I'm trying to "get my arms around" a RTW trip in July/Aug this year.

I am a bit confused over exactly what the new rules are for OW RTW purchases (OWE, GLOB, etc.) when you buy the ticket in another city. I understand you now have to physically go there to purchase/pick up the ticket - presumably through a OW carrier's ticket office there. And you can't just show up and ask for a ticket to leave right away - there's a lead time, isn't there?

Can anyone give me some advice on this?

The last one I did was buying a DOWE4 ticket ex-GIB a couple years ago and we had a US travel agent set it up for us - we paid him and picked the ticket up in GIB and left the same day.

Thanks.

the advance requirement varies by continent - for memory, but i think the advance purchase issue is more to do with the time in getting the ticket priced and issued etc. i'm sure if you turned up and asked for a ticket it wouldn't be ready an hour later. and as a ft'er there may be some issues with rule interpretation. that would take time to sort out.

I purchased my tickets (ex Cairo) from a Canadian travel agent, Elly Miller, ([email protected], +1 514 341-7220) as have several members on this board. He charged a bit extra for his work, but when I had to change he did everything.

You can also purchase directly from the official One World agent in Cairo and they will FedEx you the tickets. My friend in Tokyo just did this Monday.

The agent is Ms. Omnia Kamal, Soficom Communications, http://www.soficom.com.eg - omnia002 [[email protected]].

I hope this helps.

You are generally correct - the process is to call the rtw desk of the originating carrier (e.g. CX for CMB, BA for CAI) and make reservations for your rtw. You at least need to specify a complete route around the world, although you can leave some segments "open" and can change all but the beginning later for a $75 fee.

When you've made the res, get the PNR number for your reservation, contact the airline's office in the originating city, and make arrangements with them for payment and ticket pickup. There is no reason to tell the res agent anything about how you're going to ticket, and you may get a ration if you do. There may be a deadline for ticketing though, so make sure you get to talking (faxing, usually) with the ticketing office right away. If CAI, the process is well documented here, and Ms. Sobhi is still holding sway in CAI - I just got an email (wow, BA bought CAI a computer!) from her soliciting business.

There haven't been any reports here of ticketing ex-CMB but the process would be the same. Start by getting a contact to the CX office there and make sure they're happy with the process so when you make the reservation you're ready to move on.

BA/CAI has accepted payment by faxed image of c/c, tickets held for p/u at cto or ato. Having a way to prepay is important because they won't hold the res forever without ticketing, and you don't want to make the res at the last minute just before you arrive to pick up tix because of availability concerns.

In CAI the AA General Agent has also been even more cooperative than BA in ticketing. Search for Emeco for details. They'll FedEx tix to you. Based on my and other experiences I would use them over BA unless things have changed. If you can't find an airline (or TA) contact in CMB you might ask Emeco if they have a correspondent there. They were quite great some time ago when there was a looming rate increase - they helped a bunch of FT'ers out.

Other than Emeco, the above supposes you'll deal with the airline all the way. They seem to still pay worthwhile commissions to TA's outside NA, though, so if you get a contact to a reliable and OW-knowledgeable TA in the originating country (e.g. Emeco) you may end up with a pleasant transaction too. But in my experience it's been hard to find TA's who do enough OW business to not be a hazard. (Not to say the airlines in their cost-cutting haven't exposed us to some hazardous ill-trained staff, too.)

In any case, good luck and happy travels.

JohnAx,

That's the best summary of this (confusing, for me) process that I have seen.

Thanks for your time in putting it together.

Emeco in Cairo was GREAT in my experience. Very professional and helpful. (I went to the office in person).

Yeh, I did too and I agree. Not for a RTW but I used them for regular ticketing and they were excellent. Just had to wait a bit because it was a paper ticket. I got the feeling that they can't print tickets and that all are paper tickets but I don't know. I think, though, that the AA website sends you halfway to Timbuktu, but there is a CTO on Talat Harb around the corner from the Egyptian Museum. I listed them before on FT so a short search will get them.

