From the recent comments in this thread I presume that - when I have an actual booking to make rather than just playing around - folks here will be able to help me get in touch with an agent who can handle the complexities of a xONEx.
While I am kicking though - Himeno, would you be so kind as to point me to the text in the current rules that say you pay the fare of the country of departure?
It sounds like you've struggled enough with making sense of it all already. Please feel free to message me privately and I can sort one out for you.
The rule was removed completely from the fare rules around Feb 2019 as it is long obsolete.
The original rule where the fare charged had to be the fare normally charged from the point of sale as if it were the point of commencement was an exception to normal fare ticketing rules, even back when it applied over 10 years ago, hence why they had to actually put such a rule in.
But for reference, the wording of the rule from Feb 2019 before they removed it was:
When travel originates in a country for which a specific local currency fares is published and the ticket is sold in another country, the fare will be that published for the country of origin converted to the currency of the country of sale at the bank selling rate.
In translation to simple terms, this basically means the fare as published in JPY currency is converted to the currency of the point of sale at whatever the prevailing exchange rate is.
For clarity, the removal of this rule doesn't mean we revert back to the old rule from over 10 years ago, it just means that normal fare ticketing rules applies, which for fares starting from a foreign point, is converting the published fare level to the currency of the point of sale.
Another bug in the tool? or does Qatar airlines not allow DONEx bookings on all routes?
The oneworld website booking tool is complete garbage. There are loads of flights and routes that don't appear on the oneworld tool at all. That doesn't mean you cannot book them, it just means you have to go to an airline or travel agent to book it for you.