Feb 23, 2015, 2:47 pm
Last edit by: Mwenenzi
The information in this wiki is out of date - please see the information in the wiki in this new thread ---> The Oneworld Explorer User Guide
The oneworld explorer ticket thread.
Thanks to eamus in particular for the work in starting this thread and collating this information, which is taken from his two posts. This wiki supersedes the information in those first two posts. It is now community-maintained, please be bold and amend as you see fit.
The purpose of this thread is to collect some FAQs on the most popular oneworld ticket, the Explorer. This thread is not intended to be totally comprehensive, nor is it a substitute for using the search function for specific or obscure points (the search function is at the top right of your screen, in case you missed it!). It is an aid for planning your massive mileage-earning trip round the world on the airlines of the oneworld alliance. Once you have trawled through this thread you should be OK to start work on your itinerary. If you have any questions not covered here or in a search of old threads, don't be afraid to post and ask the experts here.
Please note that while we attempt to be as accurate as possible, the official rules do change. The airline who issues your ticket will have final say on what the rules are, and how they interpret them. Here goes:
Terminology:
Q: You people seem to like talking in code. Do you have a glossary?
A: Of course. Here are some basic terms:
ONE or OWE = oneworld Explorer ticket
DONE4 = D class (business class) oneworld Explorer ticket for 4 continents. The initial letter is A, D or L depending on whether it is First, Bus. or Economy, and the final number is the number of continents, 3-6 (sometimes a * is used to indicate a generic question/response, eg. *ONE4 or *ONE*)
Segment = a flight with a single flight number between two cities, whether or not it stops between the origin and destination, and whether or not there is a change of aircraft along the way. So for instance SYD-JFK is one segment even though it stops in LAX, but NRT-HKT is two segments (NRT-HKG, HKG-HKT) since there is no oneworld single flight number between NRT and HKT. Don't confuse "segment" with "sector," another term you often see. A sector is one take off and one landing, so SYD-JFK is two sectors but only one segment.
Other Useful Terms:
F, J, Y = the full price booking classes for first, business and economy classes respectively. Being discount tickets, *ONE* tickets generally use A, D or L for the respective classes, but sometimes people like to use "J" as a generic way of describing business class, for instance.
RTW = round the world
SWP = South West Pacific (one of the continents)
WT+ = World Traveller Plus, the premium economy cabin on some BA flights
The Airlines:
AA = American Airlines
AB = Air Berlin (HG for Niki) Shutdown 28 Oct 2017
AY = Finnair
AT = Royal Air Maroc (joined 1 April 2020)
BA = British Airways
CX = Cathay Pacific (and KA for Cathay Dragon)
IB = Iberia
JJ = LATAM Left OW alliance
JL = Japan Airlines (and NU for Japan Transocean AIr)
LA = Lan Chile (and XL, 4M for the other Lan's) Left OW alliance
MH = Malaysia Airlines
QF = Qantas (which DOES NOT HAVE A "U" IN IT !!!!!!!)
QR = Qatar Aiways
RJ = Royal Jordanian
S7 = S7 Airlines
UL = SriLankan Airlines
The Basics:
Q: What airlines can I fly with on a ONE ticket?
A: Any oneworld airline, as listed above, or their affiliate airlines (list below may not be up to date, see oneworld.com):
American Eagle (operated by Envoy Airlines, Republic Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, ExpressJet Airlines, Mesa Airlines, Compass Airlines, Trans States Airlines, PSA Airlines, Piedmont Airlines, and Air Wisconsin)
Belair
LGW
TUlfly
BA CitiFlyer including flights operated by Eastern Airways
Comair [South Africa](not to be confused with the Delta affiliate in the US with the same name)
SUN-AIR of Scandinavia
Open Skies
BA Limited
Nordic Regional Airlines (Norra)
Air Norstrum
Iberia Express
J-Air
HAC (Hokkaido Air System)
LATAM Express
LATAM Peru
LATAM Colombia
Alliance Airlines
QantasLink operated by Eastern Australia, Jetconnect (NZ), National Jet Systems, Sunstate Airlines, and Network Aviation
Globus
NOTE: Codeshare flights operated by other partner/affiliate airlines are not permitted on this ticket. So for example the QF flights that are codeshares operated by FJ (Air Pacific) are not eligible. However it is possible to fly on codeshares within the alliance. For example you can take an AA flight number that is actually operated by BA. The benefit of doing this is that it may help depending on which frequent flyer membership you are with, and what bonuses are given with these flights.
NOTE: If a ticket includes travel to/from/via Cuba it may not also include flight segments for travel on American Airlines/American Eagle/American Connection due to US Government restrictions. [this may have cha
Q: What are the basic rules of the fare?
A: It is a round the world ticket, so you must cross both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, but can only do so once for each ocean. The fare is calculated based on the number of continents you visit. The continents are counted even if you only change planes there (eg. stopping in Asia on a flight from Europe to Australia), and the continent count includes the continent of origin. See below for backtracking rules. You can fly up to 16 segments in total.
Q: Can I backtrack?
A: You can backtrack within countries and continents, but you cannot re-enter a continent after leaving it, except: (a) a transit without stopover in Asia on a flight between Europe and SWP or vice versa, (b) a transit without stopover in North America on a flight between South America and SWP, Asia or Europe or vice versa, (c) two permitted in Europe/Middle, for travel originating in Africa, Africa - Europe/Middle East - RTW - Europe/Middle East - Africa, for travel originating other than Africa, Europe/Middle East - Africa - Europe/Middle East, one of the visits to Europe/Middle East must be a transfer without stopover between Africa and the previous/next continent, if travel to/from Europe in both directions, itinerary may not include Mauritius/South Africa.
Any of these transit without stopover benefits can be taken in either direction (eg. Europe-SWP or SWP-Europe) and either before or after you wish to enter the continent for the second time to use your stopovers there. You can only leave and re-enter the continent of origin once, except for North America where you may have an additional transit without stopover.
Q: What are the continents on which the fare is calculated? Which countries are in which continent?
A: Forget all your geography lessons, and take a look at the map accessible by clicking this hyperlink and you should see the continents. For those who prefer the text, oneworld defines the continents as follows:
North America = United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean area, Central America and Panama
South America = all of South America other than Panama
Europe = all of Europe, including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and all of the Middle East including Egypt and Sudan
Africa = all of Africa other than Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia
Asia = all of Asia excluding everything in the South West Pacific
South West Pacific = all of the South West Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand
Q: How many of those 16 segments can I use in each continent?
A: You get four (4) segments in each of Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and South West Pacific, and six (6) segments in North America. None of the intercontinental flights, including those across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, count against any continent allowance, although obviously they do count against your 16 segment total allowance. There are, in addition, other restrictions you need to be aware of.
Q: What about surface segments (eg arrive at LGA and depart from JFK)?
A: These are counted towards the total of 16 segments.
Q: Are there any other restrictions that I have per region/continent?
A: Yes:
Europe - Not more than two Europe/Middle East segments may be used for journeys between the U.K. and the following: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Funchal, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tunisia, Ukraine, and the Middle East. You get four segments in Europe, so if you go from Heathrow to, say, Dubai, you cannot then go from Heathrow to Greece and back.
Americas - Within North America, only one transcontinental flight is allowed between selected cities on the East and West Coasts. "Transcontinental" is defined as a flight between one of ATL/BWI/BOS/CLT/FLL/BDL/MIA/EWR/NYC/ORL/PHL/PIT/SJU/RDU/TPA/YYZ/WAS/PBI and one of LAS/LGB/LAX/OAK/PHX/PDX/SAN/SFO/SJC/SNA/SEA/YVR. Also, in North America only one segment is permitted between the continental US and Hawaii (so if you want to visit Hawaii, you must go to/from Australia), and only one flight to/from ANC (Anchorage, Alaska) is permitted.
