I booked with AA. Total fare was just under $4300 USD (I posted in the pricing thread but can't quickly figure out how to link to the post).
I'm not sure about anything to do with changes.

aaupgrade,
Can you advise on how best to make the date changes?

I booked DONE3 with AA desk. Travel start is end January. Travel end is August.
Aside from the start date, all travel is after the fare calendar is open.
So, I booked 14 segments cascading down over the open calendar. Not much room so almost each day has a ticket.

When I call to change my 3rd segment when it opens up on the calendar all of the subsequent segments will have to be changed.
Same with 4th. And 5th. Etc.

I asked about it here
post192

Sounds like you might have created a bit of a problem for yourself there. If any of those flights you've put in placeholder dates for have under a 24 hour stopover then it's a connection and you'll have to pay the $125 fee to change them into a stopover. Ideall you do that only once after enough time has passed that you have more room to work with.

But as far as just the date changes go, wait a while until more of the calendar has opened up and change all of your later segments to the end of the calendar until you're more clear on when you want to fly, then move them forward to the actual dates you want to fly. Date changes alone are free, so you can do that as needed, just so you don't have to change a connection to a stopover. Since you're finishing your trip in August, that's when I'd look to make the initial date changes, so then you can move all of the flights after segment 2 or 3 to August in one batch. Unless you have your dates planned already of course.

If the base fare changes in the meantime you'll need to fly the first segment before doing much of anything to the ticket. I believe you can still do date changes without refaring, but any changes to ticketed points (including connection to stopover) will trigger a reprice to the new (very likely increased) fare.

Another thing to keep in mind is married segment availability. Any connections you have are likely married segments, meaning D availability is different on the pair than the individual flights. QR and QF are notorious for limiting married segments on D fares closer to departure date, so definitely best to set dates sooner than later (but 4-6 months is plenty, I don't mean you have to rush as soon as you're at 330 days).

I concur with what dvs7310 posted. Yes, if you make changes to the 3rd segment then all other affected segments will also need to be changed.

To the best of my knowledge and experience, if you are only changing date and times AND NOT changing stopovers to <24 connections or vice versus, then there will be no repricing prior to trip departure. Ticket repricing to new fare will occur if you are making changes to your first flight coupon OR are changing your ticketed points. When I made my reservations I always made sure that any placeholders were done with the stopovers and connections I wanted for my future dates. In a few cases I made a couple changes prior to departure on my first segment, especially for routes where A class (in the case of AA domestic now D class) were few and far between (DFW-EGE flights in particular and also ORD-ANC) and A class on QF SYD/MEL-LAX, CX on HKG-JFK, etc.

So, if I booked like you starting in January with end date in August, with (for example with travel grouped in spring and late summer) then I would make a batch of changes in July and another batch of changes in October. Now if you are flexible it may be easier to do changes after you fly your first flight segment as most of your journey's segments should have plenty of D availability; the only exception might be your two ANC related flights depending on the time of year your flying those which I would guess may be somewhere between April and June. I checked D availability on HNL-ANC and ANC-LAX flights and there was plenty of availability throughout May with the exception of about 1, and in some case 2 days a week. If you could easily change your travel plans by one day, then waiting should not be an issue as long as your not flying during a special event/high demand period (think CDG during the Olympics). With most HNL-ANC flights having D2-D4 and most most ANC-LAX flights having D7 availability. I would suggest getting a EF subscription if you don't already have one and do research for this year's dates corresponding to the same period and day of the week for your actual planned dates for next year. That way you have an idea of what availability will be probable for next year's dates.

Enjoy your trip.

All airlines have to give 12 months from the first coupon flown, its IATA rule. They can restrict this by a fare max stay but not by limiting ticket validity itself. For any international travel at least.
I have seen that airlines do not follow this rule for award tickets (many give 12 months from the issue date only) but I guess this has to do with the nature such tickets.

I've definitely had AA hold me to 12 months from date of issue before, and that was for international, but was not a DONEx ticket. I don't know if that's different or not, but if it were 1 year from date of first flight I'd have had another 3 or 4 months on it.

Is it IATA resolution 735?

Page nine of this document from Australia's consumer regulatory body says IATA resolution 735 "sets the period of validity for a normal fare interline ticket at one year from the date of commencement of the flight".

