20 Segment DONE4 from JNB - Aussie Backpacker needs advice
 

Hi, I originally started a thread a few months back called Aussie Backpacker Done3 ex-Asia needs advice http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthrea...197&highlight=

However, as I have been getting up to date on the current info on OWE fares I have decided to start in Africa, the price saving is enourmous, I want more flights in Asia, plus people have convinced me that I should climb Mt Kilimanjaro while I'm there. I have a relative giving me a Qantas flight to JNB on QF points to get me started.

I have questions about OWE, AAdvantage and in general about related things.

With the rule change 1st of June coming in, it's given me a deadline to get my act together and now I'm in a rush to book my ticket before the end of May.

This is now the definite route I wish to take. It hits everywhere I want to go, tries to avoid departure taxes at LHR, Ramadan in the Middle East and hot weather in India. Mileagemonkey gives me the green light except for SEA-SAN:

JNB-HKG-DEL-NRT-PEK-HKG-SFO-JFK-DFW-SEA-SAN-ORD-MIA-MAD-IST//CAI-BUD//HEL-xLHR-MRU-JNB

Other Info:

• I've only gone overseas twice, ever.
• I guess I'm actually flashpacking - in fact I'd be the quintessential flashpacker, going RTW in business class!
• Initial flight JNB-HKG will be on the 4th November 2008, last flight will be 12 months later.
• I will be booking via the AA ATW desk in Dallas and then passing the booking over to the AA GSA in Cape Town.
• I want to join AAdvantage and do the platinum challenge.
• Incidentally I will be doing tours with overland operators in India, Morocco, Western Europe and the Middle East. After my DONE4 I will do one in Africa, then use my accumulated points to get me to Asia and visit the countries I missed like Thailand, Vietnam, Phillippines and Taiwan. Or I could do a LONE4 and take in Sth America if I have enough money left :D

My Questions:

1. Is this really valid or too good to be true?
2. Will it be a major issue if I can't send a photocopy of my passport until first week of June?
3. With payment, can I pay via credit card in someone else's name, or can I do a transfer through some other method. Is it safer just to do it via CC and pay the 3% charge?
4. Once I'm in JNB do I really have to go CPT just to pickup the tickets or can they send them to me in JNB? What is a safe, affordable way to get to Mindpearl offices if I have to?
5. Is SEA-SAN valid for a DONE4?
6. Where can I go to find out the AA codeshare numbers if applicable for my flights? With BA and JAL not offering bonus miles I'd like to find codeshares possible for DEL-NRT, NRT-PEK and definitately for LHR-MRU and MRU-JNB.
7. Can I fly Qantas inside North America? On Qantas website they show flights from SFO or LAX to JFK but I don't know if that's just AA codeshares or Qantas metal....
8. I want to get my AAdvantage Platinum card/details sent to me when I'm on the road, as I guess it's better that way. Should I just get it airmailed from home, or get it sent out to me on the road?
9. Can I lock in the 20 segment booking prior to June 1st but not pay for it until sometime in June/July?
10. How do I apply for a chinese tourist visa if I don't have the actual paper ticket? Do I get the AA GSA in CPT to scan all the pages to me, or what? The visa requirements are to show proof of a departing flight. Can I apply from India or Hong Kong?
11. If I leave on the 4th Nov 08 does my last flight have to be the 3rd Nov 09 or the can it be the 4th Nov 09? Any tricks to stretching the ticket out longer than 12 months?
12. LHR being a transit and not a stopover reduces the departure taxes yes?
13. If I feel like I want to cut my time short at a certain location, how hard will it be to get a D flight to the next place on really short notice (next 3 days?) I don't fully understand the concept of standby honestly....

Thanks in Advance!

