Ok So I am booking my first Circle pacific trip as follow:

LAX/SYD/BNE ON QF
BNE/SYD ON QF
SYD/SIN ON BA
SIN/HKG/LAX ON CX

Some questions:

I would normally book this thru AA's RTW desk- any reason why I would do it thru QF instead, even if I can being located in USA?

I will be traveling in J- is there any reason why I should book segments such as LAX/SYD and HKG/LAX as AA flight numbers instead.?

Thanks

Not that I can think of - not in terms of miles or EQM earned on AA at least. Depending on when you are flying (if if before Nov 30), if you booked at least one flight number on each of AA,QF and CX, you would qualify for the 15,000 OW bonus - http://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/Vie...omotionContent.

Enjoy your trip.

Book it through AA's RTW desk. They will issue this as an e-ticket. AA will probably book you on the AA codeshares so that they can get some credit for the tickets. It's all fine and good though.

One note though, I'd take QF over BA on the SYD-SIN route if you are over 6' tall. The BA flat bed was much too short for my liking at 6'6".

Thanks SNAFlyer

Since I am only 5'9", The BA will work just fine for me- besides since I can never afford a J tix over the Atlantic, I wanted to see what the J seat on BA is like.

RE:Having AA book code share segments where possible- don't you think, all things being equal, in the event of an operational need (possible upgrade to F), that holding a tix showing either QF or CX for their metal flights is an advantage or NOT.

Going in Feb 05, so out of luck- hopefully Cx will come out with a new promo to replace the one that just expired for AA miles

Being on a codeshare is a severe disadvantage when push comes to shove. The operating airline can/will do nothing for you, and the codeshare airline often has little presence or ability to do something. The alliances help this situation somewhat, but in your scenario the only value of a codeshare is to give revenue to airline X instead of Y (and Y operating the flight knows you took their revenue away, by choice). In theory codeshares increase total revenue, but in practice a few airline employees view it as taking bread out of their mouths. I try to avoid codeshares unless there is a good reason.

Given all this and I agree with you, Can I request AA to ticket me on QF BA and CX respectively or Must the first segment at least be a AA flight #.

On the other hand, Can I ticket thru QF for the whole trip given that the first segment in on QF?

Technically any OW carrier can issue this ticket; most are reluctant unless they have the trans-oceanic segments. QF does a pretty good job issuing these tickets, I would not hesitate to have it be issued by QF and you don't have any rule nuances in your routing to finesse. Your most likely to be changing the QF sectors which may be easier with a QF issued ticket (also CX is competent at dealing with non-CX issued tickets). AA would issue it as an e-ticket which I personally do not like, having twice been refused boarding when my e-ticket was not in the system, and the onus was upon me to prove that the ticket existed and I had a valid reservation (hint: PNR is not enough, you must also have the ticket number memorized).

I did that same segment on BA for the exact same reason - I don't fly BA transatlantic due to the mileage earning issue, so I wanted a chance to try out NCW. Now I know not to try it again if at all possible

I've never had a problem with interline E-Ticketing or codeshares, even during a cancelled flight. I've always been well taken care of. However, I don't fly as much of these flights as some others on this board, so YMMV.

Hi,

I am about 6'2" and have no problem with the BA J seat. There is an issue if you do not work out how to use the footstool properly. It has to be rotated and then it forms the 6 6 flatbed. If it is not rotated, then it would appear to be much lower.

It is all a matter of personal preference. do you slide to the bottom with QF? Also, the backwards facing can be helpful if you want to sleep because of blood flow issues.

Thanks to all who responded.

I booked with QF and it was pretty easy- I fear if I had booked it with AA, they would still be wondering how to handle it.

It is likely going to be different for you as an AA member, but for me (as a QF FF member) and maximising the benefits for my QF membership, I do the following for my DCIR22 and DONE4 fares:

• I use QF codeshares since our corp discount is greater on the QF component, including codeshares. So my fare is cheaper if I use QF codes.
• On CX flights over the North Paficic I look for AA codes. As a QF Platinum status member I get 100% status bonus on QF, BA and AA flights, but not CX flights.

But I always have number_6's caution in the back of my mind. Have not experienced any problems with this yet.