That technique would only work with open-dated coupons. There are a few instances when a dated coupon is preferred (usually flights with limited class availabilty), then you have to use the actual airport codes to make sure you can fly that segment. As an aside, I think most agents do not know about city vs airport codes.

With handwritten paper tickets I can understand it. If in a 4-coupon book you fly JFK-LAX//SFO-JFK, the all four airports need to be written out, with a voided coupon for the LAX//SFO surface segment. This isn't the case with printed paper tickets, and the DONE4 paper tickets we have (that are now printed, thanks to a recent reissue) have no skipped coupon or stock control numbers for the surface segments.

Would like to get a copy of the IATA ticketing handbook, although that probably just says what you have to do, and not why that's the case.

I'm going from memory here but I see no reason for PER-xNRT-LHR not to be a valid connection under that particular rule. In fact, the connection does not even have to be a sinlge one; it can be two or even three connections, as long as there are no stopovers involved and one is willing to spend the segments. This was tested about a two years ago, IIRC, and was found to be acceptable.

RTW desk uncertain on existing tickets
 

I just booked a re-issue of an outstanding DONE4 (now a DONE5) that has a surface segment remaining, and the AA RTW desk didn't know if the new segment rule applied to existing PNRs or not. A supervisor went ahead and okayed it but since I have to go to the airport for a paper ticket reissue (something about them not being able to see an image of the ticket) I fear the final chapter may not yet be writ.

,,,,,,,,,,,,

Why do surface segments need to be included in any sort of ticket?

Here's a summary of this set of fare changes as now published on cxagents.com. The spreadsheet versions of the rules have not been updated yet. I will upload them as usual when they have been.

From a QF customer service rep.
'As per your request, clarifying the rules of the 4 continent Oneworld Explorer fare. LHR and LGW are considered London and as one city, just as JFK and LGA is New York and not considered a ground segment.'

'The new rules that have been introduced in relation to the number of segments permitted is unrelated to e-ticketing. At the moment the maximum number of segments that can be issued on an e-ticket is 16. As you have 20 segments, you will have a paper ticket.'

I needed to do a little bit of messing about to get my itinerary to fit but am still getting over 52k miles so pretty happy with that.

Good luck to those who are trying to re-jig.

Any significance in 'at the moment'?

Perhaps getting closer to this choice.

I was wondering what all the fuss was about because i have only just started using the OW planner this last week - i was confused that having a flight from Capetown to HKG was classed as 2 segments bc i dont have any option but to go via Jo'Burg but i just thought it was part of the rules.

Just means you have to be more creative i guess, i'll now be flying LHR-JHB and then jumping a cheap flight/train to Capetown thereby saving a segment (which i will be using longhaul)

{deleted - misread}

It has always been true that the segments needed to get from A to B each count. One segment = one coupon, so if e.g. Cathay chose to serve CPT via JNB using a single flight number, you'd have the option of flying the route as one segment.

Lest anyone get carried away making plans for same-city, different-airport connections, note that a year or so ago AA/ATW desk adamently insisted that the airports in the Los Angeles basin were most certainly not co-terminals. I have no idea what that means in the above context - just a suggestion not to cast such plans in mental concrete without checking with your airline first.

By definition there is no surface segment between co-terminals. What is less clear (at least to me) is if this is a move to count all coupons once e-tickets become compulsory, and whether using co-terminals requires an extra coupon.