EMECO does indeed offer great service doing both an original issue and a reissue of my RTW. Whole transaction was done via e-mail, wire transfer (would not do the credit card thing) and FedEx. All my e-mails were answered by Ms. Kamal within 24 hours.

Many thanks for all the good info -

.....and especially for the points of contact!!!

CAI is pretty close to me, so better for that reason. And CMB is a long flight (best price about $6-700 USD away) on non-OW carriers, so perhaps CAI still the best cost-wise.

Now for the next "challenge". Trying to route an "A" ticket so that all flights are in "A".

Save your blood pressure - it's not likely. There's no (?) first class service within Europe - only a few BA "long hauls" eg to CAI. In North America what AA calls "first" is merely a decent business class seat, except on a few premium flights, so your ticket may say A, but your butt will say "D". Ditto on around the world. Be happy for the intercontinentals.

Most Domestic AA flights have only F & Y no business class. Where does a non-elite "D" get seated? How about on OWE partner airlines also that don't have D but ony FC and coach cabins? Any info on this will be appreciated.

If you've booked a D-class OWE you may fly in the front cabin on domestic AA 2-class flights. On 3-class flights, the front cabin is more nearly like first class, and you need an A-class OWE to stand a chance of getting a seat there. Even then it's not too likely to happen - A inventory appears to be non-existent on many such flights, tho' some have posted that it's possible.

Afaik of the OW airlines, only AA maintains the fiction of calling the front of a two-class plane "first class." Even when their overseas OW partners codeshare on AA metal, I think you'll see that the AA flight will have F and Y availability, while the codeshare flight number will be showing C/J and Y. So I think the answer to your second question is "it doesn't happen."

Note than Lan Chile apparently has some strange ideas about this subject. I've not used them so perhaps my comments won't apply down there.

And that's precisely what I am currently arguing with QF in regards to my next DONE4 reservation. Never had this problem before but all of a sudden they decide that DONE4s get booked into Y on AA domestic

Looks like I am going to have to read the starfile to them!

How about booking with someone other than qUantas? They've been the only OW airline so far that's aggravated me when booking an OWE, and I note other comments that suggest that have at least a few ill-trained agents. If you book with them you're largely stuck with them for subsequent changes. Do you really need them?

Depending on your route, you can probably pull this off. Unless you plan on doing intra-Europe flights (other than the famous LHR-DXB round trip, which you cannot do originating in CAI -- but you can end in DXB), you will have to be in "D" class. Also, if you want to include Hawaii in your route, than you no choice but to route on QF in "D" class either going to or leaving Hawaii. Other than that, it is possible.

Here is a hypothetical AONE4 routing using all 20 segments in which you are only in "A" Class:

CAI-LHR BA "A" Class
LHR-LAX BA "A" Class
LAX-SCL LA/AA "A" Class (could also get on the AA codeshare)
SCL-GIG LA "A" Class (morning departure only)
GIG-SCL LA "A" Class (afternoon departure only)
SCL-LAX LA/AA "A" Class (could book under AA flight number)
LAX-JFK AA "A" Class (hard seat to get, but possible -- can also try for the QF flight)
LGA-DFW AA "A" Class
DFW-ANC AA "A" Class
ANC-DFW AA "A" Class
DFW-LAX AA "A" Class
LAX-HKG CX "A" Class
HKG-NRT CX "A" Class
NRT-HKG CX "A" Class
HKG-SIN CX "A" Class (must be on the CX 713, which routes via BKK)
SIN-HKG CX "A" Class (the CX 716 is a three class flight)
HKG-FRA CX "A" Class
FRA-MAD LA "A" Class
MAD-FRA LA "A" Class
(not certain if you can just book these on their own, would also have a surface segment, which does not count toward the 20, but you must make your own arrangements, to get back to LHR)
LHR-CAI/DXB BA "A" Class

If you cannot book LA on FRA-MAD-FRA, you could use LA to fly SCL-IPC-SCL. This will be in business class, but, at least on the outbound, you have a good chance of snagging an F seat, as they use three-class 767s on the route, but don't sell F. If you are going to earn American miles, you will earn 1.5 status points per mile flown on this route, but only 1.25 miles.