Hope I'm posting in the right forum and apologies if i'm not !!....Currently on a DONE4 issued by AA with the last leg being MEL-HND with QF....overnighting in HND and the following day beginning another DONE4 issued by AA with the first sector being HND-LHR on BA6....my question is if QF cancel the last leg for any reason presumably going tech and i'm delayed by a day am I protected on my first flight with BA ?...Have been doing this for many many years without any issues thinking that having an overnight is sufficient time but now wondering do I need to build in an extra day ?...Thanks in advance for any assistance...Cheers

Update
 

UPDATE: Well everything is working out good so far. I just spoke with an English speaking agent from JAL. I told him that Cathay had cancelled our flight & rebooked us a day earlier. I explain we did not want to loose a day & that we would prefer not transiting through Hong Kong considering the situation. I told him we would prefer flying with JAL & transiting through Tokyo. I was prepare to plead but he just said "no problem" & offered me 2 dates to choose from. I told him the date we would prefer & he gave me all the information for the flights SEA-NRT-BKK & gave me our seats assignments. I told him I wanted to make sure we would not lose our flight later in the year back to Tokyo to complete our RTW since we had started in Tokyo & we were now transiting through Tokyo. He said not to worry, since it was only a transit it would not invalidate the rest of our ticket. I asked him if this would automatically cancelled our re-booked flight with Cathay or if I needed to do something else. He said, he would take care of it. He said I can log online & see all the changes. I waited a few minutes & logged on line & saw all the new changes.

The only thing is now it says "Status on hold" "Holding period Fri 28 Feb". But I think that is just a formality when there a change. At least I hope.

It was so easy this time, I actually had to pinch myself. Thank you for all the help & support! I'll let you know if anything changes.

Everything resolved
 

Yay! Our tickets are not on hold anymore. Website is showing "ticketed" with the new routing & new flights. Very happy. Thanks again for all the support!

An excellent idea! Thank you for taking it on.

A few thoughts:

• I think that, in general, more information is better than less, especially if it's organized into subsections, and so I'd suggest not being too eager to delete less-frequently asked questions (such as booking codes).
• Archiving this thread and starting it anew from 2020 on, as is done in many other threads, seems like a good idea, and less confusing than giving the new thread a new title.
• Personally, I prefer all information in one place that is easily searched in the browser (e.g., search for "backtrack" and find the section on backtracking) rather than links to other threads or other places.

You need to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. So, you could do Europe-NA-SA-NA-Australia-Europe, but you'd be paying for Asia anyway, so you may as well visit there too. You could even do two visits to Asia as well as two to North America, e.g., Europe-Asia-NA-SA-NA-Australia-Asia-Europe.

This is helpful and a great way to explain it. You might also want to mention at the start that the rules require crossing both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans once and only once, as I think that is easier for most people to grasp the concept, and then explain about the TCs.

I completely agree that the level of hassle in making changes has gone way up, and the reluctance of many airlines (including AA) to take over an RTW makes things far more difficult.

On the issue of reissuing, one reason AA insists on reissuing the ticket is that it is far more reliable when there are Amadeus airlines on the itinerary. Since AA doesn't charge for reissuing, what is the objection to reissuing?

AA's policy is to protect on separate tickets if both are OneWorld, so that's good. On the other hand, changing the date of the first flight of an RTW usually forces a re-price, unless it's treated as an involuntary change. I'd say it depends on getting a good AA RTW agent.

Thanks so much anabolism :tu:

I think you meant Amadeus (everyone but AA and LA)?

Well, at the time, the RTW desk was closed (it used to be closed 14 hours a day, now I think only 12, based on US working hours, when in mid-itinerary I'm not in the US); then, when it opened, I had to wait nearly 20 mins. in the RTW desk phone queue while hanging out at SCL (not fun with my cellphone); then, for some unknown reason the rate desk had to look at the record (more hold time) even though nothing had changed itinerary-wise. Before things were set up this way, I could even have changed the flight in a minute at the LA counter at SCL in virtually no time. They can see the fare basis (freely date-changeable) and the class of service availability just fine.

I guess next year with the OW changes, I won't be whiling away my time near the LATAM counter waiting in the phone queue, but then it's colder waiting at Barrow, Alaska...

Wait, isn't this backtracking? Europe-Asia-NA is eastward and NA-Australia-Asia is westward?

I think the difference is in cross-airline revalidation when all parties involved are Amadues carriers, not that Sabre cannot revalidate. For example, if you have a QR-157 document with QR, CX, and BA segments, in Amadeus the CX and BA segments can be revalidated, but not on Sabre. Sabre can definitely revalidate QR segments on a QR-157 document.

Given it is impossible to have an xONEx without Amadeus carriers (but possible to have only Amadeus carriers), that's why AA always re-issue to make sure the Amadeus carriers can see the latest copy of e-ticket.

