Purchasing xONEx outside your country
 

Hi,

Sorry for the additional post but does anyone know the best way in buying a xONEx ticket outside your home country WITHOUT flying to that ex country you are starting from?

I would like to purchase a ticket ahead of time but do not want to fly beforehand just to pick it up and then again when I start my trip?

In addition what is the best payment method? I have worked out that Purchasing 2 DONE4 tkts = $10,000 (ex WAW) However, Credit charges would come to $500.

Any ideas on minimising this cost?

Would be grateful for your thoughts

Thanks

J

I think most of us take the hit on the credit card, but if you are getting charges of 5% then can I suggest you get a better card - Citibank charges me less than 2% on most transactions.

The alternative might be to find a TA who would accept money being wired to their bank account. But you are always going to get hit for about 2% if you have to switch currencies.

Some TAs (e.g. EMECO in CAI) will courier the ticket to you (sometimes even not charging anything for this). Alternatively you can simply pick the ticket up at the airport when you arrive there. I have done turnrounds like this at CAI (using both BA and AA/Emeco), Paris (using CX directly) and Taipei (using Amex - our corporate TA at the time).

Why two trips?
 

Hi,

You should be able to book this ticket with a Warsaw ticket agent and have them issue the ticket for you to collect when you depart. This will save one trip. There are many looking for such an agent in WAW.

For a travel agency it would be possible to do a bank transfer of the money. This would save a considerable amount on the US500.

Alternatively, start by booking the trip with one of the airlines and get them to hold the reservations until the day before, travel a day early, take cash in USD and pay on the day. You may have to use a credit card to hold the booking but insist that they put a note in the booking about paying cash on departure. You will have to have the ticket issued at least 1 hour prior to the go.

Spotwelder

jonny

As you will have seen on the BA forum I am trying to book a DONE4 ex-WAW without much success. I've made some itinerary changes so BA Poland have sent it back to fares for re-pricing.

As soon as I have news to report on whether I have succesfully paid for it or not I will update this thread.

As back-up I have asked another TA in the UK to try to price it up at the ex-WAW fare. They say they have successfully priced some ex-WAW trips on a SOTO basis at the SITI price but have never tried doing the same on a RTW.

Hi Gaza,

Good to see other people trying to do this. I have contacted (tried) several TA's in Poland without much success. I have also contacted BA Poland who while at first were willing to ticket my itinerary have now decided to play the silent treatment and do not get back to me. I guess they are wondering why so many foreign people are trying to ticket a RTW in Waw.

Now if I was a TA and made some sort of comission on selling tickets I would certainley be more accomodating to a large group of people that are trying to buy such tickets.

Looking at other threads CAI seem to have caught on.

I will also update people once I get anywhere

J

I'm one of those who are trying to locate someone in Poland who inspires confidence that they can issue a RTW ticket. I've had two affirmatives so far, one in Krakow and one in Warsaw, but one said they are not familiar with the product but are "willing to try." :rolleyes:

I still have several enquiries outstanding and will give them another couple of days before re-sending or trying to fax or phone (time diff. is annoying.)

Gaza, do you have an email address for the WAW BA office? Or is contact limited to the phone/fax numbers listed for the CTO on BA's website?

On the other hand Citibank lied through it's teeth through the dot.com boom and has left Enron, Parmalat etc. employees and communities destroyed......

American Said they would do it.
 

Yesterday I called the AA desk to get some pricing in USD, for the 3 ONE's I am taking in 2005. The agent I spoke to said that I could reserve and confirm a ticket from any location, but I would have to pay at the local ticket office. I asked if I could call them and pay via phone, and she said many people do that. Most have used Cairo, but Poland seems popular this year. That last sentance gave me reason to believe that she knew what she was talking about. Thought I would pass it along.

Cool, thanks.

But which local ticket office? BA's CTO in Warsaw? The BA counter at WAW?

