As far as I know (which often isn't very far) if you want to fly from Dublin to Hawaii for $1600 it will be an I fare, not a J fare. I mention that because I-class fares are usually quite restrictive while the 'normal' DONEx fare is obviously in D-class and extremely flexible. If you don't need the flexibility, ignore the comment.

I'm trying to maximize AA codeshares on my upcoming AONE4 (currently waiting for the Rate Desk to finish its work so I can ticket). Although my first leg will be JNB-HKG (so I can avoid the Europe/Middle East/Africa backtracking limitations), I booked it through the AA RTW desk because I there are several JL and BA flights on which I want the AA codeshare number and I couldn't get the online tool to give them to me.


Except that the absurdly generous 2015 AA bonus program ends on December 31, 2015.

AONE4 ex-JNB now under USD $7,000. Hope that the AA rate desk gets it done so I can have it ticketed before any price increase!

No. The fare is fixed (actually in both cases, it's fixed, but the movement in available booking codes makes it look dynamic). All that matters is the availability of the right booking codes for the fare in question. DONE6 fares will let you book into D class internationally which is usually going to be available.

BA and QF have high surcharges.

The Heathrow Passenger charge is about £34 (about 50 USD). That is to pay for the terminal facility and everyone who passes through LHR pays it. However, if you stop in the United Kingdom for more than 24 hours, and then fly to somewhere more than 2000 miles away, a large government tax comes into play. That tax can be drastically reduced by stopping again (>24 hours) in Europe first.

No effect on the base fare, but of course the more segments you have, the more airport service fees you are paying, and the more fuel surcharges as well probably.

Yes. ex-Tokyo it looks like this. (The number at the end of the fare basis signifies the max continents, so DONE3 is three continents; DONE6 is six.)
On top of that you will add applicable government taxes, airport fees and airline surcharges.

Therefore it is probably better to squeeze something out of a DONE3 by repeatedly backtracking than attempting a DONE6.

You are entirely correct, and indeed a very valid point—as I had to change an I fare between Brazil and Europe with less than 12 hours notice earlier this week (somehow I found availability). I was confining my comments to someone looking to generate points for his frequent flier programme.

Thanks Calchas, very useful info. I guess maximizing a DONE3 may be the way to go, I assume you also want to definitely circumnavigate the globe but which 3 continents may give more bang for the buck, I assume Asia is definitely one, probably N.America another one, and I assume a third one will be either Africa or Europe.

It seems ex-ZA with CX is also popular and a DONE5 from there is about the same price with a DONE3 ex-TYO with AA? Can you book the ex-ZA online with CX with the AA OW online tool?

Also, what is the deal with codeshares, these don't show on the online tool, right?

Further, the first flight has to be operated by the carrier you book the ticket with, that is, no codeshare allowed there?

The online tool is very limited.

You have to have Asia and Europe, just because of the way the oneworld flight paths are arranged. Then you'll need at least one of South America and North America (South America is so full of all-Y flights it is probably best avoided) and you can optionally have Africa and Australasia ("South West Pacific").

It should be possible I would think. But someone else here will have experience.

They are fully allowed; but codeshares won't show up in the tool. You can substitute in codeshare later without incurring a penalty fee.

That's a restriction of the tool. Any oneworld airline can (in principle) book your itinerary, although there are some technical restrictions and not all airlines are competent to do it. However if you book with the tool, your itinerary is sent to the first airline on the list for them to ticket.

Note that whilst on this itin the reverse has much the same by way of airport/departure taxes, that's not always the case.

Here are the numbers as per ITA (searching for each leg one at a time, all on Sept 26th, airline charges first, taxes second).

JNB-LHR on BA (D): $263 + $41.8
LHR-JFK on AA (D): $204.2 + $314.7
JFK-LAX on AA (D): $0 + $119.24 (mostly the ~$105 US Transportation Tax)
LAX-NRT on AA (D): $86 + $27.8
NRT-HKG on CX (D): $16.80 + $21.9 (or $21 + $13 in taxes on JL).
HGK-JNB on CX (D): $24.8 + $15.5
total: $594.8 + $540.94

JNB-HKG on CX (D): $24.6 + $41.9
HKG-NRT on CX (D): $5.5 + $15.5 (same on JL).
NRT-LAX on AA (D): $88 + $57.1
LAX-JFK on AA (D): $0 + $119.24 (mostly the ~$105 US Transportation Tax)
JFK-LHR on AA (D): $414 + $27.8
LHR-JNB on BA (D): $234.6 + $279.5
total: $766.7 + $541.04

So the difference should be under $200. BA charging extra fuel surcharges seem to be most of the issue?

Cathay has just priced a AONE3 ex-Tokyo for me in super quick time, it took 7 hours from my original email for them to reply. Apart from a couple of very minor code share issues it looks good. The £900 in fees and taxes are not so good, but that's what happens if you include LHR...

For peace of mind I want to confirm that all I need to do to change any flight dates (I don't start until May next year but I want to get it priced ASAP to take advantage of the favourable rates) is email Cathay at Tokyo with the revised dates once I've taken my first flight. I've included a number of dummy dates as part of the booking but obviously I can't set these beyond a year from now. Once the first flight is taken I should be able to change these to any dates as long as they are within 12 months of the first flight. Is this correct?

^

Did you used to do the special oneworld fares (RTW/Visit-a-continent/etc) when you worked in JAX? We have a lot of problems here trying to figure out exactly why some ticketing/validating carriers are charging different fees for identical itineraries, and how that can be avoided.

No need to e-mail Cathay Tokyo to change dummy dates. I made date changes (from dummy dates to open dates) by calling the Cathay 800 number in the U.S. The agent was well versed in RTW ticket rules.

BTW, I changed my dummy dates to open dates before the first flight.

Perhaps I just had a good agent. YMMV.

Oh I forgot to say, I heard back from my contact at BA.

It is possible to do open tickets, but you have to use temporary ticketing mode in Amadeus (and the PNR somehow doesn't get stored after the ticket is issued), and the Amadeus manual devotes about 30 pages to how to do it. So I can see why they didn't want to bother.

^

Interesting as always

Do you remember if YQ was "frequently" missing from non-BA tickets?

PNR with open segments
 

I have a DONE4 issued by CX with 6 dated segments and 10 open segments.

BA has a hard time dealing with this ticket. It is not accessible through "manage my booking." If I call BA they can find the PNR, but are unable to make seating choices on BA flights for dated segments (and I am BA Gold). Most agents just say the computer is down (since they are unable to pull up a seat map) and ask me to call back tomorrow. Other agents have speculated that it is because there are some open segments in the itinerary, but none have been successful getting me an upper deck seat on a BA flight.

Might have something to do with Amadeus - open segment issue noted above by CALCHAS? Anyone know a work-around to select a seat on a BA flight for a dated segment?