Oops, yes, slip of the fingers. Thanks.

I understand your problems dealing with the AA RTW desk and frustration that other airlines are increasingly reluctant to take over an RTW ticket, but I don't see what the issue is with revalidation specifically, since AA doesn't charge for that.

Permitted by the rules. You are allowed to back-track and visit Asia twice when one visit is for travel between Europe and Southwest Pacific, and you are allowed to visit North America twice when one visit is for travel to/from South America.

I think anabolism put the second Asia at the wrong place? "Europe-Asia-NA-SA-NA-Australia-Asia-Europe" doesn't have TATL (and has 2 TPACs) and is not a RTW routing. "Europe-NA-SA-NA-(Asia-)Australia-Asia-Europe" is permitted.

My apologies, I accidentally put the two Americas in the wrong place. I was thinking "Europe-Asia-Australia-Asia-NA-SA-NA-Europe," which is what I did last year and similar to what I'm doing this year (except no SA this year).

Cancelling a RTW hold - BA difficulties
 

I went to the OW RTW site and constructed an itinerary that showed a price. I went to the final page to see if it would be able to be paid online at which time it was pushed to BA as the first segment is on BA. I only found this out when BA sent me an email about a schedule change. I did not pay for or enter credit card information . After a couple attempts at contacting BA reservations (U.S. number) I couldn't receive any information about if this was a hold and for how long but only that they would need to investigate about a "change fee" and could not/would not cancel the reservation. My preference is to use the AA RTW desk and make changes before purchase. This trip also populated in my trips on my AA account which I would like to go away to prevent future issues.

My questions: Will this automatically expire and I can construct a new intinerary? Any need to be concerned BA wants to collect a fee?

Funny, that's the opposite problem to what most people using the site have!

As long as you have not provided a credit card, I'm sure the itinerary will be cancelled after a few days. You might go to TripCase, select "Link," enter your name and the AA PNR that shows on aa.com, and then "Link." That should let you see the full PNR (which you can't do with an AA-created itinerary). In there it should show the status and expiration date. You can also go to CheckMyTrip and enter the BA PNR, which should show you the same information.

What I'd suggest, since you haven't yet paid for it and it hasn't yet been ticketed, is that you simply call the AA RTW desk, provide the AA PNR, and proceed from there. They should be able to take it over, make any changes, and ticket it. An advantage of having AA take over and ticket the existing PNR is that you can link it into TripCase, which provides a lot of detail that isn't otherwise available, and is something AA prevents with itineraries that they create. The other option is that AA could re-create the itinerary and cancel the existing one, but that seems less desirable as well as more work.

Has anyone had to make changes to their ticket based on Covid-19? We are supposed to have ours competed by July 7 and I doubt that is going to happen. Wondering if anyone has asked about an "extension"?

I asked the AA rtw desk about a week ago and they said "no", but things may have changed by now.

when I read your posting the first thought was OMG!

getting through to anyone at any airline is impossible.

Have you looked at the issuing airline web site.who did issue it?
i have tried for days to reach BA on the gold line. Ring ring ring.
i hope more senior members of this chat have some guidance for US,

Thanks for letting me know. I will have to call them in the near future and will post here with any new info.

A thread for this topic was started a couple of weeks ago and the OP eventually was able to obtain a 6-month extension of his ticket from AA:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...xtensions.html

Not sure if this is the best thread. Please move as needed.

Planning on purchasing 2 RTW tickets using AA desk. I would like to use multiple credit cards for minimum spend benefits.

1. Is the AA RTW desk similar to AA.com where only one credit card can be used? If yes, can I use a credit card and gift card?

2. Also, can AA vouchers be used with these 2 forms of payment?

Thanks

I am not sure if you can use more than one credit card, but I believe you can use a credit card and a gift card, or a credit card and a voucher. I am not sure if you can use a credit card and a gift card and a voucher, but I would doubt it.

If you have more than one passenger, you can create the record with all passengers, and then when ready to ticket you can split the record and use a different credit card for each passenger. The downside is that when there are schedule changes, cancellations, delays, and similar issues, it is more work to keep everyone flying together. But creating the record with all passengers and then splitting it makes this easier than starting a new record for each passenger.

Not sure how AA RTW desk works specifically, but generally in Sabre (or Amadeus) there's no problem for a multi-pax PNR to have each passenger pay by his own card (or just a different card).

That hasn't been my experience with AA agents, but I haven't tried to do that in a few years, so AA may have improved its processes.

Just off the phone with the AA RTW desk. Was told:

1. Only one credit card per PNR.

2. AA gift card only for AA flights and/or AA codeshare flights.

3. AA E-voucher only for AA flights and/or AA codeshare flights.

Can use all three if you can find a RTW ticket that only has AA or codeshare flights which I imagine is impossible.

