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The information in this wiki is out of date - please see the information in the wiki in this new thread ---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
Aug 26, 2017 | 9:12 pm
#2131
Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: QFF
Posts: 5,304
I’m plotting out my trip plans for this year. Getting a bit stuck in some areas and could use some ideas/suggestions.
The trip will again be a combined DAS13, DONE3 and some side trips, hopefully I can get it all issued in 1 PNR this year...
I’m fine with the DAS13, only issue there is to decide if I go with a stop in Osaka or Taipei.
CBR-SYD-HND-DONE3-ITM-HND-SIN-MEL-CBR or;
CBR-SYD-HND-DONE3-NRT-TPE-HKG-SIN-MEL-CBR
The issues I’m having are with parts of the DONE3.
Starting from TYO going to BOS or JFK either direct or via HKG. Planning to go to an event in MHT.
Normally I’ve flown into New York and gotten an extra off RTW ticket flight up to BOS in the morning and connect to the Boston Express bus up to Manchester. However, the NRT and HKG-BOS flights arrive in the evening and the morning JFK-BOS flight no longer exists, so it looks like I’ll have to overnight in New York or Boston before going up to Manchester.
TYO-[HKG-]BOS looks like the better option here, but then that leads into the next issue.
If I fly into BOS from Asia, I’d need to spend an extra sector on a short flight to get to NY, but if I fly into JFK, there are no morning flights to BOS and the evening flights don’t connect well to the bus.
(Last year, I flew into JFK on the morning JL flight and connected to an extra side flight to BOS in the afternoon to be in MHT early evening, then got the bus back to NY from a friends place in Central MA)
I’d have 10 days between the next locked in stop, PDX, and was thinking about 2 or 3 stops in between. NYC, SFO and SEA (where I can train/bus down to PDX for the weekend in Portland).
With the removal of the “D books into A on 2 class AA domestic flights” rule, I no longer have any reason to avoid the 3 class flights, so can get JFK-SFO, but then how would I get to SEA? Back through LAX? But then would flying JFK-LAX and doing LAX-SFO-LAX as a side trip be better?
After SEA/PDX, I have a final locked in US stopover at DTW the following weekend, with time for another stop between SEA and DTW.
I’ve been trying to find through flights on AA (eg SEA-PHX-STL on a single flight number) that could get me both from SEA, have a stopover, then to DTW with only 2 sectors used, but with the way AA randomly changes where/where those flights are is getting rather annoying. So my options for a stopover here appear to be ORD?
For Europe, I’m looking at 1-2 stops in either CPH, BUD or VIE via HEL (which means getting to JFK or MIA from ORD/DTW) or DOH, followed by –LHR-DXB-LHR-Asia with day stops in one or both LHR and DXB if time/availability allow.
For example, I could get the morning BUD-LHR flight QF3503/BA865, spend the day in London, then get the overnight QF2 to DXB, spend the day in Dubai, then the overnight QF1 back to connect through LHR on to Asia.
Perhaps something like –JFK-HEL[-CPH-HEL sidetrip]-BUD-LHR-DXB-xLHR-
Then finally a stop in PEK, PVG, ICN, BKK, KUL or HKG before finishing up the DONE3 with –xSIN-TYO.
Any suggestions?
The trip will again be a combined DAS13, DONE3 and some side trips, hopefully I can get it all issued in 1 PNR this year...
I’m fine with the DAS13, only issue there is to decide if I go with a stop in Osaka or Taipei.
CBR-SYD-HND-DONE3-ITM-HND-SIN-MEL-CBR or;
CBR-SYD-HND-DONE3-NRT-TPE-HKG-SIN-MEL-CBR
The issues I’m having are with parts of the DONE3.
Starting from TYO going to BOS or JFK either direct or via HKG. Planning to go to an event in MHT.
Normally I’ve flown into New York and gotten an extra off RTW ticket flight up to BOS in the morning and connect to the Boston Express bus up to Manchester. However, the NRT and HKG-BOS flights arrive in the evening and the morning JFK-BOS flight no longer exists, so it looks like I’ll have to overnight in New York or Boston before going up to Manchester.
