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The information in this wiki is out of date - please see the information in the wiki in this new thread ---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
Jul 18, 2013 | 4:15 am
#556
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 22,910
Joe36
The airline of the first flight is usally the issuing carrier if done on line. Unless you can get another carrier to issue eg. AA via MindPearl
A flight AAA-BBB-CCC on 1 flight number is considered as AAA-CCC (1 segment) provided its an airport only transit You cannot stop over for a day or 2. If you do stop over its another segment
There is no guarantee that a A, D or L (*ONE*) seat wil be available when you want it. At the FIFA WC 2014 dates it will be hard to get any seat at GIG. Airlines only have reservations 355 day / 330 days out (depends on the airline)
The airline of the first flight is usally the issuing carrier if done on line. Unless you can get another carrier to issue eg. AA via MindPearl
A flight AAA-BBB-CCC on 1 flight number is considered as AAA-CCC (1 segment) provided its an airport only transit You cannot stop over for a day or 2. If you do stop over its another segment
There is no guarantee that a A, D or L (*ONE*) seat wil be available when you want it. At the FIFA WC 2014 dates it will be hard to get any seat at GIG. Airlines only have reservations 355 day / 330 days out (depends on the airline)
Aug 14, 2013 | 8:54 pm
#557
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,687
Upgrading a xONEn what happens if the fares have increased?
Upgrading a xONEn what happens if the fares have increased?
The relevant fare rule is
11.(c) Upgrading
So lets say you purchase a LONE4 and later want to upgrade it to a DONE4
If fares have NOT changed then presumably you simply pay the difference between the DONE4 and LONE4 fares (plus any difference in taxes and surcharges e.g. the UK APD and BA has different surcharges based on CoS)
If fares HAVE changed, then what is the situation?
Do you pay the difference between the DONE4 fare at time of purchase and the LONE4 fare paid, or is it the difference between the DONE4 fare at time of requesting the upgrade and the LONE4 fare paid?
The relevant fare rule is
11.(c) Upgrading
So lets say you purchase a LONE4 and later want to upgrade it to a DONE4
If fares have NOT changed then presumably you simply pay the difference between the DONE4 and LONE4 fares (plus any difference in taxes and surcharges e.g. the UK APD and BA has different surcharges based on CoS)
If fares HAVE changed, then what is the situation?
Do you pay the difference between the DONE4 fare at time of purchase and the LONE4 fare paid, or is it the difference between the DONE4 fare at time of requesting the upgrade and the LONE4 fare paid?
Aug 15, 2013 | 6:38 am
#558
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 13
Oneworld Done4 possible improvements?
Hi,
Long time lurker, first time poster. This is my second Done,last one being a Done3, organised by travel agent.Not sure if this is the right place to ask for any areas i can improve (i.e. save $$, earn greater miles etc) my Done4 ex AMM. I am planning to book for Sept 2013 as partial work travel.
Currently this is what i have constructed:
AMM-CDG-HEL-MUC-LHR-BOS-JFK-IAD-YYZ-SAT-SFO-NRT-HKG-SYD-BKK-AMM
The CDG stop is just transit (>24hrs)for a surface sector, and possibly HEL will be transit stop aswell. I am wanting to add more sectors in Northern Europe if possible.
Q1)If i land in SYD is it a valid stop,or i will have to create Done5 instead?
2)I must to go London for a few weeks, but from my reading that on this forum, pax taxes make it more expensive. Can anyone suggest an alternative ?
3)What is the cost of adding two additional sectors for Europe?
4) How can i ticket this, AA rtw desk, then Emeco still available? With what going on in CAI atm, is there an alternative?
I am halfway to AA platinum, so i should hit PLT status halfway through
Any help would be appreciated. I plan to book this is the next few days if possible.
Thanks in Advance.
Long time lurker, first time poster. This is my second Done,last one being a Done3, organised by travel agent.Not sure if this is the right place to ask for any areas i can improve (i.e. save $$, earn greater miles etc) my Done4 ex AMM. I am planning to book for Sept 2013 as partial work travel.
