The tool assumes you are booking it from where the trip starts, regardless of what the billing address says. I have booked a number of DONE3's via the tool out of NRT and ICN while located in (with billing address) CBR - which the airline issuing the ticket also knew.
A few years ago, when QF still issued tickets booked via the tool for JL, a credit card issue popped up and QF Tokyo asked QF Sydney to contact me, I was still charged the ex japan price in JPY.

The problem is all the bugs in the tool. Since AA took over ticketing for JL, almost every option to start out of Japan will result in a bug which prevents booking completion.

If we can use a TA local to the starting country then I don't think this is a big deal. If I recall, I think back then even this wouldn't work as the TA would have to charge us the price of our residence and only Canadian TAs were allowed to charge the starting country fare?

Thanks!

No, the cost is based on where the ticket is issued. In the vast majority of cases, the ticket is issued where you happen to be (normally your country of residence).
An ex-NRT ticket issued in Japan will cost the Japan price in JPY.
An ex-NRT ticket issued in America will cost the US price in USD.
The now gone "Canadian Exception" allowed for an ex-NRT ticket to be issued in Canada and cost the Japan price in CAD.

The main problem is finding a travel agent in the country of departure who is willing to do everything electronically/over phone without wanting to see the card.

ex-JNB QF
 

Back in December I booked a DONE5 business class out of Johannesburg on Qantas. I couldn't pay for it online for some reason, so I called the local Qantas office (in Tokyo) and they sent an email to the Joburg office with my credit card details, and half a day later I got a confirmation email from Joburg and I was good to go.

Since then I've needed to change dates on my flights at least 5 times, and it hasn't cost a thing. I didn't feel like asking directly, but after talking to them so many times it came out that on biz class they don't charge for date changes (they do on economy) but they still charge for routing changes - US$125 each time they have to redo the ticket, which can include as many changes as you want in one go.

There aren't any change fees to change date, time, flight or carrier. The only fee is if routing is changed (which includes changing a less then 24h "connection" to a stopover).
I've made changes to LONE4's, DONE3's, LGLOB26's and DAS13's with AA, BA, QF, JL and CX over the years for no cost.
I've made one routing change on an LONE4 for no cost, but that was due to rioting in BKK and a number of airlines and governments having wavers and warnings out.
There are however reports of some airlines charging "service" fees to make the free changes.

Thanks for the clarification Himeno!

So ...

Assuming I do have a Japan based TA who's willing to work with me, I can used my AU based credit card to pay for the ticket or will that count as ex-NRT ticket costing the Japan price in AUD?

Assuming you do have a Japan based TA who's willing to work with you, you will pay the ex-NRT price in JPY. The bank will exchange that and process it in AUD.

So in this case, since AA can ticket locally in Japan, is it possible to call the RTW desk, have them build it, and then send to Japan AA office for ticketing and payment? From what I've read, it seems this should be possible, but I've also seen conflicting reports. I'm looking for actual experiences (and if nobody has any to share, I'll of course go ahead and give it a try and report back)

Yes, that is how it works. At least that's how it has worked many times for me. The AA RTW desk fares the ticket and sets it up for ticketing in the country you specify. Then the TA in that country calls AA and picks the itinerary up for ticketing.

Why involve the RTW desk at DFW?
 

From my recent experience, calling the overseas AA office in South Africa reached very knowledgeable and helpful agents who produced AONE4 tickets within a few days. The only significant downside was the time offset from my California base.

A plus was that, when the rate desk hadn't gotten around to pricing my tickets after a couple of days, one of the agents in South Africa priced it himself. I did purposely start with a minimalist trip - I didn't know what I was going to fly beyond the first couple of segments, and $125 seemed small change for having ticket in hand.

English seemed to be the default language; I don't know if you'd find the same in Japan (assuming that's your language too). And I don't know if the folks there are as well trained. But the agent in Cape Town was not the least surprised when I asked to book an AONE4 and took and processed my booking in a most professional manner, and I'd hope for the same in Asia.

