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The information in this wiki is out of date - please see the information in the wiki in this new thread ---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
Mar 30, 2019, 8:43 am
#2656
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,467
Any thoughts?
Somewhere beachy for three days
You say you want three* days somewhere beachy between ORD and SYD. It sounds to me like you are time-constrained, which would mean a side-trip to say the Caribbean or S.E. Asia would eat too much time in flying. California of course has good beaches, starting with Venice Beach in L.A. You could fly home via SFO and stay on a beach somewhere there. Or on the Gulf Coast and fly home via DFW.
As I posted earlier, your proposed stopover in Hawaii should work. I checked on The Matrix and 1-way flights from KOA to HNL cost USD91
* Three days: remember you “lose” a day on the way home – by crossing the Date Line
The Global Explorer
This is Oneworld’s other round-the-world ticket. It cannot be purchased on-line, so you must either phone an airline such as Qantas or use a travel agent to buy it.
It allows more airlines to be used, including Fiji Airlines and Qantas codeshares on Air Tahiti Nui. So a stopover in either Fiji(NAN) or Tahiti(PPT) is possible.
It restricts the number of stopovers to 5, with no more than 2 in any region (the Oneworld Explorer has no such restriction).
So your stopovers would be HND, LHR, JFK, ORD or LAX, NAN or PPT.
If you are travelling in economy class, the Global Explorer is AUD600* cheaper than the equivalent Oneworld Explorer. If in business or first class, there is no price difference.
* Approximately AUD600 cheaper – the total price depends on the various taxes, fees and (sur)charges for different itineraries
Maximising the ticket benefits
These RTW tickets are not cheap – therefore I always try to get as much value of them as possible. So I have a couple of ideas in this regard. But first, I will list some relevant fare rules:
- You are allowed a maximum of 16 segments (either flight segments or surface segments]
- You are allowed up to 6 flight segments in North America and up to 4 flight segments in other continents
- You are allowed a maximum of 2 stopovers in your continent of origin
- You must finish up back in your country of origin, but not necessarily at the same point you started from (this is a simplification of the rule, but is correct for Australia)
- Travel may not be via the point of origin
- You are allowed 1 year from your first flight to complete your itinerary
- A second visit is allowed to Asia
Make your point of origin somewhere other than SYD (for example MEL or BNE); travel round the world and return to SYD (SYD will become 1 of the allowed 2 stopovers in the continent of origin)
Sometime within the ticket’s validity have up to 4 flights in Australia and one more stopover (any other ‘stops’ will need to be transits, meaning less than 24hrs). A sample itinerary is:
MEL-NRT-LHR-JFK-ORD-LAX-KOA,HNL-SYD-PER-BME-BNE-SYD
The Australian holiday could be before you leave on your RTW trip instead of after MEL-PER-BME-BNE-SYD-HND-LHR-JFK-ORD-LAX-KOA,HNL-SYD
Note 1: the online tool has a bug that enforces an old rule restricting stopovers in the country of origin to 1 before departing RTW and 1 on return from RTW (booking through an airline or travel agent will get around this)
Note 2: this idea will not work for the Global Explorer, only the Oneworld Explorer, because:
- Your South Pacific stopover (NAN or PPT) and your SYD stop will use up your 2 allowed stops
- The economy Global Explorer has a maximum number of miles allowed (26,000) and your itinerary leaves very few miles at the end. Business or First allow more miles (34,000) and you can pay more to get more miles on the economy ticket (but you are still only allowed 2 stopovers in your continent of origin)
Second idea – a holiday in Asia
Do as @R2 suggested and fly from the US back to Asia, have your beachy stop, and then
Fly back to Australia on a separate return ticket
Return to Asia sometime later and pick up the RTW ticket again; travel around there and return to Australia
Note 3: I did this some years ago on an ex-PER RTW ticket; the relevant part of the ticket was …LHR-PEK-HKG-SIN (cheap SIN-PER return on Scoot then, six months later) SIN-BKK-BOM-SYD-PER
Note 4: The first and second ideas can of course be combined
Third Idea - Start (and end) somewhere other than Australia
@R2 made this suggestion. Its potential benefits are:
- Lower ticket price (though offsetting this – you have to get yourself to the starting point and back from the ending point)
- Australia is no longer the continent of origin so there is no restriction on stopovers there, just the allowed 4 flight segments
These are the approximate savings on your ticket:
Economy – AUD850 more expensive in Japan!
