Help needed with the following ow rtw in A (or D since first class seems to be disappearing from many routes). We still have a lon-cai segment left over from the last trip, but Cairo is no longer practical because of the recent price increases. So, the first problem is to identify a suitable city xxx that is a good purchase point and easy to get to from Cairo.

The trip is pretty flexible. Segments such as lon-krk-lon could be taken out and replaced by other cities in order to maximize mileage or see more interesting places. Some cities, such as GIG and JFK are due to personal considerations; others, such as MPN, are for tourism. BKK is there to get to Siem Riep. Segments 4 and 5 are intended to take advantage of the Kenya exception in the rules.

To all who can help out with good ideas, thank you!

1. xxx-lon

2. lon-krk

3. krk-lon

4. lon-mru

mru-nbo

5. nbo-lon (no stop-over)

6. lon-gig

7. gig-scl

8. scl-mpn

9. mpn-scl

10. scl-gig

11. gig-jfk

12. jfk-yvr

13. yvr-dfw

14. dfw-jfk

15. jfk-hkg

16. hkg-del

17. del-hkg

18. hkg-bkk

19. bkk-lon

20. lon-xxx

It would require you to juggle your itinerary a wee bit, but you can hop on EK from DXB to KHI (Karachi) for US$252 in J. According to the recent price quotes, Pakistan is now relatively affordable ("relatively" being the key word) for DONExs. You'd need to change your CAI segment to DXB, but you can end anywhere in the mideast if you originate anywhere in the mideast, so just the reissue $125. What a deal!

I have now been told by the AA around-the-world desk that the following routing is ok:

xxx-LHR-NBO-LHR (no stop-over) -GIG.

However, no other city in (or near) Africa can be included in the same ticket. The originating city xxx cannot be LON, but any other city in Europe would be ok.

I see no rule that prohibits xxx-LHR-JNB//NBO-xLHR-GIG-...
Did they tell you why they would not allow that?

The second part is correct in that you can only re-enter the country of origin once, so your start point would need to be in Europe/Middle East, but outside the UK.

No, I didn't ask specifically about JNB, but the agent did say that xxx-LHR-MRU//NBO-xLHR-GIG-... would be illegal. He seemed to know immediately where Mauritius is located.

I would push back on that... many people here have, I believe, done ...-LHR-JNB//NBO-xLHR-... I don't see how substituting MRU for JNB makes a difference.

Because on AA's rules it states:
. 5. ONLY 1 INTERCONTINENTAL DEPARTURE AND 1
. INTERCONTINENTAL ARRIVAL PERMITTED IN EACH
. CONTINENT EXCEPT AS FOLLOWS:
. * 2 PERMITTED IN NORTH AMERICA WHEN 1 IS A
. TRANSIT WITHOUT STOPOVER.
. * 2 PERMITTED IN ASIA WHEN 1 IS A TRANSIT
. WITHOUT
. STOPOVER OR ON DIRECT SINGLE PLANE SERVICE
. BETWEEN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AND EUROPE.
. * 2 PERMITTED IN EUROPE WHEN 1 IS A TRANSIT
. WITHOUT STOPOVER BETWEEN GHANA/NIGERIA/KENYA
. AND
. ANOTHER CONTINENT.

But my example satisfies that rule:

xxx-LHR-MRU//NBO-xLHR-GIG is OK
but xxx-LHR-NBO//MRU-xLHR-GIG isn't.

The first one is what the OP originally requested so I still don't see why that was rejected.

Nor do I. I agree the example you posted is legit, but also seem to remember this issue came up not so long ago and, if I'm not mistaken, at that time the airline (BA? AA? don't remember) also held to this "restrictive" view of the rule. A search would probably bring it up.

I understand that it has to be the way it was written... and it will depend on who is interpreting the rules. One agent from one airline may very well differ from another at another airline.

From the interpretation.. LHR-JNB/CPT/MRU // Return from either Nigeria/Ghana/Kenya to LHR to South America is fine. But not the other way round.