New xONEx fares were loaded into the GDSes today (or very recently). Along with the new sale prices, I'm seeing some changes in the fare rules. Here's the biggie:

The ECAA exception used to be an "or," not an "and." So, for instance, I just purchased an ex-LON ticket in BDA and qualified for the exception; under the new rules, I would have to purchase the ticket in LON as well as originate from there.

Edited to add: Looks like the PDFed rule sheet on oneworld still shows the old rules.

True - although you could also purchase it in Canada for that price still.

That was a nice little drafting error (I assume) whilst it lasted.

I guess one could still purchase a fare ex LHR at FRA and pay the UK price ...

There was mention elswhere of a change in the wording of the 2nd permitted Asian "transit without stopover" clause. Is this the case?

QF travel agency news mentioned a change to that language as well but it doesn't look any different:

Only one intercontinental departure and one intercontinental arrival permitted in each continent except as follows: ... 2. Two permitted in Asia when one is a transfer without stopover or on direct single plane service between the Southwest Pacific and Europe.

I agree. It seemed pretty generous at the time, and this makes much more sense.

Ugh... will just have to jump through a few more hoops to get ticketed now... (that's assuming AA ICN still doesn't accept CC over the phone).

Here is your answer

Just find a country where the RTW fare is less than the country where you want to originate and you should be golden to pay the local fare based on the country where you are originating

As an example, if you want a ticket to start in Bangkok that ticket could now be issued in London as the U.K. fare is now less than the Thailand fare

A Euro originated ticket could be purchased in the U.K as the U.K. fare is less than the Euro fare but not the other way around

And based on comments here I did a search on fares from Seoul and they just seem silly..A three continents for approx US$3,700 + taxes? after the 10% discount is applied


I know Madoff gets all the blame, and if they are willing to sell at this fare then why not but is this nothing more than a Ponzi in another form? Cutting the pricing on expensive ticket to get cash in on services that will likely be provided later, and using the cash to pay more current obligations?

Sounds like a Ponzi to me...only becomes a problem when the money runs out

Sorry, doesn't work that way... fare is based on country of origin unless equivalent fare in country of sale is higher. So in your examples you'd end up paying the BKK rate converted to pounds and the EU rate converted to pounds.

BDA Shorts

I did not say the BKK fare would be at the lower U.K. fare, but merely that it could be issued in the U.K. . You are correct that the Baht price would be converted to pounds based on the weekly IATA rate in effect but the base fare whether purchased in Bangkok or London would be about the same

However, as you are in BDA if you were to purchase a BKK origin in the Bermuda you would pay the higher U.S. fare level

Fair enough... I misinterpreted which "local" fare you were talking about! What you say works but has limited use--if ex-LON is cheaper than ex-BKK and I lived in LON, I'd end up buying an ex-LON ticket instead of a positioning flight + higher ex-BKK fare.

I'm sure however that there are situations where you'd want to do it that way.

These are crazy times we live in, and I never remember the London fare being lower than the fare from several Asian countries (Korea excluded of course). My reasoning is that for servicing it is easier to deal with an agent in London and pay in GBP rather than Thai Baht

All v well and good, except that I can't think of a DONE4 anywhere that's cheaper than a ex-ICN one. Maybe South Africa. We'll see...

Right, ex-South Africa costs about the same as ex-ICN so i might try to issue with mindpearl if AA ICN won't budge on CNP payment. We'll see... Worse comes to worst I'll simply bite the extra fuel fines and issue through another carrier ex-ICN; AA will reissue my itinerary when I need an EVIP applied anyway.

Does CX KOREA also need one to present the CC in person or will they accept a phone CC? Thanks for your help...

I am not 100% sure what this rule means??
I thought you can purchase an EX ICN ticket from UK/EU/Canada based on the previous rule change? What has changed?

Also why do you guys want to deal with the AA GSA in ICN? I basically used AA UK to issue the tix and it is billed in GBP. All over the phone.
Also to save some $$$ I used the local AA office to make changes before the queue it to the Tarrif desk in DUB.