Currently this is what i have constructed:
AMM-CDG-HEL-MUC-LHR-BOS-JFK-IAD-YYZ-SAT-SFO-NRT-HKG-SYD-BKK-AMM
The CDG stop is just transit (>24hrs)for a surface sector, and possibly HEL will be transit stop aswell. I am wanting to add more sectors in Northern Europe if possible.
Q1)If i land in SYD is it a valid stop,or i will have to create Done5 instead?
2)I must to go London for a few weeks, but from my reading that on this forum, pax taxes make it more expensive. Can anyone suggest an alternative ?
3)What is the cost of adding two additional sectors for Europe?
4) How can i ticket this, AA rtw desk, then Emeco still available? With what going on in CAI atm, is there an alternative?
I am halfway to AA platinum, so i should hit PLT status halfway through
Any help would be appreciated. I plan to book this is the next few days if possible.
Thanks in Advance.
Aug 15, 2013 | 7:29 am
#559
Join Date: Apr 2007
Programs: QF, AC, Hyatt, Hilton
Posts: 4,236
Hi,
Long time lurker, first time poster. This is my second Done,last one being a Done3, organised by travel agent.Not sure if this is the right place to ask for any areas i can improve (i.e. save $$, earn greater miles etc) my Done4 ex AMM. I am planning to book for Sept 2013 as partial work travel.
Currently this is what i have constructed:
AMM-CDG-HEL-MUC-LHR-BOS-JFK-IAD-YYZ-SAT-SFO-NRT-HKG-SYD-BKK-AMM
The CDG stop is just transit (>24hrs)for a surface sector, and possibly HEL will be transit stop aswell. I am wanting to add more sectors in Northern Europe if possible.
Q1)If i land in SYD is it a valid stop,or i will have to create Done5 instead?
2)I must to go London for a few weeks, but from my reading that on this forum, pax taxes make it more expensive. Can anyone suggest an alternative ?
3)What is the cost of adding two additional sectors for Europe?
4) How can i ticket this, AA rtw desk, then Emeco still available? With what going on in CAI atm, is there an alternative?
I am halfway to AA platinum, so i should hit PLT status halfway through
Any help would be appreciated. I plan to book this is the next few days if possible.
Thanks in Advance.
Long time lurker, first time poster. This is my second Done,last one being a Done3, organised by travel agent.Not sure if this is the right place to ask for any areas i can improve (i.e. save $$, earn greater miles etc) my Done4 ex AMM. I am planning to book for Sept 2013 as partial work travel.
Currently this is what i have constructed:
AMM-CDG-HEL-MUC-LHR-BOS-JFK-IAD-YYZ-SAT-SFO-NRT-HKG-SYD-BKK-AMM
The CDG stop is just transit (>24hrs)for a surface sector, and possibly HEL will be transit stop aswell. I am wanting to add more sectors in Northern Europe if possible.
Q1)If i land in SYD is it a valid stop,or i will have to create Done5 instead?
2)I must to go London for a few weeks, but from my reading that on this forum, pax taxes make it more expensive. Can anyone suggest an alternative ?
3)What is the cost of adding two additional sectors for Europe?
4) How can i ticket this, AA rtw desk, then Emeco still available? With what going on in CAI atm, is there an alternative?
I am halfway to AA platinum, so i should hit PLT status halfway through
Any help would be appreciated. I plan to book this is the next few days if possible.
Thanks in Advance.
1) Adding Sydney makes it a DONE4. If you leave Sydney out you'll have only a DONE3 (Europe and the Middle East, North America, Asia) which will drop the cost quite significantly. Additionally, if you stick with Sydney, your second entry to Asia must be less than 24 hours, as per rule 2(e)(2).