TYO-[HKG-]BOS looks like the better option here, but then that leads into the next issue.
If I fly into BOS from Asia, I’d need to spend an extra sector on a short flight to get to NY, but if I fly into JFK, there are no morning flights to BOS and the evening flights don’t connect well to the bus.
(Last year, I flew into JFK on the morning JL flight and connected to an extra side flight to BOS in the afternoon to be in MHT early evening, then got the bus back to NY from a friends place in Central MA)
I’d have 10 days between the next locked in stop, PDX, and was thinking about 2 or 3 stops in between. NYC, SFO and SEA (where I can train/bus down to PDX for the weekend in Portland).
With the removal of the “D books into A on 2 class AA domestic flights” rule, I no longer have any reason to avoid the 3 class flights, so can get JFK-SFO, but then how would I get to SEA? Back through LAX? But then would flying JFK-LAX and doing LAX-SFO-LAX as a side trip be better?
After SEA/PDX, I have a final locked in US stopover at DTW the following weekend, with time for another stop between SEA and DTW.
I’ve been trying to find through flights on AA (eg SEA-PHX-STL on a single flight number) that could get me both from SEA, have a stopover, then to DTW with only 2 sectors used, but with the way AA randomly changes where/where those flights are is getting rather annoying. So my options for a stopover here appear to be ORD?
For Europe, I’m looking at 1-2 stops in either CPH, BUD or VIE via HEL (which means getting to JFK or MIA from ORD/DTW) or DOH, followed by –LHR-DXB-LHR-Asia with day stops in one or both LHR and DXB if time/availability allow.
For example, I could get the morning BUD-LHR flight QF3503/BA865, spend the day in London, then get the overnight QF2 to DXB, spend the day in Dubai, then the overnight QF1 back to connect through LHR on to Asia.
Perhaps something like –JFK-HEL[-CPH-HEL sidetrip]-BUD-LHR-DXB-xLHR-
Then finally a stop in PEK, PVG, ICN, BKK, KUL or HKG before finishing up the DONE3 with –xSIN-TYO.
Any suggestions?
Aug 27, 2017 | 2:29 pm
#2132
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Waterloo Canada
Programs: QF WP, AC, AA, 4Z
Posts: 461
I purchased an LONE4 on QR stock from a UK TA in October CAI-DOH-ORD...., and flew CAI-ORD via DOH. I have since found that for various reasons I will be unable to use the LONE4 within 12 months for the travel I intended.
My preferred option is to cancel this LONE4 and receive a refund...
According to Oneworld Explorer fare rules,
https://www.oneworld.com/documents/1...9-d346ec820edf
I can cancel and request a refund of the amount paid less the fare for the transportation used and a cancellation fee (10% of fare)...
...
My preferred option is to cancel this LONE4 and receive a refund...
According to Oneworld Explorer fare rules,
https://www.oneworld.com/documents/1...9-d346ec820edf
I can cancel and request a refund of the amount paid less the fare for the transportation used and a cancellation fee (10% of fare)...
...
The TA is consistently stating:
"As per the terms and conditions: All flights are non-refundable. No refund value if part flown."
Several agents, including some more senior ones at the agency are all saying the same thing, which to me is contrary to Oneworld Explorer rules.
Can a TA sell a Oneworld Explorer ticket but not adhere to the rules of the ticket?
What are my options?
What suggestions does anyone have?
Aug 27, 2017 | 3:15 pm
#2133
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,013
(1) Get another airline to take over the ticket, and once they have taken it over, then ask for a refund
(2) Charge back request on the credit card
(3) Threat of legal action
(4) Actual legal action
None of them are great suggestions.
It would be helpful to know the wording of the so-called "terms and conditions".
Also, if you would not mind sharing, is this a big TA or a small TA? If it is a big one, it would be nice to know who it is so I can add it to my blacklist.