AA has a daily codeshare flt on BA metal WAW-LHR, so would the ticketing be through AA or BA?

Or why don't I call the US AA RTW desk and ask them myself? Duh.

Thanks again.

On this subject, here is my experience, which may be of some help to non-US residents, some day.

I called AA Madrid today and asked a question about purchasing a OWE ticket; one hour and fifteen minutes later I was still on the phone with the same AA agent, getting nowhere (no, no, no, no,...). Now, thanks to this board I knew I was right and the agent wrong, but trying to persuade her to see it the right way was proving just impossible. At the end, out of sheer frustration I said something like "how can I talk to the RTW desk"?... after the typical "round-the-world-what?" question :rolleyes: more explanations from me, then silence, a couple of "please wait" from the agent and finally, another agent on the line, with a totally different attitude, who took no more than 15 seconds to hear me out and tell me exactly what I wanted to hear, in a matter-of-fact, professional way.

The punch-line: my call to a local MAD number had been transferred, just like that, to a supervisor at the RTW desk in the US. The lesson, as the supervisor told me: "next time ask the agent to transfer you to the RTW desk".

Now, I know that all this business of phoning the RTW desk is like "so what?" for you guys in the US, with a 1-800 line available, but for us out here things aren't always so easy, or obvious.

So, next time don't bang your head against an overseas wall, just ask to be transferred to the RTW desk in the US, where the chances of finding a more experienced agent are so much greater.

I haven't called today, probably won't be able to until tomorrow, and will report back.

Note that not all US-based RTW desks inspire such confidence. See the mini-transcript of my conversation a few days ago with the BA RTW desk in the US here.. Perhaps I should have asked to be transferred to the London desk. :(

I wonder, does Iberia have a US RTW desk? Finnair? I bet with a little work you could make this whole process amazing fodder for a magazine article.

Yes, I did read the post at the time, and noted it. I think the difference today, apart that this was the AA RTW desk, is that I got the impression that when calls are routed from overseas to the US they go to a supervisor, at least it happened that way in my case. All I can say is that it was sooooo pleasant to talk to a "Yes-sir, sure thing" person after 75 minutes with Ms. No.

Hi,

With the new activity on this thread I thought I would update my expriences of buying a xONEx.

I had an email from my TA in the UK telling me that it was after all possible to purchase a DONE ex waw in the UK at the Polish price. Having read the rules and knowing that this is not possible still let her go ahead. Today she came back and told me it was not possible.

BA Poland and the TA I contacted in Warsaw, who were more than forthcoming a week ago when I talked to them on the phone have still not replied to me.

It is quite amazing the different experiences one gets when trying to book this ticket.

Having read the AA posibility - can anyone tell me if they would issue me a DONE4 ex WAW if I don't actually fly with them? My route does not include North America.

We should have a competition who manages to get a xONEx fare first out of Poland.

Thanks for your help

J

Why not try AA for everything? Use the AA RTW desk to plan a simple itinerary, then contact the GSA in Warsaw and have them do the ticketing? Once you have started the trip, do a reissue in a city where AA has a CTO, such as BKK or HKG or NYC, etc. I would try to have the first 4 segments finalized, so that when one reissues the ticket, it is less than 17 segments. Avoids all the pitfalls of hand written tickets for those who are not familiar with their use.

@:-) @:-) @:-)

Thank you. Thankyouverymuch.

I have found out the identity of the GSA and have emailed them with that idea. PM me if you want the address. It is now Friday in Poland so if things run normally I won't get a reply until Monday. Or maybe never.

BTW they are also the GSA for CX and QF. Might work using those channels, too.

Update a couple of minutes later. Got an autoresponse from Warsaw - the chief agent is out until 22nd Aug., will respond then. Fluent, idiomatic English. Who knew?

The procedure I listed above is how many of the ex-CAI RTW purchases were done. I don't need an ex-WAW RTW as I start another RTW ex-CAI in Oct. Remember that Poland is a good starting point for business class and those in Europe who have seen an increase in the Euro/GBP vs the US dollar. For First class RTW, Egypt and Sri Lanka are significantly cheaper than Poland.