Business -AUD2000 less expensive in Japan
First – AUD2250 less expensive in Japan
(The Aussie dollar has been falling in value lately, so these savings are not as good as they used to be)
Mar 30, 2019, 4:54 pm
#2657
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: En Route
Programs: Many
Posts: 6,798
I have several questions:
1. If I book this on my AMEX will I get 5:1 points?
2. I need to book FOUR RTW tickets, 2 of them are identical itineraries. The other two are slightly different from each other and 80% the same as the two identical ones. I have all the dates, flight #s and times for all four tickets. Should this be as simple as finding an agent to read it to?
3. Can I call the AA EXP desk and do it through them?
1. If I book this on my AMEX will I get 5:1 points?
2. I need to book FOUR RTW tickets, 2 of them are identical itineraries. The other two are slightly different from each other and 80% the same as the two identical ones. I have all the dates, flight #s and times for all four tickets. Should this be as simple as finding an agent to read it to?
3. Can I call the AA EXP desk and do it through them?
Mar 30, 2019, 5:11 pm
#2658
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
I have several questions:
1. If I book this on my AMEX will I get 5:1 points?
2. I need to book FOUR RTW tickets, 2 of them are identical itineraries. The other two are slightly different from each other and 80% the same as the two identical ones. I have all the dates, flight #s and times for all four tickets. Should this be as simple as finding an agent to read it to?
3. Can I call the AA EXP desk and do it through them?
1. If I book this on my AMEX will I get 5:1 points?
2. I need to book FOUR RTW tickets, 2 of them are identical itineraries. The other two are slightly different from each other and 80% the same as the two identical ones. I have all the dates, flight #s and times for all four tickets. Should this be as simple as finding an agent to read it to?
3. Can I call the AA EXP desk and do it through them?
- It depends. If you pay for RTW tickets using your Amex Platinum card you will earn 5 MR points per dollar if you book directly with an airline, which includes using the online OneWorld tool and calling an airline directly (such as the AA RTW desk). If you use a travel agent, you may or may not get the bonus.
- Yes, you can simply call the AA RTW desk or a different airline (e.g., BA has an RTW desk as well) and read everything off. Some agents at some airlines will let you email the details and then book it from that. If you use a travel agent, sometimes they prefer if you email complex itineraries. (Note that if the two identical itineraries are for two different people on the exact same flights and dates, you can have both passengers in one itinerary.)
- Yes, you can call the AA RTW desk, but you might want to ask for an agent by name who was part of the old dedicated RTW desk and hence knows these tickets, rather than dealing with a random Meeting Services agent who may not know much. You can also try booking online with the tool, or by calling a different airline if you prefer. If you use AA, they may want to see at least one AA-coded overwater flight.
Last edited by anabolism; Mar 31, 2019 at 1:06 pm Reason: Correct misinformation
Mar 30, 2019, 5:52 pm
#2659
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: En Route
Programs: Many
Posts: 6,798
- the tickets will be issued on the ticket stock of an airline (such as AA), and the charge will be from that airline.
- (Note that if the two identical itineraries are for two different people on the exact same flights and dates, you can have both passengers in one itinerary.)
- If you use AA, they may want to see at least one AA-coded overwater flight.
1. If it's on AA stock and these are J tickets, will I earn 2x EQM on all flights regardless of operating carrier (some are usually 1.5x on their stock)?
2. The two identical itineraries are for different people on the same flights and dates. The other two itineraries are different for the first 1/3 of the trip, then all 4 people are in sync same flights, dates, times the rest of the way.
3. No prob, the last GRU-JFK flight will be AA metal.
Mar 30, 2019, 7:58 pm
#2660
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
Thanks, so much. To follow up.
1. If it's on AA stock and these are J tickets, will I earn 2x EQM on all flights regardless of operating carrier (some are usually 1.5x on their stock)?
2. The two identical itineraries are for different people on the same flights and dates. The other two itineraries are different for the first 1/3 of the trip, then all 4 people are in sync same flights, dates, times the rest of the way.
3. No prob, the last GRU-JFK flight will be AA metal.
1. If it's on AA stock and these are J tickets, will I earn 2x EQM on all flights regardless of operating carrier (some are usually 1.5x on their stock)?
2. The two identical itineraries are for different people on the same flights and dates. The other two itineraries are different for the first 1/3 of the trip, then all 4 people are in sync same flights, dates, times the rest of the way.
