I have a quick question - I'm going to book LONE3 travelling through US and Asia and back to Europe.
I'm going to ticket this through AA - but not sure which FF program to allocate to the booking. I'm BA gold, but also have an AA account with no status. Per my route I'm not going to be flying BA metal at all. 6 Flights on AA (inc Atlantic crossing), 1 JAL, 4CX, 1 Qantas.
I would want to use my BA status for lounge visits where possible, but looking at it, it doesn't make sense to accrue the miles there? I realise on L this won't necessarily make a massive difference, but just wondered what the most sensible choice was.

Thanks for any advice.

If the routing works out correctly, I'd sign up for the AA Platinum challenge and try to earn as many AA miles as possible - details on the AA board. If it works, book the relevant QF, JL and CX flights using AA codes, as you'll receive full AA miles and bonuses, vs. discounted mileage (or in the case of CX, nothing for L fares.)

Now that ATI is in place, who knows how valuable an AA vs. BA mile will be in a year? Nonetheless, I'd assume more is better.

Yea, I have my doubts about the true value of this too, but I'm still shooting for volume.

Originally Posted by chrislondon2
....how easy is it just to turn up at a travel agent or an airline ticket desk in, say, Montreal or Ottowa and buy an AONE6 on the spot for the Canadian$ equivalent of the locally published fare at the point of origin of the AONE6?....


My AONE6 was easily sorted out by Elly Miller, many thanks. A Can$600 admin fee was worthwhile. However, this decision to buy through an agent (something I've never done previously with any airline ticket) really proved unexpectedly useful since my first flight (TLV-LHR) was cancelled because of the volcanic ashcloud. Not only was Elly very proactive in seeking to assist me in TLV [although I'd been more pro-active myself and found my own way back to London ... but that's a long story!] but, more importantly, Elly was of massive assistance in several consequential rebookings of much of the AONe6.

For anyone who is thinking of using the Canadian option to save some significant money on a rtw ticket, I'd strongly recommend Elly Miller

I'm unclear about the term "admin fee". Was the entire C$600 amount the agent's commission, that could have been entirely avoided by buying the ticket directly from an airline .... or was that the total of taxes/fuel charges etc. associated with the ticket? If the latter, do you know how much (if any) of that was the agent's commission? Thanks!

IIRC, airlines stopped paying commissions several years ago. Travel agents now charge professional fees for their services. Around here, $25 for a simple domestic RT ticket is not unusual. More for complex tix.

Canadian TA's can and do charge "like wounded bulls" for xONEx when compared to many other places in the world.

I often muse about cause/effect in relation to the "Canadian Exemption" and these high fees.

I've found that planning an interesting route is made easier with a map in front of me, so here's an updated version of the oneworld Explorer map - something that the airlines themselves haven't published in several years. Click through for a larger version. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1102/...c3270d6b8b.jpg

RTW
 

I think i understand what you are saying, my problem is i am departing from Brisbane Australia going to Las Vegas then on to London (UK) and back to Brisbane. I am looking for the best Business class pricing any ideas? 8of9

Information from AA RTW Desk Conflicts Online Tool?
 

So I have a question about the interpretation of rule 4(e) exception 1:

I was trying to book a OWE, part of which looked like HKG-JFK-xLAX-SCL-IPC-LIM-xSFO-LHR. The AA RTW desk told me that I could not head to Europe by going back through North America. I thought that this was the reasoning of the above quoted rule? FWIW the OWE booking tool validates this.

Is the desk wrong?

Yes - the desk is wrong
The only way the allowed exception can come into play is if you are transiting Nth Am to/from Sth Am from/to another continent (Europe, Asia or SWP)

Thanks for the quick response! I called back and though at first was given the same line by a different rep:

I quoted the rule and after about 5 minutes of the rep reviewing the rules on her end, she agreed with me and changed my held itinerary to my preferred routing and resent it to the rate desk. ^

This routing gives me an extra 4500+ RDM as well as more time in BA F.

I was quite surprised to get this from the otherwise very knowledgeable AA RTW desk.

