Kiwi Flyer

Another thank you to all involved in providing the fare and rule updates. I just saved USD$125 change fee thanks to knowing the rules. Interestingly my TA using a different GDS had different rules(!), but QF confirmed the rules as posted here.

JohnAx

The more I read about ticket pricing the less I know. It would be interesting (but probably not enlightening) to know how the carriers divide up the ticket price. It almost has to be on a miles-carried basis. Thus a passenger who paid USD10,500 for an AONE is a more valuable butt than one who originated in MRU and paid USD6000, but at least the accountants would have a simple way to come up with a number.

And how the heck do they deal with fuel surcharges? Unlike the taxes and fees breakdown which is cryptic but presumably means something, with fuel surcharge they don't seem to note "paid fuel surcharge for JFK-LHR" on the ticket. How can they account for that? What keeps BA/LHR from looking at my ticket at checkin and demanding USD55 for a little extra kerosene? (AA is becoming famous, in Central America at least, for looking at my ticket, announcing that my airport fees haven't been paid, and charging me a tidy add-collect.).

RoarAhead

Are the attractive Mauritius prices for real or just "stale" or as is often the case with the too-good-to-be-true fares?

Viajero

There has been some talk about MRU here recently (in connection with the flight to LHR starting in september), but I don't think an OWE ex-MRU has been priced by anyone yet.

number_6

You are a bit too late, the prices were attractive before the July 2006 price increase, now it is not so attractive (at least when you factor in the location and the need to add an extra continent if you weren't wanting Africa). I have no doubt that the posted fare increase is real.

sllevin

Does anyone have a SOF-based agent? I may actually be doing some travel to SOF and this could dovetail well for me.

Steve

Full Score

As far as I can tell from the July *file, the price from MRU didn't change. For a FOUR continent AOWE it comes in at around US$6,038 + taxes, whereas the best THREE continent AOWE is still around US$7,136 (Qatar) - I've just purchased the latter. The problem with MRU is the difficulty and cost of getting there and then finding a way of departing without going back through LHR. From Sept 16 BA (Comair) have a Saturdays only MRU-JNB which helps, but there is no A class, just as there is no A class from, say, JNB to HKG. Even JNB to SYD only has A class on certain days of the week.

So, in theory, MRU looks good, but for First Class RTWs it's pretty limited.

Cheetah_SA

JNB-MRU is a 4 hour flight - not too excruciating in J. CX flies a 3-class 747 during the northern hemisphere winter on the HKG-JNB route.

ReelChief

The incremental cost of the extra continent seems to be under US$900 (in A). Later in the fall, I was planning to start an AONE5 from MRU and to get to there by using a DONE4 from either BKK or CMB but await further information about experiences in ticketing ex-MRU and also whether the JNB-MRU will really happen.

DrBillAtwood

I have 5,000,000 miles on RTW tickets. I've been buying them from NBO for some time but am shocked at the $3,000 increase. MRU is not a terrible price but is pretty inaccessable. Any other ideas for the four continent flyer?

tokatya

OK.... I could be wrong on this but how does it matter if a travel agent is phisically in Sofia (SOF) or anywhere else? Shouldn't pricing be somewhat similar regardless of the location of the travel agent that books it. Is there something here that I am missing?

DrBillAtwood

Actually, you have been missing one of the great anomalies of internatinoal flying. Up until July 1, 2006 the fares were RADICALLY different depending on:
1. Where the ticket originates and,
2. Where it is purchased.

Prices on an AONE4 (around the world four continent first class ticket on the One World Alliance) varried from $6000 to over $12,000 depending on the origination (which also had to be the termination popint). I was saving a lot because I go to Nairobi a lot even though I live in the US. I flew one way to Nairobi several years ago and have been buying six or eight around the world tickets each year since then with layovers in the US (also Hong Kong, Australia, or Europe). The price for the ticket I use went from $6400 to $9400 from June 30th to July first. That's why I'm ticked.

JohnAx

One FTer was in the final throes of ticketing with the BA travelshop there, with just a few nits to iron out, some time ago. Based on his PMed comments, ticketing ex-MRU is probably a cakewalk.

JohnAx

Pricing of an xONEx rtw (and of competing products) varies quite a bit depending on the country in which the ticket is sold and where the trip begins. They invariably must be the same place to realize the saving - if you buy a ticket in the U.S. for travel beginning in Colombo, you'll pay the much-higher U.S. fare.

Arranging and pricing an rtw can take something between hours (unlikely) and a couple of weeks (also hopefully rare) so most people like to make the arrangements in advance. Since the sale must take place in the originating country (and some airlines are reportedly grumpy even about making the booking from the U.S.) having an agent in the originating country is considered indispensible by many here, but if you're the gambling type you can show up and try to make the arrangements there, with the airline ticket counter.

In many cases the airline is willing to be the agent, if they have an office there. About the only advantage of using a travel agent is that a few are willing to FedEx paper tickets so you have them in hand and have one less thing to worry about.

Darren

From what I could see, these are the only changes.

1. If you upgrade before departure, you have to satisfy the minimum purchase requirements. This, of course, is upgrading the entire ticket and not upgrading through miles or certificates.

2. Cleaned up language and clarified that for trips starting in the SWP, you can do a transoceanic surface segment between Area1 and Area 2 or 3. QE2, there you go.

3. In case you wanted to take a group of good friends or grateful flyertalkers on a group rtw, the biz booking code is I and the coach code is G. I still don't know how they are going to get 10 I or G seats, but it's nothing I will ever have to worry about...unless someone is feeling generous.

No fare changes.