3. No prob, the last GRU-JFK flight will be AA metal.
- If you credit the flight to your AAdvantage account, you will earn based on which airline's code is used for each flight. It doesn't matter which airline ticketed it. So, for example, if you book GRU-JFK as AA950, you will earn 2 EQM/mile but your RDM and EQD will be based on your fare not distance. If you book the same GRU-JFK flight as JL7201, you will earn 2 EQM/mile and your EQDs will be 25% of flight mileage, and RDMs will be 125% of flight miles plus your elite bonus (e.g., another 100% if you are EXP). If you book the same flight as JJ8404 your EQMs are 1.5/mile and your EQDs are 30% of flight mileage and your RDMs are 150% of flight mileage plus any elite bonus (e.g., another 100% if you are EXP). I recommend checking EF to see which carrier's codes are available for each flight, then checking the AAdvantage earnings table for that airline. For AA codes, you can approximate the fare that will be used to calculate your EQD and RDM by adding the base fare plus all carrier-imposed fees, then dividing by the total flight mileage of all flights, then multiplying that number by the flight mileage of the flight in question. You can get the flight mileage for each flight out of EF, or you can use GCMap to get a rougher estimate of the mileage for each flight and for all flights together.
- All passengers on a record must be flying the exact same flights and dates, so in your case you could put two people in one record, and then for the other two people, if they will be flying the exact same set of flights on the same dates as each other, put both of them in another record. If they are flying different flights or dates than each other then each will need to be in his or her own record. Since some of the flights are in common, I'd suggest starting with all four passengers in one record, with the first set of flights, then split the record and change the flights. By starting with all four passengers in the same record, the records will be linked and if there are irregular operations or other issues, it will be obvious to agents that there are linked records. If the passengers start off in different records, they can't really be linked, but they can have a cross-reference note added, but an agent has to be looking for that to see it.
Mar 30, 2019, 8:37 pm
#2661
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
Programs: AA LT PLT; QR GLD; Bonvoy LT TIT
Posts: 12,764
If you credit the flight to your AAdvantage account, you will earn based on which airline's code is used for each flight. It doesn't matter which airline ticketed it. So, for example, if you book GRU-JFK as AA950, you will earn 2 EQM/mile but your RDM and EQD will be based on your fare not distance. If you book the same GRU-JFK flight as JL7201, you will earn 2 EQM/mile and your EQDs will be 25% of flight mileage, and RDMs will be 125% of flight miles plus your elite bonus (e.g., another 100% if you are EXP). If you book the same flight as JJ8404 your EQMs are 1.5/mile and your EQDs are 30% of flight mileage and your RDMs are 150% of flight mileage plus any elite bonus (e.g., another 100% if you are EXP). I recommend checking EF to see which carrier's codes are available for each flight, then checking the AAdvantage earnings table for that airline. For AA codes, you can approximate the fare that will be used to calculate your EQD and RDM by adding the base fare plus all carrier-imposed fees, then dividing by the total flight mileage of all flights, then multiplying that number by the flight mileage of the flight in question. You can get the flight mileage for each flight out of EF, or you can use GCMap to get a rougher estimate of the mileage for each flight and for all flights together.
Mar 31, 2019, 8:18 am
#2662
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: En Route
Programs: Many
Posts: 6,798
I believe that only tickets issued by certain travel agents earn the 5× MR points. Yes, the charge does come from the airline, but AMEX can tell the difference. On the 3 xONEx tickets I purchased recently from an agent, I received the 5× MR points on none of them. I did a little research and read (but I now forget where, it was several months ago) that agent tickets do not normally attract the 5× bonus, but that there a few agents whose charges do attract the bonus.
All true and good advice. However, remember that the fact that a codeshare exists doesn't mean that you're going to be able to purchase it, especially for an RTW itinerary. And it works the other way, too. On a recent AONE5, I couldn't get LAX-ORD-LAX on the AA number, but was able to when my agent used the QF number.
All true and good advice. However, remember that the fact that a codeshare exists doesn't mean that you're going to be able to purchase it, especially for an RTW itinerary. And it works the other way, too. On a recent AONE5, I couldn't get LAX-ORD-LAX on the AA number, but was able to when my agent used the QF number.
Mar 31, 2019, 8:24 am
#2663
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
I believe that only tickets issued by certain travel agents earn the 5× MR points. Yes, the charge does come from the airline, but AMEX can tell the difference. On the 3 xONEx tickets I purchased recently from an agent, I received the 5× MR points on none of them. I did a little research and read (but I now forget where, it was several months ago) that agent tickets do not normally attract the 5× bonus, but that there a few agents whose charges do attract the bonus.
However, remember that the fact that a codeshare exists doesn't mean that you're going to be able to purchase it, especially for an RTW itinerary. And it works the other way, too. On a recent AONE5, I couldn't get LAX-ORD-LAX on the AA number, but was able to when my agent used the QF number.