Aug 27, 2017 | 3:56 pm
#2134
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: A3 *G, AA exePlat, AS MVP 75k Gold, JL sapphire, UA silver
Posts: 4,786
when did u buy the ticket, and what was the EGP at that time?
Since EGP has devalued further, you are losing FX on top of 10% and the one-way fare.
you have only flown 2 sectors and not anymore?
I think it is best to fly as many sectors as possible and be done.
just looking at your old post. the LONE was purchased in oct 16 when USD was 8 EGP.
The current rate is 18 EGP, and even if there is a refund, it would be in EGP. off the head, you would lose over half the value?
Since EGP has devalued further, you are losing FX on top of 10% and the one-way fare.
you have only flown 2 sectors and not anymore?
I think it is best to fly as many sectors as possible and be done.
just looking at your old post. the LONE was purchased in oct 16 when USD was 8 EGP.
The current rate is 18 EGP, and even if there is a refund, it would be in EGP. off the head, you would lose over half the value?
Last edited by pbd456; Aug 27, 2017 at 4:02 pm
Aug 27, 2017 | 8:56 pm
#2135
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Waterloo Canada
Programs: QF WP, AC, AA, 4Z
Posts: 461
Do TA's often have more restrictive cancellation policies than the air carrier
"Booking No: xxxxx
Departure Date: Sunday, 30 October 2016
Destination: Round the World Itinerary
Passenger(s): Mr JROBIN
Package: OneWorld Ticket
Flights including pre-payable taxes GBP xx x,xxx.00 x,xxx.00
Ticket: Cairo to ....
[ITINERARY}
...
No Outstanding Balance 0.00
E-Ticket Notice: Carriage and other services provided by the carrier are subject to conditions of carriage which are hereby incorporated by reference. These conditions may be obtained from the issuing carrier.
Air ticket rules and cancellation conditions
Cancellation conditions:
Before departure:
Prior to final payment, cancellation will incur loss of deposit. Once paid for in full, a 75% penalty per person is applied if the entire flight itinerary is
cancelled. Within 72 hours of first departure flights are non refundable. Within your itinerary, a 100% cancellation penalty applies for any
individual flights cancelled (ie these are non-refundable). For date changes and re-routes (ie changing, adding or removing a flight) please refer to
the date change and re-route conditions below. Due to the high cancellation penalty on these tickets, we strongly recommend that you take out
travel insurance when you pay the balance on your tickets. See here more details:
https://www.xx.co.uk/round-the-world-travel-insurance
After departure:
All flights are non-refundable. No refund value if part flown.[bolding added]
..."
In fairness, prior to ticket issuance, I did receive a Viewtrip reference so I could see the flights reserved, which is mostly what I was concerned about. After I paid, I also received a Booking Confirmation as a .xps file about 24 hours before I flew; I cannot easily read a .xps file, but it was sent because the TA's system was temporarily unable to generate pdf files.
I did not receive the Booking Confirmation email containing the booking conditions in pdf form until several days after I flew; the cancellation conditions were a total surprise to me, and not disclosed ahead of purchase, even to a customer who could read a .xps file.
A travel agent is an agent for an airline. It is just a representative (in theory). It is supposed to honour the rules and conditions set out by its principal (the airline).
(1) Get another airline to take over the ticket, and once they have taken it over, then ask for a refund
(2) Charge back request on the credit card
(3) Threat of legal action
(4) Actual legal action
...
Also, if you would not mind sharing, is this a big TA or a small TA? ...
(1) Get another airline to take over the ticket, and once they have taken it over, then ask for a refund
(2) Charge back request on the credit card
(3) Threat of legal action
(4) Actual legal action
...
Also, if you would not mind sharing, is this a big TA or a small TA? ...
I received a helpful note from Qatar Airways USA. Clearly they see that I should request a partial refund.
"Thank you for contacting Qatar Airways USA.
We regret that you are unable to complete your Round The World Trip.
Our records indicate that your ticket was purchased through a travel agency in the UK .