2) Yes, the UK departure tax is significant and will add well over USD100 to a ticket like this. Unfortunately, your options out of MUC are severely limited. It doesn't look like you can wait a couple of months but if you could Qatar is supposed to be joining oneworld, at which point you will be able to fly MUC-DOH and then onwards to the US (such as JFK, IAH and ORD). Ideally, if you can limit LHR to a transit (less than 24 hours), or ideally don't go there at all, your itinerary will be much cheaper. As you're already going to CDG, a good option is to take the Eurostar to and from London, or buy a separate Economy ticket.
3) It used to be possible to purchase additional sectors (for roughly USD500 per sector (in Business)) and may still be but I can't find it in the fare rules. Regardless, you still cannot go above a total of 16 sectors for the entire itinerary.
4) A valid itinerary can be booked through the online tool and that's also a good place to validate an itinerary. It's located here: http://www.oneworld.com/flights/plan-book-online/. That will also give you the price. Generally, the carrier of the first sector will be the ticketing carrier but I believe there are some exceptions.
Some other tips:
i) Avoiding Muscat will also drop a fair bit off the price (maybe USD200 to USD300).
ii) BOS-JFK-IAD is essentially wasting a sector because the cities are so close together. Considering dropping one or two and catching the train instead (or getting separate tickets).
iii) On AA two class domestic flights a DONEx books into A (First) class which boosts mileage earning. The flights to and from, Canada, however, will book into Business.
Aug 15, 2013 | 7:53 am
#560
Moderator, OneWorld
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: SEA
Programs: RAA RIP; AA ExEXP
Posts: 12,517
Hi,
Long time lurker, first time poster. This is my second Done,last one being a Done3, organised by travel agent.Not sure if this is the right place to ask for any areas i can improve (i.e. save $$, earn greater miles etc) my Done4 ex AMM. I am planning to book for Sept 2013 as partial work travel.
Currently this is what i have constructed:
AMM-CDG-HEL-MUC-LHR-BOS-JFK-IAD-YYZ-SAT-SFO-NRT-HKG-SYD-BKK-AMM
The CDG stop is just transit (>24hrs)for a surface sector, and possibly HEL will be transit stop aswell. I am wanting to add more sectors in Northern Europe if possible.
Q1)If i land in SYD is it a valid stop,or i will have to create Done5 instead?
2)I must to go London for a few weeks, but from my reading that on this forum, pax taxes make it more expensive. Can anyone suggest an alternative ?
3)What is the cost of adding two additional sectors for Europe?
4) How can i ticket this, AA rtw desk, then Emeco still available? With what going on in CAI atm, is there an alternative?
I am halfway to AA platinum, so i should hit PLT status halfway through
Any help would be appreciated. I plan to book this is the next few days if possible.
Thanks in Advance.
Long time lurker, first time poster. This is my second Done,last one being a Done3, organised by travel agent.Not sure if this is the right place to ask for any areas i can improve (i.e. save $$, earn greater miles etc) my Done4 ex AMM. I am planning to book for Sept 2013 as partial work travel.
Currently this is what i have constructed:
AMM-CDG-HEL-MUC-LHR-BOS-JFK-IAD-YYZ-SAT-SFO-NRT-HKG-SYD-BKK-AMM
The CDG stop is just transit (>24hrs)for a surface sector, and possibly HEL will be transit stop aswell. I am wanting to add more sectors in Northern Europe if possible.
Q1)If i land in SYD is it a valid stop,or i will have to create Done5 instead?
2)I must to go London for a few weeks, but from my reading that on this forum, pax taxes make it more expensive. Can anyone suggest an alternative ?
3)What is the cost of adding two additional sectors for Europe?
4) How can i ticket this, AA rtw desk, then Emeco still available? With what going on in CAI atm, is there an alternative?
I am halfway to AA platinum, so i should hit PLT status halfway through
Any help would be appreciated. I plan to book this is the next few days if possible.
Thanks in Advance.
Because you're originating in Europe, you can't add additional segments in your continent of origin, and, more importantly, you're limited to two stopovers > 24h. (And your current itinerary is 15 segments so you'd only be able to add one more - in some other continent - anyway.)