Mar 31, 2019, 9:19 am
#2664
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
Programs: AA LT PLT; QR GLD; Bonvoy LT TIT
Posts: 12,764
If you buy your ticket directly from an airline (airline website, or, in the case of a RTW, from the airline's RTW desk), you'll get the 5× MR points on the ticket(s). If you buy from a travel agent, you will probably, but not definitely, not. I have no idea how to tell in advance whether or not that agency's tickets attract the 5× bonus. To be certain. buy directly from the airlines. For an RTW, try the AA RTW desk, +1-800-247-3247.
Mar 31, 2019, 1:51 pm
#2665
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: En Route
Programs: Many
Posts: 6,798
If you buy your ticket directly from an airline (airline website, or, in the case of a RTW, from the airline's RTW desk), you'll get the 5× MR points on the ticket(s). If you buy from a travel agent, you will probably, but not definitely, not. I have no idea how to tell in advance whether or not that agency's tickets attract the 5× bonus. To be certain. buy directly from the airlines. For an RTW, try the AA RTW desk, +1-800-247-3247.
1. If while we are in transit we want to tweak the routing a bit or dates (within the rules) is this possible for a change fee, or is it locked once travel starts?
2. If something unforeseen comes up after booking but before travel, are the tickets refundable?
Thanks so much!
Mar 31, 2019, 2:00 pm
#2666
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Juneau, Alaska.
Programs: AS 75K;BA Silver;AA G;HH Dia;HY Glob
Posts: 15,822
Ah, I misread. I am going to book directly through the AA RTW desk, so it should be 5x for sure, no problem. My other questions, are:
1. If while we are in transit we want to tweak the routing a bit or dates (within the rules) is this possible for a change fee, or is it locked once travel starts?
2. If something unforeseen comes up after booking but before travel, are the tickets refundable?
Thanks so much!
1. If while we are in transit we want to tweak the routing a bit or dates (within the rules) is this possible for a change fee, or is it locked once travel starts?
2. If something unforeseen comes up after booking but before travel, are the tickets refundable?
Thanks so much!
2. Yes, with a penalty.
Last edited by jerry a. laska; Mar 31, 2019 at 2:05 pm
Mar 31, 2019, 2:04 pm
#2667
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: En Route
Programs: Many
Posts: 6,798
Mar 31, 2019, 2:05 pm
#2668
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
Ah, I misread. I am going to book directly through the AA RTW desk, so it should be 5x for sure, no problem. My other questions, are:
1. If while we are in transit we want to tweak the routing a bit or dates (within the rules) is this possible for a change fee, or is it locked once travel starts?
2. If something unforeseen comes up after booking but before travel, are the tickets refundable?
Thanks so much!
1. If while we are in transit we want to tweak the routing a bit or dates (within the rules) is this possible for a change fee, or is it locked once travel starts?
2. If something unforeseen comes up after booking but before travel, are the tickets refundable?
Thanks so much!
- You can make date and time (and airline code) changes for free at any time, but it's safest to make changes after flying the first flight. Before flying the first flight, you can make date/time (and airline code) changes for flights other than the first, but not all airlines understand this. The AA RTW desk will understand if you speak to a longtime RTW agent. If you speak to a Meeting Services agent, the agent may or may not understand. If you change the first flight and the fare has increased, you must pay the new fare. When making any voluntary changes, you may have to pay updated taxes and airline-imposed fees (although normally these shouldn't change much, especially if you make the change with the airline that originally booked the ticket). You can make routing changes for a $125 fee per person (plus any updated taxes and airline-imposed fees). The $125 fee is per set of changes that you make at one time.
- They are refundable with a fee. I believe the fee is 5% for business and first class tickets.
Mar 31, 2019, 9:46 pm
#2669
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: San Diego
Posts: 89
@pandaperth @anabolism @Dr. HFH - thank you!!!
It wouldn't let me enter "JRO" into the OneWorld itinerary builder- I'll try it when I call to book.
Trying to do Oslo- DOH-LAX, but it adds an extra segment, putting me at 17.
I'm going to give it a shot!
QR flies from DOH to three destinations in Tanzania - DAR, ZNZ and JRO. JRO is close to a number of game parks and of course to Kilimanjaro itself.
One more reason to fly QR between DOH and North America.
The rules actually have a list of cities that are considered "west coast" cities for the purposes of this rule, and another list of cities that are considered "east coast" cities for the rule. There are occasionally opportunities to game this when nonstop service is added, but they forget to add the city to the appropriate list in the rule. I've done it with back-to-backs LAX-RDU-LAX and LAX-MBJ-LAX.
Apr 1, 2019, 1:35 am
#2670
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,467
It wouldn't let me enter "JRO" into the OneWorld itinerary builder- I'll try it when I call to book.
Trying to do Oslo- DOH-LAX, but it adds an extra segment, putting me at 17.