unless one do a DONE5 from South africa, it is not possible to avoid the north america crappy F unless you need the F credit.

probabaly DONE4 is okay since it can be 4 europe, 4 asia, 5 intercontinental, (via middle east) 1 transcon north ameria and 2 other not so great segments..

QR 1387/1388 flies KGL-EBB and v.v. daily with a 320. You might get a flat bed (same design as the AA transcon J) or you might get a recliner.

QR 1359/1360 will fly JNB-MPM (Maputo) thrice weekly with a 788, but the route is presently suspended: http://airlineroute.net/2015/05/13/qr-mpm-may15update2/

BA pulled their route on LHREBB with effect from October.

There was some chatter that AT was looking to join oneworld, but I wouldn't hold your breath. http://centreforaviation.com/analysi...lliance-223855

both route are so short to waste a sector... (i am cheap...)

Those are your options, take them or leave them :p :D

North American F isn't that bad. OK it is not a flat-bed and there is no IFE, but it isn't that bad, could even be classed as pleasant and mildly enjoyable. If you want bad, try "business" class within Europe - I can guarantee, if you haven't tried it before, the first time you get on, you will think "oh business class does not exist on this route, this is an all-economy aircraft"

i know.... i have done a lot of Y in Europe and F in USA. but since it is a paid ticket, i am trying to be a bit picky... there are very few places that i havent visited in usa (major city wise). i am mostly doing it for miles. hence comfort nd miles are a priority..

I've always had great difficulty getting my head around the three exceptions that, when in play, allow a second entry (I think that's what it is, anyway).

As an example, is the following permitted: CPT-xDOH-OSL-DOH-LAX-JFK-GRU-LIM-xDFW-HKG-JNB?

If I've read it right the cost of a DONE5 ex-SA is less than a DONE4 ex-Egypt.

See Rule E (1) in the Flight Applications category.

I think that, in combination with rule A and rule B, that basically limits you to using North America to access South America.

So, in my above itinerary, provided I don't stopover in DFW before travelling on to HKG, I should be fine, yeah?

Yes. No more than 24hrs in DFW

Edited to add: and you fly HKG-xDOH-JNB at the end, to get the second entry to Europe:D

And to answer your other question
From ExpertFlyer
DONE4 ex-Egypt base fare EGP44,000 (= approx. USD5636)
DONE5 ex-Sth Africa base fare ZAR67,880 (= approx. USD5323)
So yes the 5 from Sth Africa is cheaper than the 4 from Egypt

I see you have OSL in your itinerary - I wonder if there is a reason for this;)
(FWIW it looks like I will be re-routing my current DONE5 to also have DOH-OSL-DOH in it:D)

Ha. If you're referring to the super sale run by AA/BA/IB/AY a couple of days ago, then sadly not. I'm in the very, very, very early stages of putting together my next round the world. I don't even have a start date (or month) yet. I chose OSL as I haven't been there and someone upthread (or maybe another) pointed out that DOH-OSL is a fairly long flight on the Qatar 787. Similarly I was also looking at DOH-CMN-DOH as well. But I'm just not sure I want to 'waste' two sectors by going to and from. I'm used to, for example, SSH-AMM-MAD-HEL-LHR and out.

This trip I'm going to want to maximise Qatar J (I'm giving serious consideration to DOH-LAX) and getting on at least two AA 773s so I can hopefully put my eVIPs to good use. I'd also like to try LAN (or is it LATAM) 787s. I see a number of the South American internal flights only have coach, too.

Anyway, as I say, very formulative stage. Hopefully I can make something of it. This'll be my sixth round the world, fourth oneworld Explorer.

Pandaperth, may I ask where you originated your DONE5?

was told about the across the board fare increase for ONE fare... is it true?

Not that I can tell...