However, I found this for Qantas, stating the ticket "expires ... 12 months from the date of issue".

Thanks dvs7310 and aaupgrade

Doh!

I specifically asked three different AA RTW desk agents about the less than 24 hour connection on some of the placeholder flights in my itinerary. I was concerned that they were connections. And each said that 'no, it's not a connection. It's a separate flight. No problem to stay longer. No problem to change the dates'. paraphrasing
Right before I paid I asked just to be sure.
Argh! I did not ask specifically if the change would incur the fee. I knew (my understanding) of the date/time change rules at the time of those phone calls but figured they must know what my concern was.
Well, we'lll see.
I'll keep you posted.

I was not aware of that at the time. I thought I was just lucky.

If they do try to charge you, just tell them what you were told and see where it goes. In the grand scheme of things $125 isn't a huge amount, BUT if the fare increases then you need to do it after the first segment is flown. So basically if they are connections currently, just leave them as connections during reschedules between now and your first segment, then separate them after.

I know I keep saying "if" the fare increases, but I fully expect it to sometime soon. *A pulled their fares a while ago and repriced them to a more normal price. I'm not sure how much longer the OW fares will last either, so just be aware of that and don't do any changes that need to be repriced until you fly your first segment.

When you book with AA, did you get price immediately or need to wait for an email?

I did not get a price immediately on the phone. I was given a booking code and told I’d receive an email within 24 hours with the price. Some hours later, the priced itinerary was on the aa.com website under the booking code. I have yet to receive an email from AA.

If it's been over 48 hrs since you paid, I think it's okay to call the rtw desk to check in on it. Also, I'm guessing the ticket status online is still On Request?

hello everyone, I booked an DONE5 recently through oneworld website and yes the ticket was issued by QF. I got a few questions hope to get some help with；

1. from the previous discussion it sounds like it's better to accumulate the miles to QR?? I already put my AA FF number in the booking, how should I make the change?
2. what's the best way to change dates with QF issued OTW ticket? I tried their customer service line which was problematic as many others mentioned. I also twittered Qantas on twitter but never got response. should I just HUCA?

thank you!

felix1224 Welcome to FT
1. FFP
Note from your profile from CA Canada.
A lot can go into selecting a ffp. Other than AA what OW ffp's are you a member of now? AA status? Objectives from a ffp?

Avois are used by QR, BA, IB and AY. Avios, but not status can be moved QR<--->BA, Are threads on BA forum on this
QF flight numbers can credit poorly to QR ffp, but better to BA ffp. While both in Oneworld QR & QF are not the best of airline friends.
Master thread-->https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...help-here.html

2 Changes
Have you received from Qantas an 081-xxxx e-ticket? Ex CAI like many others in the last few weeks?
Have you flown the first segment? Do you want to change the date of the first segment? Or later flights?

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...l#post36121014

2 Changes
Have you received from Qantas an 081-xxxx e-ticket? Ex CAI like many others in the last few weeks?
Have you flown the first segment? Do you want to change the date of the first segment? Or later flights?


1. yes I live in Canada. I don't have any other FF membership and my AA status is....member. I'd like to have better status in OW and more miles to redeem for future trips. Unfortunately Canada is dominated by Star Alliance so if I have to choose, more miles in a solid FF program for redemption is the priority.

2. I don't have e-ticket issued yet but based on previous posts I can ask QF to send me one, I can see my itinerary from BA and QF though. yes I booked eX CAI. the whole trip would be CAI-(LHR)-HEL-(JFK)-EZE-(MIA)-YYZ-(DFW)-AKL-SYD-(BRE)-HND-(DOH)-CAI. brackets are connections. I was thinking to change my first segment but if it will cause a repricing(which seems to be the case) I will keep it as it is. definitely need to make some date changes on later flights.

this is my first OTW trip so sorry for the stupid questions and thank you!

Without an e-ticket you have nothing (harsh but reality). Are posts in other threads on getting QF to issue. Posts have been a bit random in the last few weeks spread over various sticky threads. Suggest you read them all, going back 3~4 weeks (when the Egypt currency had a big devaluation)
Has your credit card been charged?