This is probably a case where looking at your plans in western Europe might make a lot of sense. Originating in AMM, your DONE4 (and that's what it is, not a DONE5) means you're paying ca. $475 per flight, which seems a lot for short hops in Europe where conventional tickets might be less. (For example, in September, HEL-LHR-HEL in Club on BA comes in at US$566.) So doing your Europe-heavy travel before you start the RTW might make financial sense. Use the DONE4 where it gives the most value - on longhaul and "thin" routes where conventional tickets are prohibitive in premium classes.
Emeco is still selling tickets, and you could easily do an airside turn-around at CAI should you choose that route. Egypt is considerably cheaper as a starting point for DONEx tickets than other locations, but FWIW Israel is the same price as Jordan, and AA's GSA at TLV, Tal Aviation, is very skilled at this stuff. Or of course you could book online.
Read up on the rules regarding transiting Asia en route to other countries. You can't stop over in Asia someplace, visit Australia, then stop over again in Asia on the way out. Transfer, yes, but not stop over.
Again, welcome to FT!
Aug 15, 2013 | 12:21 pm
#561
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: AA-EXP, LATAM Gold+, BA-Blues
Posts: 736
With RJ as the first carrier, I understand that AA would be the ticketing carrier - but I can't recall if they still peskily insist on only issuing tickets at ex-CAI prices to persons using a credit-card that bills to an Egyptian address.
Aug 15, 2013 | 1:06 pm
#562
Moderator, OneWorld
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: SEA
Programs: RAA RIP; AA ExEXP
Posts: 12,517
Just to be sure: is it not possible to issue an ex-CAI DONE4 simply by using the online tool?
With RJ as the first carrier, I understand that AA would be the ticketing carrier - but I can't recall if they still peskily insist on only issuing tickets at ex-CAI prices to persons using a credit-card that bills to an Egyptian address.
With RJ as the first carrier, I understand that AA would be the ticketing carrier - but I can't recall if they still peskily insist on only issuing tickets at ex-CAI prices to persons using a credit-card that bills to an Egyptian address.
Regarding using the tool for ex-CAI, it ought to be easy; however there are two considerations that might make Emeco an easier approach.
Only RJ and BA serve CAI (IB has dropped it) so the online tool would issue the ticket on behalf of one of those airlines.
If it's BA than the tool will add all of BA's fuel fines for the whole itinerary. Ouch.
If it's RJ then the tool will ask AA to issue the ticket, sending the whole process into the ether as the online tool has never been able to handle the interface between AA and RJ when it comes to the final payment screens. (If somebody has a successful result with RJ-ticketed xONEx's using the tool, please report your story.)
So as AA's GSA in Egypt, Emeco might be able to issue the ticket without all of BA's fuel fines. Might not, but IMO worth the phone calls or emails to see.
Aug 16, 2013 | 10:35 pm
#563
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 13
Hi,
Firstly,thanks for all the input, its has been very helpful.
From looking at my options(flights/trains/time constraints) the DoneX seems cost effective for my Europe travel.
A few follow up questions:
1)So if take out SYD sector it makes it a Done 3? Giving me 4 Europe sectors,instead of 2 transits <24hrs?
2)If i want to take advantage of as many Europe stops(as possible) would a Done 3 from ex Asia be a better option. Can anyone suggest a good price point ex Asia ?
Thanks for ex TLV suggestion Gardyloo, i would have not thought of that departure point.
3)would it be possible to end DXB/AUH(making awards flights easier) instead of originating point and how much would it add to the costs?
4) instead of LHR departure tax and BA fuel charges, could someone suggest an alternative departure to East coast USA i have been looking at MAD?
Appreciate all the help, thanks in Advance.
Firstly,thanks for all the input, its has been very helpful.
From looking at my options(flights/trains/time constraints) the DoneX seems cost effective for my Europe travel.
A few follow up questions:
1)So if take out SYD sector it makes it a Done 3? Giving me 4 Europe sectors,instead of 2 transits <24hrs?
2)If i want to take advantage of as many Europe stops(as possible) would a Done 3 from ex Asia be a better option. Can anyone suggest a good price point ex Asia ?
