A no show risks the remainder of the ticket being cancelled. Also if this is the final segment of the ticket and the flown sectors no longer fulfil an around the world itinerary there is a risk of being charged the difference between fare paid and a series of one-way fares.

From the penalties category—

It's entirely possible that the next carrier in your itinerary will not know that you have no shown, just like any other ticket. But if they are the validating carrier or use the same reservation system as the validating or previous carrier, then they may have instructions not to board you until you pay the fee.

(thanks Kiwi Flyer for your answers to my previous post.)

I have reworked my DONE3 ex-TYO itinerary and hope some of you might have insights on how to improve it before I call the RTW desk to make the changes.

New itinerary (flown segments in bold, the rest to be flown up until 08/2016):

NRT-xORD-JFK-LAX-xDFW-JFK-xDFW-LAX-xDOH-MAD-TXL-xDOH-FCO-HKG-KUL-xDEL-NRT

As you can see, I tried to maximize mileage accrual. I also dedicated time to assess all YQ surcharges/taxes on ITA. I was surprised by the high YQ surcharges on QR segments. I then learnt from other FT threads about using AA codeshares to minimize YQ and potentially get better mileage accrual as well (my understanding is that as AA PLAT I would get 50% COS bonus versus 25%, I believe.) So, to my questions:

1) I could not find AA codeshares for the new QR LAX-DOH flight starting in 2016, although AA has codeshares for several other QR flights, including my chosen DOH-MAD and DOH-FCO segments. Is it possible that AA will release a codeshare for the new LAX-DOH anytime soon or perhaps I did not properly look for it? I checked on ITA, EF, AA, as well as QR press releases at no avail.

2) I could not find an AA codeshare for the CX FCO-HKG segment, although many CX flights seem to have AA codeshares, including intra-Asia flights. Possible that I missed this one as well or is there another reason for its absence?

3) If securing AA codeshares is not possible for the above mentioned segments, would you have other routing suggestions for my connecting segments (prefixed with "x") in order to maximize miles and ideally keep YQ to a minimum?

Thanks for your help..! And apologies in advance if this should be posted on a different forum/thread, I thought that due the xDONEx rules and routing involved I should post here...

Hi, -- I'll try to help with some of this; I'm sure others will help with other questions, too.


I realize that it's too late because you've already flown the first segment, but why NRT-xORD-JFK instead of NRT-JFK?


It's pretty early for that. For example, I couldn't find even the QR nonstop LAX-DOH in Expert Flyer.


There may not be an AA codeshare for this one, I wouldn't have thought that there would be. Normally, flights which have an AA codeshare have one end in the U.S. or reasonably connect to an AA flight (i.e., have a through fare on AA).

Thanks. I think it was a mistake on my part. I needed two more flights on AA metal to fulfill AA PLAT elite status this year, so decided to have those two AA segments at the start of the DONE3. At the time of booking, I was not aware that a JL flight would have worked for my elite status just like an AA flight. So, I lost one precious segment. :(

It shows up on EF searching for 2016 departure dates:
That's what I thought, too. But I was surprised by the amount AA codeshares on other CX flights, even intra-Asia ones... Maybe the latter have to to do with segments that connect to US-bound flights, but I'm not sure. Curious to understand how they make those codeshare choices...

Yes, that's bound to be it. I take those CX codeshares both ways between HKG and BKK, as well as JL codeshares between NRT and BKK when connecting to or from the U.S.

An airline wants a codeshare principally to pretend it serves somewhere and therefore provide local feed for a larger route, or to deepen a commercial exchange on specific routes with a partner airline where revenue is being shared to some degree between the parties.

For instance, intra-Asia (I assume you mean, shorthaul on CX ex-HKG) makes sense because AA recently started serving HKG. By codesharing onto local CX flights, AA can draw feed to connect to its new HKG service. CX will have to decide carefully if it wants to cannibalize its own prime services to the USA, but if the price is right, then maybe that's better than AA working more closely with JL. AA also has an arrangement with JL as well.

