a stopover - I have to do all my Europe stopovers before going to Africa and then just use Europe/Middle East as a transit to carry on to Asia. I don't understand this though - the relevant section of the rules I believe is below and I can't see anything that would make that the case. I have asked the RTW agent to check again if possible, but not hopeful to be honest.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

(e) Only one intercontinental departure and one intercontinental arrival permitted in each continent except as follows:
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 think AA is right. You're travelling from Europe to SA (OSL-DOH-JNB) and then returning to Europe (JNB-LHR). Your travel is to Europe in both directions and hence can not include SA. If you were going to say NBO in Africa, this would be ok. Alternatively, do both your Europe stopovers first and then fly LHR-JNB and continue JNB-DOH-HKG, this would be allowed.

Oh OK I understand. I thought routing via Doha one of the directions would solve that but obviously not since I'm starting in Europe.

if I did your 2nd suggestion and flew from JNB-DOH-HKG on the way up, can I have a stopover in DOH, or does it have to be transit only?

Hi @Padkir

Here are my thoughts FWIW.

I think you are correct and the agent is wrong. I can think of three ways the agent could be wrong.

1. Perhaps the agent is misremembering the rule. This rule has had a number of changes over the years and has been quite messy at times. There was a time when only a transit of Europe/Middle East was allowed, at other times in certain circumstances travel between the Europe and Middles East Zones would not be allowed. Trying a different agent might give you a better outcome

2. Perhaps the agent is misinterpreting the rule. Here I disagree with @R2 in the previous post. The rules break the continent of Europe/Middle East into two zones and if your flights to/from Africa are both from the Europe Zone then South Africa and/or Mauritius cannot be included in the itinerary. Since you are flying from DOH to Sth Africa then, in my opinion, one of the flights is from the Middle East Zone so you can include Sth Africa. The AAgent (and R2) is saying that the ‘travel’ is actually from Europe (presumably because you are merely transiting DOH). This can be easily tested – simply change the transit of DOH into a stopover there (you have a stopover there later in the itinerary so simply switch that around).

3. Perhaps the agent is misinterpreting what is showing on the agent’s screen and it could be an error elsewhere in the itinerary. You say “the rest of the itinerary is fine through Asia and North America, ending in Oslo”, but is it? You already have three flight segments and two stopovers in Europe/Middle East; what does the end of your itinerary look like – an additional stopover perhaps, or more than one flight segment in the continent?

Rebooking of DONE4 after first leg flown
 

Thanks to help from those on this thread I believe I am now in a position to rebook my DONE 4 booking ex Cairo after flying the 3 first legs. My objective is to maximise BA Tier Points and Avios and minimize taxes and surcharges:
First three legs to be flown in December:
CAI-CMN-JFK-LAX (stopover)
Planned rebooking:
LAX-ANC (stopover) - DFW-GRU-JFK-HKG-DPS (stopover) HKG-CGK (stopover) - HKG-DOH (stopover)-HEL-LHR-CAI
Total flight segments 16
Based on my understanding of the rules this should work but just wanted to confirm I am not missing anything obvious before I make arrangements to nest the 13 legs into my next Tier Point collection year by booking flights back from LAX spanning the period between the first 3 flights and the proposed 13 flight rebooking. Also to confirm except for recalculating fees and surcharges there should be no further fees.
Thanks again

All looks fine to me. And correct - once you've flown the first flight the base fare is locked in.

pandaperth, as always you have a valid point. This is another example where the fare rules document is ambiguous. Padkir, do let us know what the outcome is if you test this as suggested by pandaperth.

I don't think it makes a difference whether DOH is a stopover or a transit but remember you only have two stopovers allowed in your continent of origin.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll call later and see.

In terms of the remainder of the trip, I have 1 flight segment and no additional stopovers in Europe/Middle East at the end. Its JFK-LHR-OSL, so there aren't any other issues as far as I know. I'll let you know the outcome.

Update on this for anyone interested.

No luck! Ended up chatting to 2/3 different RTW agents and one of them called the Fares/Validation desk again and they stuck to their guns. Specifically asked if changing the transit to a stopover in Doha on the way down would change things and they said it wouldn't.They say that because I am originating in Europe and then travelling to South Africa, I can't go back to Europe afterwards. I am allowed to do a stopover in DOH on the way back up and then head to Asia afterwards.

