No, because you won't have flown around the world.

You have to travel in one direction (easterly or westerly, but are allowed to backtrack within regions (eg. LAX-MEL-AKL-SYD)).

Additionally, it is not possible to fly from South Africa to North America, meaning you have to add another region, bringing the count up to four.

Can this routing be optimized further?
 

I've managed to eek out 60482 BIS Miles == 90723 EQP == 132578 RDM from the following routing...(provided I can book the first two flights on an AA codeshare and sign up for a Plat Challenge) and I was wondering if this is as optimized as an ex-JNB DONE5 can get, or is there more scope to squeeze out some more miles?


JNB-LHR-MCT-LHR-LAX-DFW-ANC-DFW-LAX-JFK-HKG-BOM-HKG-DEL-NRT-SYD-JNB

Also, I'm guessing the best way to set this up is to call the AA RTW desk (to ensure I get AA Codeshares wherever possible, especially the first two flights) and ticket through an agent either in Canada (Gala Travels comes to mind) or South Africa (Mindpearl still operational?).

Cheers

You most likely won't get to use AA codes on JNB-LHR-MCT, but will on MCT-LHR-LAX, which will be more than enough for the Plat challenge. (The first two segments' EQP will certainly count against your EXP quest, which I'm assuming is a motive here?)

If so, and assuming you don't need to return to South Africa at the end, then you could use the "second Europe entry" exception to your advantage, e.g. CPT-LHR-MCT-LHR-DFW-ANC-DFW-YVR-JFK-HKG-BOM-HKG-DEL-NRT-SYD-xLHR-NBO comes in at over 67,300 miles, well in excess of the EXP threshold. Of course you need to fly to ANC during the summer, otherwise look to the Caribbean for alternative 2000-mile+ routes in the winter.

I'd send an itinerary both to Mindpearl and use the online tool, just to see who's cheapest. I think Mindpearl are great, but the last couple of times I've priced an xONEx through them it came back more expensive than using the online tool. If you choose to use the Kenya/Uganda exception, I'd probably go with the AA RTW desk, and tell them from the start that's your plan.

I know the flight needs to be booked on the operating carrier's code if using the booking tool. I was assuming (hoping?) that AA would be able to ticket any flights on AA codeshare as long as AA had a code on that flight. Or is there some rule that requires the first flight in a *ONE* to be booked using the operating carrier's code?

Yes, the quest is for about 18 odd months of EXP which would then soft land to another 12 months of PLAT :cool:

Nope, no particular reason to return to JNB (or indeed South Africa).

Now, with the DFW-ANC-DFW flights, I'm aware they are seasonal (Northern Summer Only) but are there any set dates during which they operate. Plan to do this after 16th June next year (and likely before October), so the status gained will be valid till Feb 2015 + soft landing to Plat till Feb 2016. I guess those dates look ok for the ANC turnaround?

Any particular reason why I need to mention that to AA? More curious than anything else.

There is no rule that requires the first flight be on the operating carrier's code (I have booked a LONE4 with the first flight being QF metal and AA flight number)

The problem for you is that you can take the AA-coded JNB-LHR flight only if you are connecting in LHR to an onward AA TATL flight. This is not a rule of the RTW ticket, but is a rule of the agreement by which AA codeshares on these BA flights (I don't know if it is say a UK Govt requirement, or just the contractual agreement between the two airlines that requires this)

Usually around the first half of May until the end of September, so you ought to be okay. Note you can't book the segment using either the tool nor the RTW desk if you try to ticket during the period that it's not in the AA timetable; it would require a reissue in that case. AA typically doesn't put ANC into its schedules until Feb-March if memory serves.
Only in that I've found that the RTW desk really wants to book RTW tickets very linearly.. flight + flight + flight, then when you try to do something creative or unusual, they get a bit grumpy and start saying things like, "you can't do that." Then you respond that yes, you can, according to the rules, then they go offline, come back still grumpy, and, anyway, things get testy. So I just suggest doing it up front and defusing the situation. Some reps are very, very knowledgeable, so it won't be an issue; others less so.

Regarding the codeshare issue, try pricing JNB-LHR-MCT using AA.com and see if it will return an AA code.

Hmm... no love getting AA code for JNB-MCT... but I could (and probably will) do the MCT turnaround at the end (which atleast according to mileage monkey is still a valid itin).

So it should look like CPT-LHR-DFW-ANC-DFW-YVR-JFK-HKG-BOM-HKG-DEL-NRT-SYD-LHR-MCT-LHR-NBO

Also, thanks for the heads up re "managing" the booking agents. Always a good tip. I'll defnintely have the flight numbers, dates and timings at hand before I sit down to make the call.

No rules about requiring the operating code. The online tool just now correctly applies the normal rules for certain codeshares such as requiring an international online connection (eg, you can't normally book a QF coded AA domestic/BA European flight without a QF coded international flight on the same ticket). The only "rule" for the online tool is that it uses the code of the first flight to work out the ticketing carrier. If you did JNB-LHR-US, you would be able to use the AA code on one of the JNB BA flights.

The ANC flights stop at the end of September. This year they started May 10.

The Online Tool doesn't seem to validate this itinerary... despite all connections via LHR being under 24 hours...

The second visit to Europe does not satisfy the conditions for it. The condition is:The routing ...SYD-LHR-MCT-LHR-NBO is not a transit without stopover

If it were NBO-xLHR-DFW-ANC-DFW-YVR-JFK-HKG-BOM-HKG-DEL-NRT-SYD-LHR-MCT-LHR-CPT it would be fine, since the first pass through Europe would be without stopover, and from an eligible country. Of course you'd have to pay the higher Kenya-originating price.

I guess then it'll have to be CPT-LHR-MCT-LHR-DFW.....

The AA Challenge was recently expanded and is no longer limited to AA marketed flights.

Well that's handy!

It sounds like it is just with their main partners who they have antitrust immunity with.