*ONE* where flights schedules change - what do they do?

[beardoc]

I'm considering a DONE4 ex-JNB and considering taking the first flight JNB-SYD and then leaving it a while. I will then do the rest of the journey later in the year. I intend to use all 16 sectors.

I have noticed when planning itineraries, I tend to find the obscure flights that are a single flight number and so book as one segment, but actually go via a hub (an example is AA1571, which is listed on the OW timetable as a single flight, but goes MSY-ORD-MSP). This allows me to get more out of the North American sectors of the DONE4. However, there's an end-date on this particular flight, being 17th November.

I'm wondering, if I book this as open dated and include one of these sectors that expires, how does OneWorld treat these? Do they allow you to book two sectors (MSY-ORD, ORD-MSP) on the itinerary where you only had one segment before?

 

[serfty]

If you have an OPEN dated segment for a city pair that ceases to be operated by oneworld then you are SOL. You would need to reissue a different (rule compliant) routing at a cost of USD125 + any service fee. :-|

If you have a confirmed MSY-MSP booking for a specific date and flight number and it gets cancelled then you are protected in that the booking must be honoured and you could get additional segments, MSY-xx_X... -MSP.. Note however that (significant) date changes may not be permitted in such circumstance.

I have seen reports the after the latter eventuality, some have been able to get the dates for the new segments changed sometime later by not so observant agents, but this is risky.

 

[beardoc]

Ah, thank you - seems given I want the flexibility of being able to change dates, it's probably better to avoid these time limited single flight numbers, or wait until the last minute to organise the trips so I can take advantage of these time-limited through flight numbers to get slightly better routing through the US. I was hoping that if I booked on a sector that was a single flight number for MSY-MSP (via ORD) that I would be able to rebook on MSY-ORD and ORD-MSP flights and manage to eke extra segments out of at 16-segment itinerary.

Given I can't do this, I'll make sure to avoid them unless I know I can take them before they expire.

Thanks, serfty!