A map from the Great Circle Mapper - Great Circle Mapper
Guessing BRE=Brisbane BNE so
A map from the Great Circle Mapper - Great Circle Mapper

Have you downloaded the rules?
https://www.oneworld.com/world-travel
Click on FAQ "What are the RTW rules"
https://assets.ctfassets.net/m9ph4qv...d-explorer.pdf
https://assets.ctfassets.net/m9ph4qv...l-explorer.pdf
https://assets.ctfassets.net/m9ph4qv...le-pacific.pdf

If you want to repost that itinerary in the Deciding on a FF plan thread and tell us the months you're traveling (this matters significantly due to differences in elite year vs. calendar year in some / most airlines) then you'll get some help. I haven't checked the miles on your itinerary yet, but you can almost always get to at least mid-tier status on RTWs from zero, and sometimes get all the way to top / OW Emerald level if played smartly (meaning planning entirely inside one elite year). We'll also need to know what airline each segment is on, that also makes a significant difference. Most likely candidates for status are AA, AS, QR, and BA.

Did you send them a reply or a direct message? A direct message (you'll need to follow them first) should get a reply.

thanks for your reply! I also got my e-ticket number this morning through QF ;) so this trip is happening!

May 2024 CAI-(LHR) via BA
May 2024 (LHR)-HEL via AY
May 2024 HEL-(JFK) via AY
May 2024 (JFK)-EZE via AA
Jun 2024 EZE-(MIA) via AA
Jun 2024 (MIA)-YYZ via AA
Dec 2024 YYZ-(DFW) via AA
Dec 2024 (DFW)-AKL via AA
Dec 2024 AKL-SYD via QF
Jan 2025 SYD-BNE via QF
Jan 2025 BNE-NRT via QF
Mar 2025 HND-(DOH) via QR
Mar 2025 (DOH)-CAI via QR

I'm also open to suggestions of changing the itinerary to make it more valuable(say add a segment, changing a connection to stopover or vice versa) within reasonable cost, thank you!

I called QF today and got my e-ticket number today;) the more detailed itinerary was replied in my last post, thank you for your kind notification.

New to the OneWorld RTW forum. Very interested in a DONE5 trip and I am happy to pre-position out of the US (Las Vegas) to achieve significant savings. I am a retired airline employee and the idea of positive space business class seats on this adventure is interesting. When checking various starting locations, both Japan and Cairo Egypt seem to have the cheapest costs, with Cairo being significantly less. I know there was a currency devaluation on Egypt and wonder if the costs associated with a ex-CAI are to be believed. Pre-positioning to Cairo would not be an issue for me as we are hoping to travel to both JNB and CPT this year. We would likely break the trip into three pieces wit non-rev flights home and back to pick up the trip after several months at home. Appreciate any insight on my cost question as well as any other advice. The wiki is extremely informative but seems to have little in the way of what is happening in the last 2 years. Cheers and Happy Travels

1) The CAI fare is now gone if you read the whole thread - fares have mostly doubled
2) you're aware CAI is an 8 hour flight from South Africa, right? Africa is quite large :eek:

Yup, unfortunately ex-CAI is gone, at least in the form that we knew it. But never know it could creep back up if the EGP continues to devalue further.

I think for your questions, the Pricing and Booking experiences thread is going to have more of the information you're looking for. For the time being the best prices are currently ex-OSL and ex-Japan, though there's been some talk around ex-South Africa again. I haven't priced one yet to compare but the base fare seems a bit high to be competitive, the one advantage is that you would get all allotted stopovers in Asia and Europe / ME regions vs the limitations you have on ex-OSL and ex-Japan.

Not sure which airline(s) you have non-rev benefits on, but imagine it's pretty easy to position to Japan from the west coast on any of the majors, or their partners if you get benefits on alliance partners.

I'm trying to compile a route leaving Europe, visiting Australia, SWP (Fiji, Apia) and traveling then via the US back to Amsterdam. On the back I'm trying to tie a trip to the Middle East (Dubai) for a week.

The main issue is that I'm maxing out my miles and that I'm left with a number of segments.

