New to xONEx - some questions about transits/stopovers
 

Being relatively new to XONEs, I would appreciate some advice from those in the know.

1. What is the significance of "transit without stopover"? Does this have implications for the number of segments that can be booked?

2. What is the significant of flying A to C via B but with the same flight number all the way (eg. QF107)?

3. Is my reading of the rules correct such that the point of origin in Australia does not need to be the final point (ie. termination)? For example, departing from Brisbane, travelling around the world, and finishing the whole trip in Darwin.

1. It simply means you cannot spend more than 24 hours in the city where you're doing your "transit without stopover." Transit = less than 24 hours, 24 hours or more is a stopover.

2. The entire journey is counted as 1 segment. So SYD-LAX-JFK on QF107 all the way is one segment, whereas SYD-LAX QF149 connecting to LAX-JFK QF107 = 2 segments.

3. Correct.

[QUOTE=QF009;9535855]1. It simply means you cannot spend more than 24 hours in the city where you're doing your "transit without stopover." Transit = less than 24 hours, 24 hours or more is a stopover.QUOTE]

Thanks QF009. Your choice of words ("you're doing your") suggests to me that there is some reference to this stopover/transit difference in the rules.

Is this correct? If so, what are the implications?

In this thread's context the OP is only allowed 2 stopovers in SWP, the continent of origin. Apart from the 2 stopovers allowed, any other 'stops' must be transits ie below 24 hours.

Elsewhere in the fare rules you are also allowed 2 entries/exits to certain continents so long as one of the entries/exits is a "transit without stopover" within your journey between 2 other continents. For instance you are allowed to enter and exit Asia twice so long as one of the 2 entries/exits is a "transit without stopover" (say 2 hours in HKG) or one of those single plane QF/BA services between SWP and Europe. This allowance also applies to North America ("transit without stopover" to/from South America) and Europe ("transit without stopover" to/from certain African cities as listed in the rules). This allows more routing options than there would be otherwise due to network limitations.

I believe it becomes a stopover when the break is over 24 hours. I had this issue once, with a connection of exactly 24 hrs, and it was allowed as a transfer. The starfile once had this definition but not now. Googling for it brings it as an IATA definition, however I don't know if it is current so I prefer not to post the link, just in case.

Edited to add: and this is the index entry of the IATA document, in case someone wants to provide the current text:

Thanks mate, that's very helpful.

Now that I think about it a friend of mine had a RWSTAR itinerary knocked back by the airline because he didn't meet some minimum stopover rule. It turns out that one of his 'stops' was exactly 24 hours and appeared in the computer as a transit.

An example and a question...

Say I have this itinerary/plan, starting in Asia.

Asia somewhere - SYD (stopover) - WLG (stopover) - SYD (stopover) - North America - etc...

However, when I buy the ticket, everything after the first SYD stopover will be open dated.

Do I have to specify my stopovers even for open segments when buying my ticket? If not, does my itinerary above work?

Yes, you need to specify stopover and transit points, because of TAX calculation is affected by stopover/transit.

About your itinerary, other than continent of origin, you can make stopover every points. So, stopovers in SWP only affect TAX calculation.

This is my experience as well, but there have been some recent posts here about AA coding all open segments as stopovers, regardless of pax instructions to the contrary.

Not only AA. BA in MRU did the same thing. However, the TAX difference should normally be small, unless you're traveling through the UK, which has very high taxes.