RTW or DONEX help please

[Cynicor]

Hi.

Trying to help the folks organise airfares to 2 conferences next year, in late March and late April, in Boston and Moscow respectively. We were thinking about using a business class RTW ticket, and they can see a few places in between the two events. My first thought was a DONEX, but when I popped it into the online engine it seems to price up as a DONE6. I am currently using this routing to save $, but for any ideas we are based in PERTH and wouldn't mind a positioning flight if it's worth it.

The itinerary I thought would be a DONE4 is akl-lax-dfw-bos-jfk-lhr-dme-lhr-syd-per-adl-syd-akl (SWP-NAM-EUR-SWP) as it doesn't even go through Asia.

Any help with routings, maximising distance, or finding a cheaper fare? In the meantime I'm going to see if star alliance offer anything.

 

[Leumas]

If you're in Perth, do consider starting from South Africa and ticket it through AA and save yourself a bundle. There's lot of information here.

 

[Cynicor]

Hey, thanks for the advice.

Have an AONE4 set up I would like some advice about, with regards to booking through AA and also minimising taxes while not sacrificing the essential stops (really only Boston and Moscow I guess).

Starting in JNB,

JNB-(HKG-SIN)-NRT-(DFW)-BOS-SFO-MIA-JFK-(LHR)-DME-MAD-HEL-LHR-JNB

Uses all 16 sectors currently.

Thanks

 

[Danger]

My first thought is your BOS-SFO-MIA is in violation of oneworld Explorer rule 4(l). Here's a link to the rule sheet: http://www.oneworld.com/content/library/oneworld explorer.pdf.

Also, when you book with AA, make sure NRT-DFW is on their metal and flight number and same for JFK-LHR. This will reduce the taxes and make the process easier. After booking, flight numbers, airlines and date changes are permitted free of charge.

 

[Cynicor]

Thanks, was typo. Should read bos-(ord)-ago-Mia.

Will AA book it if they aren't the first carrier?

 

[tuapekastar]

Hey, thanks for the advice.

Have an AONE4 set up I would like some advice about, with regards to booking through AA and also minimising taxes while not sacrificing the essential stops (really only Boston and Moscow I guess).

Starting in JNB,

JNB-(HKG-SIN)-NRT-(DFW)-BOS-SFO-MIA-JFK-(LHR)-DME-MAD-HEL-LHR-JNB

Uses all 16 sectors currently.

Thanks

I booked a DONE4 (starting and finishing in AKL) through AA last year (and a LONE4 the same way a few years back, but starting/finishing in MEL).

For the DONE4 I selected flights and checked availability through the OW booking 'tool'. I think I priced it through there and the taxes etc. were more than AUD1000, though can't recall exact figure. so when i rang AA ATW desk i was prepared with the itinerary and knew there was availability. The taxes etc. weee NZD690 (~AUD530 at today's rates) so a considerable saving. There was an NZD77 ticketing fee as well (when it was ticketed by AA NZ), and you may incur a currency conversion fee from your CC provider.


The actual booking was quick and efficient. However I had a bit of a drama getting it ticketed. There is a fare rule that reads:

"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. The resultant fare must not be lower
than from the country of sale.
Exception: Not applicable for sales made and/or travel originating in Canada or when BOTH travel
originates and sales are made within the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA)/Switzerland"

Effectively it's saying that if you start the trip from say South Africa (at say AUD10000), and purchase it in Australia (where the fare may be AUD15000) then you've gotta pay the Oz fare of AUD15000. In my case I was stratin in AKL, and rang the AA NZ phone number to ticket it. This I believe routed through to an Australian call centre (a bit irrelevant TBH) and the trigger for the agent was when I went to use an Australian CC to pay. He said "Ah, you're in Australia" and proceeded to say he was going to have it repriced at the ex-Oz fare. My argument was that as I had rung the NZ number I was purchasing in NZ. Anyway I told him to do nothing (it was a Friday afternoon) and rang back Monday preparing to argue but the first person I got onto ticketed it no problems. I'm sure others (maybe even yourself) have ticketed through South Africa (same mob possibly - Mindpearl I think they're called). But just be aware of the rule, and be prepared to argue, and have a Plan B in reserve.

I took a number of AA flights in the US, and was prepared to fly AA trans-Atlantic (and eventually did - in F with a points upgrade) but the agent actually first offered me the BA flight from LHR-LAX. I was expecting her to insist on it being AA, and others have reported various different 'demands' for AA to make a reservation but it seems too be a classic case of YMMV.

Certainly you're not going to get F on all those legs (AA domestic F doesn't count ), but you should get it on about 5 of them. Also, you can't have BOS-SFO and SFO-MIA on the same itinerary, violates the 'one transcon' rule (as i see was pointed out while i was typing this out )

 

[Danger]

Thanks, was typo. Should read bos-(ord)-ago-Mia.

Will AA book it if they aren't the first carrier?

Yes. However, as pointed out in the post above, you may encounter an agent who is reluctant to do so. As I mentioned, having the transoceanic flights on AA (at least for booking) will assist this.

 

[Cynicor]

Hi.

Does anyone have any advice about ticketing an AA RTW from JNB?

I've had them quote it up and have a locator, but the last person I talked to on the phone said if I want to pay over the phone I need to pay in USD and it will be about double.

Have I just got a dud (i.e. technically correct) agent or do I need to call a TA somewhere in JNB?

 

[Danger]

Hi.

Does anyone have any advice about ticketing an AA RTW from JNB?

I've had them quote it up and have a locator, but the last person I talked to on the phone said if I want to pay over the phone I need to pay in USD and it will be about double.

Have I just got a dud (i.e. technically correct) agent or do I need to call a TA somewhere in JNB?

I have some experience using AA's ticketing agent in South Africa. I'll send you a PM in a couple of minutes.

 

[Cynicor]

Thanks everyone for your help, especially Danger for his PM(s)

Have now booked 2xAONE4s from JNB for less than 2 DONE4s from PER!

Next question is how do I allocate seats on the other carriers, when it is booked through AA? Do I call their RTW desk or the standard number or call the individual carriers? I have selected my seats on the AA flights already, all done online, so just the other carriers to go.

Jon

 

[Danger]

Thanks everyone for your help, especially Danger for his PM(s)

Have now booked 2xAONE4s from JNB for less than 2 DONE4s from PER!

Next question is how do I allocate seats on the other carriers, when it is booked through AA? Do I call their RTW desk or the standard number or call the individual carriers? I have selected my seats on the AA flights already, all done online, so just the other carriers to go.

Jon

Good news.

From memory, you can enter the booking reference into BA's manage my booking (or whatever they call it) on their website and away you go with selecting seats on their sectors. However, AA uses the Sabre system while QF (and possibly BA) uses Amadeus.

If I remember correctly you simply call AA and get your booking's Sabre reference and then plug this into QF (and I think BA).

As for the AA sectors, simply put your booking reference into their manage my booking system and you're done!