I booked a DONE4 ex-NRT a couple of years ago. Set up the itinerary and PNR with the RTW desk, got it priced for pickup at NRT, then paid for it in a turnaround. The whole thing took maybe 30 min. at the AA desks at NRT, mainly because they had to find the (paper) tickets at the "advanced sales" desk. I had confirmed the ticket's readiness with AA's Japan office on the (Skype) phone before I headed to Japan.

ooma

Sadly, there is now an error message on the website link with the RTW prices and a note saying there is no ETA on fixing the site and problems with the underlying data :(

I am based on the West Coast of the US but am wanting to book a business class RTW for a trip of a lifetime.

Given the link is no longer active, I was hoping someone on here might know off hand:

1. Whether Japan is the cheapest country to originate such a ticket in Asia, or if there are other better or comparable options in Asia? ...It seems as if Japan is mentioned most frequently on flyertalk, followed by Korea. I will just pay for a flight or use miles to get from the West Coast to this starting point.

2. What the approximate price is for a DONE5 fare originating in Japan? Out of interest, I would be curious if you knew how this compares to the LONE5.

3. Would I be better off financially getting a 39,000 mile business *A ticket instead?

My sense is no because of my routing but if there is a significant price difference I would consider *A but again there dont seem to be prices on the *A forum without access to this link>Other prices are many years out of date. My (rough) itinerary would be SFO to NRT (assuming this is the cheapest place in Asia to start) followed by:

NRT-BKK-AKL-Buenos Aires-SFO-Paris-HKG-NRT

I will probably throw a few side trips in the Americas in as well. The desire to go from AKL to South America is pushing me towards OW where they have such a routing on LAN but if it made a big price difference I would certainly go AKL-SFO-Buenos Aires instead (using Air NZ).

Many thanks for the advice!!

...To complicate matters, there seems to be a (known) bug that prevents me from getting this quote myself from the OW online tool as it won't show fares originating from Japan.

The fare comparison website comes up with the error:
"Due to troubles with the underlying sources the fare data is currently offline. There is no ETA for its return. Sorry."

...Just wanted to show that even though I'm a newbie I'm trying my best to find out answers myself before appealing to the seemingly infinite wisdom of the FT community!

Welcome to the forum:

You will not get a OW quote without a valid routing. The additional taxes & fuel surcharges are very variable. Depends a lot on the first carrier and exact route (avoid LHR if you can)

For route testing have a go with MM http://www.slfft.org/mm/award.htm
Written by FT'ers. Is not always 100% perfect or with all routes but a good starting point

NRT-BKK-AKL-Buenos Aires-SFO-Paris-HKG-NRT
needs to be something like
NRT-BKK-HKG-AKL-SCL-EZE-DFW-SFO-LHR-CDG-HKG-NRT (click blue link)

It is hard to get D or L ticket on the LAN AKL-SCL flight. Look at QF code share or SYD-SCL on Qantas

Japan and Korea prices are similar. I've started DONE3's from both NRT and ICN before. It depends on exchange rates. India and Sri Lanka are cheap, until you add the luxury taxes for premium class tickets departing from those countries.

LONE5 ex Japan 433,800JPY DONE5 895,200JPY both before tax.

Don't know which is which, but these are the Star business RTW prices ex Japan before tax:
CRWSTAR1 618,400JPY
CCPSTAR1 694,000JPY
CCPSTAR2 833,000JPY
CRWSTAR3 846,900JPY
(a quick skim of the star fare rules shows the "CRWSTAR3" is the business 39,000 mile RTW fare)

I had assumed (wrongly) that the *A fare was going to be higher than OW.

In the end, once I added in some extra destinations in Europe and Asia, *A became convenient enough to skip Latin America, which I will do on a separate trip on points later instead. I ended up using the *A online tool and got a quote for ~720,000JPY before tax for a CRWSTAR2, which has 34,000 miles. It LOOKS as though it will just let me book online without talking to an agent (unlike OW) but I guess I'll just have to find out if they accept credit cards with a US billing address or if I'll have to get creative.

Thanks so much for the prompt responses! If I was on a radio talkback show I would call myself a "longtime listener, first time caller". Despite using this forum frequently for research this is the first question I asked and really appreciate the willingness of folks like you on here to help. I'll toast flytalk with a glass of champagne on my first A380 ride, BKK-NRT in business, which kicks off this trip :D

Pricing ex-CAI?
 

