I would still wait until someone has done this before expecting that it can work. I have purchased unrestricted international 1st tickets ( which by default allow unlimited free changes ) however making a change to the initial flight has caused a need for recalculation of fare and , when there has been a price rise, payment of the difference

Although free changes may be permitted on the OWEs , I would not be convinced that the suggested workaround would work if the initial departure date changes.

Dave

But it can't go on for ever. The initial ticket is only valid if you start flying within one year of issuance. And before this thread was truncated this issue was discussed - now that discussion has been added on to a year old thread

That's not the information I got from QF. In one of my posts above I stated that the information I got said that whenever you change the date the very end of the itinerary has the words "not valid after X" printed where X is 12 months from the date of the first flight. I also noted that changing the date is fine; they simply put a sticker over the top (on the paper ticket).

Also, MiamiPrep's interpretation of the rules at post 172 here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...702762&page=12 suggests the 12 month validity begins with the date of the first flight.

And I don't see anything in the OWE rule sheet that says anything about a maximum validity, other than, under rule 7, "Return travel from the last stopover point must commence no later than 12 months after departure" [emphasis added].

Now I stress I'm not saying any of this is right. In fact, I'd bet $50 that if I went back to the QF service centre tomorrow and spoke to a different person, I'd get a totally different answer. What I am saying is:

(i) the information I received suggested booking a 20 segment OWE ticket before 1 June 2008 could be changed for a departure beyond 1 June 2009 (this would require more than one change, simply because you can't book more than 12 months in advance) and still maintain the 20 segments, and;

(ii) there doesn't appear to be a rule preventing this.

MiamiPrep was responding to a different question, and stated it as what it is, a fact, not an interpretation or a suggestion. That period of validity, however, is irrelevant here as an argument to support the idea that an OWE ticket can be made valid forever.

The rule that applies to a one year validity of a ticket is in QF's general conditions of carriage which is similar to that of almost all carriers. A ticket must be used within 12 months of issuance. That does not mean the entire journey must be completed in that time but that the journey must be commenced. If not used the ticket may still be refundable or its value might be able to be applied to a new ticket but in any event you can't fly on the original ticket if the first flight wasn't taken within the initial one year period. Whether or not that ticket is refundable is another questions and some carriers allow refundable tickets to retain their value for a period of time after the ticket validity period ends. (AA might be 3 years now, iirc, I will have to check)

From the QF terms and conditions of carriage:

6.6 Ticket Valdity

International travel - unless the ticket, these Conditions of Carriage or any tariffs which apply say something different, a ticket for International carriage is valid for one year from the date of the first flight as long as your first flight took place within one year of your ticket being issued, or if no part of the ticket is used, from the date of issue of the ticket.

http://www.qantas.com.au/info/flying...nsCarriageLong

This is my experience as well. Changing the first flight means fares/taxes/space/rule changes reset.

Contrary to a number of previous posts I have moved a LONE4 booking back more than 12 months since the original booking.

I was ticketed and charged for my LONE4 on 20 May 2008 for departure (Melbourne to Sydney to Manila) on 3 April 2009. Last night I phoned the AA RTW desk and moved these two flights back to 30 November 2009. There was no mention of it not being possible or of a need to re-issue. My QF FF bookings have been updated to show a departure on 30 November.

I'm not suggesting for a moment that other posters' suggestions that this isn't possible is invalid; I'm merely stating that, in my experience, it all seems to have been possible.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether I can actually execute the LONE4 some 18-odd months after it was originally ticketed.

Wow! This is going to put a cat among the pidgeons! Especially as it was done by the AA RTW desk.

Since you posted in this thread (as opposed to others that have discussed re-issues prior to departure) am I right in assuming you have a 20 segment, paper ticket and your ticket was not repriced?

Correct. I have a 20 segment paper ticket (pity the poor soul who had to write it out) with me now. The only dated segments are the first two flights, Melbourne to Sydney to Manila.

Good luck trying to board using that ticket. The "not valid before/not valid after" dates will kick in and you will discover that you cannot fly; the only value of that ticket is to refund the purchase price. I've been refused boarding (in error) when the wrong validity dates were entered into a ticket (by mistake) and it was quite difficult to straighten out despite my possession of proof of the correct date values. In the case of this ticket it is hopeless, the mistake will be caught when the boarding pass is issued (unless a supervisor has done an over-ride for the dates, which does not happen for normal pax).

tttttttttttttt

Thanks everyone for their advice and words of caution.

My next move is to send the paper ticket to AA in Sydney. That will be telling, I think.

There's every chance I won't take the trip at all; the reason for booking it all before the end of May 2008 was to take advantage of the 20 segment rule. Right now, at least, it's not costing me anything to make these changes - except, maybe, the whole trip!!

I pulled the ticket out today to post it to AA in Sydney for them to make the changes. In doing so I noticed that the "coupons not valid after" date is written as "01 April 2010". I have very limited experience with these tickets but based on what you're saying, is this is an error on the part of the agent who wrote the ticket out? (It was ticketed on 20 May 08 for first departure on 1 April 2009, since moved to 30 April 2009.)

The first flight has to be within one year of ticket issue, and the ticket is valid for one year after the first flight. Since your new departure date is still within 1 year, there shouldn't be a problem. The coupons not valid after will probably only be changed in case of a reissue, so it looks like everything was done correctly.

Sorry, I made an error in my post above. My new departure date is not 30 April 2009 but has been moved to 30 November 2009. This is well over one year since it was ticketed.