South West Pacific - within Australia only one flight is permitted between:
* Perth, and Brisbane, Canberra, Cairns, Melbourne or Sydney
* Darwin, and Canberra, Melbourne or Sydney
* Broome, and Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney
* Dampier, and Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney
Exceptions - there is no restriction between Sydney/Melbourne & Perth for passengers originating in:
* Perth, when in conjunction with travel to/from Jo'burg/Shanghai
* New Zealand, when in conjunction with travel to/from Jo'burg
Q: Can I take the QF flight from LAX-JFK (or vice versa) even if I don't have an onward flight with QF?
A: No. The rules would appear to allow it, but in actual practice QF does not. (Edited to add: The OWE rules don't prohibit it, but QF does not have 5th freedom rights to carry passengers solely between LAX and JFK, i.e., domestically within the U.S. The Passenger must originate/terminate in Australia.)
Q: Can I buy more segments?
A: This is no longer permitted. If you want to exceed the per-continent segment limit, one option is to add a "side trip" which are additional flights that are part of the ticket but calculated and priced per their own fare; you are still limited to a maximum of 16 sectors on one ticket. Another option is to include one or more flights in the booking record that are priced and ticketed separately; since such flights are on their own ticket, they do not count against the 16 segment limit of the main ticket. Not all agents or airlines are comfortable issuing separate tickets out of one booking record, so it is easier to book in a new record, but keeping al flights in one record and issuing separate tickets is often used to increase the ease of having connections protected when there are flight delays, schedule changes, etc.
Q: What about stopovers? What are the rules? And benefits?
A: A stopover is break in your journey of more than 24 hours. You can have as many stopovers as you like (one per segment if you like), but you cannot have more than two stopovers in the continent of origin. The key thing here is the 24-hour rule, and there are two main benefits. First, at some airports (eg. LHR) not having a stopover can save significant taxes as you will be classed as a passenger in transit, and second, you can stop for dinner and a night with friends, even if you are out of stopovers in the country of origin.
Q: Where can I fly on a ONE ticket?
A: You can get an idea of available destinations from the maps on the AA website at this hyperlink; just select oneworld cities once the relevant area has loaded. There is also a pretty bad map on the oneworld website here.
Q: What tools are available for working out my itinerary and the airline timetables?
A) You can access the official oneworld trip planner on https://rtw.oneworld.com/rtw/ - this includes the ability to book most itineraries online.
Q: Can I end my itinerary in a city other than the one where I started?
A: Yes. You can separate your origin and destination under any of the following circumstances: anywhere within the country of origin, between the US and Canada, anywhere within Africa, anywhere within the Middle East, between Hong Kong and China, between Malaysia and Singapore, or between Maldives and Sri Lanka or India. So you could start in CAI and end in DXB, but could not start in JFK and end in MEX.
Booking Tickets:
Q: The booking classes are A (first), D (business) and L (economy). If I buy a first class ticket and there is no first class on my flight, what happens?
A: That depends on what you mean by "no first class." If the seat inventory (A in this case, but the same goes for D) is not available for the flight you want and you can't get a flight that does have available inventory, you get downgraded to the next available inventory class (A goes down to D, and D goes down to L) and no compensation or refund is payable. Except on two class US domestic flights, if the plane is only one class (all economy) or two class (economy and business), then you get downgraded and no compensation or refund is payable. On two class US domestic flights and QR flights within the Middle East, if you hold a D class ticket you can book into the A (first) inventory, if it is available, at no extra charge. On domestic flights on AE (American Eagle), AY, and LA (which are one class except LA's SCL-IPC), all A and D tickets book into the Y (full fare economy) inventory bucket which means it is economy seating, but there should be plenty of availability.
Q: Can I upgrade some of the segments to fly business/first class?
A: In limited circumstances. Your options are: (a) you can upgrade your entire itinerary - subject to availability - by paying the higher class fare but otherwise without penalty, (b) flights operated by AA may be upgraded with AA miles, (c) US/Canada domestic flights operated by AA may be upgraded with 500-mile "sticker" upgrades issued by AA, (d) flights operated by CX may be upgraded using CX miles, (e) flights marketed and operated by JL may be upgraded using JL miles, and (f) flights operated by QF may be upgraded using QF miles/upgrade credits. BA also offers "on board" upgrades for prices ranging from GBP200 up if there is a spare seat on board. Talk to the purser when you board, but these upgrades only qualify for the mileage/status you originally booked. For instance if you were in BA economy and upgraded on board to WT+ for GBP200 on LHR-SIN, you only get the discount economy miles, not the WT+ miles.
Q: Can I upgrade some of the segments to fly premium economy class ?
A: Economy class can be upgraded to CX,JL,QF premium economy cabin or BA World Traveller Plus cabin for an additional charge, per flight segments.
USD1450 for SWP-Asia, SWP-Europe/Middle East, SWP-Norrh America, SWP-South America. USD350 for SEA-South Asian Subcontinent, SEA-Japan/Korea, USD250 for within SEA,Australia,Middle East. USD950 for all ohter sectors.
Booking class: BA(T), JL(E), CX(R), QF(R).
Q: What is an open segment and why would I book that?
A: An open segment is basically setting your itinerary in advance, but not confirming your seat on the plane. You do this by leaving the date on the flight coupon (eg. LHR-JFK) open, even though you have decided that you will at some point be flying that route. You might do this as it is easier to change your travel timing as you go. If you set all the flight dates and then needed to make a change at some point, you may have to change all the onward flights and not just the next one or two.
The downside is that you need the inventory to be available on the date you finally want to travel, and on some routes/carriers at certain times of the year, A and D inventory may have limited availability. Further, it gives you no protection should a route be discontinued. If a route between XXX and YYY is discontinued, you then will have to pay the reroute fee and use an additional segment to fly XXX-ZZZ-YYY.
Q: Can I change my mind?
A: Yes, you will find the *ONE* to be a reasonably flexible ticket. Date/time changes are permitted at no charge, and subject to availability you can change the oneworld carrier you want to use without charge as long as there is no change in origin/destination and intermediate points (eg. changing BA to QF for a flight SYD-LHR). Changes other than date/time (routing is the obvious change) incur a US$125 charge and the ticket is reissued, with some carriers charging you a service fee. Date/time changes are permitted at no charge, but routing changes incur a US$125 charge, and again some carriers charge you a service fee. The rules don't state that routing changes in this case are a reissue (see below about what happens if the rules change). The number of continents/extra flight segments may be increased or decreased and you will be charged/refunded accordingly. If you change the date or time of your first flight and the ticket price has increased since you bought the ticket, you'll pay the higher fare. If you need to cancel before departure, tickets originating in North or South America incur a penalty of 10% of the ticket price, tickets originating elsewhere incur no penalty. If you need to cancel after departure, all tickets other than those originating in SWP (no penalty) or Japan (lower of 10% penalty or JPY50,000) incur a 10% penalty. You may get a refund of the unused portion of your ticket based on the cost of the flights used to date and the penalty due.
Q: What happens if the rules on my ticket change, or are about to change?
