I was quoted Ł3900 today for the same DONE5, but ex-GIB so I will be going that route instead. But I will then go on to IST anyway!

I know for a fact that the agent is full of sh*t.

Alas, the TA selected from those yellow pages has to be more than half-way familiar with OWE rules, or be willing to be trained by the passenger, a potentially time consuming and painful process.

The TA does all the dealings with the airline, and when the TA doesn't understand the rules and speaks with an airline agent who tells him, e.g. "your client can't begin a trip in Damascus because BA doesn't fly there" the fun begins. You have to convince your TA that you know what you're talking about, and the TA has to be willing to argue with the airline, and listen to the airline agent say "your stupid passenger is wrong." That's a pita even when the TA is in your time zone and has a good phone.

And the example wasn't made up: BA/Canada.

BTW, can anyone say anything about commissions to TA's in the countries of interest, from BA and the others? I understand AA and BA pay exactly zero in the United States, but since Emeco et al gladly sell tickets, that's not so everywhere.

Which agent is full of it? The BA Turkey (in Bremen) that quoted me €5999 for a DONE5?

The one who sent the e-mail from Bremen. I know very well that Bremen is struggling with these RTW's. Much of their new staff is green and they are getting swamped by these, hence easier for some agent to use an excuse like this to not have to deal with it.

I know what you mean. I was warned by the BA RTW USA agent that I would be quoted a USA price even if issued in Turkey, so I am wondering now if she noted something in my PNR to that effect. If I really wanted I guess I could have them rebook it all for me (which would seem like a total waste of their time), but given that the new price is now 20% higher than it was last week, I am not going to ticket ex-IST anymore.