New Version 1-Nov-2014
 

The only changes I've spotted are in the list of affiliated airlines on which travel is allowed - Rule 4(j)

AA Affiliates changed from
To
JL Affiliates changed from
To

Hate to reply to my own post, but I'm wondering which continent does the Maldive belong in, Asia or Africa? Sri Lanka is in Asia, so i hope that the Maldives are in Asia as well.

MLE is in Asia. EF shows xONEx fares from there. Nothing to chase after.

New Version - 01-Feb-2015
 

Only change I've spotted is a minor change to the list of affiliated airlines on which travel is allowed

Positive change or negative?

I've spotted some changes, which may or may not be significant, in the rules about Voluntary Changes

Given that there has been some recent discussion in this forum about whether changing a transit to a stopover triggers the USD125 fee, what I think we need from a knowledgeable person is a definitive definition of "Ticketed Point"

Anyone able to provide it?

OK - the changes:

Previous wording (in rules of 1-11-2014)
New wording (in rules of 1-02-2015 )
So the references to "date/time/carrier changes have been removed, leaving only the references to "ticketed points remain the same"

Good catch.

My understanding has always been that "ticketed points" means the sequence of airports that appear in the flight coupons. If any change is made to the sequence (adding, deleting, reordering, replacing) then the $125 fee is charged. If the sequence remains unchanged, no $125 fee is charged. My reading is that the old and new text means the same thing, just worded in a simpler way: date/time/carrier changes don't affect the ticketed points, so it was perhaps redundant to word it one way in one place and the other way elsewhere.

I hate to ask, but I've been unable to find that recent discussion - can you point me to that thread? I'd be very interested.

Have asked AA, BA, CX and QF for their take on this change.
Will see if anyone replies.

To me it seems no real change.

These are changes to 'ticketed points': (There may be more)

-AAA-xBBB-CCC when changed to -AAA-BBB-CCC (or -AAA-oBBB-CCC-).

-AAA-xBBB-CCC to -AAA-xBBB-xDDD-CCC-

-AAA-xBBB-CCC to -AAA-xDDD-CCC-

-AAA-BBB- to -AAA-xEEE-BBB

-AAA-BBB- to -FFF-CCC-

-AAA-BBB- to -AAA-GGG-

Then, usually stopover/transit change causes tax recalculation.
So probably, ticket reissue is needed.
Then, some airlines charge reissue fee.
CX JP ticketing office charges 3000JPY for reissue.

BTW, some airport tax exemption is applied for same day connection. So, if you change same day connection to the next day connection (but, less than 24 hours), tax is increased, but no routing change occured in terms of OWE rule (still transit).
Any experience of tax recalculation and ticket reissue fee in this case ?

If I were to change a DONE6 SYD-NRT sector from JAL to Qantas, am I correct in thinking that this would not require a ticket reissue and not require paying $125?

The ticket would require re-issuance. (I don't think a carrier change can be done with merely a re-validation?) Thus a re-issuance fee may apply, depending on the ticket issuer.

The question is if the 125 USD penalty fee also applies. Which it will not, because your ticketed points remain the same.

Right. So I have looked in the IATA Ticketing Handbook, and guess what:

The revalidation "sticker" used by the airline (that used to go on paper tickets to cover up the wrong information) does include a Carrier column.

However, the revalidation "sticker" used by travel agents does not include a Carrier column.

"Note: The carrier must not be changed by travel agents." [but the operating carrier can be changed by the ticketing carrier.]

So whether you get hit by the re-issuance fee is up to the policy of the ticketing airline.

Just yesterday I phoned my issuing carrier (BA) to change my MAO-MIA flight from JJ to AA. They tried to charge me the USD125 change fee, but I pointed out that the ticketed points were not changing - so they backed down. There was no service fee either.

(It was when I pulled up the rule sheet during this, that I noticed the change in wording that I posted above)

Edited to add: I have just now noticed that BA actually did reticket all my remaining flights on the DONE5 - just for the simple change of carrier on one segment! (the change was from the JJ-marketed flight number, to the AA-codeshare flight number on the same flight. Did it because (a) the on-line tool would not let me select the AA Codeshare flight, and (b) having status with AA, I get the 100% bonus miles on the AA flight number but not on the JJ flight number)