Current routing is as follows (unfortunately not allowed to post screenshots):
OSL - DOH: 3082MI
DOH - ADL: 7030MI
ADL - ASP: 816MI

ASP - BNE: ground segment 1223MI

BNE-APW: 2433MI
APW-NAN: 753MI
NAN-LAX: 4796MI
LAX-DFW: 1073MI
DFW-AMS: 4921MI

AMS-DOH: 3062MI
DOH-DXB: 235MI
DXB-DOH: 235MI
DOH-OSL: 3082MI

Totaling: 33625MI - 13 segments

Does anyone have advise on potential improvements to further maximize, the Dubai trip is negotiable, Australia / SWP isn't (but routing can change). Took OSL as a starting point as this this is mentioned as one of the cheaper.

You're pretty much maxed out for a DGLOB34, and you can't use FJ on a DONE4 / 5, so you have to decide if that's your priority. I'm honestly not sure if that ground segment ASP-BNE counts toward your 34,000 miles or not, we don't see a lot of chatter about the DGLOB* tickets on here. Are you driving that segment? Otherwise I'd certainly be doing it on QF, it's a long drive with not a lot in between but is only 3 days a week to BNE and QF only fly to APW from BNE. Your other short segments aren't terribly wasteful in my opinion as they aren't particularly cheap if you would have done them in business class anyway. The US domestic segments are a tossup, but ADL-ASP and DOH-DXB aren't cheap as standalones in business.

Your only other option that I see is to convert it to a DONE4, where you can have a lot more miles, but you can't have any FJ segments. That means buying your own way APW-NAN and also finding a different route from NAN-USA, but you could do NAN-SYD-DFW on QF (requires overnight in SYD). You haven't touched Asia at all, though on a DONEx you're still charged for it going from Europe to the Oceana zone, so there's potential to add segments there. A DONE4 vs. a DGLOB34 is only about a $60-70 difference on the base fare, so if you have any interest in visiting a couple of places in Asia it could be worthwhile. If you have no interest in Asia then stick with what you have, you're not wasting segments because you're at the limit on miles for that ticket, and you can't use FJ on DONE4. (That'll change probably in 2025 or 2026, but not soon enough). If I'm calculating correctly however you still have 2 more segments you can play with on a DONE4 (since you still need to get to ADL which has no direct flights to Asia and will require a connection in OZ adding 1 to your current 13 (***edit, I stand corrected, MH does fly to ADE 5 days a week, so potentially gives you one more segment if you're interested in a KUL stopover), so could consider for example DOH-TYO or HKG on QR, there to BKK or SIN on JL or CX, then QF to SYD-ADL. Or even DOH- anywhere in Asia on QR (but must be where CX or JL fly), stopover, then there to HKG or TYO, then QF/CX/JL to SYD and QF to ADL.I guess you could make that work with MH and KUL as well, I forgot MH does fly to OZ as well. I guess for that matter, so does UL, so you could do DOH-TYO on QR, stopover TYO-CMB on UL, stopover CMB-SYD on UL and SYD-ADL on QF

Ultimately what are you trying to accomplish with this trip? It sounds like going places you really want to go is priority vs. maximizing mileage / TPs, etc. If that's the case, you have a fine itinerary since the south Pacific is harder to incorporate currently in a DONEx until FJ joins OW. It certainly can be done as I've noted in my above alternatives, but you end up with a bunch of short segments that aren't optimized for mileage earnings vs. doing frivolous Europe-DOH-Europe segments on QR, SE Asia-TYO-SE Asia segments on JL, or ORD / DFW to ANC to ORD / DFW on AS for example. I think the way to look at it is you have a bunch of segments, even the short-ish ones that are actually quite expensive to buy in business a la carte, so it's still good value either way.

I don't know what the difference in your YQ will be if you do the above DONE4 suggestions vs. your DGLOB34. Using a QF segment ex-OSL for SYD-DFW typically adds A LOT, but you can ticket it on the AA code for much less YQ. The intra-Asia segments I've mentioned won't make a huge difference. Though note you can't ticket SYD-DFW on an AA code in the OW tool. You have to do that with a RTW desk or travel agent. If however your trip is later in the year, then AA will have their own BNE-DFW flight you can ticket on instead, which will work in the OW tool.

We are taking a flight from ASP to MEL, and will be driving up MEL-BNE. Mileage limitation left me with this option.