Just got off the phone with the AA RTW desk and she confirmed this is exactly the way to go. Finalize the itin with the US desk, they send the ticketing, tax, etc. information to the Warsaw General Sales Agent, I pick it up and pay there, goodbye. If it's <16 segments it's all electronic, otherwise they have to do it manually, so allow a little extra time. Ein Stück des Kuchens.

The AA lady was bang-bang with the answers. I said another phone call I had with a OW partner airline had left me nervous; her reply was, "Well, we know what we're doing." And so it seems.

BA in Warsaw are beginning to play ball. They still insist that I cannot pay with a non-Poland issued CC but have sent me an invoice with details to pay by Bank Transfer. I will lose a chunk of BA Miles by not paying with my BA Amex but will save some money on FX charges.

The invoice is in PLD despite the starfiles showing USD. On further investigation it seems there is a PLD price, however, I'm not sure if this is related to the USD price. Based on current FX rates the PLD price equates to $5,200.

Hi,

Just thought I would update my situation. First of all thanks to the people who post their experiences and advice it has/does help me and others greatly.

Following my brick wall experiences from BA in Poland I have now suddenly been contacted by them again and have to report that they are very helpful.

As Gaza has posted they will not accept non-Polish cards (which is ridicuolus as I purchase tickets in England with a non-English credit card). So Bank transfer for me.

In addition they told me that for an additional £26 they could offer a prepaid ticket basically pay there but issued in the UK - Does that work (I would prefer to have ticket in hand before the trip)

Though some of their other replies are less convincing (I think)?

1) yes you can change dates of all your flight Including the first international flight after ticketing?

Price: 19160 PLN and taxes roughly £200

Best

J

In today's email....

Dear Sir,

Our office serves American Airlines customers purchasing tickets in Poland or customers visiting Poland requesting assistance with changing their itineraries. I understand that you reside in the USA and therefore I recommend that you approach any American Airlines sales office in the USA.

Sincerely,

American Airlines
GSA Poland

While not inconsistent with the advice obtained from the US RTW desk, somehow I get the feeling that they are not fully aware of the coming wave... We shall see.

I'm a bit confused by this. I do not understand what you mean by a "pre-paid ticket" and "I would prefer to have ticket in hand before the trip". Are you saying that if you send the Bank Transfer they will arrnage for the ticket to be issued in the UK? If yes, then you seem to contradict that by saying you would noy have a ticket. :confused:

I've had a very busy day at work and perhaps my brain is fried and I'm missing the obvious so help me out. :D

When I spoke to them a week or so ago they said I could pay the invoice to BA in the UK. I can't see any way of doing this as the invoice is in PLD.

Does anyone have experience of a trustworthy and reliable UK Based FX Exchange company. My Bank is offering a poor rate of exchange which by my calculation will add about £250 to the cost of the ticket.

Hi,

Sorry for the confusion - I will need to pay the invoice in Poland to BA via bank transfer - So I guess I am in the same boat as you when it comes to bad bank exchange rates.

What I meant about prepaid is that after I pay the invoice BA Poland told me that they would be willing to issue the ticket for me in the UK for an additional fee of £26.

I also got an email from AA Poland saying:

We checked your proposed itinerary as requested and unfortunately, it does not qualify as an oneworld explorer fare.

We suggest that you contact the first airline on your itinerary to quote the fare for you

Should you require more information about American Airlines please call our office at +48 22 625 3002.

Doesn't qualify??? Well never mind - hopefully BA will work out.

J

That's interesting, although I'm not sure how they will do that. Did they quote you £26 or have you converted it from PLD? If it is the latter I would guess they are Fed Ex'ing (or similar) it to you.

