RTW in J for $3,000 Less

[austrider]

1) Did you speak to ATW Desk or did you speak to AA NRT? Each issuing office has its own policy with payment and ticketing, and AFAIK AA NRT accepts foreign credit cards and payment over the phone so long as the itinerary is eticketable (in the brave new world of 16 segment itineraries I can't think of many itineraries that CAN'T with eticketed).

Thanks for the info - I thought so. I spoke to ATW at Dallas and the agent sounded experienced so I started to doubt myself.....

2) The agent was right. You can't enter/exit Asia more than once unless one of the entries/exists is in transit or on a single flight number service between the South West Pacific and Europe.

Sorry I meant to ask that even his routing looks incorrect as wouldn't the JFK-LAX be considered as the second trans-continent N. America trip? What will happen if he's wrong - does it get picked up at ticketing?

4) Booking on the QF code will mean you avoid AA's transpacific fuel surcharge as AA limits collection of fuel fines to its own flights. The QF codes will also count towards the 'min 4 QF group segments' rule for QFF status.

I see - that will definitely make a difference to the cost! I will call back tonight and fix that up. Thanks again!

By the way I've already flown QF more than 4 times this year (just the regular CityFlyer stuff) - do I still need to accure more than 4 QF segment on this trip to get all the SCs?

 

[Evan]

By the way I've already flown QF more than 4 times this year (just the regular CityFlyer stuff) - do I still need to accure more than 4 QF segment on this trip to get all the SCs?

As long as by this year you mean your membership year then thats all you need. Its for QF segments per membership year and that can be 1 ticket with 4 segments or 4 seperate tickets, whatever you like, domestic or international. So then your safe.

E

 

[Keith009]

Sorry I meant to ask that even his routing looks incorrect as wouldn't the JFK-LAX be considered as the second trans-continent N. America trip? What will happen if he's wrong - does it get picked up at ticketing?

Oops hadnt picked up on the 2nd transcon.
Yep JFK-LAX would be considered a 2nd transcon. It should get picked up by Dublin tariffs desk when they're building your fare quote, and they will then queue the PNR back to ATW desk pointing out the problem.

Try YVR-DFW-MCO or JFK-SYD? The latter would require some repositioning admittedly.

 

[austrider]

Some update on my progress and experiences:

* The AA online reservation check is almost real-time. I'd recommend finding out the record locater early and login and monitor as the booking progresses. See my next point for why....

https://www.aa.com/aa/reservation/findReservationAccess.do

* The agent got my wife's name wrong. I called back but apprently there's no way to change the name - the whole booking has to be cancelled and started again... If I had been able to log in and check the reservation as it progresses then I could have picked it up and cancelled it/fixed it the first time.

* Another advantage with checking the booking in real-time is that they don't tell you there's no more First seats, and just book you into Economy... so if you haven't used EF to check seat availability you may want to choose another flight that has First seats. Apart from the comfort my understanding is that you earn the SC of First as well?

* Definitely make sure they get your email and send you the itinerary. If they did not get your QF number correctly then it'll show up in the email

* In the email confirmation, each flight also has a Terminal Reference number. Some flights would have the same Terminal Reference number, and some flights would not (or none at all). It seems Qantas MyBooking picks up the flights with a particular Terminal Reference, but not others. By the way for me the Qantas MyBooking was almost immediate (within 5 minutes of completing the booking)

I will update more on my experience after I get the fares calculated and paid.

 

[serfty]

You may find that not all flights in your booking are listed on Qantas MYB or www.checkmttrip.com.

This is normal. For example, with a LONE4 I booked via AA I see the following AA booked RTW segments:

MEL-(QF)xSYD-(QF)JFK-(AA)xORD-(AA)SEA-(AA)xDFW-(AA)xORD-(BA)LHR,LGW-(BA)DBV-(BA)LGW,
LHR-(QF)SIN-(CX)HKG-(CX)BKK-(CX)HKG-(CX)NRT-(QF)SYD-(QF)CNS-(QF)MEL

This shows on Qantas.com as:

MEL-(QF)xSYD-(QF)JFK,DFW-(AA)xORD-(BA)LHR,
LGW-(BA)DBV-(BA)LGW,LHR-(QF)SIN,
HKG-(CX)NRT-(QF)SYD-(QF)CNS-(QF)MEL

i.e. the connecting flights on CX and AA show on Amadeus but that's it.