A: If the rules change before your ticket is issued, then the new rules will apply and you will have to change any existing reservations that are not permitted under the new rules. If the rules change after your ticket is issued, the rules that apply are those that were in force when your ticket was issued. But be aware - if after the rules change you want to cancel the ticket, or to do something not permitted under the old rules, then the ticket will be cancelled and reissued, and the new rules will apply. If you are worried about rule changes and want to maximize your flexibility, set your last flight to be 12 months after the date of your first flight (which is permitted). This gives you 12 months' worth of flexibility once you start travelling since date changes are currently free of charge. To give yourself even more flexibility, get your ticket issued up to 12 months in advance of your first flight (which is also permitted), which gives you an effective 2 year lock on the rules as long as you don't change that first flight.
Q: How much does the ticket cost?
A: The base ticket price depends on the number of continents you visit, a minimum of three and a maximum of six, and the starting country. Oneworld no longer publishes a list of base ticket prices. Taxes and charges are added to this base ticket price as determined by your itinerary. Note that similar or even identical itineraries can thus have varied pricing depending on which airlines you fly and/or use to ticket as charges can vary between airlines flown and ticketing . Infants under 2 and not occupying a seat are charged 10% of the adult fare. Children 2-11 and occupying a seat are charged 75% of the adult fare, except for tickets originating in India where they pay 67% of the adult fare.
Q: If I pony up the money for an A ticket, which routes still have "real" first class?
A: This is a bit of a moving target, but essentially the following routes have traditional first class service on a three class plane (all include the reverse routes too):
AA - LHR to LAX, JFK, ORD, BOS and MIA; NRT to LAX, SJC and JFK; GRU to MIA and JFK; DFW to LGW and FRA; and some flights MIA to EZE
BA - LHR to SYD, HKG, SIN, NRT, HND, KUL, PEK, PVG, JFK, EWR, YYZ, YVR, BOS, PHL, ATL, AUS, DFW, DEN, IAH, LAX, LAS, SJC, SAN, IAD, PHX, SFO, SEA, MIA, JNB, CPT, DXB, AUH, MCT, DOH, ABV, LOS, ACC, BOM, NBO, GRU, SCL, MEX, DEL, BLR, BAH, JED, RUH, KWI, TLV and CAI; LGW to BGI, BDA, GND, POS, UVF
CX - HKG to LHR, JFK, LAX, YVR, FRA, SFO, and CDG; some flights HKG to HND, and unpredictably to NRT, SIN, BKK, MNL, KIX, SEL, TPE, and CGK.
JL - HND to CDG, LHR, and SFO; NRT to JFK, LAX, ORD, CGK, and SYD.
QF - LAX to JFK, SYD and MEL; SYD-SFO + SFO-YVR (seasonal), LHR to SIN, BKK, HKG, SYD and MEL; some flights HKG to SYD and MEL, SYD-JNB (seasonal F Class offering?), although one weekly SYD-JNB (Fridays?) and SYD-SFO service is operated by Qantas' 2-class 747-400s (no First Class, only J/Y).
QR - Any route served by the Airbus 380.
LA - SCL to MAD, FRA, AKL, and SYD
Q: Have there been any problems with handwritten tickets?
A: You need to confirm that each airline receives the ticket number for the flights that are booked on them. In particular, Cathay has been known to cancel space if it has not received the ticket number. Although the booking airline should send the ticket number to all airlines on the itinerary, it is best to call Cathay to assure they have received it.
Miles and Status:
This is a very difficult section, since what you will earn in terms of miles and elite status depends on which airline program you want to use. As a related point, you may find that a routing needs to be constructed using or avoiding certain oneworld airlines because of the mileage-earning implications. For instance, L class tickets on BA gets 25% miles when booked to the QF program, but the same L ticket on the QF codeshare earns 100% QF miles. All programs are geared off the booking class, so knowing the booking class and the flight number/operator are the key points. The best advice is to thoroughly check the earning rules for your preferred program(s), and if necessary, post questions on your local airline forum if you are unsure. That said, there a very general FAQ that the regulars on this forum thought should be posted.
Q: I know that the booking classes are A, D and L, but what happens to my miles if I am booked into another class?
A: Generally you will earn miles for the class in which you travel. If you are downgraded from A to D, you will earn D miles/status. Similarly, if you are on a domestic US flight and your D ticket is booked into the A inventory, you will earn A miles/status. If you upgrade individual flights, you receive the miles for the flight in which you were booked originally (ie. before the upgrade) except for pre-paid WT+ upgrades where you get the applicable WT+ miles/status. As said above, on board upgrades on BA earn miles/status for the class originally booked.
Q: Is there a consistent baggage limit, and if so, what is it?
A: The xONEx checked baggage allowance is 2 pieces. Each carrier can specify its own limit on the maximum weight allowed per piece. On some it is 32kg, on others it is 23kg, and there may be variations for some flights (eg QF domestic prop flights have a lower limit).
Further Information:
All the above information comes from the universal starfiles, which are the rules applicable to these (and other) tickets. Some very nice FTers have obtained copies of the rules and posted them on their websites. Note though that since the airlines do not routinely make the starfiles available to the public there may be a time lag in updated files becoming available to this community.
The oneworld.com does now routinely publish the rules which can be found by searching on their website via http://www.oneworld.com/search-results?q=rules
Validity Tools to check your routing
This tool is great for doing initial validity checks on your routing: http://www.slfft.org/mm/award.htm
If this location is inaccessible, see this thread for more information: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...ml#post6954703
Earning AA miles & status https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...-miles-aa.html
Edit
AB Air Berlin shut down 28 Oct 2017
LA Latam left OW May 2020
AT joined OW 1 April 2020
The oneworld explorer ticket thread.
Thanks to eamus in particular for the work in starting this thread and collating this information, which is taken from his two posts. This wiki supersedes the information in those first two posts. It is now community-maintained, please be bold and amend as you see fit.
The purpose of this thread is to collect some FAQs on the most popular oneworld ticket, the Explorer. This thread is not intended to be totally comprehensive, nor is it a substitute for using the search function for specific or obscure points (the search function is at the top right of your screen, in case you missed it!). It is an aid for planning your massive mileage-earning trip round the world on the airlines of the oneworld alliance. Once you have trawled through this thread you should be OK to start work on your itinerary. If you have any questions not covered here or in a search of old threads, don't be afraid to post and ask the experts here.
Please note that while we attempt to be as accurate as possible, the official rules do change. The airline who issues your ticket will have final say on what the rules are, and how they interpret them. Here goes:
Terminology:
Q: You people seem to like talking in code. Do you have a glossary?
A: Of course. Here are some basic terms:
ONE or OWE = oneworld Explorer ticket
DONE4 = D class (business class) oneworld Explorer ticket for 4 continents. The initial letter is A, D or L depending on whether it is First, Bus. or Economy, and the final number is the number of continents, 3-6 (sometimes a * is used to indicate a generic question/response, eg. *ONE4 or *ONE*)
Segment = a flight with a single flight number between two cities, whether or not it stops between the origin and destination, and whether or not there is a change of aircraft along the way. So for instance SYD-JFK is one segment even though it stops in LAX, but NRT-HKT is two segments (NRT-HKG, HKG-HKT) since there is no oneworld single flight number between NRT and HKT. Don't confuse "segment" with "sector," another term you often see. A sector is one take off and one landing, so SYD-JFK is two sectors but only one segment.
Other Useful Terms:
F, J, Y = the full price booking classes for first, business and economy classes respectively. Being discount tickets, *ONE* tickets generally use A, D or L for the respective classes, but sometimes people like to use "J" as a generic way of describing business class, for instance.
RTW = round the world
SWP = South West Pacific (one of the continents)
WT+ = World Traveller Plus, the premium economy cabin on some BA flights
The Airlines:
AA = American Airlines
AY = Finnair
AT = Royal Air Maroc (joined 1 April 2020)
BA = British Airways
CX = Cathay Pacific (and KA for Cathay Dragon)
IB = Iberia
JL = Japan Airlines (and NU for Japan Transocean AIr)
MH = Malaysia Airlines
QF = Qantas (which DOES NOT HAVE A "U" IN IT !!!!!!!)