Hi Gaza,

I don't quite understand it myself - but that is what they promised. They quoted me the price of the whole ticket in PLN and Pounds the 'Prepaid' Service they quoted me just in pounds. If it really exists I will go with it...

But then again they seem to have only a half understanding of all the rules anyway. So it might just be an error from their side.

Will keep you updated.

Best

J

What rate of exchange?
 

Hi, the current mid-market rate is £2909.08 for the Zloty price you quoted.

I have seen the following company out and about in my travels:

http://www.currencies4less.com/

They might do what you want for about £10. If so, let us all know.
I am still puzzled by the fare being sold to you in PLD and not USD. Oh well, we all live and learn.

EasyJet are doing cheap singles to WAW if you really want to pay £6.99 plus tax for a flight. Might give you more time to pick up your ticket? Personally, I would get the ticket in my hand before travelling and then go out and back on the same aircraft having OLCIed or double check-in so I was sure to get back. I have refused to get off the aircraft and waived a coupon at the gate agent in some cases.

May the zzz in your life be the sleep in Club and the last few letters of the Polish alphabet.

Both times this Zloty pricing has come up have been when quoted by BA (that's what gave me a start on my call to the US BA RTW desk.) I wonder if they're converting dollars to pounds to Zlotych. Has the Star file been updated? It does make a difference - a direct conversion from those Zloty prices to USD makes Cairo or Istanbul more attractive, never mind more miles. Granted no £14 (with tax) EasyJet hops, but not impossible on LCCs.

I'll be pricing a WAW ticket using AA in the next week or two and will advise if AA does the same thing.

ex-WAW xONEx game on...
 

Taking up the challenge, it is now Game On. Prizes will be awarded for the first ticket issued, the first sector flown (probably to LHR) and the first to get out of Europe.

In order to qualify for the ticket issue prize, you have to provide details of the GSA used and the method of payment (and currency charged).

The first sector flown prize has been established just in case Jonny gets the e-ticket sent over and pays the £26 for issue in the UK and starts to wipe the board with the rest of us.

The first out of Europe gets a prize just to stop some smartie with genuine Polish family sorting out the first two and then poping back to LON after a weekend with the family and using up the stopover like that.

As for what the prizes actually are, well wait and see... ;)

Powodzenia.
^

Interesting a challenge - I accept.

Though I do feel sorry for all the poor Polish Airline reps who will be inundated over the next few weeks. Especially those at BA - I wouldnt want to cause any additional sick leaves.

J

Summer or Autumn?
 

Well it is nearly Autumn here at LGW, I guess that means that the trees with "sick leaves" will start to drop them. For our friends across the Pond, that can be taken as a "fall" in customer service standards.

I have just checked the recent QF star file printout and they do not have Poland. The file that I work the sticky from has (in USD, xONE3 first xONE6 last)

A 6800, 7500, 8400, 9500
D 4500, 5000, 5600, 6400
L 2000, 2400, 2900, 3400

You were looking at DONE4 for 5200 USD? The GBP issue will not occur, I use it as my base currency and as a fixed value for comparison. The fare will be USD or PLD and not coverted through GBP at any point for ex-WAW.

I guess that the 4% difference could be foreign exchange movement, credit card fees and general sales taxes that are hidden from the raw price.

As for the relative merits of IST and CAI, well the IST price will work out about the same and you can get an I class fare out there if you try. CAI is about GBP130 cheaper but would probably take longer to get to and might be more expensive on the transit flight. You would get NCW back from CAI.

For me, it is all about options. The more we have, the better we are placed for "Shopping the World" when it comes to points of origin when silly rules are placed to stop us.

For me personally, if Europe originating a DONEx then I would probably chose IST or WAW, just to avoid another night flight that I will get quite enough of in the two weeks following as usually it is a 5 on the x position. The 200 saving ex CAI is not worth it, unless I need the BA status points. For A class, the 600 saving is well worth the hassle of CAI and those extra restrictions on middle east travel. I tend to head out via BAH for business so that shoots me in the foot for any other status runs ex CAI. WAW would give me the option of going out to BAH and back before setting off again elsewhere and avoiding the BAH to HKG which follows.

