Do I understand this exchange procedure correctly?
 

Say I want to purchase a LONE4 from AA from a country where AA does not have ticketing offices, like Romania. I am considering buying it from BA with some random routing, and then having AA reissue it with the routing I want.

I would make the exchange before starting travel and not make any changes to the first international leg. I assume I can even originally buy a LONE3. Can I do the reissue in the US without having to pay the US price? Would AA simply calculate the new price (with low taxes) for the LONE4 and charge me the difference between that price and the LONE3 price (with high taxes) that I paid to BA? And there should be no 125.00 fee because I'm making the reroute prior to departure.

Am I correct in all of this? Has anyone done something similar?

No you will pay US price doing that.

You will certainly have to pay the US (or local) price if you want to go from a 3 to a 4 (or J to F, etc.) with the reissue.

IIRC, technically it's not a reissue if you change it before the first flight. You essentially end up buying a new ticket, so if you do that at a more expensive location, you'll have to pay the higher price.

True. Even if it was a change from L3 to L4 after the first international segment it would still be priced at the local price through.

I'm not sure I follow/agree with millionmiler. Before you fly your first segment, any changes you make amount to turning in your ticket and buying a new one. Nothing is locked in. If your old ticket was issued in a cheap place and you're standing in an expensive place, you will pay the expensive price.

OTOH if you've flown at least one segment (international? intercontinental?) *everything* is locked in at the prices in effect at the place/time where/when you bought the original ticket. Add a continent, change class of service, etc. all at the original price structure, even if prices have gone up. The only exception seems to be taxes (out of the airlines' hands) and certain fees like fuel surcharges (because they seem to be getting away with it.)

Did I get that right?

Wow, I am surprised at the idea that I would need to pay the US price if I change the routing in the US. I always thought the key was whether I am changing the first segment, not whether it's already been flown. I thought that the only difference between before departure and after departure was whether there's an additional $125 fee. And as long as you don't change the first segment, the place of the routing change doesn't matter. Has anyone been charged the higher price when not changing the first segment?

The price is only locked in for routing reissues etc. If you want to change the price basis which would include adding continents or switching from D to A then you have to pay the local price. Call the RTW desk and ask if you continue to not believe it.

You do not need to pay the local price for a routing change unless you want to add a continent which requires a repricing of the whole ticket.

Nothing personal, but other senior posters whom I've always found to be spot-on in their knowledge of the rules have posted opposite opinions here in the not-too-far distant past. Since I was planning to do exactly that (add a continent to an existing trip) I hope they're correct.

I seem to recall the same thing as JohnAx, but obviously I can't find the relevant threads now...

Wasn't the recent thread about a different case? I seem to recall a thread, started by JohnAx, about price locking after the first flight. This thread is about price locking before the start of travel.

You're right about the OP's question. The thread then expanded to discuss the broader topic of what-does-it-cost-to-change-what-when, and since I plan to add a continent to an ex-CMB ONE I perked up my ears. I'll drop a note to Dulani in Colombo to see what the Cathay position is on this, since they appear to be more wizardly on the rules than any other desk I'm aware of.

More than the AA ATW desk?

Dave

I feel rude asking for a 'favorite' agent, so it's kinda hit-and-miss.

In any case it seems like they defer to the rate desk as final authority for questions like this, suggesting that AA trains them to go that route and doesn't duplicate the training on them directly. So, much of what they sound expert about comes from remembering what the rate desk said the last time someone asked. For common, non-controversial issues all the regulars seem to know what they're doing.

Cathay NA res appears to pretty similar, but again you'd have to challenge them to see how much the average CS agent knows. The Cathay we talk to in Colombo is the Fares Group, and seem like they have more rate-desk type knowledge. I did send that email and will post the answer.

Well, the official word from Cathay/CMB is
"If your reissuing the ticket you need to pay the fare difference to the current AONE4 fare which is LKR980,000. Also you need to pay the reissue fee USD125 plus any taxes."

The base AONE3 fare last year was LKR769,400, so the difference is about USD2000, using xe.com/ucc for mid-market conversion.

Not a sparkling bargain. I was under the impression that the fare difference would continue to be based on the fare table in existence when I first booked. Live and learn.

BTW the spreadsheet, which says it was updated just a few days ago, seems to have fallen victim to recent increases. It still lists CMB AONE3/4 fares at USD7079/7554. EF gives USD8146/9021. The EF AONE4 price matches Dulani's number above to within pennies, using xe.com conversion. That's an incredible increase - when did that come about, and did it affect other popular ports?

I can only cite my personal experience, FWIW.

I bought my first AONEX ticket in 2001 for 2002 travel ex-ARN (good price at the time). AA RTW set it up and it was originally ticketed through a travel agent. It was an AONE4. After ticketing, the price ex-ARN was increased.

I later converted it to an AONE5 (added South America) and one of the recongnized expert AA RTW agents did the conversion/re-issue. I was charged what the AONE5 price ex-ARN would have been at the time I originally bought the ticket.

Not quite the same situation and, recall, that at that time, one could get the other country's price when the ticket was purchased in the United States, but maybe it is helpful.

Thanks for the warm-fuzzy thought. Although lots has changed in those 5 years it costs nothing to get a second opinion, especially since the CX ticket morphed into an AA e-ticket along the way.

There's the distinct possibility that the AAgent will quote me the difference between an ex-NA AONE4 today and the ex-CMB AONE3 I paid for, as Millionmiler suggested earlier in this thread, but I can always say 'no thanks.'