Forgive me please if these questions have been asked already.
In 2021 (in case Coronavirus goes away) I am planning to buy a Oneworld Explorer DONE ticket (4 continents).
I have a nice 16-segment routing with 42,281 miles. According to the oneworld tool, this routing seems to be allowed.

Is that routing really legal? ..-LHR-LAX-JFK-DFW-HNL-...

Somewhere I have read that the airline, operating the first segment, must issue the ticket. That would be Finnair.
I don't want Finnair to be the issueing airline, esp. because of their high ticketing service fees (esp. for changing flights). The ability the change the flights/days (not cities) is very important to me.

Can I still buy the Oneworld Explorer ticket with another airline, e.g. AA or BA?

Another question -> I have this routing: ...-HKG(72 hours)-NRT-PVG-HKG(12 hours)-DPS-..
As you can see I plan to travel via HKG twice, which is technically not allowed. However, I was just putting PVG-DPS into the oneworld tool. The tool returned flights via HKG (its the CX hub). However, is it allowed to extend the stay in HKG (the 2nd time) up to 23 hours? The oneworld tool would only return connections with 12, 13, or 14 hours. There are connections bookable on cathaypacific.com with 23 hours (if I search for a one-way ticket PVG-DPS), but the oneworld tool would not show them.

You haven't published your entire routing but these flights appear legal. You cannot return to NA from Hawaii.

Yes. AA has a round the world desk that is imo quite easy to work with. Booking with BA usually results in higher taxes and surcharges. Some airlines it seems do not want to book these tickets unless they are operating some of the flights (especially long haul) in the itinerary. If you book using the oneworld tool it selects the first carrier for the booking.


Again you haven't provided your full routing. There is not necessarily anything wrong with stopping over in the same city more than once. There is a limitation on stopovers in your continent of origin. There is the rule that you cannot travel the same city pairs more than once in the same direction but this is not what you are doing.

Thanks a lot!
This is the routing: hel-lhr-lax-jfk-dfw-hnl-hnd-syd-mel-per-hkg-nrt-pvg-hkg-dps-doh-hel
I have bolded all stopovers (more than 24 hours).
Price is around EUR 8,200 incl. carrier surcharges. With a GCM distance of 42,281 miles, that around 19 cents per mile.
Only the JFK-DFW segment would be without a large business class bed, since that route is only served by a domestic First Class narrowbody plane.
Actually, I am trying to get rid of SYD in the routing, because I know this city and I am not interested in visiting the city. I am still hoping that QF will still operate HND-MEL in 2021, preferably aboard the Boeing 787-9, not the A330.

What I don't like about oneworld Explorer -> Surface segments count towards the 16-segment threshold. Without it, I would eliminated the PVG-HKG segment.

Availability in D seems to be only an issue for HNL-HND. Business has availability, but one has to search through multiple days before finding it.

How much is the AA service fee for changing days (not cities)?

One more question -> to which Oneworld FFP should I credit the flights? You get this question quite often. BA Avios seems to require 4 segments on BA. Currently, they are 0 segments on BA (I do not want to fly BA in Business). AA seems to require a spending of at least USD 12k to achieve status.

AA rtw desk does not charge for date changes.

BA requires two flights for bronze (only real benefit is seat selection at 7 days) or 4 for silver and gold. BA marketed or operated flights count, as do IB marketed and operated flights. See: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...l#post31904769
If you are based in Europe then I would consider flying a few BA flights.
Otherwise, see this thread:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...help-here.html

AY doesn't charge additional service fees for DONEx changes, so the date changes are free and route changes cost same as with any other airline. They only charge planning fee when they price an itinerary, even if you don't end up booking the ticket.

If you have OW status, AY have very friendly service and it is much easier to change dates compared with the current AA RTW desk situation and AY elite desks are open 24/7, much easier when you are in different time zone than AA RTW desk. However, route changes and setting up the initial itinerary can be more painful as you might need to educate agents about ticket rules, however they are more helpful than new AA rtw desk agents. Personally I would prefer ticketing with AY instead of AA, but if not having status with OW or not studying well the fare rules then I would not bother with AY.

Thanks for all the answers.
So, I will give it a try with AA.
I know also a number of brick-and-mortar TAs, but I am not sure how long they'll be around - they are not available 24/7.

One last question:
hel-lhr-lax-jfk-dfw-hnl-hnd-syd-mel-per-hkg-nrt-pvg-hkg-dps-doh-hel

So the HNL-SYD routing via HND is no problem? I am asking again, because I am touching Asia twice.

The AY elite desk is available for people who are elites with a OneWorld airline that is not AY?

Yep, but I guess it's unofficial. Of course need to have AY ticket number or AY flight on the ticket. As I'm based in HEL I have even profile set up with them, so they can find my info based on the caller id.

Thank you again for all the valueable input!