FlyerTalk Forums - Best deal for LONE5 from SWP?

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Best deal for LONE5 from SWP?

I am rushing to get a LONE5 before the new 16-segment rule takes effect on 1 June. Since I will be in MEL and AKL in the coming month, which would be a cheaper place to get a ticket?

The oneworld website lists ex-New Zealand as being cheaper than ex-Australia, but this is before taxes and surcharges. Although most postings in this forum recommend getting it ticketed from AA, I understand that the AKL office has closed (I actually prefer buying in NZ). Is there an AA office in MEL or anywhere else in Australia? If this is not possible or convenient, which airline, from your experience, charges the least surcharges for LONEx: QF or CX?

Thanks in advance.

eukaryx Welcome to FT ^

No AA office in Mebourne. There is an AA offfice in Sydney, but no public access. Have a look at this thread on AFF. Patience is needed so it cannot be rushed,

A Melbourne FTer booked a DONE4 with a local TA on AA ticket stock (low surcharges) as in this thread Look at post 16

<deleted>

edited: eek sorry failed to realise that u don't actually reside here...

Try trailfinders (website: trailfinders.com.au) - they're most willing to plate tickets on AA stock but do insist on your first flight being on AA (out of Oz that'd be codeshares operated by QF - they even exist solely as transtasman, I was able to book QF25 as AA7315 with stopover). Other than that they're generally quite clued up about the rules of an xONEx.

If you're wanting to book via the airline directly, I believe CX charges less fuel fines than QF does.

Happy to give you my TA's email address if you want it - had no trouble booking a DONE4 plated on AA. She's in suburban Melbourne right next to a Zone 1 railway station.

Audrey

My magic 8-ball (ie my hacked version of Weary's spreadsheet)
shows the following prices for LONEs
(see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...82&postcount=7 for SWP DONEs)

Code:

                LONE3        LONE4        LONE5        LONE6

New Zealand Bc        na        2,835        3,093        3,554

New Zealand Pk        na        2,960        3,210        3,671

Australia Basic        na        3,068        3,591        4,188

Pakistan        2,580        3,098        3,563        4,096

Hong Kong        2,770        3,176        3,797        4,446

Zimbabwe        na        3,200        3,600        4,200

Australia Peak        na        3,245        3,805        4,439

Sri Lanka        2,777        3,313        3,813        4,395

Philippines        2,766        3,320        3,819        4,391

Indonesia        2,808        3,370        3,876        4,457

Korea           2,918        3,502        4,027        4,732

Taiwan           2,938        3,525        4,054        4,663

Thailand        2,935        3,526        4,055        4,764

China           3,285        3,754        4,316        4,962

Singapore        3,473        3,939        4,530        5,492

Malaysia        3,420        3,983        4,543        5,225

In US Dollars. Per OW website at 24-Apr, Currency at 28-Apr

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I think I will have ticketing done in New Zealand by CX or QF. CX may charge higher surcharges but the base fare (peak period) for LONE5 is about AUD750 cheaper in NZ. It might work out all the same if I tried ticketing with AA in Australia. I am still waiting for a quote by CX.

Plus I wanted to go to New Zealand anyway.

I bought several OWE tickets from http://www.travel.co.nz a few years ago and they did an excellent job. No recent experience with them, and they may not be able to issue on AA stock. I used CX stock as that was advantageous at that time (no longer true). Office is conveniently located a short walk from AKL CBD.

I am about 2 weeks into my first xONEx trip and finally have time to post my booking experience here. I am doing a LHONE5 with the following routing:

AKL-xSCL-IPC-SCL-LIM-EZE-LAX-JFK-CUN-xDFW-PTY-MAD-CAI-AMM-FRA-HKG-SIN-NRT-SIN-xHKG-AKL

A total of 57881 miles and all 20 segments flown...lots of carbon offsets to buy :p.

I wanted to start from New Zealand but the problem was that I wanted ticketing done before 1st June but won't actually be in New Zealand until mid-June. And I don't live in New Zealand.

At first I wanted to purchase directly from a Oneworld carrier in New Zealand. Qantas and British Airways were out of the question because of their high fuel surcharges, LAN doesn't seem to have a contact in Auckland, American Airlines shut down its office, so I approached Cathay. After some emails back and forth, the agent politely informed me that they were not going to do the booking because it did not have enough CX segments in it (for a earlier itinerary different from the above).

So my next alternative was to approach a travel agent. So I contacted the good ol' STA in Auckland and asked them to see if it was possible to get tickets on American Airlines stock. Their in-house ticketing office managed to do so, and this AA-issued ticket works out to:

NZD4790 (about US$3645)
base fare NZD4109 + taxes NZD573 + the rest as fuel surcharges and whatever commission and fees of STA

The bottom line is that it is possible to get AA-issued tickets in NZ without having step foot on NZ or actually living there ^. Would like to see if any Kiwis can buy direct from AA in NZ. Maybe the ticket will be mailed over from the AA office in Sydney?

Quote:

Originally Posted by eukaryx (Post 9909491)

..... so I approached Cathay. After some emails back and forth, the agent politely informed me that they were not going to do the booking because it did not have enough CX segments in it (for a earlier itinerary different from the above).

See the response from oneworld4u in post #61 in this thread (in response to a question from Viajero) -

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...=802404&page=2

You should report this to oneworld4u, the resident "oneworld representative".