 

[serfty]

If you fly in the economy cabin of a 2 or 3 class AA flight on a DONEx or and AONEx then you get Discount WHY SC's (L).

(Book in first Cabin, get A SC's; Business cabin, get D SC's)

 

[austrider]

Thanks Serfty... I understand it's normal and accepted but just wondering if anyone know the reason behind it (e.g. backend system integration limitation?)

Ok - just called back for the quote and the additional taxes are around AU$ 700. This seemed to be a little high so I asked for a breakdown of how the fare was calculated, but was told that it's not possible and that it will be available after payment (?!)

So here's another question - Is there a way to determine the breakdown beforehand? e.g. would the Premium subscription of EF do that? I'm not sure if the taxes are high because stopping by CDG, or the MAD-ORD leg that's booked under AA instead of IB. Thoughts?

FYI route is NRT-TPE-HKG-CDG-AMM-DME-MAD-ORD-MCO-JFK-YYZ-DFW-LAX-MEL-HKG-TPE-NRT
Transits: TPE-CDG transit via HKG, and YYZ-MEL transit via DFW and LAX, and MEL-TPE transit via HKG.

Thanks!

 

[Keith009]

Book MAD-ORD on IB rather than AA and you'd save yourself over A$100 in fuel fines as AA will not collect said fines for other carriers. Similarly, make sure LAX-MEL is QF instead of AA. No requirement for there to be AA transoceanic segments as you're booking with AA directly.

 

[austrider]

I'm logging my first DONE4 experiences here and just want to provide a quick update. Just called AA ATW to change some of the legs and learnt couple of things:

• You can request seats as soon as it's ticketed. I didn't know that.
• Once ticketed, any change in iteninary would require a fee - even when the routing was suggested by AA and was less efficient. I wanted YYZ-LAX-MEL initially but was told it's not possible and have to do YYZ-ORD-LAX-MEL instead. I (stupidly) accepted it back then and now this agent said it's possible but would cost me extra. Argh!

I should start a blog to log my trip reports plus the DONE4 experiences in one spot.....

 

[simongr]

There shouldn't be any fees after ticketing and before you commence travel. That only applies to travel originating from some regions - not SWP.

 

[austrider]

There shouldn't be any fees after ticketing and before you commence travel. That only applies to travel originating from some regions - not SWP.

Sorry what I meant was any change in routing would incur a fee - even if transit points change. Change of flight/date/time are free as long as the routing stays the same. I'm originating from NRT.

 

[serfty]

Sorry what I meant was any change in routing would incur a fee - even if transit points change. Change of flight/date/time are free as long as the routing stays the same. I'm originating from NRT.

• If you flown any sectors of the booking, a change in routing will incur a USD125 fee.
  
• If you have not yet flown any segments and wish to change routing; the ticket can effectively be cancelled at no charge and a new booking made.

However, such action often results in a higher cost.

 

[austrider]

• If you have not yet flown any segments and wish to change routing; the ticket can effectively be cancelled at no charge and a new booking made.

However, such action often results in a higher cost.

Hi Serfty - why is that? The only reasons I can think of are:

a) buying the ticket in other currencies and the AUD goes down between the original ticketing and the sunsequent ticketing - however the reverse would be true when the AUD goes up..

b) the usual fuel/ticket price increases - however it doesn't happen all that often (1 or 2 times a year??)

 

[serfty]

The rules state the following:

16. VOLUNTARY CHANGES/REROUTING/PENALTIES

    (a) Rebooking/Rerouting

        (1) Prior to departure

            (a) Origin TC1

                (1) Before ticket issuance - Permitted without penalty.

                (2) After ticket issuance - Changes to the first international 
                    flight and preceding flights are not permitted less than 
                    seven days prior to the date of the first ticketed flight. 

                    Date/time changes to other flights permitted at no charge.

                    Date/Time/oneworld Carrier changes are permitted without 
                    reissue provided origin/destination/connecting points and 
                    inventory remain the same. 

                    Changes other than to Date/Time/oneworld carrier permitted 
                    at a charge of USD125.00 per transaction.

            (b) Origin TC2/3

                Unlimited changes permitted without charge.

                Date/Time/oneworld carrier changes are permitted without 
                reissue provided Origin/destination/connecting points and 
                inventory remain the same.