How do I get a quote on the base fare for a DONE4? ExpertFlyer quotes it ex-CAI as $US5,874... but when I make a dummy booking on the OW site it prices at 48,642EGP (before taxes, fees and carrier surcharges), which is almost $US7,000. Any ideas?

Call the AA RTW desk.

I just tried a dummy booking, CAI-AMM-MAD-JFK-LAX-SYD-HKG-AMM-CAI and it quoted US$5,878 as the base (and $614 for taxes/fees). So I'd try again before throwing in the towel. What was/is your route?

Is Emeco no longer a choice?

Thanks. I just called the RTW desk to book CAI-LHR-FCO-ORD-JFK-SYD-LHR-AUH. They priced the base fare correctly at 40,900EGP. Not sure what was up with the website.

Emeco is still a choice (imo, "the choice") for issuing the ticket). The poster stated they only wanted to compare the base price ex-cai with the tool.

I take it there's no AA office in Egypt and that Emeco is the only game in town?

Emeco is the "AA" office in Cairo. They are the official GSA for AA in Egypt. Info can be found on aa.com and on other threads in this forum.

Is DONE3 now possible from Australia?
 

I have just used mileage monkey to validate an itinerary and noticed that only three continents were used (Europe, North America, SouthWest Pacific) now that travel is possible via Dubai which is designated as part of Europe.

Previously a DONE4 was the minimum needed as Asia had to be included.

I have looked through the forum and the various rules, but have not seen this issue addressed.

Can anyone advise if a xONE3 can be booked from Australia?

No.
From the rules:
http://www.oneworld.com/content/libr...r%201mar13.pdf

See also:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...e3-ex-syd.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...ct-flight.html

With current rules, no. However, upcoming rule changes have been suggested. Such rule changes may allow ex AU xONE3 if using QF MEL/SYD-DXB.

Changing a DONE
 

Sorry for the basic question, but my corporate travel agent is giving me info that seems to be in their self interest, and I need to get an answer before I start traveling in 3 or 4 days.

I have already ticketed a DONE through my travel agent on Cathay Pacific ticket stock (my first segment is on CX). I would like to add a few more segments in North America but my travel agent states that they have to cancel the old reservation and create a new one for any such changes. Is this correct? Of course, my travel agent collects more fees everytime I do this. Because of this hassle, my internal travel booker wants to issue the segments as a separate ticket which is a waste of a DONE in my opinion.

Anyway, if I have already started travel and need to make changes to the segments, could I bypass my corporate travel agent and call one of the airlines directly to add additional segments to my DONE? To be specific, I would like to add two domestic AA segments as my second to last segments (just to reconfirm, may I stop over in the same city more than once?). These segments would cost a lot more than the standard USD125 change fee charged by Oneworld so I am keen to not have to buy separate tickets.

Last question (again sorry it is so basic), if I have a DONE and there is no D (or A) inventory, may I book any available economy class seat or must L inventory be available?

Thanks for your help!

Having just made major changes to my DONE4, I think I can help here;)

But straight off - I cannot comment on making changes before departure - never done that
Once you've started, then you can deal with an airline directly, no need to go through your TA (usually either the issuing airline or the next carrier)

You certainly may stopover in the same city more than once (We fly PER-DRW tomorrow and return to PER next week; that will be our third stopover in PER on the ticket)

has to be 'L' inventory

Changes before starting are very different. After the first international segment things "calm down".

Be aware that the OW Explorer rules do have a fee (used to be US$125) for routing changes. Date and flight number changes using the existing routing should be "free". Changes of transits to stopovers are normally routing changes.

Change are normally made by the airline which has issued the ticket. Also note that some airlines will have an additional service fee as well.

Happy wandering

Fred

Thanks all for the replies

So if Cathay is the issuing carrier, I call Cathay to add segments (once I've started travel)?

Sorry, for another basic question, how complicated is it to call the issuing carrier? Does it take a long time on the phone to sort out? and do the changes get effected immediately? Can I call AA instead of Cathay (if yes, will the general number work or is there a special number?)

Might not be worth the additional headache of being on hold with Cathay for two hours in the middle of the night...

