Normally no more then a few hours.

Help! Naeem has just come back to say that he can't ticket it unless there is at least one AA segment. My DONE4 is avoiding the US by flying from Europe to South America and then to Australia. Any work arounds or do I really need to redo it?

Thanks for the detailed reply. I found that one of the cheaper places to start a DONE4 in Europe was CPH, based on my limited search. So should I "waste" a short first segment on Air Berlin to get them to ticket it? At least that way avoids BA! If not, who is best?

Now for another silly question: sometimes the One World tool says I have too many sectors when its own little graph shows it as fewer than 16. Is the graph wrong or the error wrong? If it's the latter, can I still do this online? Thanks!

Can you post an example of the route you are trying when the error message appears?

Most likely is that you have too many sectors within a single continent (4 sector limit in each, 6 in NA).

One that it objected to was

CPH-MAD-TLV-LHR-MEL-HKG-NRT-SIN-SFO-JFK-DFW-CDG-CPH

Note that SIN-SFO requred doing SIN-HKG-SFO with different flight numbers.

It wasn't the limited stopovers in Europe that were the problem as TLV-LHR-MEL and CPH-MAD-TLV were both done with less than 24 hours between flights, so those errors went away.

How are you getting from CDG to CPH?
AFAIK there is no Oneworld service, and if transiting somewhere, that will result in a 5th flight in the continent of origin which is not allowed

EDIT: to remove the rubbish I had in about two visits to Asia (brain is now in gear:o)

Aha, well spotted, I missed that, thanks. I guess I could do DFW-MAD-CPH if I would be allowed to pass through Madrid again (without stopping over). Would that work?

That would be permitted ^

Itinerary Validation and Advice
 

Hi, RTW newbie here just about to embark on buying my first ticket (LONE4). I've checked it out using the OneWorld planner and all seems to be in order but I'm sure someone will be able to find a flaw in it somewhere...

SIN-(LHR-CDG)-(surface to MAD)-LIM-IPC-(LIM-LPB)-SCL-(SYD-BNE)-NOU-BNE-(HKG-XIY)-(HKG-SIN)

More importantly, what is the best way to get the lowest fare for this itinerary? Using the online tool necessitates putting in dates - I'd prefer buying an open-dated ticket as my travel dates are not fixed - and will cost me SGD7489 in total. I live in Australia (not in a big city, no access to good travel agents here unfortunately) but would rather depart from Asia.

Also, why do I keep seeing people using AA? Is there a benefit by ticketing through them - do they allow free date changes for example (QF says they can change dates for 'free' but will impose a service charge of AUD80 each time).

Thanks for clueing me in guys.

Welcome to Ft ThePeripateticOne

Your itinerary has no flaws, but I'm intrigued by what the brackets mean - for example "SCL-(SYD-BNE)-NOU"

With your BNE and SYD stops, I presume you're located somewhere on the East coast of the lucky country, and further that you want to start in Asia so that you can get two trips out of the one ticket (the first being RTW from SIN to Oz, and the 2nd to HKG and XIY)
BUT, I'll just point out that one of the cheapest places to start a LONEn is from New Zealand - for example ex-SIN LONE4 base fare SGD5419 and ex-AKL NZD3899 (the SGD:NZD exchange rate is 1:1) - so a saving of NZD/SGD1520 by starting in AKL

Your first segment is SIN-LHR, so that must be on either QF or BA - both of which are known for their hefty fuel surcharges. If you started with say SIN-HKG-CDG..., and so CX will be your first carrier, then your surcharges should be greatly reduced - try it using the on-line tool
Same thing if you choose to start from AKL - start with AKL-HKG on CX to reduce the surcharges

People ticket through AA for two basic reasons - historically AA has imposed very few fuel surcharges (though this is no longer as good as it used to be), and AA has a good RTW desk which makes it easy to set up the ticket and to make subsequent changes to it (at no fee)

I'm not sure if open-dated tickets are still possible

Under the ticket rules, date, time and carrier changes are allowed free of charge (a date change is subject to the 1 year time limit between the first and last flights) - but airlines can impose a service fee, which is what QF does

Other:
You're intending to fly LIM-LPB!!??
Fly over the Sacred Valley/Macchu Pichu and Lake Titicaca!
In March this year we bought cheap add-on flights LIM-CUZ (and bus/train return to Macchu Pichu through the valley) and CUZ-JUL (then bus to Puno on the shore of the lake, and then bus on to La Paz)

Booking class L seats are hard to find on the southern trans-pacific flights (QF SCL-SYD and LA SCL-AKL/SYD)

Happy planning:D

Thanks PandaPerth, that was very helpful. I've modified the itinerary so that I fly SIN-HKG first (and get to fly CX as a bonus!). The brackets were meant to indicate non-direct flights e.g. intended destination from SIN is CDG, but the flight stops in LHR.

Two further questions:

1) The online tool appears to book with the first carrier chosen (in this case, CX). How does one go about booking with AA - call them directly? Does CX charge service fees like QF?

2) It will cost SGD 16725 for D class and SGD 7315 for L. I have NEVER flown D before - given that if I buy a D fare I can experience D class in CX and QF (I doubt IB and LA will be as good) is the price difference worth it?

To answer your queries,

1) Yes I am starting in SIN so I can get a few extra trips out of the ticket. I have to come back to work (you're right - in East Coast Oz) after the SCL-BNE leg, and was thinking of using the remaining segments next year. So while it might be cheaper to fly from AKL I won't get maximum use from the ticket.

2) I spent 2 months in Peru in 2006 (work and play) have already done the Inca Trail, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and the Sacred Valley. Going to explore the rest of the country this time round, so no regrets flying from LIM to LPB. Might have to take some internal LAN flights though...

Those sectors still count towards your overall 16 sector limit. Only if the flight has a through flight number (eg QF107 SYD-JFK) does it count as one sector.

The tool uses the code of the first flight to determine who to send the booking to for ticketing. Using a codeshare will have that carrier issue the ticket (eg, QF4022 is JL36. Using QF4022 as the first flight will have QF issue). There are some exceptions to this (JL, S7 or RJ being sent to AA for ticketing, but currently has a bug preventing such bookings). You can issue with AA either by booking an AA coded flight as the first or by calling the AA desk in Dallas.
I've had to make a number of changes during my xONE3/4s over the years, I've never had anyone charge any fees for it. All the changes I've made have been to QF flights or on QF issued tickets, although the actual changes were made by AA, BA and JL.

It can be. The quality of D depends a lot on which flight and aircraft used. Long haul aircraft are a lot better in D then short haul/regional.

You're welcome
Did the change make much difference to the overall cost?
Yes - in general the tool uses the first carrier to ticket
Yes - you can phone AA's RTW desk BUT AA is loath to ticket if it has no long-haul flights (the desk is in Dallas - phone +1 800 843 3000)
I don't know if CX charges a service fee

Only you can decide if the extra for D is worth it
One major benefit will be much better availability on the SCL-SYD segment

I wouldn't pay that much extra for D
but I am playing with DONE4 itineraries ex-KRT where the base fare is SDG14,700 - approx AUD2,700 (and we will be in SEZ next April, not too far away from KRT:p)

Others have reported that LA long-haul D is very good

Open dated tickets are technically still possible (at least as of last year) but if issued by AA it must be a paper ticket. BA no longer accepts paper tickets issued by other carriers (and are the only OW carrier on LON-PAR). CX can reportedly issue open-dated e-tickets, but I can't find any recent info on the matter.

The online tool, of course, will not issue open-dated tickets.