QR = Qatar Aiways
RJ = Royal Jordanian
S7 = S7 Airlines
UL = SriLankan Airlines
The Basics:
Q: What airlines can I fly with on a ONE ticket?
A: Any oneworld airline, as listed above, or their affiliate airlines (list below may not be up to date, see oneworld.com):
American Eagle (operated by Envoy Airlines, Republic Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, ExpressJet Airlines, Mesa Airlines, Compass Airlines, Trans States Airlines, PSA Airlines, Piedmont Airlines, and Air Wisconsin)
LGW
TUlfly
BA CitiFlyer including flights operated by Eastern Airways
Comair [South Africa](not to be confused with the Delta affiliate in the US with the same name)
SUN-AIR of Scandinavia
Open Skies
BA Limited
Nordic Regional Airlines (Norra)
Air Norstrum
Iberia Express
J-Air
HAC (Hokkaido Air System)
Alliance Airlines
QantasLink operated by Eastern Australia, Jetconnect (NZ), National Jet Systems, Sunstate Airlines, and Network Aviation
Globus
NOTE: Codeshare flights operated by other partner/affiliate airlines are not permitted on this ticket. So for example the QF flights that are codeshares operated by FJ (Air Pacific) are not eligible. However it is possible to fly on codeshares within the alliance. For example you can take an AA flight number that is actually operated by BA. The benefit of doing this is that it may help depending on which frequent flyer membership you are with, and what bonuses are given with these flights.
NOTE: If a ticket includes travel to/from/via Cuba it may not also include flight segments for travel on American Airlines/American Eagle/American Connection due to US Government restrictions. [this may have cha
Q: What are the basic rules of the fare?
A: It is a round the world ticket, so you must cross both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, but can only do so once for each ocean. The fare is calculated based on the number of continents you visit. The continents are counted even if you only change planes there (eg. stopping in Asia on a flight from Europe to Australia), and the continent count includes the continent of origin. See below for backtracking rules. You can fly up to 16 segments in total.
Q: Can I backtrack?
A: You can backtrack within countries and continents, but you cannot re-enter a continent after leaving it, except: (a) a transit without stopover in Asia on a flight between Europe and SWP or vice versa, (b) a transit without stopover in North America on a flight between South America and SWP, Asia or Europe or vice versa, (c) two permitted in Europe/Middle, for travel originating in Africa, Africa - Europe/Middle East - RTW - Europe/Middle East - Africa, for travel originating other than Africa, Europe/Middle East - Africa - Europe/Middle East, one of the visits to Europe/Middle East must be a transfer without stopover between Africa and the previous/next continent, if travel to/from Europe in both directions, itinerary may not include Mauritius/South Africa.
Any of these transit without stopover benefits can be taken in either direction (eg. Europe-SWP or SWP-Europe) and either before or after you wish to enter the continent for the second time to use your stopovers there. You can only leave and re-enter the continent of origin once, except for North America where you may have an additional transit without stopover.
Q: What are the continents on which the fare is calculated? Which countries are in which continent?
A: Forget all your geography lessons, and take a look at the map accessible by clicking this hyperlink and you should see the continents. For those who prefer the text, oneworld defines the continents as follows:
North America = United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean area, Central America and Panama
South America = all of South America other than Panama
Europe = all of Europe, including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and all of the Middle East including Egypt and Sudan
Africa = all of Africa other than Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia
Asia = all of Asia excluding everything in the South West Pacific
South West Pacific = all of the South West Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand
Q: How many of those 16 segments can I use in each continent?
A: You get four (4) segments in each of Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and South West Pacific, and six (6) segments in North America. None of the intercontinental flights, including those across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, count against any continent allowance, although obviously they do count against your 16 segment total allowance. There are, in addition, other restrictions you need to be aware of.
Q: What about surface segments (eg arrive at LGA and depart from JFK)?
A: These are counted towards the total of 16 segments.
Q: Are there any other restrictions that I have per region/continent?
A: Yes:
Europe - Not more than two Europe/Middle East segments may be used for journeys between the U.K. and the following: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Funchal, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tunisia, Ukraine, and the Middle East. You get four segments in Europe, so if you go from Heathrow to, say, Dubai, you cannot then go from Heathrow to Greece and back.
Americas - Within North America, only one transcontinental flight is allowed between selected cities on the East and West Coasts. "Transcontinental" is defined as a flight between one of ATL/BWI/BOS/CLT/FLL/BDL/MIA/EWR/NYC/ORL/PHL/PIT/SJU/RDU/TPA/YYZ/WAS/PBI and one of LAS/LGB/LAX/OAK/PHX/PDX/SAN/SFO/SJC/SNA/SEA/YVR. Also, in North America only one segment is permitted between the continental US and Hawaii (so if you want to visit Hawaii, you must go to/from Australia), and only one flight to/from ANC (Anchorage, Alaska) is permitted.
South West Pacific - within Australia only one flight is permitted between:
* Perth, and Brisbane, Canberra, Cairns, Melbourne or Sydney
* Darwin, and Canberra, Melbourne or Sydney
* Broome, and Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney
* Dampier, and Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney
Exceptions - there is no restriction between Sydney/Melbourne & Perth for passengers originating in:
* Perth, when in conjunction with travel to/from Jo'burg/Shanghai
* New Zealand, when in conjunction with travel to/from Jo'burg
Q: Can I take the QF flight from LAX-JFK (or vice versa) even if I don't have an onward flight with QF?
A: No. The rules would appear to allow it, but in actual practice QF does not. (Edited to add: The OWE rules don't prohibit it, but QF does not have 5th freedom rights to carry passengers solely between LAX and JFK, i.e., domestically within the U.S. The Passenger must originate/terminate in Australia.)
Q: Can I buy more segments?
A: This is no longer permitted. If you want to exceed the per-continent segment limit, one option is to add a "side trip" which are additional flights that are part of the ticket but calculated and priced per their own fare; you are still limited to a maximum of 16 sectors on one ticket. Another option is to include one or more flights in the booking record that are priced and ticketed separately; since such flights are on their own ticket, they do not count against the 16 segment limit of the main ticket. Not all agents or airlines are comfortable issuing separate tickets out of one booking record, so it is easier to book in a new record, but keeping al flights in one record and issuing separate tickets is often used to increase the ease of having connections protected when there are flight delays, schedule changes, etc.
Q: What about stopovers? What are the rules? And benefits?
A: A stopover is break in your journey of more than 24 hours. You can have as many stopovers as you like (one per segment if you like), but you cannot have more than two stopovers in the continent of origin. The key thing here is the 24-hour rule, and there are two main benefits. First, at some airports (eg. LHR) not having a stopover can save significant taxes as you will be classed as a passenger in transit, and second, you can stop for dinner and a night with friends, even if you are out of stopovers in the country of origin.
Q: Where can I fly on a ONE ticket?
A: You can get an idea of available destinations from the maps on the AA website at this hyperlink; just select oneworld cities once the relevant area has loaded. There is also a pretty bad map on the oneworld website here.
Q: What tools are available for working out my itinerary and the airline timetables?
A) You can access the official oneworld trip planner on https://rtw.oneworld.com/rtw/ - this includes the ability to book most itineraries online.
Q: Can I end my itinerary in a city other than the one where I started?
