E-Tickets and Stopovers - DONE4
 

On previous DONE4 trips I have never flown the first segment (SYD-MEL) which has allowed me to return to MEL and then do three internal flights in Australia and utilise my 4 SWP segments. I have always ripped the SYD-MEL ticket out of the book, and heard nothing about this.

My TA is advising that now that all segments can be issued as E-Tickets, I will not be able to undertake the above practice, and may be inbreach of the T&A's. Is this correct?

My schedule is:

SYD-MEL-LAX-JFK,PHL-DFW-SAT-LAX-LHR-HKG-MEL-CNS-MEL-PER

If the eticket issue is correct, then I am in trouble with the number of stopovers allowed in Australia.

You should be aware that the rules changed a while back so that you can now return to the origin before the end of your trip. However, you are still restricted to two stopovers in the continent of origin.

so the below revision is now legal:

MEL-LAX-JFK,PHL-DFW-SAT-LAX-LHR-HKG-MEL-cns-MEL-per-MEL

No, because you are only allowed one Australia transcon (MEL-PER). Otherwise yes, assuming only two stopovers in Australia in total.

The Oz transcon rule changed 15Aug last year to include MEL. Now only one PER-MEL/SYD/BNE/CNS segment permitted.

Can do MEL-...-hkg-AKL-MEL-PER-DRW-MEL as an alternative for similar SC's/TC's/QM's.

I guess the two changes that I wasn't aware of are the change to the transcon rules and the ability to depart, transit through and return to the point of origin.

I have already requal. for WP til Apr.08 and will be crediting this to AA, after having undertaken the Plat no-Challenge, therefore not chasing much in the way of status on this trip.

My TA is still giving me grief with the ticketing of this trip, and I am not full bottle with some of the changes.

I begin my DONE4 in MEL....and do my USA and ASIA bit. I return to MEL on 14 August, and on 22 September do a MEL-PER-ADL. PER turnaround to ADL is 10 hours. I buy a cheap QF ADL-MEL to get home. I then wish to complete a MEL-CNS-MEL in late July 07(with a 5 night stay in CNS). This uses my 4 SWP segments, but I fear the stopovers now count three.

Return to MEL from ASIA =1
ADL = 2
CNS = 3

Am i interpreting this correctly?

The TA also says they can only book tickets 11 month in advance, yet the rules allow for 12 months to complete the trip. I wish to take the CNS trip in July 07.

As a note, the MEL-PER-ADL is purely a status run, to maintain partner gold.

Yep, one stopover too many in Oz.

I think what your TA really means is that the CNS flight cannot be booked now because it is not loaded into the system yet. Either wait a couple of days until it is loaded or ask your TA to issue that coupon open dated.

That where starting outside your continent of residence can be useful as such stopovers are "unlimited" in you continent of residence.
To check to see if the flight has been loaded, try to book for the date on the Qantas Web booking engine. If you can book it there, then so can your TA.

Open dating is quite safe too ... book these flights as OPEN and ask your TA to book the actual flights when available. Only issue with this could be any fee your TA may charge.

Similar DONE4 Q
 

First, apologies for my lack of RTW ticketing knowledge ~ I have read as much as I can from previous threads but am new to the DONE4 scene.

I have booked the following itinerary for a 3 week work trip to Brasil, Germany and France in September:

MEL-AKL-SCL-GRU-LHR-TXL-LHR-CDG-LHR-HKG-MEL

AKL is intended as an overnight stop to visit friends, which unfortunately amounts to about 25 hrs... :td:

My question for those of you with DONE4 knowledge is:

Can I add an extra sector after returning to MEL, eg., MEL-CNS, to be flown at some later stage? Any other suggestions to maximise value from the itinerary above?

Thanks in advance :)

Yes as long as within australia, no more than 2 stopovers total in SWP and no more than one transcontinental flight.

Could you change your AKL visit to the way back? Then MEL-SYD-SCL-...-HKG-AKL-MEL. On that routing it would be easy to avoid a stopover in AKL while still having reasonable time with your friends (taking flight to MEL following morning). It also gives more QFF status credits :)

No need to be open dated. You can add a date that can be booked now and then change the date any time later for no charge. There are times when an open dated ticket is not possible because it may be possible to book different dates on connecting segments that may break max stopover rules. Remember that date changes do not require a re-issue or incur any charges.

Hmm
 

Thanks for the suggestion, which got me thinking: @:-)

I plan to visit AKL for a holiday in December/January anyway, and was planning to do so on FF points. If I just transited AKL on the way to SCL, as you suggest, could I then make a return trip there in DEC and still stay within the rules? ie.,

MEL-AKL (same day transit only)-SCL-GRU-LHR-TXL-LHR-CDG-LHR-HKG-MEL-AKL-MEL

Would that be allowed?

Er, no. You can only reenter your originating country once, so you would have to fly HKG-AKL-MEL at the end.

Sorry but no since you can only have one international arrival to the country of origin.

You could do MEL-SYD-SCL-...-HKG-AKL-MEL (+ 2 SWP sectors still available)

Also okay is MEL-AKL-SCL-...-HKG-AKL-MEL (and AKL-MEL-AKL as side trip to take advantage of cheaper fares from NZ). (+2 SWP sectors still available)
Also okay is starting the DONE4 from AKL (separate ticket MEL-AKL) and doing AKL-SCL-...-HKG-MEL-AKL. You'd then need separate ticket to return to MEL. (+2 SWP sectors still available)