Please advise:

1. How can I get AA to ticket my AONE4 even though my first flight is on another carrier?

2. How do I get seat assignments:
A. Initially -- at ticketing
B. Later -- if I change an itinerary

3. How will I be able to view my itinerary on-line after I book it?

1. I range the US AA RTW desk, told them i was australian, would be paying with aus credit card in australia. Then rang oz AA desk with card and paid over the phone. (australian price was not _as_ cheap as the ICN one, but close enough for me).

Next time I thought i'd probably fly to south korea, _then_ book the trip and pay the AA desk at the airport, and then explore korea for a while before starting the trip. (only recommended for the adventurous with spare time and flexible plans). Some other thread in here mentions a Seoul TA i think.

2. I had to do it by ringing each carrier before the flight. JAL took it over the phone and then ignored it (re-allocated me away from exit row) on the day. BA said I have to go to an airport desk, they don't take it over the phone.

AA told me they can do some carriers and flights, but they can't for asian flights.

3. The only itinerary i have is the email they send. Nothing online.

good luck ! AA seem to be tightening their rules. Also, I would consider waiting until 1st/2nd of april and using the online tool to price an ex-ICN with an initial JAL flight. I read a news article that said their fuel surcharges are being massively reduced from 1st april.

(i would have used the online tool for sure if i could have escape the whopping big fuel surcharges)

As you booked through AA, you should still have the sabre booking refeence. You can use this to look the booking up on AA.com.

Also, If you have some QF, BA or LA segments, you can find your Amadeus booking reference and look that up using www.checkmytrip.com .

In any case, ensure you have your ticket number.

You can try ticketing with AA Canada if you're in Canada between now and the commencement of your itinerary. If you have at least one transoceanic segment on AA, try ticketing via a Korean or Canadian TA.

Alternatively, if you're brave, you could get the ATW desk to set it up for you, pay the AA GSA in Seoul and issue the ticket upon arrival in Seoul. Unfortunately you have to be physically present to pay the AA GSA by credit card and they do not accept international wire transfers.

I usually get the ticketing carrier, ie AA, or TA (whichever channel I'd used to issue my ticket) to do seat assignments for me at time of ticketing.

Whenever I've changed my itinerary after departure I've usually done it with the ATW desk and so have also asked them to change my seats in the same phone call.

For adhoc seat changes without involving an itinerary change the operating carrier is often happy to change my seats for me.

For AA and JL segments you'd be able to do it on their segments with PNRs for the respective carriers.

If booked with AA, you'd be able to see the entire itinerary on aa.com. If booked via a TA, ask the TA which reservation system they'd used for your itinerary and its PNR on that system. If the TA is ticketing on AA document, more often than not you'd be able to see the whole itinerary on aa.com after the ticket has been issued - however you might still want to refer back to the "native" GDS.

So you're based in DFW? Just call the AA RTW desk in the U.S. They are very good and very helpful. You can always plan online and just call and give them exact dates and flight numbers. If you have at least some segments on AA, I would not expect a problem. If you have no segments on AA, then there is some mixed information out there about whether or not AA will ticket this for you. I'm not sure myself.

Depends upon the airline. I can only speak from personal experience with regard to AA, BA, QF and CX. AA won't issue seats until you have paid for the ticket (takes about a day or two after you book for them to send it to the rate desk and get it back). AA can assign seats on AA, and QF for sure. Not sure about anyone else. For BA flights in First I called the U.S. based BA number. The AA Record locator will be different than the BA/QF record locator, and CX will also have their own record locator. Not sure about other airlines. Be sure to ask AA for all the record locators. For BA flights intra-europe booked into D-class (Club Europe) you cannot assign seats early unless you have BAEC status. For CX flights you can probably assign seats through AA, but sometimes CX seams to block them and you should just call CX. More importantly, however, is that CX doesn't assign in First until 180 days out.

AA will give you a record locator that you can pull up on AA.com with your FF# and pw (you can also pick new seats for AA flights there). If you book with AA, the record in AA online will show all the segments, not just AA. The BA/QF record will allow you to pull up itin on the BA website and on the QF website (and you can pick seats for BA segments in F). No CX access to things.

That's not entirely true. You'll only need to be at least OW Sapphire to assign seats on BA flights. The OP's AA EXP status will suffice for this purpose.

And it actually applies not only to intra-Europe but ALL BA flights booked into discount classes, ie anything that's not F/J/W/Y.

AA has had no problem in the last few days assigning seats on BA for me booked into A.

(D intra-Europe is as stated)

I stand corrected!

My experience matches christep when it comes to First (don't know about Biz). BA will book seats if you're in First... doesn't matter the fare bucket.

I stand corrected too.

Excellent insight! Thank you.