A: Yes. You can separate your origin and destination under any of the following circumstances: anywhere within the country of origin, between the US and Canada, anywhere within Africa, anywhere within the Middle East, between Hong Kong and China, between Malaysia and Singapore, or between Maldives and Sri Lanka or India. So you could start in CAI and end in DXB, but could not start in JFK and end in MEX.
Booking Tickets:
Q: The booking classes are A (first), D (business) and L (economy). If I buy a first class ticket and there is no first class on my flight, what happens?
A: That depends on what you mean by "no first class." If the seat inventory (A in this case, but the same goes for D) is not available for the flight you want and you can't get a flight that does have available inventory, you get downgraded to the next available inventory class (A goes down to D, and D goes down to L) and no compensation or refund is payable. Except on two class US domestic flights, if the plane is only one class (all economy) or two class (economy and business), then you get downgraded and no compensation or refund is payable. On two class US domestic flights and QR flights within the Middle East, if you hold a D class ticket you can book into the A (first) inventory, if it is available, at no extra charge. On domestic flights on AE (American Eagle), AY, and LA (which are one class except LA's SCL-IPC), all A and D tickets book into the Y (full fare economy) inventory bucket which means it is economy seating, but there should be plenty of availability.
Q: Can I upgrade some of the segments to fly business/first class?
A: In limited circumstances. Your options are: (a) you can upgrade your entire itinerary - subject to availability - by paying the higher class fare but otherwise without penalty, (b) flights operated by AA may be upgraded with AA miles, (c) US/Canada domestic flights operated by AA may be upgraded with 500-mile "sticker" upgrades issued by AA, (d) flights operated by CX may be upgraded using CX miles, (e) flights marketed and operated by JL may be upgraded using JL miles, and (f) flights operated by QF may be upgraded using QF miles/upgrade credits. BA also offers "on board" upgrades for prices ranging from GBP200 up if there is a spare seat on board. Talk to the purser when you board, but these upgrades only qualify for the mileage/status you originally booked. For instance if you were in BA economy and upgraded on board to WT+ for GBP200 on LHR-SIN, you only get the discount economy miles, not the WT+ miles.
Q: Can I upgrade some of the segments to fly premium economy class ?
A: Economy class can be upgraded to CX,JL,QF premium economy cabin or BA World Traveller Plus cabin for an additional charge, per flight segments.
USD1450 for SWP-Asia, SWP-Europe/Middle East, SWP-Norrh America, SWP-South America. USD350 for SEA-South Asian Subcontinent, SEA-Japan/Korea, USD250 for within SEA,Australia,Middle East. USD950 for all ohter sectors.
Booking class: BA(T), JL(E), CX(R), QF(R).
Q: What is an open segment and why would I book that?
A: An open segment is basically setting your itinerary in advance, but not confirming your seat on the plane. You do this by leaving the date on the flight coupon (eg. LHR-JFK) open, even though you have decided that you will at some point be flying that route. You might do this as it is easier to change your travel timing as you go. If you set all the flight dates and then needed to make a change at some point, you may have to change all the onward flights and not just the next one or two.
The downside is that you need the inventory to be available on the date you finally want to travel, and on some routes/carriers at certain times of the year, A and D inventory may have limited availability. Further, it gives you no protection should a route be discontinued. If a route between XXX and YYY is discontinued, you then will have to pay the reroute fee and use an additional segment to fly XXX-ZZZ-YYY.
Q: Can I change my mind?
A: Yes, you will find the *ONE* to be a reasonably flexible ticket. Date/time changes are permitted at no charge, and subject to availability you can change the oneworld carrier you want to use without charge as long as there is no change in origin/destination and intermediate points (eg. changing BA to QF for a flight SYD-LHR). Changes other than date/time (routing is the obvious change) incur a US$125 charge and the ticket is reissued, with some carriers charging you a service fee. Date/time changes are permitted at no charge, but routing changes incur a US$125 charge, and again some carriers charge you a service fee. The rules don't state that routing changes in this case are a reissue (see below about what happens if the rules change). The number of continents/extra flight segments may be increased or decreased and you will be charged/refunded accordingly. If you change the date or time of your first flight and the ticket price has increased since you bought the ticket, you'll pay the higher fare. If you need to cancel before departure, tickets originating in North or South America incur a penalty of 10% of the ticket price, tickets originating elsewhere incur no penalty. If you need to cancel after departure, all tickets other than those originating in SWP (no penalty) or Japan (lower of 10% penalty or JPY50,000) incur a 10% penalty. You may get a refund of the unused portion of your ticket based on the cost of the flights used to date and the penalty due.
Q: What happens if the rules on my ticket change, or are about to change?
A: If the rules change before your ticket is issued, then the new rules will apply and you will have to change any existing reservations that are not permitted under the new rules. If the rules change after your ticket is issued, the rules that apply are those that were in force when your ticket was issued. But be aware - if after the rules change you want to cancel the ticket, or to do something not permitted under the old rules, then the ticket will be cancelled and reissued, and the new rules will apply. If you are worried about rule changes and want to maximize your flexibility, set your last flight to be 12 months after the date of your first flight (which is permitted). This gives you 12 months' worth of flexibility once you start travelling since date changes are currently free of charge. To give yourself even more flexibility, get your ticket issued up to 12 months in advance of your first flight (which is also permitted), which gives you an effective 2 year lock on the rules as long as you don't change that first flight.
Q: How much does the ticket cost?
A: The base ticket price depends on the number of continents you visit, a minimum of three and a maximum of six, and the starting country. Oneworld no longer publishes a list of base ticket prices. Taxes and charges are added to this base ticket price as determined by your itinerary. Note that similar or even identical itineraries can thus have varied pricing depending on which airlines you fly and/or use to ticket as charges can vary between airlines flown and ticketing . Infants under 2 and not occupying a seat are charged 10% of the adult fare. Children 2-11 and occupying a seat are charged 75% of the adult fare, except for tickets originating in India where they pay 67% of the adult fare.
Q: If I pony up the money for an A ticket, which routes still have "real" first class?
A: This is a bit of a moving target, but essentially the following routes have traditional first class service on a three class plane (all include the reverse routes too):
AA - LHR to LAX, JFK, ORD, BOS and MIA; NRT to LAX, SJC and JFK; GRU to MIA and JFK; DFW to LGW and FRA; and some flights MIA to EZE
BA - LHR to SYD, HKG, SIN, NRT, HND, KUL, PEK, PVG, JFK, EWR, YYZ, YVR, BOS, PHL, ATL, AUS, DFW, DEN, IAH, LAX, LAS, SJC, SAN, IAD, PHX, SFO, SEA, MIA, JNB, CPT, DXB, AUH, MCT, DOH, ABV, LOS, ACC, BOM, NBO, GRU, SCL, MEX, DEL, BLR, BAH, JED, RUH, KWI, TLV and CAI; LGW to BGI, BDA, GND, POS, UVF
CX - HKG to LHR, JFK, LAX, YVR, FRA, SFO, and CDG; some flights HKG to HND, and unpredictably to NRT, SIN, BKK, MNL, KIX, SEL, TPE, and CGK.
JL - HND to CDG, LHR, and SFO; NRT to JFK, LAX, ORD, CGK, and SYD.
QF - LAX to JFK, SYD and MEL; SYD-SFO + SFO-YVR (seasonal), LHR to SIN, BKK, HKG, SYD and MEL; some flights HKG to SYD and MEL, SYD-JNB (seasonal F Class offering?), although one weekly SYD-JNB (Fridays?) and SYD-SFO service is operated by Qantas' 2-class 747-400s (no First Class, only J/Y).
QR - Any route served by the Airbus 380.