Kindly contact the issuing agency in order for them to submit your partial refund request via their accounting system.
Thank you for your understanding."
It is a big TA.
I forwarded the letter from Qatar Airways to the TA inviting them to request a refund, which makes clear that Qatar Airways is not unwilling. If I get a clear 'No refund available" even after that, I will try the measures you suggest.
Can or do TA's often add their own more restrictive cancellation policies to those of the carrier?
Aug 28, 2017 | 4:05 am
#2137
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,013
If you received this information after purchase, then it is not binding. That's how contract law works. Are these conditions displayed anywhere else on the website or in any other prominent place?
Last edited by Calchas; Aug 28, 2017 at 4:11 am
Aug 29, 2017 | 4:11 pm
#2138
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: South Florida, USA
Programs: AA LT PLT (OW Sapphire), B6 Mosaic
Posts: 492
Airlines' refusal to change ex CAI DONE5 to not end in CAI
Just finished my first ex CAI DONE5 and started my second.
Wanted to share my experience with the difficulty (and ultimate extra expense) of having my CAI-DOH leg canceled. First, RTW#1 (issued directly from QF) was scheduled to end TXL-AMM-CAI on 24 August., RTW #2 (issued by TA on QF stock) was scheduled to begin CAI-DOH-MIA on 24 August.
TA notified me that QF would only reissue RTW #2 originating in DOH. QF absolutely refused all requests to originate in AMM and simply reissued my RTW #2 ticket originating in DOH on 25 August. (And of course in keeping with QF policy that you MUST begin and end in the same city they cut off my final CAI segment so that I terminate in DOH as well. While this gives me two extra segments it has severely complicated by life!)
Several calls to QF (I always get the call center in Cape Town, Mindpearl) to request that I be rerouted directly TXL-DOH because there had been a schedule change and there was no reason to go to CAI anymore. Absolute and total refusal! It was simply maddening because they kept telling me it violated the fare rules and that there hadn't been a schedule change but rather it was an "agreement" by QR to stop the flight! (...?) And therefore not eligible to make such a change because it violated the fare rules. I continue to ask them what was the violation of fare rule and yet had no clue whatsoever as to what rule it was violating. The best excuse though was that I had more than 2 intercontinental departures from Doha, I had to explain the definition of intercontinental to the girl which was painful. Then she came back with another excuse. I think the "fare rule" that they were really hung up on was that QF absolutely insist that you return to your city of origin. You can point to the rules till you're blue in the face but QF simply will not issue a ticket that terminates in a city different than the origin on these OneWorld products.
RTW #1 ended up like this: CAI-xLHR-BKK-KIX-HKG-AKL-xSCL-MIA-LAX-xSFO-xHEL-xDOH-TXL-xAMM-CAI (last leg not flown)
I can't see any legitimate issue but does anyone see a problem with changing those last legs to TXL-DOH and avoiding CAI, in fact I bring myself back into compliance with only four intra-European segments? Other than the QF obscure refusal to allow me to terminate in DOH?
So then the finger-pointing began and QF insisted is not their problem and that QR stops the flight by an "agreement" it wasn't a schedule change. When I got to DOH the first time I tried the ticketing desk at the transfer desk (anyone that's been there knows how wonderfully organized and competent that transfer desk is on a normal itinerary so I didn't have my hopes) where the lady took my information and of course she couldn't do anything because anybody that knew about OneWorld products was in the back office and I couldn't speak to them. I headed to the transit hotel for a few hours of sleep and woke up to an email that basically said "sorry QR cannot modify the itinerary because it violates fare rules." I just threw up my hands and realized I was screwed by two completely inept airlines' knowledge of what their own OneWorld products. Once I got to Berlin I called QF to try to modify RTW #2 saying that I never asked to have the CAI-DOH portion cut off and could they please allow me to originate in AMM. Since it was issued by a TA they said that the TA was responsible and they could not change it.