So my alternative booking that's sent for validation now is: OSL-xDOH-JNB-DOH-HKG... I'll have to sort my own flights from Doha to Dublin and back (as I have specific times I need to be back) which is frustrating, but it is what it is. I don't think I could HUCA any more - I think nearly everyone at the desk had looked at it by now!

When we booked the RTW we start in January we were told something similar, I wanted to do DOH-EBB-DOH-JNB-SYD but was told I was not allowed the two trips from DOH to Africa (even with no stopover).

Sorry, but no this is not at all similar to @Padkir's issue.
The relevant rule states:
Therefore only one visit to Africa allowed.

Yeah, this rule is quite annoying since there is no longer a OW carrier in Africa or South America. I'm sure it was written when both Comair (BA) and LA were both still in OW and hadn't taken into consideration that now we pretty much have to connect via DOH for most intra-Africa connections and connect via MIA or DFW for most intra-South America connections.

WB (Rwandair) has been rumored to join OW with QR's help for some time and would help tremendously for these tickets. Even AT is no use since Morocco is treated as Europe as well for xONEx routing. I also really hope we see another South American carrier at some point, but the big ones are all in alliances except LA which DL would never allow to re-join. G3 doesn't have much reach outside of Brazil and seems to be the only viable candidate. Currently to get from one point to another in either continent you have to do it as a surface segment on the xONEx and get your own ticket.

How to do a 12 month One World RTW
 

Fantastically useful forum and thanks esp to Pandaperth for the Wiki!

I am trying to construct a 12 month One World (4 continent) RTW starting from Sydney in March 2025. The actual route and stops/segments are less an issue than the Unavailable Dates for such a long trip. Admittedly I tend to plan and book too far ahead, but if I was to book in October, then 3 or 4 of the 9 flights would have to have dummy dates, I know that the rules imply that these date changes should be at no cost but how likely is that to be the case? And especially if I am forced (via the first flight) to have the ticket managed via Qantas?

I would very much appreciate the opinions of you experts on ....

1. Whether "Unavailable date" changes are likely to be at No cost in this scenario?
2. Whether I can choose AA as the ticket manager as I belive they are easier to deal with than Qantas?
3. Whether I should just relax and make the booking much later?

In short, I don't want to pay 3 or 4 date changes at $USD125 each but very unsure of the best way around this for a 12 month trip.

Thanks in advance for your help. And please let me know if there is critical information I have ommitted.

William

Call the AA RTW desk and book with them. Their 800 number, free when calling using Skype, is +1.800.247.3247. Date and time changes are free after flying first international flight segment per ONE rules, although QF has made up their own rules and anecdotal evidence suggests they are charging for any and all changes, and it appears they are difficult to work with. I would avoid booking with QF at all costs. AA will want to book you on AA TPAC and TATL marketed flights; whether it's their own metal or their codeshare flights on QF, BA, AY, IB, QR, CX, JL, MH, etc. I have found in the past when booking AONEn that they will make exceptions when, for example, CX has A3 and the AA codeshare of the same flight has A0, they will then book me on the CX flight number.

You did not indicate what class of service you were booking, but I assume you are looking at an economy LONE4 since the Australia and Japan prices are very close to similar, 3614 AUD and 3397 AUD respectively. If you are considering business or first class then you should really consider booking your DONE4 or AONE4 ex-Japan and take a positioning flight from Australia to HND to start your xONE4 as it is almost half the price ex-Japan. DONE4 or AONE4 ex-Australia are 14,986 AUD and 20,862 AUD respectively; whereas DONE4 or AONE4 ex-Japan are 7,913 AUD and 11,991 AUD respectively.

Making your booking much later may result in inventory not being available for some of your desired flights. I am doing planning right now for an Oct 2025 AONE4 which will end in October 2026. I have determined that I need by book by mid-February at the latest with dummy bookings for my 2026 summer and fall flights. Then once I take my first flight in October 2025, in November 2025 I'll book the remaining summer and fall 2026 flights. Keep in mind when booking with AA you can only book 330 days out; whereas with most airlines outside the US you can book at around 360 days out. I also suggest getting a subscription to EF (Expert Flyer) as it will be invaluable for doing research and checking on L, D, and/or A class availability.