Just a rumor and unconfirmed, but from a reliable source, that OWE fares are being adjusted to eliminate the cheap origins; may happen as early as Monday (sorry for the lack of notice). Better have a PNR submitted for pricing if you are wanting to book at the old prices.

Anyone able to confirm/deny this? Though I suppose we will know soon enough if it is this imminent.

nothing yet for S. Korea and S. Africa, but then again it's early

I'm going be bummed if they do a real big increase. I had been looking at a DONE3 out of S. Korea but am not ready to plunk down the money.

When I checked fares from JNB to JNB on expert flyer, the fares were different for JL ticketed and all other airlines. Maybe something is already happenning...

I just ticketed today at JL office Seoul.
I asked whether they knew something about the increase.
They have not received any price increase notice according to the rep.
Of course, she could not disclose even if she knew something.

JL price is more than others because of fuel surcharge, but the price is still very attractive under $7000(including tax and fuel) for first class.

The fares shown on E/F are base costs and do not include any +++

A search now show a DONE4 booked through JL (& JO) at ZAR45000 - all other oneworld carriers show ZAR48000.

LON LONE4 RTW still shows as GBP 1549, same as what I purchased two weeks ago... wouldn't be surprised to see a fare increase though with the recent dramatic shifts in exchange rates.

Could be switching to SQ for my Asia trips if there's any non-trivial increase in AONEx fares. I had been buying in South Africa (on an AONE4 in BKK right now, with one ticket left in my inventory), now ex-South Korea is best, but FEZSQ on SQ is only a little more than ex-South Korea right now, so any non-trivial increase probably results in a move to SQ. Of course, any non-trivial increase means that OW has decided that they prefer not to sell tickets as low as they have been, so they won't miss my moving. And now that I'm AA PLT for life, it's less critical anyway!!!

Just checked on EF for DFW and ICN pricing on OW , *A , and ST. All still have same pricing stucture as before for their comparable ( much debated ! ) RTW product.

In the past some cheap starting prices may have been effected by EK repricing some of their fares. MRU has gone up because EK increased their prices as they were very low. MRU-PER RT in F was @ $3200 . Thier RTW offering with UA was raised out of DXB shortly before OW prices shot up out of that location. These were not as widely used as the OW , A* , and ST.

IMHO if any of the big three go to a standard worldwide price all will. ICN and JNB are home to some major carriers and all will want to be competative.

But if OW jacks them up out of ICN and *A doesnt. Well SQ , UA etc will get more of my money.

It appears that *A is increasing prices as well. This thread refers to Y RTW ex-London (+53%!!!), but it is possible that the increase relate to other cheap origins as well.

*A price increase on RTW tickets

on QF agents web site (fare increase not mentioned)
Latest Fare Update
Oneworld / Global Explorer Fares Update 21 January 2009
Effective 01 February 2009, the following amendments have been made to the Global Explorer Fare (AGLOB34/ DGLOB34/ L*GLOB**):
- The Flight Applications/Routings paragraph has been amended.
The rule regarding regarding "passing through Asia twice" has been reworded.
- The Sales Restrictions paragraph has been amended.
A change in wording relating to the "Country of Payment for the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA)" has been updated.

As *A is increasing fares, as link above, expect OW will follow to be competive

I want to buy two LONEx tickets starting in UK, while I am in Switzerland. Will I be billed in GBP? Should I go through AA RTW desk, or does anyone know an agent in Zurich which can book this for me (for some comission) and who I can pay directly here?

And to do it before 'fare hike', what are the deadlines? I need to ticket before February, but what does it mean exactly? Reserve, get a quote and pay?

Switzerland is not part of the EU, so the EU rule does not apply. You would be charged the ex-Swiss price instead of the ex-UK price (probably much higher). Buying from AA has the advantage of lower fuel surcharges. You may be able to get the AA RTW desk to issue the ticket on the French side of Geneva airport -- making it an EU purchase. Otherwise a quick trip to FRA and the AA ticket counter there may be the cheapest solution for you. A Swiss TA would need to have an affiliate in the UK to get the ticket issued in the UK. I'd discuss your options with the AA RTW desk and see what they are willing to do for you, but ZRH is probably out unless you accept the higher price.

EU rule applies for tickets purchased and/or originating in the ECAA. Since he's originating in London, country-of-payment minimum check does not apply and he won't get charged the ex-Swiss price.

I just ticketed an ex-LON ticket from BDA and paid the lower LON price.

Apart from Air France and possibly Easyjet, there's no ticketing facilities that I can recall on the French side of GVA.

All the same, with the various bi-lateral agreements making Switzerland almost an EU member, it would be interesting to see how OW treats it. Equally for Norway and the other EEA members.

For JanoS-, I'm sure that the UK origin for the LONEx will mean that the UK price applies, although I believe it would be charged in CHF (converted at BSR - Business Selling Rate) if ticketed in Switzerland, e.g. by AA Zürich.

No, unless Switzerland joins the EU by the ticketing date -- the rules are very clear, buy in Switzerland means the ex-Swiss price applies even for UK origin. You must buy in the country of origin to get that price, or in one of the exempted countries (Canada and now the EU with this relatively new EU rule). Purchase in any other country means the price ex-that country applies (even if you never fly to/from that country on the ticket).

The price is charged per the fare rules (always GBP for ex-UK). Conversion is per country of sale and further possible converted by the payment instrument. Example: buy ex-UK in Canada using US credit card. Price is in GBP converted to CAD at the airline rate. Charge is then converted by the credit card company to USD (plus their usual 1-3% exchange fee).