Hi,

As has been mentioned in a previous post I plan to purchase a DONE4 ex WAW. From the experiences of others it appears that AA would be the best option for ticketing as the others including BA are very unhelpful.

1) My first question is can I book a DONE4 through AA when I wont actually be flying with them (I plan to fly with BA/LA/QF/CX) will that cause any problems or even will they refuse? Will I lose out on my BA Miles?

2) What does it mean in the star files that one cannot make changes to a 'Preceding flight' after ticketing?

3) Part of my itinerary will be LHR-GIG - is it possible to get off at GRU as a stopover on a one number flight and for it not to be considered a segment when continue later and fly GRU - GIG

4) Does someone know or can direct me to a thread or a location where I can be inventive in utilising the maximum segments possibility in areas like SCL or HKG where airlines start and stop from (as they use up segments too easily)

5) A TA told me that he expects xONEx fares to rise in the near future - is this true or is he trying a hard sell?

6) I share a household account with the other half - to reach a new level will our combined tier points be enough or do we each have to reach that level

7) this may be a silly question but if one of our connections flights are delayed causing us to miss our connection will we have serious problems getting availability on the next flight due to our class status being 'limited'

I appreciate all who help and apologise if some of these questions sound super novice.

Best and thanks to those that answer

J

1) My first question is can I book a DONE4 through AA when I wont actually be flying with them (I plan to fly with BA/LA/QF/CX) will that cause any problems or even will they refuse? Will I lose out on my BA Miles? They should not refuse but may not be that helpful as they are not involved, try it and report back please

2) What does it mean in the star files that one cannot make changes to a 'Preceding flight' after ticketing? Not got the file with me, will try to answer later

3) Part of my itinerary will be LHR-GIG - is it possible to get off at GRU as a stopover on a one number flight and for it not to be considered a segment when continue later and fly GRU - GIG This will be considered as two segments. I will try and check on the traffic rights. Might be interesting for status points as I believe that this counts as a long haul ex LON and full long haul points should be awarded for the GRU-GIG. Others have a different opinion. Please report success or not

4) Does someone know or can direct me to a thread or a location where I can be inventive in utilising the maximum segments possibility in areas like SCL or HKG where airlines start and stop from (as they use up segments too easily)Pass on this tonight, will think about it. Can you put your current plans on this thread as I am concerned that you might be trying the SCL to AKL without realising how difficult it is to get a seat

5) A TA told me that he expects xONEx fares to rise in the near future - is this true or is he trying a hard sell? Pass but keep me informed as I will have to redo the sticky

6) I share a household account with the other half - to reach a new level will our combined tier points be enough or do we each have to reach that level No, the mileage points are combined, the status points are not. Is this a status run as well, if so, please let us know and we will see what we can recommend. Need to know how many status points you have and residency and confirm BA FFP or not as the only FFP you are using on this run.

7) this may be a silly question but if one of our connections flights are delayed causing us to miss our connection will we have serious problems getting availability on the next flight due to our class status being 'limited'Rebooking will not be the issue you think it is but beware that the space may be limited on the next flight. Therefore, you go economy. Happened a lot to me on AONEx and you get no refund or compensation. May be able to get the miles and status points nowadays by calling the FF centre.

I appreciate all who help and apologise if some of these questions sound super novice.No, we all started somewhere with just a single blue card. When I had five golds, all I wanted to do was go home and not fly again for years.

Best and thanks to those that answer

J[/QUOTE]

1) Don't know but I believe Sabre (AA's reservation system) cannot contain a PNR with no AA segments, in which case AA cannot store the PNR for you. The airlines can force you to ticket with the airline flying the first leg (presumably BA in your case) but generally don't. AA may refuse you unless you fly either trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific on AA; in the past AA has been very accomodating but they have been getting lots of work with reservations with no AA revenue and this is wrecking the service for all of us; the AA RTW desk isn't what it used to be. Personally I have always ticketed with the airline getting half the RTW revenue.
2) no changes to flights prior to the first international sector (not applicable if starting in WAW as all flights from WAW are outside the country).

It would be one longhaul and one shorthaul if it were a legal routing...but its not. BA has changed the system so the cutoff is 2000 miles even for BA flights. However, neither BA nor LA have intra-Brazil traffic rights so you can go either to GIG or GRU but would have to then exit the country unless you bought an extra ticket on your own.

I'm ignorant about codeshare protocols, but 2 of the 3 daily BA flights from WAW to LHR carry AA codeshare numbering. If you ticket for those but then don't fly out of LHR on AA metal or another AA codeshare flight, does that negate the "AA-ness" of the WAW-LHR segment?

It would be helpful, Jonny, if you would give us an idea of your overall itinerary.