This is an interesting approach, which I didn't think off. Let me see if adding some stops in Asia, would allow me to start the trip in Australia in Darwin as well

Valid question. On the one end going places we really want to go (Australia, SWP (Samoa, Fiji), but as I'm more than average interested in mileage / points I definitely want to make sure to renew my OW Emerald as well. Both my wife and myself hold status with Iberia (gold), and one of the downsides of the FJ flights is that they don't credit with them.

As I mentioned the DOH/DXB connection is up for debate; happy to split into two trips elsewhere if I can achieve that. We are planning to do this trip april next year, so there is time and BNE-DFW could be an option in that case.

Welcome, peterd87, to FlyerTalk and the oneworld forum in particular. Planning and taking RTW trips can be great fun and you'll always get good advice here.

Just as a point of interest: All of my oneworld RTWs have been xONEx so I don't know if continents are even a thing on the mileage-based GLOB ticket you're considering but as far as xONEx itineraries are concerned Australia is included in SWP.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the feedback so far. Seems there is opportunity to turn it into a DONEx. Need to find some time later today to work on the puzzle. Continents are part of the DGLOB, but it does not seem to count Asia as part of the route to Australia, contrary to the DONEx

Realised so far this RTW solution has plenty of opportunity, but somehow it makes you greedy as well as you would like to squeeze in more and more :p

DRW does have QF flights to DPS and soon to be SIN, also to ASP so that's an option. JL doesn't fly to DPS so if you choose there then it would remove Japan from your possible Asian stops (unless you remove segments somewhere else)

Since you've mentioned you're crediting to IB, then miles per segment definitely matters, so where practical I'd be looking at the longer segments within a region, without compromising the places you really want to visit. That 3,001-6000 mile range is really the sweet spot for you, which you do have several of. The only intra-Asia flights though I can think of that go over 3,000 would be NRT-CGK and NRT-CMB, you can get to SYD from both, but not ADL or DRW. I've always been a bit surprised that JL doesn't do TYO-DPS on their own metal, they oddly codeshare with GA once a week on the route, and NH has the codeshare every other day. It's a leisure route but Japanese will still buy premium cabins on leisure routes as you see on Hawaii and BKK. Indonesia is nice in a lot of places and domestic flights are quite cheap, so something to consider. Sri Lanka is interesting too and is more stable again now. Just sub in SYD as your arrival point in OZ and plan to use other tickets (like Avios) for the city that was subbed out. Of course if 115 or 225 tier points is enough vs. 500 then it opens up a lot more possibilities in Asia.

I assume you've already thought of this, but you can transfer your IB Avios to BA to redeem for your necessary intra-Australia flights (since I'm pretty sure IB still requires a round trip award) as well as your FJ flight APW-NAN. You could also transfer to QR but I don't think their award chart for intra-Australia is any different and they tend to charge a lot higher fees.

Since you're planning quite a lot of travel in Australia, just keep in mind the rules for segments. You can only have 4 flight segments within the continent (including SWP), so just as an example, DRW-ASP, ASP-ADE, BNE-APW, NAN-BNE, (could be ADE-ASP, ASP-MEL, BNE-APW, NAN-BNE) Naturally you'll want to use them on the most expensive sectors which with the cities you want, I believe those would be (if buying business, and maybe even economy). The other domestic segments should be pretty easy to book on Avios though, I've always seen tons of availability between the bigger cities. (*Note that segment limit is only for DONE4, not DGLOB34, and I'm not entirely certain but I don't think the surface segment counts towards your 34,000 miles in DGLOB34, so you should still be able to add ASP-MEL if sticking with your original plan)

All of your comments made me think on how to optimize routing and turn this into a DONE4.

Putting our travel plans together for the next year and a half it turned out we could use part of the ticket for this October / November, next chunk April / May next year and then finalize the last portion in October 2025. Will be adding some additional flights as cash / points.