Thanks for ex TLV suggestion Gardyloo, i would have not thought of that departure point.
3)would it be possible to end DXB/AUH(making awards flights easier) instead of originating point and how much would it add to the costs?
4) instead of LHR departure tax and BA fuel charges, could someone suggest an alternative departure to East coast USA i have been looking at MAD?
Appreciate all the help, thanks in Advance.
Aug 16, 2013 | 11:00 pm
#564
Moderator, OneWorld
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: SEA
Programs: RAA RIP; AA ExEXP
Posts: 12,517
Hi,
Firstly,thanks for all the input, its has been very helpful.
From looking at my options(flights/trains/time constraints) the DoneX seems cost effective for my Europe travel.
A few follow up questions:
1)So if take out SYD sector it makes it a Done 3? Giving me 4 Europe sectors,instead of 2 transits <24hrs?
2)If i want to take advantage of as many Europe stops(as possible) would a Done 3 from ex Asia be a better option. Can anyone suggest a good price point ex Asia ?
Thanks for ex TLV suggestion Gardyloo, i would have not thought of that departure point.
3)would it be possible to end DXB/AUH(making awards flights easier) instead of originating point and how much would it add to the costs?
4) instead of LHR departure tax and BA fuel charges, could someone suggest an alternative departure to East coast USA i have been looking at MAD?
Appreciate all the help, thanks in Advance.
Firstly,thanks for all the input, its has been very helpful.
From looking at my options(flights/trains/time constraints) the DoneX seems cost effective for my Europe travel.
A few follow up questions:
1)So if take out SYD sector it makes it a Done 3? Giving me 4 Europe sectors,instead of 2 transits <24hrs?
2)If i want to take advantage of as many Europe stops(as possible) would a Done 3 from ex Asia be a better option. Can anyone suggest a good price point ex Asia ?
Thanks for ex TLV suggestion Gardyloo, i would have not thought of that departure point.
3)would it be possible to end DXB/AUH(making awards flights easier) instead of originating point and how much would it add to the costs?
4) instead of LHR departure tax and BA fuel charges, could someone suggest an alternative departure to East coast USA i have been looking at MAD?
Appreciate all the help, thanks in Advance.
You're allowed four segments in the continent of origin but only two stopovers (24h+).
By originating anywhere in the Middle East you can end anywhere in the Middle East, so ending at DXB (or TLV or AMM or AUH or MCT...) would be easy. A problem has cropped up with the online booking tool in that when you use this option (ending in a different Middle East location) it erroneously prices the trip based on the ending country's prices rather than the departing country's. The work-around to this is to book the trip as ending in the starting point (e.g. CAI > CAI) but then paying $125 to re-issue the ticket with the new endpoint. The humans doing the reissue will interpret the rule correctly.
The BA fuel surcharges come when BA issues the ticket. The online tool will have the first airline issue the ticket and if it's BA then you'll get whacked for the maximum fuel surcharges. These are not taxes (unlike the UK air passenger duty) but merely additional revenues pocketed by the airlines. Have some other airline (including American through one of its ticketing offices or GSAs) do the issuing and you'll reduce the amount of fuel surcharges.
There are plenty of departure points from Europe to the US besides London - Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Helsinki, Rome, Frankfurt... you name it.
Aug 19, 2013 | 7:05 pm
#565
Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: QFF
Posts: 5,304
I have a ticketed ex-Japan DONE3 (issued by CX 18 July) which I need to change.
It currently routes HND-xHKG-JFK-SFO-xORD-ATL-ORD-xMIA-BCN-HEL-xLHR-xDXB-xLHR-PVG-KUL-xSIN-HND departing mid Oct.
I need to change the ATL stop to RDU. I'm trying to get a reprice in the online tool with the change to check for any tax changes in addition to the 125USD change fee, however the tool is popping out errors when I try to check.
Is there any other way to get an actuate costing of the revised routing?