Thanks again

AA is my issuing carrier

I had prepared all the changes I wanted - dates and flight numbers, and had checked (using KVS) that there was D availaability on each

Phoned the AA RTW desk early evening my time (early morning their time) - took about 10 minutes to do all the changes with the (very good) agent
Because there were major changes, he took my phone number and promised to phone me back with the re-computed charges (plus of course the USD125 change fee). He did phone back about 2 hours later, and took my credit card details.

Received the confirmatory email shortly afterwards and I could see the changes on aa.com (and also on checkmytrip.com)

TA is correct in that if you revise your ticket before start of travel, it's a do-over. Although it probably doesn't apply in this case, until start of travel your TA 'owns' the ticket so you would have to use his services to make changes.

I haven't used CX for several years and airlines are competing in the race to the bottom in customer service, but they're probably as good as it gets (in OW anyway) for the moment. It appeared that like most airlines they didn't have a dedicated RTW desk (only AA AFAIK) so you're in the queue for general reservations. Their North American agents - the only ones I've used - were reasonably well trained in the product. If you have status presumably your call gets better service.

If it's convenient you can also have a ticket office sort it out for you although the changes will have to be priced and depending on how they do it, that may take up to a couple of days. AA's agents in the U.S. call a rate desk somewhere for this step, which can take days to respond. I recently booked and ticket an RTW by calling AA's South African agency, which got tired of waiting for the rate desk and did the calculation themselves. It's not rocket science; you can do it yourself with the help of ITA or some other source of the taxes-and-fees data.

As said, all the changes you make to your (already begun) trip at one time incur a USD125 charge, plus those taxes and fees. You can do almost anything that was possible when you first ticketed, with those same fares and rules continuing in effect.

I think some airlines may help themselves to a 'convenience' fee on top of the $125, but maybe that's just me being cynical - I can't quote an instance.

When requesting changes it's probably most efficient of everyone's time if you've already selected the flights you want and have verified availability in your class of service.

LGLOBx fares ex JNB?
 

Hi FT community,

After spending hours with reading in the forum, it's time to bring my first RTW plannings closer to realization.

Acc. to previous forum comments, fares for the DGLOBx ex JNB rised, but acc. to KVS tool, LONEx fares seem to be more or less unchanged. I can't find prices for LGLOBx, but I'd assume that these are close to the LONEx fares (LONE4 = LGLOB29 etc.)?

For the LONEx fares, KVS tool just shows JL/AB/MH/CX/QF. What about the other OW partners? Theoretically, how could I book AB in South Africa? It is not part of their network and I guess that they don't have a TA there? Booking through QF (and/or flying with QF?) should still be avoided due to high surcharges? What would be the best option to book?

Just to be sure about that, one segment would include two flights if they were under the same flight number?

And a last question, for the while :-), I'll have a segment GIG-MAD as soon as possible after the FIFA WC Final 2014. Acc. to your experiences with peak season dates (e.g. Holiday Season?), how long might it take until I'll get a seat? Would it help / is it possible to confirm the date for that segment as soon as possible?

So long, greetings,
Joe

Joe36
The airline of the first flight is usally the issuing carrier if done on line. Unless you can get another carrier to issue eg. AA via MindPearl

A flight AAA-BBB-CCC on 1 flight number is considered as AAA-CCC (1 segment) provided its an airport only transit You cannot stop over for a day or 2. If you do stop over its another segment

There is no guarantee that a A, D or L (*ONE*) seat wil be available when you want it. At the FIFA WC 2014 dates it will be hard to get any seat at GIG. Airlines only have reservations 355 day / 330 days out (depends on the airline)

Upgrading a xONEn – what happens if the fares have increased?
 

Upgrading a xONEn – what happens if the fares have increased?
The relevant fare rule is
11.(c) Upgrading
So let’s say you purchase a LONE4 and later want to upgrade it to a DONE4

If fares have NOT changed then presumably you simply pay the difference between the DONE4 and LONE4 fares (plus any difference in taxes and surcharges – e.g. the UK APD and BA has different surcharges based on CoS)

If fares HAVE changed, then what is the situation?
Do you pay the difference between the DONE4 fare at time of purchase and the LONE4 fare paid, or is it the difference between the DONE4 fare at time of requesting the upgrade and the LONE4 fare paid?

Oneworld Done4 possible improvements?
 