Q: Have there been any problems with handwritten tickets?
A: You need to confirm that each airline receives the ticket number for the flights that are booked on them. In particular, Cathay has been known to cancel space if it has not received the ticket number. Although the booking airline should send the ticket number to all airlines on the itinerary, it is best to call Cathay to assure they have received it.
Code:
: 104N . * WHEN A TICKET MUST BE HANDWRITTEN, IT IS 105N . NECESSARY TO MANUALLY INSERT AN SSR MESSAGE TO 106N . ADVISE THE TICKET NUMBER TO ALL CARRIERS IN THE 107N . ITINERARY. THIS WILL PREVENT THE OTHER CARRIERS 108N . FROM CANCELING SPACE DUE TO NO TICKET NUMBER. Booking Class: AONEx DONEx IONEx LONEx AA(except AA2755-6099) A D I L AA2755-6099 D/Y D/Y I L BA/CX/KA/MH/QF/QR A D I LAB/HG/IB/RJ/UL D D I L S7 D D D L AY International D D I L AY Domestic Y Y Y L JL International A D I L JL/NU Domestic F J J Y JJ J/W D/W I/W LLA International J/W D/W I/W L XL/4M International J/W D I LLA IPC-SCL vv J/W D I L LA/XL/4M Domestic Y Y Y LAA PREMIUM ECONOMY P IB PREMIUM ECONOMY T BA WORLD TRAVELLER PLUS T CX/QF PREMIUM ECONOMY R JL PREMIUM ECONOMY E
Miles and Status:
This is a very difficult section, since what you will earn in terms of miles and elite status depends on which airline program you want to use. As a related point, you may find that a routing needs to be constructed using or avoiding certain oneworld airlines because of the mileage-earning implications. For instance, L class tickets on BA gets 25% miles when booked to the QF program, but the same L ticket on the QF codeshare earns 100% QF miles. All programs are geared off the booking class, so knowing the booking class and the flight number/operator are the key points. The best advice is to thoroughly check the earning rules for your preferred program(s), and if necessary, post questions on your local airline forum if you are unsure. That said, there a very general FAQ that the regulars on this forum thought should be posted.
Q: I know that the booking classes are A, D and L, but what happens to my miles if I am booked into another class?
A: Generally you will earn miles for the class in which you travel. If you are downgraded from A to D, you will earn D miles/status. Similarly, if you are on a domestic US flight and your D ticket is booked into the A inventory, you will earn A miles/status. If you upgrade individual flights, you receive the miles for the flight in which you were booked originally (ie. before the upgrade) except for pre-paid WT+ upgrades where you get the applicable WT+ miles/status. As said above, on board upgrades on BA earn miles/status for the class originally booked.
Q: Is there a consistent baggage limit, and if so, what is it?
A: The xONEx checked baggage allowance is 2 pieces. Each carrier can specify its own limit on the maximum weight allowed per piece. On some it is 32kg, on others it is 23kg, and there may be variations for some flights (eg QF domestic prop flights have a lower limit).
Further Information:
All the above information comes from the universal starfiles, which are the rules applicable to these (and other) tickets. Some very nice FTers have obtained copies of the rules and posted them on their websites. Note though that since the airlines do not routinely make the starfiles available to the public there may be a time lag in updated files becoming available to this community.
The oneworld.com does now routinely publish the rules which can be found by searching on their website via http://www.oneworld.com/search-results?q=rules
Validity Tools to check your routing
This tool is great for doing initial validity checks on your routing: http://www.slfft.org/mm/award.htm
If this location is inaccessible, see this thread for more information: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...ml#post6954703
Earning AA miles & status https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...-miles-aa.html
Edit
AB Air Berlin shut down 28 Oct 2017
LA Latam left OW May 2020
AT joined OW 1 April 2020
The oneworld explorer ticket FAQs
Jul 28, 2016 | 11:54 am
#1516
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,013
Quick question, mostly to make sure I read the fare rules correctly: I booked an ex-SA DONE5 in March 2016 with BA. I might need to cancel the RTW ticket, and I would like to if I am correct in assuming that I would be able to get 100% refund on the BA issued ex-SA DONE5..? Thanks for your help!
From the JNBJNB BA DONE5 Penalties category,
Code:
CANCELLATIONS AND REFUNDS
1/ AFTER TICKET ISSUE -
FORFEIT 10PCT OF TICKETED FARE FOR ECONOMY CLASS
FARES.
FORFEIT 5PCT OF TICKETED FARE FOR BUSINESS/FIRST
CLASS FARES.
2/ IN CASE OF REFUSAL OF OFFICAL DOCUMENTS/ENTRY
PERMIT/VISA A FULL REFUND WILL APPLY PROVIDED
OFFICIAL DOCUMENTATION FROM THE APPROVED AUTHORITY
IS PRODUCED AND ATTACHED TO THE REFUND REQUEST.
Jul 29, 2016 | 11:25 am
#1517
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: San Diego
Posts: 104
Hi all.
I'm new to the Explorer Ticket arena, but really interested and trying to get up to speed on it. I am really curious about the tickets out of MPM. Has anyone (not based there) been able to secure one of those tickets? It looks like Ajnaro has and Danger is in the process? If so, how? Have you run into issues with DOH being the only route in/out? I get an error message essentially saying that I can't go through there twice. I appreciate any info to get me started...and I appreciate your patience with my newbieness.
I'm new to the Explorer Ticket arena, but really interested and trying to get up to speed on it. I am really curious about the tickets out of MPM. Has anyone (not based there) been able to secure one of those tickets? It looks like Ajnaro has and Danger is in the process? If so, how? Have you run into issues with DOH being the only route in/out? I get an error message essentially saying that I can't go through there twice. I appreciate any info to get me started...and I appreciate your patience with my newbieness.
Jul 29, 2016 | 11:44 am
#1518
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,684
I like these ex-MPM tickets so much that this week I have bought two of them
One will start in September and the other in June next year.
The first one I bought through a travel agent in Australia (see post #48 in this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...periences.html)
The second I bought direct from AA by phoning its ATW desk in Dallas - see post #59)
You say you're getting an error message - are you using the online tool to try and book? Don't! The tool cannot sell you a ticket with Qatar Airways as the first carrier, and also it cannot handle the new backtracking rules which came into effect in May.
Your itinerary will have to start with MPM-DOH because that is the only Oneworld flight out of Mozambique. At the end you must return to Africa - but you are not required to return to Mozambique. I think most people are finishing in JNB, though on my second ticket I am ending in DKR
Feel free to post your proposed itinerary in this forum and I'm sure you will get many helpful comments
One will start in September and the other in June next year.
The first one I bought through a travel agent in Australia (see post #48 in this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...periences.html)
The second I bought direct from AA by phoning its ATW desk in Dallas - see post #59)
You say you're getting an error message - are you using the online tool to try and book? Don't! The tool cannot sell you a ticket with Qatar Airways as the first carrier, and also it cannot handle the new backtracking rules which came into effect in May.
Your itinerary will have to start with MPM-DOH because that is the only Oneworld flight out of Mozambique. At the end you must return to Africa - but you are not required to return to Mozambique. I think most people are finishing in JNB, though on my second ticket I am ending in DKR
Feel free to post your proposed itinerary in this forum and I'm sure you will get many helpful comments
Jul 29, 2016 | 3:52 pm
#1519
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: San Diego
Posts: 104
I like these ex-MPM tickets so much that this week I have bought two of them
One will start in September and the other in June next year.