So long story short, I ended up having to buy two full fare J tickets from AMM-DOH (at 2 AM, only flight available and only full J available) simply to get back to DOH to commence RTW #2. In Berlin the contract check in lady refused to check my bags all the way to MIA but did at least short check them to AMM (with only one RJ flight a day out of their I could see that what I was asking for was way above their pay grade). For a while they were insisting the bags had to go to CAI. So for that gift I was "allowed" to purchase a $56 transit visa per person so that I can clear immigration pick up my bags and recheck them, although fortunately at the premium check in lounge in AMM he was able to check them all the way through to MIA which saved me another transit visa nightmare in DOH!
Bottom line. What a goat rodeo! That 2 OneWorld carriers continued to point fingers at each other till the bitter end forcing me to spend a substantial amount for a two hour flight and a visa to make up for an obvious OneWorld schedule cancellation was in the end just repulsive. I guess this teaches me quite a bit about competency of the airline that controls your ticket. Yes, I know any OneWorld carrier can take it over but they are very hesitant to and in this case outright refused when it was due to their own schedule cancellation! I will finish RTW #2 next year, all the while having to make changes through my TA.
Wanted to share my experience with the difficulty (and ultimate extra expense) of having my CAI-DOH leg canceled. First, RTW#1 (issued directly from QF) was scheduled to end TXL-AMM-CAI on 24 August., RTW #2 (issued by TA on QF stock) was scheduled to begin CAI-DOH-MIA on 24 August.
TA notified me that QF would only reissue RTW #2 originating in DOH. QF absolutely refused all requests to originate in AMM and simply reissued my RTW #2 ticket originating in DOH on 25 August. (And of course in keeping with QF policy that you MUST begin and end in the same city they cut off my final CAI segment so that I terminate in DOH as well. While this gives me two extra segments it has severely complicated by life!)
Several calls to QF (I always get the call center in Cape Town, Mindpearl) to request that I be rerouted directly TXL-DOH because there had been a schedule change and there was no reason to go to CAI anymore. Absolute and total refusal! It was simply maddening because they kept telling me it violated the fare rules and that there hadn't been a schedule change but rather it was an "agreement" by QR to stop the flight! (...?) And therefore not eligible to make such a change because it violated the fare rules. I continue to ask them what was the violation of fare rule and yet had no clue whatsoever as to what rule it was violating. The best excuse though was that I had more than 2 intercontinental departures from Doha, I had to explain the definition of intercontinental to the girl which was painful. Then she came back with another excuse. I think the "fare rule" that they were really hung up on was that QF absolutely insist that you return to your city of origin. You can point to the rules till you're blue in the face but QF simply will not issue a ticket that terminates in a city different than the origin on these OneWorld products.
RTW #1 ended up like this: CAI-xLHR-BKK-KIX-HKG-AKL-xSCL-MIA-LAX-xSFO-xHEL-xDOH-TXL-xAMM-CAI (last leg not flown)
I can't see any legitimate issue but does anyone see a problem with changing those last legs to TXL-DOH and avoiding CAI, in fact I bring myself back into compliance with only four intra-European segments? Other than the QF obscure refusal to allow me to terminate in DOH?
So then the finger-pointing began and QF insisted is not their problem and that QR stops the flight by an "agreement" it wasn't a schedule change. When I got to DOH the first time I tried the ticketing desk at the transfer desk (anyone that's been there knows how wonderfully organized and competent that transfer desk is on a normal itinerary so I didn't have my hopes) where the lady took my information and of course she couldn't do anything because anybody that knew about OneWorld products was in the back office and I couldn't speak to them. I headed to the transit hotel for a few hours of sleep and woke up to an email that basically said "sorry QR cannot modify the itinerary because it violates fare rules." I just threw up my hands and realized I was screwed by two completely inept airlines' knowledge of what their own OneWorld products. Once I got to Berlin I called QF to try to modify RTW #2 saying that I never asked to have the CAI-DOH portion cut off and could they please allow me to originate in AMM. Since it was issued by a TA they said that the TA was responsible and they could not change it.
