Why does it take AA days to get prices for these tickets? I made a change with CX, via email, last year (shifted a stop in ATL to RDU) and they came back with the fare adjustment (US125 + tax changes) in about 30 mins.

I'm currently playing around with the explorer tool on the oneworld website and it is allowing me to select Qantas codeshare flights from Dubai to Sydney. Pretty sure that's not allowed correct?

You mean 8412, 8414 and 8418? Correct. QF 2, however, is a QF metal flight and is AOK.

I noticed that as well. Trying to select QF2 for a day the timetable later told me wasn't operating. Went back the next day after a oneworld tabletable update and it's now showing QF coded EK flights. Not sure how many.

When I tried to price it, it gave an unable to price error, but that could have been for any number of reasons with the way that tool has been working.

Does anyone have a copy of fare rules explaining all the surcharges? Eg fuel fines on BA, LHR tax, carrier surcharges etc??

I keep having huge carrier surcharges in my quotes and I can't figure out where they're coming from. Arrgh!

edit: never mind, finally answered my own question.

http://www.oneworld.com/documents/10...9-d346ec820edf

The fare rules do not explain the taxes and surcharges - pretty well impossible to do since the surcharges will depend on (i) the ticketing carrier and (ii) the carrier/segments you choose to fly, and the taxes will depend on the places you choose to visit.

If your 'quotes' are obtained by using the on-line booking tool, then you can see a list of all the taxes and "carrier imposed surcharges/fees" (aka fuel fines - but the tool only gives the total, not a breakdown by carrier/segment).
If not obtained that way, then you could use itasoftware.com to find out the taxes and surcharges segment by segment.
FYI - on a couple of DONE4/5s I'm pricing up the carrier imposed surcharges/fees come to about AUD750 and taxes to about AUD600

Of course, it's quite annoying trying to get tax/surcharge listings when the booking tool keeps failing to price anything.

Oh yes, I agree - very annoying
But lately I've found the tool quite well behaved - at least for the various ex-South Africa itineraries I'm playing with

I'm trying to price a DONE3, HND-HKG-JFK-BOS-MIA-LAX-IAH-ORD-DOH-CDG-LHR-DXB-LHR-PEK-HKG-SIN-HND, and it keeps giving an error. No matter what airline it tries to sent to ticket and with or without codeshares.

According to Mileage Monkey this is a perfectly acceptable itinerary. See http://www.slfft.org/mm/award.htm

Priced up fine for me
CX as the first carrier. Two transits of HKG and stopovers in PEK and SIN
Total cost JPY890,680 (base=657,500 +++=233,180 of which 136,260 is fuel fines)
YGM:)

hmmm... might be having JL as the first operating carrier causing the problem. I tried JL29 with both the JL and CX code.
What's bugging me most is it won't even offer the AA codes on the QR operated flights (which exist and expert flyer says are available) and keeps changing its mind about the QF codes on SIN-HND and AA codes HKG-JFK.

Nope.
JL29 as the first flight priced up OK for me (and priced up cheaper than with the CX flight - total of JPY871,640)

Codeshares are a whole different problem
I agree the tool does not work well in this regard

• for your first segment the tool is not displaying any codeshare flights for me
• you have already reported that it is displaying QF codeshares on EK metal for LHR-DXB and return
• on my itineraries sometimes it displays AA codeshares on other (QF, QR, LA) metal, sometimes not; sometimes it only displays the AA codeshare and not the operating carrier's flight number:rolleyes:

For that first flight, it offered me JL29 and CX6321.
I've never seen the booking tool offer a AA coded QR flight, they don't even show up on the oneworld desktop timetable, but were on the online map timetable last time I looked. Been trying to get (with current routing) AA7974 and AA7993.
For QF4017/QF4025 (JL38/JL36), it offers the QF code seemingly at random.

What bugs me most about the tool is what flights it offers. I can understand it not showing a flight if there is no A/D/L availability. It's very annoying when there is and it doesn't show.

I wonder if it will book the EK coded QF flights. The (old) tool allowed me to book a QF coded AS flight a few years ago. When I got stuck in DXB during my last DONE3 (BA delay, refusal to check through and transfer desks screwing me around triggered a missed connection to QF. EK tried to contact BA, then CX (ticket issuer) then QF), QF refused to rebook me to a QF codeshare back to LHR and gave me a hotel and rebook on QF1 24 hours later.

purchasing an ex-JNB DONE4 from the US?
 

I've been away from OW RTWs for awhile. I've forgotten everything I knew, and probably much has changed, anyway.

I'm looking to buy either a DONE4 or DGLOB34 ex-South Africa. Itinerary is fairly simple -- JNB-HKG-NRT-BOS-DFW-DEN-DFW-BOS-LHR-JNB. (I understand that I'm leaving a lot on the table.)

It looks like I have to reserve/purchase by phone (can't use the online tool -- for one thing, the JL NRT-BOS non-stop doesn't show up on the blessed thing). I will arrive in JNB on the afternoon before I leave on the RTW. What's the best way to handle the reservation & purchase -- call CX (first flight)? call the AA RTW desk?