Looking at another one you mentioned, MAD-DOH, well AA doesn't serve DOH itself, but QR is a major oneworld partner. There might be good reasons to cultivate that relationship, even though AA already has a partnership with EY.

And then you have BA and AA codesharing everywhere on their transatlantic and domestic and intra-European sectors, together with their partners AY and IB. That's part of their "joint venture".

However, on CX FCO-HKG, there is really no reason for AA to codeshare on that at all. It doesn't give either CX or AA any advantage. It doesn't feed any real AA sectors. I doubt AA would want to buy a block of space or subsidise space on that flight.

Also, there are legal and regulatory restrictions on codeshares; often regulators have to be consulted; maybe domestic codeshares can only exist when part of a fare component with an international prime segment (as in the USA), maybe a codeshare is only allowed if it connects within 24 hours to a prime flight (such as in HK). Although these technical restrictions are often not enforced on oneworld explorer tickets!

What I was also going to say, is even if AA doesn't have a codeshare, you might earn more miles (I don't know the details) if you pick a "closer" AA partner, for instance use the BA codeshare instead of the S7 prime flight. Not entirely sure about AA's programme, but it might be worth thinking about.

AA codeshares on CX metal were around long (and I mean years) before AA started the DFW/HKG service. Remember, there are also AA codeshares on CX metal out of all CX U.S. ports.

Yes, the first codesharing agreement was signed in 2000. (See https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/es_...elease_58.html)

Thanks Calchas for the very informative response. Perhaps an edited version of your response could be considered for the wiki for easier future access.

I have been doing some more research. I include below some findings that might help future readers.

Not all AA codeshare flights listed on the AA PDF Timetable show up on ITA/EF, including some of those not requiring specific connections. And I am not quite sure why. But from the ones that do show up on ITA:

AA codeshares on QR do charge the same YQ surcharges as QR metal. So in this case, AA seems to be passing on the exact same YQ surcharge as the operating carrier.

CX codeshares on QR charge a lower YQ surcharge from QR metal. CX seems to be charging their own (lower) YQ surcharges rather than those of the operating carrier.

Have not checked other OW partners, but will do soon and will report any findings worth posting.

Some people (I'm sorry I forgot exactly who) were having trouble with the airline refusing to disclose the tax calculation on their ticket for change purposes

The newest version of the MyFlights app and the MyFlights website will now display the raw fare/tax/fee calculation if the booking was created on Amadeus (so that's BA/CX/JJ/IB/QF/AY/RJ/LA... but not AA/JL).

www.myflightsapp.com (thanks to schofs for creating this tool)

Side Trips - How to proceed?
 

The wiki mentions that side trips can be added to the ticket. Do I simply need to book these side trips on any website, call the ticketing airline to ask them to add them to the ticket, or is there a more specific procedure to follow?

No, they must be booked at the same time as part of the same itinerary as the RTW journey.

A "side trip" is a specific way of combining two fares together on the same ticket, when the passenger interrupts the main fare at an intermediate point to go on a second trip, before returning to the intermediate point and resuming the main fare. The total 16 sector limit will still apply to the total journey. The cost calculation is the main fare + the side trip fare.

See http://dls3.wspan.com/LearningCenter...t.htm#sidetrip for the industry meaning of a "side trip".

You cannot "add" two existing tickets together in the manner you suggest.

I was one of those people, still bitter about how AA have handled the whole mess. But those damn ex-JNB fares will keep me buying OW. I just wish there was a better airline to buy from than AA with low YQ.

How have people found CX?

I tried the app with my current BA-issued DONE5 - no fees/taxes/charges showed
Emailed their support - they said almost nothing showed in Amadeus under my PNR
I suspect this is because the ticket was booked using the on-line tool, and at the final step BA issued the ticket so not much carried across into Amadues at that point??