Codes used:
CX HND-HKG
AA HKG-BCN
IB BCN-HEL, LHR-DXB
QF DXB-LHR
MH HEL-LHR, PVG-SIN
JL SIN-HND
BA LHR-PVG
It currently routes HND-xHKG-JFK-SFO-xORD-ATL-ORD-xMIA-BCN-HEL-xLHR-xDXB-xLHR-PVG-KUL-xSIN-HND departing mid Oct.
I need to change the ATL stop to RDU. I'm trying to get a reprice in the online tool with the change to check for any tax changes in addition to the 125USD change fee, however the tool is popping out errors when I try to check.
Is there any other way to get an actuate costing of the revised routing?
Codes used:
CX HND-HKG
AA HKG-BCN
IB BCN-HEL, LHR-DXB
QF DXB-LHR
MH HEL-LHR, PVG-SIN
JL SIN-HND
BA LHR-PVG
Aug 19, 2013 | 8:41 pm
#566
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 4
Help - invalid booking class code?
Hello Flyertalk!
After months of planning our LONE5 itinerary we're finally ready to purchase our ticket!
We spent several hours with the online booking tool and kept getting the "Invalid Booking Class Code" error... does anybody know what this means and how to fix the problem?
Another issue we have is flight availability/calendar. Our RTW trip will be from December 2013-December 2014, but the flight calendar will only show flights up until June 2014. Is everyone else just fudging their dates at initial booking and then just changing them as the flights become available?
We haven't gotten very far with the booking tool, but we're hoping that we can pay the NZ LONE5 fare with a Canadian credit card. We're trying to avoid paying the $50/pp ticketing fee by calling the actual airline. We tried calling the AA RTW desk but the rep wasn't very nice nor helpful, esp since we don't have any AA legs, or even flying through the US.
Our intended route is:
AKL-HKG-KTM-HKG-JNB-CPT-LHR-IST-AMM-DME-MAD-GRU-LIM-SCL-IPC-SCL-AKL
Thanks in advance for all your help!
After months of planning our LONE5 itinerary we're finally ready to purchase our ticket!
We spent several hours with the online booking tool and kept getting the "Invalid Booking Class Code" error... does anybody know what this means and how to fix the problem?
Another issue we have is flight availability/calendar. Our RTW trip will be from December 2013-December 2014, but the flight calendar will only show flights up until June 2014. Is everyone else just fudging their dates at initial booking and then just changing them as the flights become available?
We haven't gotten very far with the booking tool, but we're hoping that we can pay the NZ LONE5 fare with a Canadian credit card. We're trying to avoid paying the $50/pp ticketing fee by calling the actual airline. We tried calling the AA RTW desk but the rep wasn't very nice nor helpful, esp since we don't have any AA legs, or even flying through the US.
Our intended route is:
AKL-HKG-KTM-HKG-JNB-CPT-LHR-IST-AMM-DME-MAD-GRU-LIM-SCL-IPC-SCL-AKL
Thanks in advance for all your help!
Aug 19, 2013 | 9:10 pm
#567
Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: QFF
Posts: 5,304
. Most of the bugs have work arounds, but we would need to work out what is causing the bug to appear in order to work out a work around.
Another issue we have is flight availability/calendar. Our RTW trip will be from December 2013-December 2014, but the flight calendar will only show flights up until June 2014. Is everyone else just fudging their dates at initial booking and then just changing them as the flights become available?
We haven't gotten very far with the booking tool, but we're hoping that we can pay the NZ LONE5 fare with a Canadian credit card.
We're trying to avoid paying the $50/pp ticketing fee by calling the actual airline.
We tried calling the AA RTW desk but the rep wasn't very nice nor helpful, esp since we don't have any AA legs, or even flying through the US.
Aug 19, 2013 | 9:35 pm
#568
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere
Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD
Posts: 3,687
Hello Flyertalk!
After months of planning our LONE5 itinerary we're finally ready to purchase our ticket!
We spent several hours with the online booking tool and kept getting the "Invalid Booking Class Code" error... does anybody know what this means and how to fix the problem?