The computer may have been changed but the Terms and Conditions on ba.com have not. Since the full rules are published on ba.com, then this is the factual area to which the point allocation system must make reference.

When did they change? do you have experience of this or is it a 2000 mile run on another airline that credited with the rules in your case.

Your assistance would be appreciated as I have a couple of status runs coming up for the BA and QF renewals.

Spotwelder

AA can book a RTW without any international AA segments BUT the ticketing & fare desk dept will refuse to price it and thus you cannot issue the ticket.

If you can, try and route a segment that has both AA and BA flights on it ie LAX-LHR. Book that segment as an AA flight, but then cancel it and change it to BA on the day of travel.

Alternatively, you may book anyway you like but always include an international (does not incl US-Canada) segment on AA. You may then reissue the ticket later with either BA or CX and route your true routing.

Alternatively, you may try and issue the ticket with either BA or CX in WAW.

Hi and thanks for all the advice,

To follow-up on some of the queries:

My route is WAW-LHR(TRANSIT)-GIG-SCL-LIM-SCL-AKL-SYD-NRT-HKG-BKK/SURFACE/TLV-LHR-WAW

If I included NAN in between AKL & SYD could I get away with an exp34 - I have trouble working it out on the map due to the surface sector?

The trip is not a status or milage run just a well deserved break from working to hard although I would like to maximise what I can.

Regarding AA I would prefer to ticket with BA but have hit nothing but brick walls with them and am only turning to AA out of desperation - I dont want to take advantage or wreck the service for others.

In WAW both AA and CX are handled by the same GSA maybe I should ask him to ticket on CX?

Thanks for your advice and will follow-up on my progress (which in itself feels like a RTW trip)

J

I will stay away from AA if I am you.

Ususally it also depends on what is the higest commission your TA gets from the airline. Therefore they might refuse to print it for you due to lower commision.

usually in Aus we have to use QF's plate on the ticket, but I always insist my TA to issue it on BA or CX's plate.

I find the Reservation staff @ BA and CX = much more helpful than AA (which half of the time have NO IDEA about anything.

That is a bias observation. AA is excellent in ticketing issues outside the USA. Most of their GSAs are very well versed in issuing RTW tickets and WAW should be no exception. What newcx12345 may have encountered are US check-in agents which are a totally different ball game. The problem within the USA is that check-in agents can only issue/reissue simple domestic/international tickets. Anything more complicated than that, ie RTWs must be referred to the International Rate Desk and that takes time.

johnny is talking about GSAs in WAW though. Did he even mention a TA here? I suggest that you, newcx12345 stick to issuing your tickets through the airlines. It is very wrong of you to say that agents will issue tickets according to commission levels and will refuse you a ticket if you refuse to be issued on a particular airline plate. Airlines still have to abide by the rules of the RTW. Even though on the RTW rules it says that one may issue the ticket with any Oneworld partner, the rules pertaining to travel agents may be different. In Canada and and most asian counrties at least that I know of anyway, airlines insist that travel agents issue their RTW ticket on the first international outbound carrier. Agents have to abide by this ruling, because they rely on the airline to quote the final fare with all taxes included. If a passenger insists on getting the ticket issued on say QF but the first international carrier is on CX, the agency must get the fare calculation from CX as QF's rate desk will refuse to calculate the ticket for you. However if you are to walk into the QF ticket office and say you'd like to issue a RTW ticket, they have to issue it according to Oneworld agreement.

HI Johnny... Sorry the above routing exceeds by 64miles (34,064) to rule out the Global Explorer. You would need the Oneworld explorer for that. Even though you are not flying between BKK and TLV, the mileage between them is still counted. BTW you do know that the fares ex-WAW are priced in USD?

Very simple with BA. Book with BA at wherever you are.. and just get the record locator. Then call BA in WAW and ask them to price the ticket for you to issue the ticket in WAW by xxx day.

If you still have problems, you would then need to cancel the entire reservation with BA and book a fresh booking with the airline that is going to issue you the ticket.. ie CX. By the looks of your routing, AA will absolutely not calculate the fare for you hence you will not be able to issue the ticket with them. Actually come to think of it, I don't think CX will issue you the ticket either as the only segments you have with them are NRT-HKG-BKK.

If you take the xONEx ticket then you cannot route AKL-NAN-SYD as these are flown by FJ which is not allowed on this ticket but is allowed on the Global Explorer.

Remember that seats can be a bit of a pig to get on the SCL-AL route. QF seats may be easier to get than LAN.

Good luck

Not sure this is entirely correct. I recently reserved a DONE4 ex-BKK with QF, then had it ticketed by a TA in BKK. He dealth exclusively with QF in pricing and taxes, and the ticket is issued on QF stock. The first segment is/was on CX (BKK-HKG).