The first one I bought through a travel agent in Australia (see post #48 in this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...periences.html)
The second I bought direct from AA by phoning its ATW desk in Dallas - see post #59)
You say you're getting an error message - are you using the online tool to try and book? Don't! The tool cannot sell you a ticket with Qatar Airways as the first carrier, and also it cannot handle the new backtracking rules which came into effect in May.
Your itinerary will have to start with MPM-DOH because that is the only Oneworld flight out of Mozambique. At the end you must return to Africa - but you are not required to return to Mozambique. I think most people are finishing in JNB, though on my second ticket I am ending in DKR
Feel free to post your proposed itinerary in this forum and I'm sure you will get many helpful comments
One will start in September and the other in June next year.
The first one I bought through a travel agent in Australia (see post #48 in this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...periences.html)
The second I bought direct from AA by phoning its ATW desk in Dallas - see post #59)
You say you're getting an error message - are you using the online tool to try and book? Don't! The tool cannot sell you a ticket with Qatar Airways as the first carrier, and also it cannot handle the new backtracking rules which came into effect in May.
Your itinerary will have to start with MPM-DOH because that is the only Oneworld flight out of Mozambique. At the end you must return to Africa - but you are not required to return to Mozambique. I think most people are finishing in JNB, though on my second ticket I am ending in DKR
Feel free to post your proposed itinerary in this forum and I'm sure you will get many helpful comments
As others had posted, I thought that you had to return to your departure city, so that is really helpful.
Yes- I was using the online tool to figure out how everything worked and then, of course, I was trying to see how the MPM priced out.
As far as itinerary goes, here are my thoughts...keeping in mind that I just started looking at all of this this week:
MPM - manila- singapore-sydney- LAX (this is home, so I would stay a few months before taking off on part 2) from here either Buenos Aires or straight to Paris (a couple of months in Europe and maybe fly back to California on miles) pick back up in Paris and then end in MPM or JNB.
Do people ever do it like this or do they do the entire trip at once?
Based on the thread you directed me to, it sounds like the great fare may be gone soon. But, if I have understood correctly, It is not too difficult to make changes if I want to lock in that fare now and tweak it later?
Jul 29, 2016 | 8:14 pm
#1520
Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: QFF
Posts: 5,304
Lots of people do that sort of thing when starting elsewhere other then home. I haven't, simply because I have a limit to the length of time I get get off work in any one go and can't plan ahead into the next year.
Based on the comments from the AA RTW agents posted in the forum, the MPM fare has been passed up to someone for review.
They generally do fare changes when they do rule changes, typically in the first week of a month.
They are very likely to change the fare people have been booking recently. Such a change is likely to happen either next week or during the first week of September.
If you were to lock in that fare now, then make changes to it later, don't make changes until after the first flight has been used. If you do so after ticketing, but before departure, they are likely to reprice the entire thing, while doing it later should only cost the 125USD change fee, any admin fee that airline might want to charge and any increase to taxes.
Based on the thread you directed me to, it sounds like the great fare may be gone soon. But, if I have understood correctly, It is not too difficult to make changes if I want to lock in that fare now and tweak it later?
They generally do fare changes when they do rule changes, typically in the first week of a month.
They are very likely to change the fare people have been booking recently. Such a change is likely to happen either next week or during the first week of September.
If you were to lock in that fare now, then make changes to it later, don't make changes until after the first flight has been used. If you do so after ticketing, but before departure, they are likely to reprice the entire thing, while doing it later should only cost the 125USD change fee, any admin fee that airline might want to charge and any increase to taxes.
Jul 29, 2016 | 8:25 pm
#1521
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL
Programs: AA 4MM EXP; Starwood Lifetime Plt
Posts: 2,498
Jul 30, 2016 | 1:42 am
#1522
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,684
...
As far as itinerary goes, here are my thoughts...keeping in mind that I just started looking at all of this this week:
MPM - manila- singapore-sydney- LAX (this is home, so I would stay a few months before taking off on part 2) from here either Buenos Aires or straight to Paris (a couple of months in Europe and maybe fly back to California on miles) pick back up in Paris and then end in MPM or JNB.
Do people ever do it like this or do they do the entire trip at once?
Based on the thread you directed me to, it sounds like the great fare may be gone soon. But, if I have understood correctly, It is not too difficult to make changes if I want to lock in that fare now and tweak it later?
As far as itinerary goes, here are my thoughts...keeping in mind that I just started looking at all of this this week:
MPM - manila- singapore-sydney- LAX (this is home, so I would stay a few months before taking off on part 2) from here either Buenos Aires or straight to Paris (a couple of months in Europe and maybe fly back to California on miles) pick back up in Paris and then end in MPM or JNB.
Do people ever do it like this or do they do the entire trip at once?
Based on the thread you directed me to, it sounds like the great fare may be gone soon. But, if I have understood correctly, It is not too difficult to make changes if I want to lock in that fare now and tweak it later?
Your itinerary looks something like this MPM-xDOH-MNL-HKG-SIN-SYD-LAX-SCL-EZE-MAD-CDG-MAD-JNB
The xDOH means just a transit there, no stopover; that way you can have your European stopovers at the end of the trip.
There are no Oneworld flights MNL-SIN, LAX-EZE, EZE-CDG or CDG-JNB so I added in connecting flights.
Your ticket will be a six continent Oneworld Explorer, so expect to pay ~USD4,500 – 5,000 for business class.
Your itinerary uses 12 of the allowed 16 segments.
So you could use the extra segments to:
- Have flights within Asia, South West Pacific, South America, or Europe (you are allowed up to 4 flights within each of these continents, but remember you are limited to 16 flights overall), OR
- Have trips within North America during your break back home; you are allowed up to 6 flights within North America (there is a restriction on trans-continental flights) – so perhaps trips like LAX-MBJ-LAX, LAX-BZE-LAX or LAX-SJD-LAX
If you want to do that sort of thing, but the 16 flight limit becomes a problem then think of doing some of the following:
- Instead of MNL-HKG-SIN-SYD do MNL-KUL-SYD and train or bus from KUL down to SIN and back
- Instead of EZE-MAD-CDG-MAD-JNB do EZE-MAD-JNB and train from MAD to Paris and back
FWIW, I expect the fares to increase on Sunday night
.The general rule is that changes to ticketed points (meaning dropping or adding points) incur a USD125 fee (one fee for all the changes you are making at one time); and simple changes to a flight are free (such as changing the flight number, date or time).
HOWEVER, there are special provisions if you want to make changes BEFORE departure (meaning before you take the first flight on the itinerary) – if you want to do anything to that first flight or you want to change ticketed points then if the fare has INCREASED since you purchased then you must pay the new fare.
Since we all expect the ex-MPM fare to increase soon, you need to be fairly certain of that first flight.
Last edited by pandaperth; Jul 30, 2016 at 1:47 am
Jul 30, 2016 | 7:09 am
#1523
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: country Western Australia
Programs: QF WP(LTS) - AA LTG(1MM)
Posts: 2,857
And I will second the hope that the OW bureaucracy moves with due deliberation as I won't be able to pin dates down until the end of next week. At least at the moment WDH is only marginally (well in the worldwide sense) more expensive. But I was planning on a surface trip from JNB to Maputo
Happy wandering
Fred
Jul 30, 2016 | 7:15 am
#1524
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: A3 *G, AA exePlat, AS MVP 75k Gold, JL sapphire, UA silver
Posts: 4,786
Well actually the first TWO flights if you are not stopping in DOH.
