RTW seat availability
 

I'm planning on doing a rtw in the near future with One World in first class and was just wondering what the availability is like generally in terms of the cabin i fly and the seat selection. I know this all depends on each airline and how popular certain routes are. However, what i'm trying to say is, if i book my rtw in first, do the airlines treat me as if i'm the same as someone using award seats or will they treat me as if i'm any other paying customer. Also, on a side note, i was planning on taking the LAN flight from FRA-MAD. Will i be allowed to book first class seats if i'm only on for this leg of the flight and not continuing down to SCL.

I don't really understand the question. On any given OW airline, I've been treated the same way traveling in F, with no distinction between an award or paid ticket.

Sorry, let me re phrase that. I mean when i'm trying to reserve the seats in first class not how i will be treated based on how i booked it. I know trying to book award seats in first class can sometimes be almost impossible at times. However, paying customers can still get first class seats due to the fact that they are paying. This is what i mean.

The RTWs are booked in a lower booking class than teh full fare F tickets, but typically in a higher than award tickets.
I do 2 to 3 OW RTWs every year. Typically it is fairly easy to get seats a few weeks out. The only problems i typically have is:
AA between JFK and LAX on the three class planes. My TA is waitlisting me and usually one seat clears, but almost never 2 wehen i travelling with my better half.
Also LA is generally difficult to get in First, especially on the SYD-AKL-SCL and sometimes for two seats on the LAX-SCL. Again, it helps to waitlist have a good Travel Agent.

And: as long as the airline has traffic rights (i believe LA has between FRA and MAD) you can book any flight operated by the OW airlines as long as they are not restricted in the rules.

If you have some flexibility in your travel dates (a few days) then there is no problem finding available A inventory. Often I am constrained to fly on a specific flight (not just date) and that makes getting A difficult at times. D is sometimes easier and sometimes harder (varies by route) but often there are many more D-only flights. In general D is considerably easier to reserve than A (worst case I've had an AONE3 which had 2 sectors in A, the rest were in D). In general A availability is an order of magnitude better than Z (award first class). I think it is true that they will always sell you A on any flight with Z availability.

And be aware that there are quite a large number of routings/carriers/aircraft that one might encounter in OW RTWs that don't offer first, so be careful when assembling your itinerary that you aren't overpaying for a number of business class flights. Or, in the case of AA in N. America, paying for FC seats when a DONEx would put you in FC anyway (2-class aircraft with no J.)

Added: Sort of repeating what Number_6 said - near-simultaneous posts.

Question for you Gardy...
Bought my DONE4 cpls weeks ago and most, well ALL of my NA segments are in Y. When I called BA, they said AA is not releasing D class on any of my flights, they could not even put me on a waitlist, so they put me in Y.
Does this happend alot.?? and if so, what are my chances of getting booked on my purchased class? Think I'll call AA now

When I booked my DONE4 with BA, the agent wouldn't believe I could book First on a DONEx ticket. I had to get AA to change those sectors fcr me, but availability on flights some weeks in the future is usually good.

Part of the problem, I think, is that on AA flights which are first and economy, there is no D class, just A class. On flights where AA sells the front cabin as business, then D class is used.

Thanks JM/HIC - just called AA RTW. They managed to book me in business on some of the NA segments and put me on a waitlist for the rest. I don't understand why BA RTW couldn't do this. When I asked to be put on WL they said it was blocked.
The very nice AA agent told me I could just call AA back to take care of all my NA segments.

thanks guys

By now you have discovered that, with some exceptional exceptions, the BA RTW boffins are not the sharpest pencils in the pack. In N. America use the AA RTW desk for all things that you can. That may not extend to complicated reissues, as I sadly discovered a couple of weeks ago, but luckily I knew what I was doing when I got into it with the BA people in the Toronto call centre.

'A' class availability can indeed be a problem on some flights - ORD/DFW-ANC for instance, or ORD/DFW-HNL. I thought I read somewhere on the AA board (?) that since RTWs and mileage/VIP upgrades both book into A inventory, that there was some pecking order that gave RTWs priority. I don't see how that could work - once you're confirmed into A on a mileage u/g it's yours. So a Y downgrade may occur if your flights are full up front. Fortunately, date/flight changes on xONExs are free. This is where knowing how to use various availability tools become important.

quote
Fortunately, date/flight changes on xONExs are free. This is where knowing how to use various availability tools become important.
endquote
Well free of OW charges.
The QF ticket centre in Perth seems to be charging a $Au25
fee for almost every change these days, including adding dates and flight numbers to open segments on a LONE4......

YMMV

WF

I don't understand this comment - why would you want to reprint the ticket with the dates on? Just call the airline, make a reservation, quote them the ticket number and you're done.

When the ticket was re-issued in Perth in JAN 2005, I was told that the
open segments (the last three) would have to be "stickered". The ticket is not reprinted but handled the old fashioned way (ie 70s and 80s style)

Whether or not QF would charge me for calling and asking for the updates is part of why I posted the information - in hope that there would be some clarification. Though QF does seem to charge for "almost" everything related to customer service these days.

Additionally AA in the states told me (when checking in) that open segments were a real pain as the adding of a real flight number and date required revalidation to ensure that taxes (stopover issues) were correctly paid. Read possible delays in checking in.

WF

On my many RTWs I have never had any of the problems you describe with OPEN tickets, with one exception when AY insisted on stickering an OPEN coupon at HEL, but this took a few seconds and incurred no charge.

Putting a date on the ticket cannot affect the taxes - the only thing that does is whether you had it ticketed as Transit or Stopover. It is perfectly possible to specify a Transit on an OPEN-dated coupon in order to minimise taxes. But if you subsequently wish to change a Transit to a Stopover then that requires a ticket reissue, which incurs the USD75 reissue fee. (Changing a stopover to a transit would also, so it is rarely justified since the tax saving will almost always be less than the reissue fee.)