Good luck.

Spotwelder,
Great advice about ticketing in WAW.
Do you have information to share about what travel agency in WAW to use and who I should ask for?

best,

Totally Lost
 

You're all probably quite sick of mewbies like myself, but maybe you could just give a quick response for people like me; I understand that the tickets are siginificantly cheaper when purchased in other countries, such as Egypt and Poland than they are here in The States (and central america for some odd reason) My question is this: If I'm going to buy the tickets in Poland, lt's say, what do I need to have ready when I hand the money over? Should I have an itinerary already planned with the OW desk, and then I just pay for it in Warsaw? Is there a way to reserve the ticket from here in America? Do I need to call someone in Poland to book it, or can they do this on the american 1-800 number? Can I just show up at a ticket office for BA in Warsaw and hand them some money for the ticket on the spot? Do they take Traveller's Cheques? Does anyone know some reputable contacts in other countries, like Egypt or Poland to buy the tix with? Is there alreasy a forum for this that I should be reading?
Help! Mike :confused:

Mycombs,
If you use the search feature for this forum you will find a great deal of information about purchasing rtw tickets in Egypt complete with the names and phone numbers of the TA we have used. Those threads even detail the procedure you go through in making the reservation. Other threads detail the various rtw products offered and the arcana of the rules. The easiest way is to come up with your itinerary, call the AA rtw desk, they will review it, and send it off for approval. If approved you can then take the reservation to whoever you want in the country of origin for issuance of the ticket.

Mike, you can see a recent experience with a DONEx ticket sold in Poland on this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352773

Oh, and if you haven't been welcomed to flyertalk yet, consider it DONEx.

Pickup in Japan
 

I have a DONE3 on hold, to start in Japan on
Oct 12. I don't arrive in Japan until Oct 6.

AA has said that I can purchase my ticket from
AA ticketing in NRT on Oct 6. I am a little
nervous about waiting this long. Do I have anything
to worry about, or should all be OK?

Also, can I get seat reservation on CX and BA while
the reservation is on hold, or do I have to wait
until it is ticketed.

Oh, and if you haven't been welcomed to flyertalk yet, consider it DONEx.[/QUOTE]

You guys rock! I'll talk to the AA desk and get my itinerary together after looking through the forums as much as I can. Thanks! ^

Mycombs (and any others also considering buying a xONE), a quick word of advice re booking, based on my own experience. Both AA and CX use a different reservation system to the other OW airlines. Drawbacks are that sometimes segments booked on one system can't been 'seen' by the other; in a worse situation still (again, based on my experience with AA) it can lead to segments which you intend to fly being erroneously cancelled. There's another major drawback for tickets issued by AA: any itin involving more than 16 segments has to be handwritten - don't underestimate how long this can take.

My advice would be to think very carefully about which OW airline you intend to ask to issue your ticket. You may find that making the reservation with that particular airlines to be more efficient.

Sounds like a good tip. What are some American contact phone numbers for other airlines in the alliance, and is there any company you prefer over others? Chances are, since I have to make the reservation within 7 days of purchasing, that I'm going to do the telephoning in England. Does anyone have the toll-free British numbers for some of the alliance companies? Also, when I pick up the ticket, either in Cairo or Warsaw, can I pay for it at the ticket desk in the airport?

Thanks!

Mike,
Regarding CAI, your only real option anymore is EMECO which is the agent for AA in Egypt. A search will provide you with the information you need to contact them.

Mycombs what I did last time round was make the booking with BA, via the UK reservations centre, then get EMECO to take it over and issue tix. EMECO are happy to accept a fax of your credit card and passport.

BA used to allow you to do the same thing and then pay for / collect tix at the airport counter on the day of departure, but the shutters came down on this arrangement a little while back.