Current routing:
OSL - DOH (3082mi, QR - October '24)
DOH - MIA (7679mi, QR - October '24)
MIA - AUA (1134mi, AA - November '24)
AUA - JFK (surface segment) - we will take a flight AUA - AMS and start the trip from JFK again (mainly because this is a cheap points destination from AMS, could change to any other)
JFK - LAX (2475mi, AA - April '25)
LAX - SYD (7488mi, AA - April '25). The direct DFW - BNE flight that was referred to earlier will likely not operate anymore mid April 2025
SYD - ASP (1256mi, QF - April '25)
ASP - MEL (1154mi, QF - April '25)
MEL - BNE (surface segment - May '25)
BNE - APW (2433mi, QF - May '25)
APW - NAN (surface segment - May '25)
NAN - SYD (1970mi, QF - May '25)
SYD - DOH (7687mi, QR - May '25)
DOH - AMS (3062mi, QR - May '25)
AMS - DOH (3062mi, QR - October '25)
DOH - OSL (3082mi, QR - October '25).

This would lead to 49124 miles, of which 45564 will actually be flown. On Iberia this would credit as 4820 tier points, though timing with the split year is not ideal. For my daughter who has no status (3 year old I will check and see what makes most sense given that Iberia is now allowed). AA RTW desk should be able to ticket given the TATL segment with AA.

Any view on the above, does this indeed seem to be correct and should it be feasible to ticket as such? I realise we are still skipping Asia (though that is less of interest for this trip - when I get the hang of this likely it will be part of the next).

Many thanks!

Peter

Hi,
How do you get OSL - DOH under QR? I thought it was not possible to get QR on first segment?

You can't get it in the online tool - but according to what I read here on the forum AA RTW desk should be able to book it.

Looks like a great itinerary overall. Split years are definitely not ideal but unavoidable in many of these tickets, so you'll need to plan any extra needed elite points around that. I actually grabbed one of the ex-CAI ones when it was on sale recently that's entirely in 2024 but that's also very rare for me. I tend to split them over elite years, but have parts in each year so it evens out.

TBH on a DONE4 it's not optimal to skip Asia, it is a waste because you do pay for it already. But if you are using all 16 segments elsewhere that's a different story. I always have some anyway because I live in TYO, but understand that's different for everyone.

1) CAI was never “on sale” as you say - the price was merely lower than normal because of a currency devaluation. If you were Egyptian paying Egyptian currency, the price was exactly the same as it always was.

2) saying that skipping Asia is missing out because you already paid for it assumes everybody is using these tickets solely to get the most of them. Many people use them because they are cheaper way of going to destinations. They already have to go to in business class. It bothers me that in this thread a lot of people put others down for not trying to squeeze every ounce of value out of the tickets. People have different priorities.

Obviously I'm trying to get the most out of them, and especially the earlier comments made me rethink my choices. Though as you mentioned, priorities are different for all of us. Asia will not be my priority for this trip. Given the distances that we will cover, traveling with 2 young children (4 year old, 1 year old) we are indeed better off with a RTW ticket in BC vs buying these separately.

Considering FF programs to credit; Iberia doesn't seem to be best in terms of actual avios accrual based on the various programs, mostly at 125%. Alaska Airlines might be an option for my daughter. It would allow her to get MVP at the end of 2024 and MVP gold prior to the last 2 flights in 2025. Need to think if I'm going to switch Iberia to Alaska as well in that case.

If you're going for big RDM earnings, then AA or AS is likely to yield the best results. AS is easier than AA starting from scratch. But if you have big credit card spend you could earn status on AA with that and give yourself a head start. Without the elite bonuses then AS would generally yield more RDMs on these tickets, but AA elite bonuses count towards all OW flights vs just their own. The big caveat there is you have to avoid long haul AA flights and use codeshares where possible, and AA won't ticket those. AS is a simpler program per se, but their award chart can be less generous. It's distance based now, so there are some sweet spots that beat AA. AA also has a different qualification year, AS is the typical January-December, AA is March-February, where BA and IB are April-March. If you're doing one of these per year that'll balance out in the end, but if it's a one-off then it might weigh more into consideration.

I know very little about AY's program, but someone noted in another thread that they would net enough tier points for OW Emerald on a DONEx ticket, so could be worth a look. They recently switched to Avios but no one knows yet when the transfer to BA (and therefore IB and QR) will be implemented and apparently their own award chart is pretty bad.

It looks like you have enough to get ba status at least silver?
if so I'd go with that as you can easily pool miles with a household account.

I must be thick but clicking on the menu options doesn't work for me. Nothing happens at all. Browser issue perhaps?