From this it would seem changes are unlimited if you have not yet departed; however with many CRS's to change the first segment(s) of a booked itinerary requires a reissue - even date changes. It's with such a re-issue that costs can increase; however in certain circumstances they can indeed, decrease.

 

[serfty]

• Once ticketed, any change in iteninary would require a fee - even when the routing was suggested by AA and was less efficient. I wanted YYZ-LAX-MEL initially but was told it's not possible and have to do YYZ-ORD-LAX-MEL instead. I (stupidly) accepted it back then and now this agent said it's possible but would cost me extra. Argh!

The agent is wrong and it's a common thing with the AA ATW desk and IMO quite understandable the great majority of routings they deal with start in TC1 (Americas).

The rules are different once ticketed for xONEx originating in the Americas and rule 16(a)1(a)2 applies in these cases.

In your case, rule 16(a)1(b) applies, so you may need to politely inform the agent of this.

 

[austrider]

The agent is wrong and it's a common thing with the AA ATW desk and IMO quite understandable the great majority of routings they deal with start in TC1 (Americas).

The rules are different once ticketed for xONEx originating in the Americas and rule 16(a)1(a)2 applies in these cases.

In your case, rule 16(a)1(b) applies, so you may need to politely inform the agent of this.

Of course! Sorry Serfty you already told me in this thread back in Jan but I forgot. Btw I assume you meant "TC1 (Americas)".

Calling the agent back tonight....

 

[KateMayo]

Thanks, madmat777, for your excellent instructions on booking a *ONE*. I have just booked my first – quite a daunting task but made incredibly simple with your step-by-step guide.

It took just ten minutes on the phone to the AA ATW desk and the flights were able to be viewed online at the QFF, AA and checkmytrip sites within a matter of minutes.

For anyone interested my final chosen routing for this DONE4 was:

cpt-lhr-mct-lhr-ord-sfo-dfw-anc-dfw-sfo-jfk-syd-akl-mel-cns-syd-jnb

53,120 miles; 2050 SCs

I will ticket via Mindpearl in Cape Town and come back with a final price as soon as it’s available. I would have preferred to have waited a little longer to book this but comments over at FlyerTalk suggest a price increase ex SA is imminent.

Thanks, also, to other contributors whose suggestions regarding routings, starting points etc has proven invaluable. Your erudite and selfless contributions are very much appreciated.

 

[Keith009]

Got this DONE4 priced by AA tariffs for ZAR50 724 all in, or AUD7743.54.

JNB-SYD-AKL-SYD-JFK-xMIA-MSP-DFW-ATL-xDFW-LAX-LHR-HEL-xLHR-DXB-xLHR-CPT

It's for a July 2009 start for when I finish my current DONE4, getting to South Africa on a BD award. I'd better get ticketing soon... it was AUD6900ish last week before the Rand strenghtened.

 

[KateMayo]

Got the costing back from Mindpearl



cpt-lhr-mct-lhr-ord-sfo-dfw-anc-dfw-sfo-jfk-syd-akl-mel-cns-syd-jnb

Final cost: Base ZAR 45000; Taxes ZAR 4457 (includes a stopover in LON); Mindpearl ticketing ZAR 321; Total ZAR 49778 (Approx AUD 7398 as at 30.10.08)

 

[austrider]

Of course! Sorry Serfty you already told me in this thread back in Jan but I forgot. Btw I assume you meant "TC1 (Americas)".

Calling the agent back tonight....

Work has been hectice and I finally called the agent back last night. Some more lessons learned... (see below)

I first explained that according to the technical sheet, there should be no charge. After putting me on hold for aournd 5 minutes, he came back confirming that (woohoo!), but also indicated that if the re-routing requires a ticket re-issue, then it requires a ticket re-issue fee (same cost, doh!).

I went ahead and change the routing as I suspect it would be similar in cost. However due to the new routing, I could no longer confirm the exact dates of my last few legs. Surprisingly, he was able to leave these legs as Open - I didn't realise they could do that.

I was futher surprised when he offered to contact the fare calculation desk and gave me the total difference over the phone. Last time they fob me off and ask me to call back in 24-48 hours. After another 5 minutes on hold he came back with the figures.

I accepted it and immediately asked for the seats to be assigned (from lessons learnt last time). Will call Japan and pay for the difference come Monday.

Here's another question... I understand DONE4 is a 1-year ticket. But is it 1-year from ticket issue, ticket re-issue, or commencement of travel?