After months of planning our LONE5 itinerary we're finally ready to purchase our ticket!
We spent several hours with the online booking tool and kept getting the "Invalid Booking Class Code" error... does anybody know what this means and how to fix the problem?
I've played with the online tool quite a bit, and don't recall ever seeing this error. Also there is no mention of it in the online-tool-bugs-thread
I plugged your itinerary into the tool and am getting the same error message. It comes up after clicking the 'Proceed' button:
Can anyone help with this?
I plugged your itinerary into the tool and am getting the same error message. It comes up after clicking the 'Proceed' button:
The following error(s) occured
Invalid booking class code (10075)
Invalid booking class code (10075)
Another issue we have is flight availability/calendar. Our RTW trip will be from December 2013-December 2014, but the flight calendar will only show flights up until June 2014. Is everyone else just fudging their dates at initial booking and then just changing them as the flights become available?
Yes. People choose dummy dates for the flights towards the end of itinerary and later change them to the dates they actually want when those dates are able to be chosen.
(The airline booking systems only allow booking 330-355 days in advance whereas the RTW ticket rule states the last flight can be up to one year afer the first flight)
(The airline booking systems only allow booking 330-355 days in advance whereas the RTW ticket rule states the last flight can be up to one year afer the first flight)
We haven't gotten very far with the booking tool, but we're hoping that we can pay the NZ LONE5 fare with a Canadian credit card. We're trying to avoid paying the $50/pp ticketing fee by calling the actual airline. We tried calling the AA RTW desk but the rep wasn't very nice nor helpful, esp since we don't have any AA legs, or even flying through the US.
If you are IN Canada and try to purchase this ticket by calling an airline (or even by using a local travel agent) then the rules state you must pay the higher of the Canadian and NZ prices.
So you really want to use the tool. The ex-NZ LONE5 price is NZD4499 (~CAD3730) whereas the ex-Canada price is CAD 6099
FYI the ticket rules are here - http://www.oneworld.com/documents/10...Explorer+RulesSo you really want to use the tool. The ex-NZ LONE5 price is NZD4499 (~CAD3730) whereas the ex-Canada price is CAD 6099
Edited to add: I see Himeno posted answers while I was busy typing
Aug 19, 2013 | 10:02 pm
#569
Join Date: Apr 2007
Programs: QF, AC, Hyatt, Hilton
Posts: 4,236
Originally Posted by Gardyloo;21279415If it's RJ then the tool will ask AA to issue the ticket, sending the whole process into the ether as the online tool has never been able to handle the interface between AA and RJ when it comes to the final payment screens. (If somebody has a successful result with RJ-ticketed xONEx's using the tool, please report your story.)
So as AA's GSA in Egypt, Emeco [B
So as AA's GSA in Egypt, Emeco [B
might[/B] be able to issue the ticket without all of BA's fuel fines. Might not, but IMO worth the phone calls or emails to see.
Are you saying that in such a case the tool fails and I won't be able to pay online?
Aug 19, 2013 | 10:27 pm
#570
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 4
online tool cont'd
Hi Pandaperth and Himeno,
Thanks for your time and quick response!
We are actually flying to NZ in October to visit family (aunt works for Air NZ and can get us there cheap), and also visiting Australia before starting our RTW in December. Would we be cutting it too close to purchase the LONE5 in NZ mid October for early Dec departure? Since i'll physically be in NZ, i'm assuming the Cdn credit card won't be a problem...
Other idea is to ask my aunt to call CX New Zealand and pay for it with my credit card. Do these sound like workable solutions?
Thanks for your time and quick response!
We are actually flying to NZ in October to visit family (aunt works for Air NZ and can get us there cheap), and also visiting Australia before starting our RTW in December. Would we be cutting it too close to purchase the LONE5 in NZ mid October for early Dec departure? Since i'll physically be in NZ, i'm assuming the Cdn credit card won't be a problem...
Other idea is to ask my aunt to call CX New Zealand and pay for it with my credit card. Do these sound like workable solutions?