Oh I see

In some instances YQ is not linearly additive like this, which is an extra complication.

i know. for example. dfw doh muc is different than dfw doh, doh muc.
i test out using the online tool, when staying in doh less than 48 hours, the lower yq applies.

i dont quite understand the rule of starting in africa, and connect in europe/middle east in one direction.

suppose i do jnb lhr hkg (as transfer to asia), and end with doh jnb, the third rule says i cant fly between doh and europe when i am in europe, right?

Yes - you have understood the rule correctly (though it only applies if you connect in Europe/Middle East in both directions)

The rule you are referring to is (in part):In your example (starting with JNB-LHR-HKG and ending with DOH-NBO):
- outbound you can stopover in places in the Europe zone of the continent (for example LHR-MAD-ATH-LHR)
- inbound you can stopover in places in the Middle East zone (For example DOH-CAI-AMM-DOH)
- but, as you have said already, you cannot fly between the two zones (for example LHR-DOH); in fact you cannot even have a surface segment between the two zones

For further information - these changes were discussed starting at post #81 in this thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...ule-sheet.html when the changes were made, back in November 2013

what is the best ex -jnb routing while maximizing miles and comfort?

there are either 4 or 5 segments intercontinental depending on the backtracking.
4 nice segments in asia is easy. 4 nice segments in europe is possible if i can fly back and forth from doha.

it is left with 3 or 4 segments in usa (assuming i do north america asia europe and south africa). only 1 flight is nice.

what do u think?

DOH-CMN-DOH is a pretty good, but often overlooked, addition.

Good find. 7,128 miles on QR.

doh osl doh is pretty good.
i am planning to do doh much which is good too...
but intra north america is the problem

It wasn't exact, but doing ITA on point to point and I was able to get close on the estimate for what AA was charging combined on the quote.

I will be filing a DOT action to get some transparency.

^

i am curious how it accounts for brazil...
there is no yq departing from brazil. but if you start somewhere with a segment leaving brazil. how would yq be computed?

Ticketing via mindpearl a while back was interesting because one of their agents (Rucien) who is available on the phone also prices RTWs. First time I've been able to speak directly to someone doing pricing themselves. He uses an AA tool and that tool itself doesn't do a breakdown. Which strikes me as an IT problem.

I've done something similar but pricing out the stopovers (with same routing as my ticket) not each segment. Got me very close with some important differences vs point to point. There is usually only 1 YQ charge for multiple connections which makes a big difference when you connect on two flights with large YQ.

E.g. GRU-DFWx-NRTx-SIN has no YQ if straight through, and plenty if it were as stopovers. The reverse does has YQ (~$200). This can effect your routing quite a bit if you care about YQ and are happy for long flights connecting to long flights.

Last XMAS/NY (somehow now 7 months ago!) I spent a few hours doing and recording lots of these with the intention of a post with an overview. Minded to go back and update/finish that at some point, brought up some interesting quirks. I did get a bit confused by BA charges, turns out I'd stumbled across the no YQ within continental Europe change.

You get to see some interesting carrier politics hinted at in the YQ charges. E.g. BA shows up as ruling Europe as I assume they pushed for basically anywhere in Europe to the US to have the same YQ. JAL seems to have won a concession such that "its" YQ is charged for DFW-[NRT|HKG]x-SIN which makes DFW-HKG-SIN cheaper buy enough to pay for a night's hotel in HKG IIRC.

I have a GRU-LHRx-FCO-surface-VIE-LHRx-YYZ and a separately issued JFK-GIG, all in first or business, issued by AA in the US for flights on BA and JJ with virtually no YQ. The total for all fees is around the USD 150-200 level. I don't know the exact charge because I've reissued several times, always for a tiny fee or rebate. A colleague of mine who got the same route, but in economy class, paid the same level of total fees. There was no higher fee for higher class that I could make out.

It's unlawful to charge YQ under some circumstances for itineraries originating in Brazil. I am not sure of the exact meaning of the regulation, but then again I think neither are many airlines.