The 1st obvious problem as raised by your software is that SEA-SAN is not valid since it isn't operated by an OW carrier

(2) anyone can pay for the ticket, it doesn't have to be you

(7) I don't understand why you would want to given that you are crediting to AA. The only flights within NA of QF (afaik) are QF107/108 between LAX and JFK and the seasonal SFO-YVR. The QF107/8 pairing cannot be used unless flying to/from Australia on QF; the SFO-YVR run should be doable

(9) No, It must be issued by 1 June in order to get the 20 segment allowance

(12) it reduces the total cost of your trip by GBP80. If you actually want to visit UK, I wouldn't be letting that issue be the deciding factor. If you don't want to visit UK, then you are nicely avoiding the tax

(13) how is your crystal ball. The OWE books in D class ( with a few exceptions ). You can make changes on date/time easily as long as D classs is available; whether there will be availability on a specific flight I cannot say

Dave

Yes, the SEA-SAN is going to be a problem as that is a route not covered by any OW carrier.

My suggestion is taking a more feasible routing such as ...HKG-LAX-JFK-MIA... and booking all your US West Coast trips on a separate ticket on your "stay" at Los Angeles. This way you can add other cities that you'd "saved" in your DONE.


During your "stay" in Los Angeles:


Los Angeles to San Diego
There is a flyaway bus that serves LAX and Union Station for $4 one-way: http://www.lawa.org/flyaway/

From Union Station you can take Amtrak, a rail service which links Los Angeles with San Diego for around $30 one-way. Trip time is little under 3 hours by rail.
http://www.amtrak.com


Buy separate SAN-SFO-SEA-LAX ticket
Prices are rather cheap if you don't mind flying in Y. AA.com yields approx USD $309 for flying on Alaska Airlines (SAN-PDX-SFO-SEA-LAX) for random dates in October. You might also get a better deal flying low-cost carrier Southwest.

AA codeshares, in general, are only available on flights to/from the US and connections, so you are neither going to be PLT nor earn elite bonus miles for some of the early flights mentioned above. The only AA codeshare you will probably have any use for is HKG-SFO. The rest of AA codeshares are invalid for your itinerary or do not exist.

I thought I could book under current rules and then I'd have 4 to 6 weeks to actually pay for the ticket.....So I really have to have my ticket all paid up before 1st of June?

Thanks for the info on San Diego by rail. I will strongly consider it. However I don't understand why SEA-SAN is not a oneworld flight when it's an established AA route and part of the oneworld "where we fly" interactive network map.

I guess I might go to SJU in between JFK and DFW instead, I can't really think of anywhere else I can go in North America that's interesting but if you have any ideas for me I'd appreciate that. I will be using NY as a base for Boston, Washington, Montreal and Toronto and Seattle as a base for Vancouver and Portland, Miami for Orlando and San Francisco for Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

My inital legs still count towards meeting the challenge though? JNB-HKG-DEL will get me 10,000 Q-Points flying D on CX?

No, because the PLT challenge is valid on AA coded flights only. To be more accurate, yes, you will have 10K EQP by then, but those points will not be valid for the challenge. 
 

The ticket must be issued before 01 JUN.

Because from the point of view of AA they do offer the service, via codeshares. It just so happens such codeshares are not valid for the OWE fare.

So there are no flights from Sth Africa or inside Asia that are AA codeshares? That sucks! I just lost 15K miles I thought I'd get.

So I would reach PLT on the HKG-SFO leg with 1.5 points per mile (6922 x 1.5 = 10383) is that correct?

Is there a website with all the AA codeshare flights I can search through?

With BA and JAL and the rule that you have to qualify on AA codeshares, is it all still worth it? I get stung before the AA flights start and then soon as I get PLT I arrive in Europe where BA gives me the finger all the way back to JNB......

There are, but they are only valid for pax who connect to/from the US; they are NOT available as standalone flights or for pax with stopovers at the connecting point.

Are any of my BA or JL flights available under other codeshares that do count status bonus such as QF?

Yes, but you must use the AA codeshare. If you fly on the CX number then it is not valid for the challenge.

I don't see any, at least not for the city pairs where JL or BA are the only choice.

Is this really the case...
I had a friend who qualified for PLT back in 2006 by flying LAX-LIM R/T in J on LA (back when it was $1200!). AA doesn't codeshare on these flights.

The rules for the challenge have since changed for the worse. It used to possible to qualify by flying any OW airline but, alas, not any more.

Edited to add: See post #2 of the AA forum sticky.