medicus

Well thanks to cindy at Mindpearl and the AA RTW desk I booked and ticketed a 20 segment AONE5 (my 1st) just before the June 1st deadline. The trip starts in late July and ends mid August

I live on Oz so I will fly to JNB and then start it from there. The routing (in 24 days) is JNB-HKG-SIN-NRT-SIN-HKG-ADL-PER-SYD-JFK-DFW-ANC-DFW-BOS-MIA-SFO-LHR-MCT-LHR-CPT-JNB
66387 miles and 3160 possible QF SC
17 sectors are (potentially) in F and 3 (ADL-PER-SYD, CPT-JNB) are in J

My questions are:

1) I am waitlisted for the DFW-ANC-DFW sectors. Currently seatcounter shows F0A0 for the DFW-ANC and F7A0 for the ANC-DFW. The AA RTW desk has sent a waitlist request through to yield management for both sectors. Am I likely to get either of these cleared? And how long will it take? If I call the RTW desk to check will this help? I assume that the only way I will get a seat on the DFW-ANC sector is if someone cancels or there is a last minute no-show. If I can't get them cleared then I could get a change the ticket (& pay $125) to DFW-BWI-DFW instead. (240 SC for DFW-BWI-DFW (A) vs. 175 SC for DFW-ANC (L) & ANC-DFW (A))

2) I arrive from Oz into JNB the day before I leave for HKG. I wasn't planning on flying to CPT to pick up the tickets. Has anyone got tickets couriered successfully (and safely) from CPT to JNB? If so could you point me in the right direction to organise this?

3) Are there any suggested improvements on the routing? The essential stops are ADL & JFK

For the record the taxes were ~5% of the base price. (I'm only transiting through LHR)

Many thanks for any help or suggestions,

Medicus

Cheetah_SA

Oh, I'm just consumed by envy!

Can't help much with the questions. I like your itinerary FWIW. As for couriers there are plenty here that are reliable. Ask Mindpearl whom they prefer. They might even have a place in Jo'burg where they deliver tickets? Failing that I can suggest a courier company if you want to have delivery to your hotel.

satprof

For my own ticket, after a lot of fruitless emails to S African couriers, I finally came across Postnet South Africa. I was able to fill out a web form (& pay by credit card) & my ticket was picked up from Cindy the next day (& subsequently delivered to me in Europe a couple of days later).

You don't get online tracking, but the price (about US$ 46.00) was only about half that of FedEx, who wouldn't reply to my emails in any case.

I also found that the email support from Postnet wasn't up to much, and their phone no. is a non-geographic S.African no. that wasn't accessible through Skype. After some guessing, I worked out that their main no. is +27 11 207 2900, if that is any help.

For a CPT-JNB (or CPT-Oz?), I'm sure they would do what you need. If you need a same-day pickup, I'd suggest doing this early in their day, as they have a lunchtime cut-off. (From Oz, that should be pretty simple.)

DownUnderFlyer

So will this trip get you to LTG?

millionmiler

Its highly unlikely that the DFW-ANC flight will clear. Are you arriving during cruise season? If so, look at changing the day of the week. Good chance the other flight will clear. No reason to call the RTW desk as they likely cannot help.

medicus

Thanks for all the replys.

I will try the Postnet South Africa courier service and see if I can get the tickets couriered to Oz.

Unfortunately it won't get me to LTG. I've only just reached LTS. Mind you with the QFF scheme about to announce it's changes, it might well be the LTG may just become too difficult for me to achieve.

I was wondering about the DFW-ANC clearing. I don't have the flexibility to change the dates by more that 1 day (and the days on either side have no F availability), so I am thinking of getting a ticket reissue and changing it to DFW-SEA (or DFW-PDX) return. If I can only get the A seat one way to ANC then I will probably opt for the west coast option and the 240 SCs (plus I get to spend the night in a bed, not a 757 and I can get a later flight out of JFK and still make the west coast connection). I'll let you know what happens.

Does anyone know if I get the reissue after I have used the first 4 segments, will I still have to have a paper ticket, or can it be switched to an e ticket?

Thanks for the help,

Medicus

RTW4

Actually I have another question... Can one originate in JNB and then do a transfer at LHR to go to LAX... then -SYD-HKG-NRT-HKG-SIN-LHR-DXB-LHR-JNB? In other words can we return to EUROPE after a transfer?.. thanks

Kiwi Flyer

Not with JNB origin. There are some other African countries that allow a second transit through Europe.

RTW4

Thanks so much... That is what I thought....

satprof

OTOH, I believe that JNB-LHR-DXB-LHR-LAX-SYD-HKG-NRT-HKG-SIN-xLHR-DAR is valid.

It doesn't have to be DAR, but that's the closest to JNB.

Dr. HFH

Hi, and sorry for the late reply, but I just saw this. Yes, if you start out with a paper ticket because of open segments and then make specific reservations for the open segments, you can then convert it to an e-ticket. I did this last month. I went to the airport ticket counter here in BOS. Took a fair bit of telephone time between the counter agent and whomever she was talking to, but eventually they figured it out. She lifted all of the coupons and gave me a receipt for an e-ticket.

With regard to physical delivery of Mindpearl tickets, I use FedEx. I called them locally, and they set everything up. They had the ticket on my desk in two days. Cost US$85. I'd use them again in a minute. Next ticket, though, is an e-ticket.

TravelinWilly

>66K miles on one rtw! ZOWIE!!!! Well done! I never knew such a feat was possible!

Will

Dr. HFH

Too, don't forget the HKG-JNB CX service, which would also solve the problem.

jdrtahoe

Pls advise e-mail address for cindy at Mindpearl, so I may send
her my confirmed itinary.

Tks,
JDR

Dr. HFH

There is only one address for Mindpearl of which I am aware, [email protected]. Also, you need only e-mail them your record locator, not the whole itinerary. They will check the PNR to see that it is correct, then send you cost and payment information and forms.

Also, check the exchange rate before you buy, make sure that you still want to buy in SA. AONE4 up nearly $1,000 from its low last week.