DONE4 Questions
 

Hi

I am planning my first DONE4 for later in the year (May through November with a few breaks) and have a few questions.

Route is:
CMB-HKG-HEL-BUD-LHR-CAI-LHR-LAX-DFW-ANC-DFW-JFK-HKG-SYD-AYQ-SYD-AKL-SYD-NRT-HKG-CMB

Passes the Mileage Monkey check, 55013 miles.

Couple of questions.

1. I am based in Sydney, and want to take several month long stopovers in SYD. Currently, I arrive back from Hong Kong in May, stay a month and do AYQ, then a month later do AKL, and then a month later resume and head up to HKG. I cannot see a rule which prevents me taking multiple stopovers / transits in the same city - but this surprises me?

2. As the first flight is CX, and I am ticketing in CMB, I guess there is no other option but to get CX in CMB to issue the ticket? I don't have to start in CMB (could do CGK or NRT, not MRU). Is there any advantage of ticketing with another airline to avoid fuel fines?

3. Any other problems or comments with the itinerary? I know I could max a few more miles out of it along the way (e.g. HKG-AKL-SYD) etc. But I am happy with the 2000 odd QF s/cs this will generate.

I was all set to do a star RTW, but with CX back to CMB, I had a look at OW and I like the fact I can do multi stops in SYD, without having to use points to commute back.

I don't see how your stop in HKG on the way to SYD from JFK is possibly legal. You can't go Asia > Europe > NA > Asia > SWP > Asia

It's not a stop, it's a transit.

Note, interpretation of that rule has long been discussed in this forum.

It seems most ATW desk staff consider it to refer to travel between SWP and EUROPE.

i.e. could be rewritten as:There have been reports of N/A-<Asian transit without stopover>-SWP being ticketed, but this seems rare.

The only rule related to this is in regard to the port of origin - with travel ceasing one revisited; so you can't transit CMB!

You might like to try AA as they do not charge as much in fuel fines; I'm not sure how successful you will be. There are some posts here on this.
I have travelled an ex CMB DONE4, doing:

• <Asia Oct '05>
• <SWP Oct '05>
• <stop in MEL>
• <SWP Dec '05>
• <stop in MEL>
• <Europe/Middle East Mar '06>-LAX
• <Separate return fare back to stop in MEL>
• LAX-<Noth America Jun '06>
• <Asia>

The actual done4 routing was:(This routing is invalid these days - back then MER/PER segments were not on the restricted list and land segments did not count in the 20 segment limit)

Thanks Serfty for your informative posts.

I can now see how the rule can be interpreted the way you are saying. That's probably what the author intended, although I think it is badly written, and literally the way I interpreted it is correct. Even some well-placed commas would clear things up... Got to love the English language...
I will try and argue my way with a HKG transfer first, but will probably have to settle on JFK-SYD QF.

That's quite a trip you did!

I'll have a dig around to see if I can get AA to issue the ticket in CMB.

My CMB TA just replied to say AA ticket is possible but she needs to contact CX as they haven't told her about the flight resumption :rolleyes:

Now to convince the Mrs to agree to my trip :D


Happy wandering

Fred

Just wondering, is there a specific AA contact for CMB. I prefer to deal with the airline directly rather than a TA. I heard if you use CX nthey charge u for using a cc and their taxes are higher.

I'd be interested in when/who last had it approved. The AA RTW desk (who I still think comprise the "gold standard" in these matters) is quite adamant that it refers only to Asia transits between Europe and SWP or v.v. Similarly, the rule regarding NA transits to/from S. America is also interpreted as limiting the connection to one point only, e.g. LHR-xLAX-SCL, not LHR-xYVR-xDFW-SCL or some such.

CX approved it for me but then it was a reissue in 2004. I've also contacted AA in CMB for ticketing but it was problematic cos their email is not what it says on aa.com site. But with current rules changing on ticketing issues in that they can be issued in Canada now at ex-CMB pricing, perhaps that is the way to go!

Quite. If my memory doesn't fail me I'd say that the last report here of this being approved is at least two years old, most probably more, so yes, it is rare, but it is also ancient history, which is, perhaps, more relevant. My question is: If nobody has reported success in, say, 3 years, why are we still calling this doubtful? Isn't time we buried this one? Unless, of course, another success story comes along in which case I'd be the first to cheer.

With the general idea of getting the most value :D for a xONE(4-5-6) purchased in SE Asia here are my general strategies ex CMB. No apologies for the fact that a PER location makes this less expensive. :)

East bound:
To hold the ticket for later use - one stop in SE Asia - SIN-PER-SIN as an extra ticket (QF V class) - inexpensive considering QFs prices exAustralia. Then SIN-(HKG/NRT)- North America. You could use both of the SE Asia stopovers but then you would need to go back to CMB without a stopover at the end. Also the LCCs may actually have better schedules exSIN to some of the tourist spots (Siem Reap and Borneo come to mind) and the flights are short (1 to 2 hours). At the end of the xONEx route Europe to Australia with a direct flight or a single plane change. Use the SWP segments then [SWP]-HKG-CMB.

Westbound:
No issues except you must use a North America -> [SWP] routing. then [SWP]-SE Asia.

Any thoughts on stopover points in Europe where EASY and CHEAP connections to interesting tourist spots - using tickets outside of the xONEx? BUD? PRG? IST?

Happy wandering

Fred