I am on my 5th continuous DONE04 originating in CAI. (End one start a new 1 immediately). Where are others originating their RTW's?

I am also thinking of doing an AONE04.

The OneWorld link below gives pricing.

Thoughts/considerations. Price is 1, but accessibility is another. I am pretty used to the 30 hour layover in CAI to rest and get ticket.

http://www.oneworld.com/ow/air-trave...reEstimateForm

I'm the other extreme. Started my fourth *ONE* on Monday in Narita - this one a DONE4. But I did my first one two years ago, a AONE5 ex Nairobi, then a DONE4 ex Istanbul and last year a LONE3 ex Nice.

For me it's a combination of price and where I need to be on business, to make the starting point accessible.

Starting my first one in Tokyo. The ex-Japan price shaves a fair bit off the fare vs ex-Australia. Nice enough a place to visit so that I'm not necessarily setting foot there just to pick up a DONE4. Also fairly accessible from MEL. ^

Now planning a 2nd one ex-Tokyo to commence upon completion of the first one.

Makes sense for Oz based oneworld aficionados.

Base cost of a DONE4 Ex NRT is �780,400 (~AUD8,250), ex Oz is AUD10,499.

Return fares on Qantas & JAL can be had for < AUD1,500 (Qantas Upgradeable)

Actually now �780,400.

Fares ex-MNL (US$ denominated) are now uniformly cheaper then Japan; of course less convenient for immediate intercontinental flights, except to SYD.

Oops, that's a typo ...

Should have been "¥780,400 (~AUD8,250)"

The AUD conversion is still about right however ...

You would actually only need a one way ticket to Tokyo because you will "finish" your xONEx in Australia and use the last coupon back to Tokyo when you start your next ticket.

Who do you use to issue your tickets in Tokyo? Is that an easy process from Australia?

I called up AA ATW desk to set up the itinerary, then paid over the phone and issued an eticket with AA NRT. Relatively simple if you have skype or any form of VOIP. Only caveat is AA NRT insists on you being physically standing in front of the ticket counter for payment or have a Japanese mailing address if paper ticketing is required. This could be moot soonish anyway due to the imminent paper ticket ban.

Hmmm ...

DONE4 ex MNL is USD7022 = ~AUD8100 so reasonably cheaper.

SYD/MNL return can be had for AUD1250, so perhaps not a bad option - opens up those good earning NRT-CGK/DPS/DEL type runs.

yes, but at the expense of a couple of forced shorter intra-asia flights

MNL-NRT is around 1890 miles, so while not a barn burner, it could be okay with an immediate departure from MNL to SYD, then on an eastbound itin the last 4 segments could be something like (LHR)-SIN-NRT-DEL-NRT-MNL, for quite respectable mileage.

It might be an interesting task to find the max Qpoints(AA)/TC's(BA)/SC's(QF)/etc that can be obtained from the four available Asian segments when commencing a DONEx from NRT or MNL ...

This is a very interesting thread.
I've used dozens of xONEx/GLOB tickets from Australia, but
haven't started one from another country.

I gather going from Europe to SWP through Asia is permitted as
a transit, so does this make

NRT-DFW-JFK-LHR-SIN-PER-MEL-HKG-TPE-HKG-NRT

possible ? Could I insert a NRT-ICN-NRT return in at the beginning ?

Note sure I understand why VOIP/Skype is necessary if you can call
the US AA 800 number directly from Australia.. Am I missing something ?

Can you set the reservation up through AA then both pay for and pick up
the ticket when you arrive at NRT ?

Do you know what time the AA ticketing counter is open until at NRT ?
Wondering if there's time to get the ticket upon arrival on QF179, overnight
in Tokyo then head out on AA60/AA168 the next evening.

You can't stop over in SIN en route between LHR and PER (connecting is okay) and you can't return to the country of issuance (NRT) before the end of the trip, so the intitial NRT-ICN-NRT trip wouldn't be allowed. Only 4 segments and two stopovers allowed in continent of issuance, too.

G'day Hippo, welcome to FT and your 1st post. (although you registered over 2½ years ago)

There is plenty of good basic information in the "sticky" at the top of this forum: The oneworld explorer ticket FAQs

Starting an xONEx out of OZ raises some interesting options. (Although, you are restricted to two Asian stopovers).

In October 2005 started one in Asia, visited HKG & NRT, then flew HKG-AKL-MEL (I live in MEL).

I recommenced in Dec '05, flying to PER and back), then in March '06 I was off to London and Dubai. I then flew via LHR to LAX, where on a separate booking, I flew back to MEL.

In June '06 I returned to LAX to recommenced my travel. The 6 available US segments before flying to HKG.

Another separate booking saw then me fly home to MEL where I stayed until August '06 when I flew back to HKG to completed the trip by flying to CMB.

(BTW, CMB is no longer possible due to CX not flying there any more, but other Asian origins can still work.