So long story short, I ended up having to buy two full fare J tickets from AMM-DOH (at 2 AM, only flight available and only full J available) simply to get back to DOH to commence RTW #2. In Berlin the contract check in lady refused to check my bags all the way to MIA but did at least short check them to AMM (with only one RJ flight a day out of their I could see that what I was asking for was way above their pay grade). For a while they were insisting the bags had to go to CAI. So for that gift I was "allowed" to purchase a $56 transit visa per person so that I can clear immigration pick up my bags and recheck them, although fortunately at the premium check in lounge in AMM he was able to check them all the way through to MIA which saved me another transit visa nightmare in DOH!
Bottom line. What a goat rodeo! That 2 OneWorld carriers continued to point fingers at each other till the bitter end forcing me to spend a substantial amount for a two hour flight and a visa to make up for an obvious OneWorld schedule cancellation was in the end just repulsive. I guess this teaches me quite a bit about competency of the airline that controls your ticket. Yes, I know any OneWorld carrier can take it over but they are very hesitant to and in this case outright refused when it was due to their own schedule cancellation! I will finish RTW #2 next year, all the while having to make changes through my TA.
Aug 29, 2017 | 4:21 pm
#2139
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,013
:'(
No chance of a CC dispute?
No chance of a CC dispute?
Aug 29, 2017 | 6:08 pm
#2140
Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: QFF
Posts: 5,304
(And of course in keeping with QF policy that you MUST begin and end in the same city...)
I think the "fare rule" that they were really hung up on was that QF absolutely insist that you return to your city of origin. You can point to the rules till you're blue in the face but QF simply will not issue a ticket that terminates in a city different than the origin on these OneWorld products.
I think the "fare rule" that they were really hung up on was that QF absolutely insist that you return to your city of origin. You can point to the rules till you're blue in the face but QF simply will not issue a ticket that terminates in a city different than the origin on these OneWorld products.
Aug 29, 2017 | 7:06 pm
#2141
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,684
Well, I've had one issued by QF and it started in MPM last year and ended in JNB this year
No problem getting it issued, through an Australian TA
also had a number of date changes, with no major issues
Until the very last one, which was an urgent change on New year's Day
and the sole(?) fares team member on duty was insisting that I had to end in MPM, because I had started there. Some education on the fare rule, by me via the telephone agent, got my change made
)PS: my sympathies to rollthere on the troubles experienced
Aug 29, 2017 | 7:35 pm
#2142
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 18
I had very many issues attempting to get QF to let me start in JNB and end in MRU, and was finally successful by going through their Twitter support folks. Highly recommend direct messaging [MENTION=150217]Qantas[/MENTION] if you're still trying to get any changes made - they've been wonderful to communicate with.
Aug 29, 2017 | 7:49 pm
#2143
Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: QFF
Posts: 5,304
I had very many issues attempting to get QF to let me start in JNB and end in MRU, and was finally successful by going through their Twitter support folks. Highly recommend direct messaging [MENTION=150217]Qantas[/MENTION] if you're still trying to get any changes made - they've been wonderful to communicate with.
Whenever I've tried to ask them about flight changes, they've tried to fob me off and say to call ticketing.
Aug 30, 2017 | 3:01 am
#2144
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: country Western Australia
Programs: QF WP(LTS) - AA LTG(1MM)
Posts: 2,857
In changing a QR issued LONEx with the exCAI issue, my Aussie TA was very clear that QR expected me to return to the point where the re-issued ticket started (MCT) with no possibility of ending in DOH. I expect I will drop the last (perhaps two) coupon given that tickets to where I will want to go next are cheaper outside the Middle East (even using QR)
Happy wandering
Fred
Happy wandering
Fred
Sep 19, 2017 | 6:00 am
#2145
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Lincoln, UK
Programs: BA Gold, TK, DL, IHG Diamond, HHonours Gold, Hertz Presidents Club
Posts: 497
Is there an online tool for routing and pricing for the Circle Trip Explorer ticket a la the RTW fare?
Or do I have to call an OW airline?
Or do I have to call an OW airline?