jsmbythebay

Between my wife wanting to work around the weather and a friend bent on taking advantage of the cheapest countries to buy an xONEx I have the following questions:


1. ex CMB or DAC

These countries have cheap fares, but is purchasing an xONEx even a reality? I saw this thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ght=desk+lanka which makes me nervous even though there is an CMB price and one scheduled flight. Does anyone have any very recent experience or newly acquired knowledge about purchasing an xONEx ex-CMB recently?

DAC offers less convenience and price advantage. But seems like it might be slightly more legit, although I'm not at all familiar with Dragon Air. Or how it might go purchasing out of DAC. Any experiences here?

2. Original continent restrictions

The rule sheet under "Stopovers" lists: 1. Maximum two stopovers permitted in the continent of origin.

So would an DAC-HGK-BKK-AMM route be valid?

Or can the first leg/sector be a surface sector? Such as CMB-surface-BOM-AMM

Or better yet take advantage of both of these for CMB-surface-BOM-BKK-AMM?

I don't see anywhere that it states stopover or surface travel specifics that would prevent this approach. Seems like a stretch but you never know.

Viajero

The first segment cannot be a surface segment. It is not stated explicitly in the rules but it can be inferred from the rule that says that the first international segment and all those prior to it must be dated.

serfty

Yes - DAC/HKG/BKK are all defined as being in Asia, AMM is in the "Middle East" and is part of Europe as per xONEx rules.

This routing still allows for two more Asian Segments at the end of the itinerary.

No First surface segment possible as advised.

Gardyloo

For the time being it's not possible, since the only OW flight out is to AMM (intercontinental) and the only flight in is from AMM, meaning there's no Asia access back to the country of origin.

Looking for low-cost origination points is all well and good if you live nearby, have a ton of miles to burn, or happen to have some inexpensive means of getting there. In many cases, though, the cost of accessing the from/to point is high enough to negate all or part of the savings.

Kiwi Flyer

... unless you are able to rinse and repeat (do more RTWs from the same origin back to back and fares don't rise too much in the meantime, nor currency moving the wrong way)

jsmbythebay

Yep, CMB w/out the surface segment doesn't work at all.

The idea of this is actually to start in that part of the world due to weather reasons (missing the monsoon, etc.) at a comparable fare rather than to save money over buying here (it pretty much washes out anyways once you are flying there and back on your own dime). I'm still thinking of the DAC-HGK-BKK-AMM route for those reasons but I'm definitely wary of buying at DAC through Dragon Air. Maybe I'm just being naive for considering; or a pansy for shying away!

Thanks for all of your help!

Gardyloo

Most xONEx prices ex-Japan are within a few bucks of the DAC prices, in some cases lower. At NRT you have a very efficient AA station that can issue the tickets easily, and at a lower cost (due to AA not including some fuel fines that others do) than you'd pay elsewhere. Fly into NRT, pick up the ticket at the counter, and off you go to HKG or BKK or wherever. Literally can be done - in, pick up, out - in under 2 hours.