I have a DONE3, the last two sectors of which are HKG-LHR-JED on CX and BA.

Originally, at the time of ticketing, LHR was just a transit of a few hours. I have since turned it into a stopover. CX is charging me GBP183 as "we need to collect UK departure tax". By my calculation I should only be charged GBP134 which is I understand to be the APD appropriate to my journey.

Does this sound right? Is CX trying to get more out of me?

According to ITA, a premium departure from LHR to JED will include £138 for APD and £39.75 for PSC. Subtract what you've already paid for the connection.

US should be added to the list of eligible airlines, correct? At least until the merger/operating certificate is complete.

The FAQ's in the first and second posts haven't been updated in the last few years. US was added to the rules by OW last month.
See also:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22627741-post142.html

New to RTW, and Need Help
 

Hi All,

I'm planning what I think is a relatively straightforward RTW trip via OneWorld Explorer, but I'm running into a few issues.

My intended itinerary is NYC-LAX-SYD-MEL-TLV-WAW-OSL-NYC.

For some reason, I keep getting the "230: you have too many sectors" error message. Any ideas as to what the issue is?

In case it helps, NYC-LAX is one flight. LAX-SYD is one flight. SYD-MEL is one flight. MEL-TLV is three flights. TLV-WAW is two flights. WAW-OSL is two flights. And OSL-NYC is two flights. I could make SYD-MEL and WAW-OSL both surface sectors, but when I tried that, I still got the error message.

Many thanks in advance for any help,

Benjamin

Welcome to flyertalk bsl5

Here is a link to the Oneworld Explorer rule sheet on the oneworld web site - rules here

You are allowed 16 segments maximum on the ticket.
From your decription of your itinerary, you have 12, so that is not the problem

In each continent you are allowed 4 flight segments maximum (6 in Nth America). This is where your problem is - in the continent of Europe/Middle East

TLV to WAW - 2 flights
WAW to OSL - 2 flights
OSL to NYC - 2 fights and I'm guessing one of these is a flight in Europe

plus, perhaps one more flight in Europe/Middle East on the journey from MEL to TLV?

There is no way round the limitation on flights within a continent. So you're just going to have to re-work your itinerary.
Perhaps fly in and out of AMM instead of TLV (and cross the land border)
And yes, in Northern Europe the train services are very good, so you could quite easily have a surface segment there.

Another option is to use the Global Explorer ticket instead. This ticket is mileage based, restricts the number of stopovers in a continent, but not the number of flights. And since your itinerary is quite short (for A RTW) you'll easily fit within the maximum mileage allowed.

But don't surface segments also count?

Yes they do but one surface segment might replace 2, 3, or more flight segments.

Surface segments count towards the 16 maximum allowed on the ticket

But within a continent there is a limit on the number of flight segments, and of course a surface segment is not a flight segment

Which continent is the best to start in order to get good price?

Africa. Try Cape Town or Johannesburg.

It depends what country and what class.

Departing New Zealand is one of the cheapest on an LONEx, but one of the most expensive on D or A.

South Korea and Japan are some of the cheapest in Asia. Sri Lanka and India appear cheap, until taxes get added.

Many countries in northern Africa used to be very cheap, offering first class trips for as little as $8000. Until too many people booked them, oneworld noticed and increased the prices.

Is there any way to find out which starting points are cheapest at the moment, in relative terms, for D and A? Is circle pacific out of Hong Kong still a good deal, or has some other place taken over as best starting point?

Something slightly to the east is even cheaper, but cannot be booked via the online tool. Need to call.

To the east of South Africa? Mauritius again? Could you be a little more specific.