My First DONE4
 

HI All,
This is my first DONE4 and I have an itinerary which I have proofed via MileageMonkey. I have also been mucking around with the oneworld planner but I have heard that this is not as reliable as could be hoped.

AKL-MEL-PER-SIN-NRT-HKG-JFK,EWR-DFW-RDU-DFW-YVR,SEA-DFW-RDU,MIA-LHR,LGW-AMS-LGW,LHR-DXB-LHR-SYD-MEL-AKL

My have three main questions:
1. 16 vs. 20 segments. I understand that you cannot have 20 e-ticketed segments and will need 4 paper segments. Can you pick and chose your (4) paper segments or do have to do the whole 20 on a paper ticket.

2. I intend to use AA for this ticket to avoid QF fuel fines. Have people booked, paid and received tickets (paper and e-tickets) from the USA if they reside elsewhere? I am travelling in November so no real rush.

3. Given the AA NZ office is no longer an option (thanks KiwiFlyer) who is the best to contact? [email protected]?

I know that AKL is not that cheap but it is better than MEL and QF. Given I have sail in my handle I think I can cope with a night or two in the city of sailing.

Other than that thanks for the tips.
Cheers
Rob

1. The whole thing has to go on paper.
2. If you get it ticketed in the US then you pay US prices. You need to get the ticket issued by an entity in NZ to get NZ prices.
3. If AA doesn't have a GSA in NZ then you'll need to deal with another airline. CX is a possibility.

1. If you really want an eticket - you can drop 4 segments in ur itinerary and then pay the US$125 rerouting fee to 'restore' them later on when u've flown the first 4 segments. Just make sure that availability isn't tight on the 4 segments you choose to drop and that you'll have time to reissue the ticket etc.

2. Fare you pay is the higher of the country of departure vs country of payment.

3. AA NZ seems to be represented by QF. Their contact details are on the AA website: http://www.aa.com/content/aboutUs/wh...wZealand.jhtml

I expect that they'd just put on an "AA hat" and issue ur tickets on AA stock when you call that AA number and supply an AA reloc. I've no idea whether they'll accept payment and issue ur ticket over the phone, but if they expect you to be there physically you'll have to spend a day or 2 in AKL. Best to discuss payment with the issuing office ASAP after you've created ur reservation with the ATW desk in the US, as they'd be the ones who'd be willing to extend ur ticketing deadline for reasons above. Additionally you'll have a 2 week ticketing deadline for any CX segments.

For an AA issued OWE? Is this new? I've never had this problem on any of my AA OWEs.

Yes CX's systems will reply with a 2 week ticketing time limit once the booking is created, and CX segments will auto-cancel after that date. I don't know if it's unique to exCMB bookings or for all bookings. The AA oneworld liaison will usually attempt to extend the CX deadline to bring it in line with AA's. And it appears that CX has also blocked attempts by agents to circumvent the ticketing time limit by entering fake ticket numbers. When I set up the exCMB itinerary the AA GSA there was able to speak to CX on my behalf to extend their ticketing time limit once I've discussed payment with them.

Hmm... according to EF:
DONE4 exMEL - A$10 189
DONE4 exAKL - A$9 623

Unless you actually intend to be in AKL - I don't see much different in costs? I mean - you'll need to factor in the costs involved like the transtasman flights, accommodation (should you need to allow a day to pick up the tix), not to mention the hassle of dealing with a reservation office in NZ.

It looks like the planned closure of AA's NZ office may not have happened (unconfirmed). Sorry, I haven't used them for a while.

There are other benefits besides price to starting outside your home country.

Let's see, what countries are in the SWP "continent" and served by Oneworld? Australia, NZ, .... wait, wait, I've almost got it .... Noumea, PNG ...

Your point about the country re-entry rule is a good one, but simply doesn't apply to Australia as there is nowhere to go (except NZ).

PX is not part of Oneworld

But QF is (and flies to Port Moresby from BNE).

With its own metal (since this is an xONEn discussion)? As far as I can tell from the Qantas website QF only flies its own metal to Aus, NZ and Noumea in SWP.

QF codeshares with PX. QF does note fly to POM anymore.

Better let QF know; the timetable still thinks QF349/QF350 operates (not daily), and it is a QF owned 763, not indicated as a codeshare. Sounds like QF metal to me, esp. as PX doesn't own any 763s. Maybe you can check the facts prior to posting in such a definitive tone, next time??? Took me all of 15 seconds to check, and find this flight. To be fair, QF has been on/off again on their PNG service (for lots of reasons). Very annoying.

They sold this one then? http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=76522