Just want to share with you all on my recent experience with an AA RTW ticket.

I had a DONE4 issued by AA last year and had some remaining sectors with AA and CX left.

When I was in the US a few weeks back I wanted to change the times of some flights. I called AA Reservation (US) to make the amendments (as the RTW desk was closed at the time).

The change is just a time change and not even a date change. The agent insisted that it require a ticket reissue?? I explained that a DONE4 does not require a reissue, just a revalidation. After arguing for 15 minutes, the agent still insisted it require a reissue, but there will be no additional charge. As I was running out of time I told them I will deal with it later.

I went to an AA FL at JFK a few days later. I asked the agent at the FL about this change and she initially said that a reissue is required. She then processed a reissue, but however she called reservations later. After 1/2 an hour they discovered that it does not require an reisssue and had to undo the changes the made.

THEN comes the fun part. As there are 2 pax on the PNR, AA decided to reissue one pax and didn't for the other pax. And to complicate things more, when they find out they made the mistake, they voided the coupon for the new reissue and somehow reinstated the initial coupon, but for one of the pax they still issued a new coupon.

OK, from a pax perspective this shouldn't have a problem as we won't see the saga unless we see the whole reservation. BUT the agent did not link the bookings properly with the ticket nos so:

1) When I check in for the AA flight the checkin agent couldn't find the tix no and it took them like 30 minutes to sort it out.

2) For the CX segements I did a MFU with CX. CX have processed the upgrade with the inital AA ticket nos. But when AA did the reissue, cancel the coupon, reinstating a coupon etc..... they did not link the ticket nos with CX. Luckily the CX Marco Polo club actually gave me a call when I was in New York (a few days before my CX flights) to inform me of the problem. They were really good and said they will sort it out with AA.
CX called me up after 1 day and told me exactly which ticket nos are valid for travel and they linked it in the system for me.

OK, so to avoid any problems in the future:

1) If you require a date/time change on your flights MAKE SURE they don't reissue the ticket. If they insisted to do it, make sure you get transfer to the RTW desk and not just the nomral reservations line.

2) Keep track of your ticket nos and make sure you call the other non AA airlines to reconfirm the ticket nos as I was told AA is quite famous in forgetting to link the reservations with the ticket nos. Also if you feel there are problems already, ask them to see whether the coupon is OPEN for use or is it VOID.

I guess you pay what you get for.

Sorry you had the experience you did. To be fair, I'm pretty sure such foul-ups are rare. And that is what is was, a foul-up. It's not what should or normally happens.

Alas mistakes on complicated product are bound to happen from time to time and I'm glad you've learned a few lessons about trying to make sure you don't get bitten in the unlikely situation that it recurs. Thanks for sharing so we can do likewise.

This is a software compatibility problem and not due to the Aagent making a mistake. AA uses Sabre and the rest of Oneworld does not. Communication between Sabre and the rest of Oneworld has always been problematic (for forseeable reasons) and while greatly improved, it is still a problem. Aagents use their ingenuity with mixed results as they encounter the various OW ticket permutations.

As for keeping your ticket numbers with you, weren't you doing that already? If you travel enough you will encounter "lost" e-tickets at all airlines and knowing the PNR number is worthless in those situations. With the ticket number you will fly; without it you won't. Always have the ticket number(s) handy when you check in. You won't need it 99% of the time, but the other 1% makes up for it. Some airlines treat you like a criminal until they find the missing e-ticket and then are profusely apologetic (what an interesting scam, trying to travel on an unticketed reservation -- judging from the agents reaction, it must happen often).

In my experience, the AA EXP desk won't touch a RTW reservation - they'll (politely) make you call the RTW desk (tomorrow, if they are not open). They're smart enough to know that RTW tickets have 'complicated' rules and they readily admit that they may not know all the issues. I guess regular reservations aren't as wise and, for my part, it wouldn't even occur to me to try to get regular AA reservations to touch a RTW ticket - that's why there's a specialist RTW desk. The fact that you spent 15 minutes arguing says it all - after 1 minute arguing, I would have simply said "Thanks, I'll call the RTW desk tomorrow" and hung up.

I do, but it doesn't help when AA decides to void the tickets and the issue 4 seperate tickets and don't tell u anything.
Also for a lot of travellers they will have no idea what is a ticket no. Pre etix, it is simple - you get a paper ticket and u travel on it. Now with e-tix it is open up for a lot of manipulation. Many people don't understand the concept behind a booking and the actual ticket. (I have heard some bad stories where travel agents just create a booking and print off an itineary to trick less savy people as the ticket).

I always tell my friends now to check their ticket nos immediately when they pay for their tix.

But the problem is when you need to make a last minute change and the RTW desk is not open. Then you will have to use the reservations team. From my experience before on all other airlines, their reservations staff can perform simple date/time changes with minimal hassle. I mean the fare rules are quite simple for these changes. No reissue, just revalidate - cancel booking and create booking. No need to add fees/charges/taxes etc... Just have to make sure you get the O and X correct.

From now on I will avoid where possible to deal with AA reservations on XONEX products.