Hi,
Long time lurker, first time poster. This is my second Done,last one being a Done3, organised by travel agent.Not sure if this is the right place to ask for any areas i can improve (i.e. save $$, earn greater miles etc) my Done4 ex AMM. I am planning to book for Sept 2013 as partial work travel.

Currently this is what i have constructed:
AMM-CDG-HEL-MUC-LHR-BOS-JFK-IAD-YYZ-SAT-SFO-NRT-HKG-SYD-BKK-AMM

The CDG stop is just transit (>24hrs)for a surface sector, and possibly HEL will be transit stop aswell. I am wanting to add more sectors in Northern Europe if possible.

Q1)If i land in SYD is it a valid stop,or i will have to create Done5 instead?
2)I must to go London for a few weeks, but from my reading that on this forum, pax taxes make it more expensive. Can anyone suggest an alternative ?
3)What is the cost of adding two additional sectors for Europe?
4) How can i ticket this, AA rtw desk, then Emeco still available? With what going on in CAI atm, is there an alternative?

I am halfway to AA platinum, so i should hit PLT status halfway through
Any help would be appreciated. I plan to book this is the next few days if possible.

Thanks in Advance.

Until the experts come along, I'll have a crack.

1) Adding Sydney makes it a DONE4. If you leave Sydney out you'll have only a DONE3 (Europe and the Middle East, North America, Asia) which will drop the cost quite significantly. Additionally, if you stick with Sydney, your second entry to Asia must be less than 24 hours, as per rule 2(e)(2).

2) Yes, the UK departure tax is significant and will add well over USD100 to a ticket like this. Unfortunately, your options out of MUC are severely limited. It doesn't look like you can wait a couple of months but if you could Qatar is supposed to be joining oneworld, at which point you will be able to fly MUC-DOH and then onwards to the US (such as JFK, IAH and ORD). Ideally, if you can limit LHR to a transit (less than 24 hours), or ideally don't go there at all, your itinerary will be much cheaper. As you're already going to CDG, a good option is to take the Eurostar to and from London, or buy a separate Economy ticket.

3) It used to be possible to purchase additional sectors (for roughly USD500 per sector (in Business)) and may still be but I can't find it in the fare rules. Regardless, you still cannot go above a total of 16 sectors for the entire itinerary.

4) A valid itinerary can be booked through the online tool and that's also a good place to validate an itinerary. It's located here: http://www.oneworld.com/flights/plan-book-online/. That will also give you the price. Generally, the carrier of the first sector will be the ticketing carrier but I believe there are some exceptions.

Some other tips:
i) Avoiding Muscat will also drop a fair bit off the price (maybe USD200 to USD300).

ii) BOS-JFK-IAD is essentially wasting a sector because the cities are so close together. Considering dropping one or two and catching the train instead (or getting separate tickets).

iii) On AA two class domestic flights a DONEx books into A (First) class which boosts mileage earning. The flights to and from, Canada, however, will book into Business.

Welcome to FT!

Because you're originating in Europe, you can't add additional segments in your continent of origin, and, more importantly, you're limited to two stopovers > 24h. (And your current itinerary is 15 segments so you'd only be able to add one more - in some other continent - anyway.)

This is probably a case where looking at your plans in western Europe might make a lot of sense. Originating in AMM, your DONE4 (and that's what it is, not a DONE5) means you're paying ca. $475 per flight, which seems a lot for short hops in Europe where conventional tickets might be less. (For example, in September, HEL-LHR-HEL in Club on BA comes in at US$566.) So doing your Europe-heavy travel before you start the RTW might make financial sense. Use the DONE4 where it gives the most value - on longhaul and "thin" routes where conventional tickets are prohibitive in premium classes.

Emeco is still selling tickets, and you could easily do an airside turn-around at CAI should you choose that route. Egypt is considerably cheaper as a starting point for DONEx tickets than other locations, but FWIW Israel is the same price as Jordan, and AA's GSA at TLV, Tal Aviation, is very skilled at this stuff. Or of course you could book online.

Read up on the rules regarding transiting Asia en route to other countries. You can't stop over in Asia someplace, visit Australia, then stop over again in Asia on the way out. Transfer, yes, but not stop over.

Again, welcome to FT!