I had my AONE5 reservation held by the AA RTW desk a few days ago and am heading up to YVR this weekend to purchase it (thank goodness for the Canadian exception!). When I view the reservation on AA's website, it shows 18 segments because I booked two flights on the trip that have a connection but a single flight number, specifically QF32 from LHR-SYD which is listed twice as LHR-SIN and SIN-SYD and AA 7734 LAX-SCL listed as LAX-LIM and LIM-SCL.

Will I be issued a paper ticket?

Two-sector, single-segment flights (e.g. QF32) show up as two entries on AA's web record but as one segment on the e-ticket, so no, you shouldn't be given a paper ticket.

Couple of quick questions after toying with AA BA and CX codes on LHR-LAX and JFK-HKG flights respectively.

1. Does CX have lower fuel surcharges than AA? Was pricing out the DONE4 and using the AA code instead of BA (on BA metal) on LHR-LAX reduces the surcharges by 100$ or so while using the AA code instead of CX (on CX metal) on JFK-HKG works out to be 100$ or so dearer.

2. I know single flight numbers count as one segment (eg. SYD-SIN-LHR). Does that also apply if the two sections of that flight are flown on different days? (eg. SYD-SIN on one day and the same flight number SIN-LHR on the next day?)

As an aside, finally leaning towards crediting the DONE4 to AAdvantage as opposed to QFF due to AA's great rates on award tickets. An optimized DONE4 (with a Plat Challenge at the start) will net me close to 130k miles which is 1.5 RT Tickets (SYD-BOM) in Business (which is a route I fly fairly often!).

While I'll only make Plat (OWS) on AA as opposed to Plat (OWE) on QF, the redemption award rates win out for me when compared to the Partner Gold (which I could hit with a well optimized itin. + a N.America MR). Lack of lounge access in the US for AA OWS is not an issue.

What is the amount of YQ difference between the 2 carriers flight codes (i.e. using CX.... vs AA...... codeshare; the flight as we know is op by CX of course)

For my trip in September the YQ is $87.15 greater on the AA code, this is in F.

Hi,

I just tried to validate an AONE5 using the AA RTW desk. Despite citing rule 4e per the OWE rule sheet (and the fact that the online booking tool validates it) she told me I could not book a flight from LHR-MIA-EZE-MIA even though the initial trasfer through Miami was not a stopover and only a transit point. She insisted she was correct.

Am I missing something? If I am correct what should I do to try and get this ticketed? If I book online will I pay more taxes?

Many thanks,
PC

The AA RTW desk seems slightly more error-prone than in the past, so the first thing I'd do is phone back and try again.

As to your second question, it's hard to say without knowing your route and start point. If your first flight is LHR-MAD and you're using AA, then the online tool ought to be as cheap as the AA RTW desk would be given the itinerary parameters. If you're using BA on LHR-MIA, then you'll probably pay a lot more due to fuel surcharges levied by BA.

Do the quote online, then look at the taxes subtotal when you get to the "pay me" screen. If the "YQ" (fuel surcharges) figures are way high, then you might want to try AA again.

Thanks! The lady on the desk seemed to not want to budge, so maybe if I get someone else..

I'm actually originating in South Africa.

.. Also the online planner seems to get stuck when checking flights when I ask to book, so I've not had much luck there (just seems to sit there thinking without going past the 2nd flight check).

As Gardyloo said, the AA RTW desk is incorrect. In my entire time working with the AA RTW desk planning my AONE5 and purchasing it in Canada, dealing with schedule changes etc. they were extremely knowledgeable, but the SINGLE thing that they were wrong about, to my knowledge, was this same rule. When I first tried to set up the itinerary for ticketing over the phone the agent insisted I could not fly HKG-JFK-xLAX-SCL-IPC-LIM-xSFO-LHR and that i had to fly directly from South America to Europe because "there is a flight directly between the two regions." I also specifically cited Rule 4e exception 1 and after about 5 minutes of her looking at the rules she agreed and booked me on the flight. My recommendation when it comes to the AA RTW desk is that if you are having issues and know you are right, just ask to speak to Meredith, the head of the desk, who is very knowledgeable and helpful.