And I will second the hope that the OW bureaucracy moves with due deliberation as I won't be able to pin dates down until the end of next week. At least at the moment WDH is only marginally (well in the worldwide sense) more expensive. But I was planning on a surface trip from JNB to Maputo
Happy wandering
Fred
And I will second the hope that the OW bureaucracy moves with due deliberation as I won't be able to pin dates down until the end of next week. At least at the moment WDH is only marginally (well in the worldwide sense) more expensive. But I was planning on a surface trip from JNB to Maputo
Happy wandering
Fred
Jul 30, 2016 | 7:43 am
#1525
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,684
I too am planning a surface trip JNB-DOH, in about six weeks time (currently in ZNZ). When will you be doing it Fred?
I doubt the fares ex-WDH are on the airlines' radar screens at the moment. Their focus will be on the ex-MPM fares if what we are hearing is correct (statements like "we must do something about these low fares" and "this is about the 10th ex-MPM fare I've done this week)
However, once they "enhance" the ex-MPM fares, if they then see a spike in ex-WDH fares...
Jul 30, 2016 | 8:34 am
#1526
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: A3 *G, AA exePlat, AS MVP 75k Gold, JL sapphire, UA silver
Posts: 4,786
Yes, you are right of course - the first two flights if transiting DOH
I too am planning a surface trip JNB-DOH, in about six weeks time (currently in ZNZ). When will you be doing it Fred?
I doubt the fares ex-WDH are on the airlines' radar screens at the moment. Their focus will be on the ex-MPM fares if what we are hearing is correct (statements like "we must do something about these low fares" and "this is about the 10th ex-MPM fare I've done this week)
However, once they "enhance" the ex-MPM fares, if they then see a spike in ex-WDH fares...
I too am planning a surface trip JNB-DOH, in about six weeks time (currently in ZNZ). When will you be doing it Fred?
I doubt the fares ex-WDH are on the airlines' radar screens at the moment. Their focus will be on the ex-MPM fares if what we are hearing is correct (statements like "we must do something about these low fares" and "this is about the 10th ex-MPM fare I've done this week)
However, once they "enhance" the ex-MPM fares, if they then see a spike in ex-WDH fares...
it is amazing that i booked a done3 last august ex japan, then done4.ex.jnb in jan and then now a.done5 ex mpm... they get cheaper and cheaper..
Jul 30, 2016 | 9:41 am
#1527
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: San Diego
Posts: 104
Your itinerary looks something like this MPM-xDOH-MNL-HKG-SIN-SYD-LAX-SCL-EZE-MAD-CDG-MAD-JNB
The xDOH means just a transit there, no stopover; that way you can have your European stopovers at the end of the trip.
There are no Oneworld flights MNL-SIN, LAX-EZE, EZE-CDG or CDG-JNB so I added in connecting flights.
The xDOH means just a transit there, no stopover; that way you can have your European stopovers at the end of the trip.
There are no Oneworld flights MNL-SIN, LAX-EZE, EZE-CDG or CDG-JNB so I added in connecting flights.
Again, thank you all so much. The information you are all providing is invaluable. I am going to try to lock this in this weekend. I am just hoping AA's RTW desk is open on weekends.
I have a solid idea of where I want to go and when I would take my first two flights. If I am understanding what I have read and what you all are telling me, the dates of the flights that follow can be changed. When I use the online planner, the calendar only opens up to June 2017. Is that a restriction with the planner only or will I have the same problem when I call AA?
I have been up since the crack of dawn trying to put something together. I would appreciate any input and any help on a couple of hitches I have run into. I'm also going to try to use this fancy new lingo I have been learning.
<--- and emojis.I want to book and ex-MPM DONE4:
MPM-xDOH-SIN-(Surface Sector SIN-DPS)-DPS-HKG-MNL-HKG-LAX-MAD-VIE-HEL-CDG-DOH-SEZ-DOH-JNB
The problem I am running into is SEZ-DOH-JNB at the end. A message pops up that says "100: You may have only one intercontinental departure and arrival in each continent. Change your route or your flight choice."
If I were to travel to SEZ via somewhere other than DOH, do you think that would help?
Jul 30, 2016 | 9:56 am
#1528
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: A3 *G, AA exePlat, AS MVP 75k Gold, JL sapphire, UA silver
Posts: 4,786
THANK YOU pandaperth!
Again, thank you all so much. The information you are all providing is invaluable. I am going to try to lock this in this weekend. I am just hoping AA's RTW desk is open on weekends.
I have a solid idea of where I want to go and when I would take my first two flights. If I am understanding what I have read and what you all are telling me, the dates of the flights that follow can be changed. When I use the online planner, the calendar only opens up to June 2017. Is that a restriction with the planner only or will I have the same problem when I call AA?
I have been up since the crack of dawn trying to put something together. I would appreciate any input and any help on a couple of hitches I have run into. I'm also going to try to use this fancy new lingo I have been learning. <--- and emojis.
I want to book and ex-MPM DONE4:
MPM-xDOH-SIN-(Surface Sector SIN-DPS)-DPS-HKG-MNL-HKG-LAX-MAD-VIE-HEL-CDG-DOH-SEZ-DOH-JNB
The problem I am running into is SEZ-DOH-JNB at the end. A message pops up that says "100: You may have only one intercontinental departure and arrival in each continent. Change your route or your flight choice."
If I were to travel to SEZ via somewhere other than DOH, do you think that would help?
Again, thank you all so much. The information you are all providing is invaluable. I am going to try to lock this in this weekend. I am just hoping AA's RTW desk is open on weekends.
I have a solid idea of where I want to go and when I would take my first two flights. If I am understanding what I have read and what you all are telling me, the dates of the flights that follow can be changed. When I use the online planner, the calendar only opens up to June 2017. Is that a restriction with the planner only or will I have the same problem when I call AA?
I have been up since the crack of dawn trying to put something together. I would appreciate any input and any help on a couple of hitches I have run into. I'm also going to try to use this fancy new lingo I have been learning.
<--- and emojis.I want to book and ex-MPM DONE4:
MPM-xDOH-SIN-(Surface Sector SIN-DPS)-DPS-HKG-MNL-HKG-LAX-MAD-VIE-HEL-CDG-DOH-SEZ-DOH-JNB
The problem I am running into is SEZ-DOH-JNB at the end. A message pops up that says "100: You may have only one intercontinental departure and arrival in each continent. Change your route or your flight choice."
If I were to travel to SEZ via somewhere other than DOH, do you think that would help?
Jul 30, 2016 | 11:17 am
#1530
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,684
I want to book and ex-MPM DONE4:
MPM-xDOH-SIN-(Surface Sector SIN-DPS)-DPS-HKG-MNL-HKG-LAX-MAD-VIE-HEL-CDG-DOH-SEZ-DOH-JNB
The problem I am running into is SEZ-DOH-JNB at the end. A message pops up that says "100: You may have only one intercontinental departure and arrival in each continent. Change your route or your flight choice."
If I were to travel to SEZ via somewhere other than DOH, do you think that would help?
MPM-xDOH-SIN-(Surface Sector SIN-DPS)-DPS-HKG-MNL-HKG-LAX-MAD-VIE-HEL-CDG-DOH-SEZ-DOH-JNB
The problem I am running into is SEZ-DOH-JNB at the end. A message pops up that says "100: You may have only one intercontinental departure and arrival in each continent. Change your route or your flight choice."
If I were to travel to SEZ via somewhere other than DOH, do you think that would help?
I am in correspondence with AA on this - it is being looked at by them, but I have no idea how soon I will get a response, nor what the response will be of course. There has been discussion of this problem in this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...periences.html
As regards getting to SEZ - you could just finish with DOH-SEZ, in other words this flight is your return to Africa. And then make your way home from there, instead of from some other place in Africa. (Always assuming you can get someone to ticket your itinerary.
)