Has anyone noticed that the option to view costs of a xONEx from a variety of locations seems to have disappeared from the oneworld site?

I can't find it anywhere: anyone got any clues?

This was reported a few days ago: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/15958985-post16.html

But unfortunately we don't have an idea either other than the fear that this might mean another price rise.

You can still however go into the booking engine (http://oneworldrtw.innosked.com) plan your itinerary and hit "book now" to find the price in local currency.

As an aside; the strong AUD against NZD makes it almost appealing to book a DONE4 ex-AKL than ex-AMM as planned. Taking the positioning flights and time into account; the difference is about 1500$ as per the flight costs that I looked up a couple of hours ago.

Yes you can, but it takes 50+ times longer ... :mad:

Yeah! How are we supposed to figure out which country is the cheapest place to start our *ONE*s? :td::td::td::mad:

It's now a week since they disappeared... surely doesn't take that long to stick some updated prices into the system? :confused: Hope they're not going to do what Skyteam does and not publish the fares anywhere. As serfty says, I ain't going thru the whole booking process everytime I just want to find out the base fare for a new origin! :mad:

I hope it's a bug or something...

Though, you can always price out *ONE* on ExpertFlyer, if you have a subscription. Still not quite as easy as the drop down menu, however.

Apologies for a beginner's question, two actually:
- can Openskies (US-Paris) be included in DONE?

- I wish to do this itin:
HKG-xNYC-YUL-NYC-CDG-HKG

I only stated NYC because I wish to use CX nonstop to JFK and directly connect to Montreal where I spend a few days, then a few days in NYC.
Is that a valid itin?

No apology required! Travel on OpenSkies (code EC) is not allowed as it's not part of OW despite being owned by BA. The fare rules allow:

I can't answer the question re:routing but suspect (i) it's allowable as Montreal and NY are both on the east coast, and if not (ii) you'd be able to fly into the West coast and then take another combination of flights to get you to Montreal.

Perfectly valid

If you wish you can stopover in New York before and after Montreal - there is no restriction regarding multiple stopovers in the same city

As pointed out by Lux you cannot include Openskies in your itinerary, so your JFK-CDG flight will have to be on AA

Thanks for the useful responses and GREUH that I need AA (EC is so much better in biz).

Since your itinerary uses only 6 of the 16 segments permitted, you can add a NYC-LHR-CDG or NYC-MAD-CDG using BA or IB across the pond for your NYC-CDG nonstop.

It appears that QF no longer handles ticketing for JL. AA does.

I've started playing with the OW site planning a RTW stating in CPT - I've put in CPT-MRU-JBO-LHR but LHR comes up with the red triangle -I've tried then doing DXB-LHR-ATH-LHR again red triangles for ATH and DXB. I thought this would be allowed.

If you mean CPT-MRU-JNB-LHR, then (a) you're missing an intermediate plane change at JNB outbound (no CPT-MRU service, only JNB-MRU) plus you can't return to the country of issue (South Africa) once you've left it - until the end. So plan on CPT-JNB-MRU-LHR and you should be okay.

ATH and DXB are both included in the list of cities in Europe where only one flight to/from London is allowed. DXB-LHR-ATH would be okay, as would LHR-DXB-LHR, or LHR-ATH-LHR, but not the route you've cited. Look at ATH-MAD or MAD-ATH (or DXB-AMM-ATH) as work-arounds.

Thanks - not sure where I got JBO from:confused:. The OW planner is just showing CPT-MRU as 1 sector. It's when I put in JNB-LHR that LHR flashes red. I might do this in F and I know BA don't do (or are ceasing MRU-LHR in F) so I'd have to route through JNB to get F.

If you double click on the triangle it will give you more information about the error. In your case you can't leave the country of origin more than once as per the rules of the xONEx tickets.

Also the system will allow you to put point to point entries that are not valid except via intermediary flights. So your CPT-MRU is valid but it would take 2 sectors to do it which you would find out when you started to enter the flights for each segment.