oneworld RTWs - rethinking NRT; ticketing with AA MNL

[KeithMEL]

I am currently rethinking my initial plan to start another DONE4 ex-NRT this July as the total fare plus +++ came up to A$8905. This is much more than I paid for the existing DONE4. Even taking into account the Sept fare increase this is still a lot. Might be due to the strong Yen.

So anyway I went away to do some poking around:

DONE4 ex-NRT A$8215

DONE5 ex-JNB/CPT A$6119....very good

The problem of course is finding a way to get to South Africa. I might just try other places in Asia.

[MAN Flyer]

oneworld RTWs

DONE5 ex-JNB/CPT A$6119....very good

*kicks self*

Is that a new rate for the DONE ex-JNB/CPT ?.

I don't know much about DONE fares. The number at the end designates the 'areas' you can use doesn't it ?, so '5' would get you to a fair whack of the planet ?.

[KeithMEL]

Is that a new rate for the DONE ex-JNB/CPT ?.

I don't know much about DONE fares. The number at the end designates the 'areas' you can use doesn't it ?, so '5' would get you to a fair whack of the planet ?.

The rate's not changed - it's just that the South African Rand has tanked so much. The Rand has tanked to a point where ex-South Africa is now cheaper than MRU which is most unprecedented. And of course ex-CPT/JNB means you don't suffer from MRU availability issues (BA point of sale discrimination which does not favour 'cheap' locations). Of course this isn't permanent and could mean that JNB/CPT becomes more expensive when the Rand ascends in value. Strike while the iron is hot...

The number at the end is the number of "continents" you can hit. Min is 3, max is 6 (unless someone starts service to Antarctica ). If you start from Africa or Australia/NZ you automatically get 4 because there's no way you can go around the world on the network without hitting at least 4 continents (the same plane BA/QF flights from MEL/SYD-LHR/FRA count as touching Asia even if you don't change flight numbers in Asia)

The catch of course is regardless of how many continents you pick the max segments incl surface stays the same at 20. So for a DONE3 you'd have surplus segments left over, and on a DONE6 you might leave yourself with v little intra continent segments.

My alternates, if I'm having real difficulty justifying a reposition to Africa, is SGN (at US$6911) or MNL (US$7011). Just have to suss out the AA GSAs in both places because no one on FT or AFF seems to have dealt with them before. I'll leave it to you and a certain UK-based SQTalker to sell me either city.

Of course all that beats the ex-Oz extortionate fare at over A$11k.

[MAN Flyer]

Thanks for the basics on a DONE. What is the 6th continent then ; Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia and America.....then ?.

My alternates, if I'm having real difficulty justifying a reposition to Africa, is SGN (at A$6911) or MNL (A$7011). Just have to suss out the AA GSAs in both places because no one on FT or AFF seems to have dealt with them before. I'll leave it to you and a certain UK-based SQTalker to sell me either city.

SGN is cheap ?. Ooh, the CX office in SGN is close to where I stay. I may have to pop in in a few weeks....

How come nobody has done one from SGN then, or has this price only recently dropped ?.

[jhm]

Thanks for the basics on a DONE. What is the 6th continent then ; Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia and America.....then ?

"Zone A - Europe and Middle East: All Europe and Middle East plus Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Zone B - Africa: All of Africa except Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Zone C - Asia: All of Asia except that which falls under the Middle East.

Zone D - South West Pacific: All of Australasia.

Zone E - North America: USA, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Bermuda, Central America and Panama.

Zone F - South America: All of South America except Panama."

[KeithMEL]

Thanks for the basics on a DONE. What is the 6th continent then ; Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia and America.....then ?.



SGN is cheap ?. Ooh, the CX office in SGN is close to where I stay. I may have to pop in in a few weeks....

How come nobody has done one from SGN then, or has this price only recently dropped ?.

Europe&Middle East plus bits of N Africa (yes the whacky OW definition of continents), North America, South America, Africa minus bits of N Africa, South West Pacific, Asia. I think it's based on the IATA TC system.

edit: Oops didn't realise jhm's already replied.

Until recently the price differential between Japan and the rest of Asia wasn;t too dramatic. And Japan is more convenient because of the availability of immediate intercontinental flights on a variety of carriers, thus easier to find awards to reposition there, you save segments by not having to transfer to a hub etc. This has changed due to the price increase last Sept and the strong yen.

I will call the AA GSAs in SGN and MNL to see what I come up with. I think people have done ex-MNL but I could only find into about the CX office in MNL. The tax differentials between AA and CX probably isn't that great these days but I do need it to be issued by AA in order to apply upgrades on the AA segments.

If you're still interested in ex-South Africa, the AA GSA in CPT appears easy enough to deal with:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=799511

Best to call the ATW desk to set up your itinerary first if you're dealing with AA: +1800 247 3247

And of course if you have a Canadian TA you can get the price of the departure country if booked and ticketed in Canada.

[KeithMEL]

Just spoke to AA GSA in SGN - process is much the same as NRT. They don't do paper tickets unless you're physically present. But etickets can be issued over the phone with credit card payment.

And they don't make reservations unlike the online stations - you need to call AA ATW desk for that ---> that's if you're thinking of popping in to make enquiries.

Contact details of AA SGN here: http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?...ts/vietnam.jsp

I believe CX SGN does organise reservations as they're an online station and as such will have a proper tariffs desk etc.

Calling AA MNL now...

[KeithMEL]

It was hard reaching the Philippines for some reason but I finally got through:

AA MNL:

http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?...hilippines.jsp

1) Does not take credit card payment over the phone BUT
2) Accepts wire transfers
3) Willing to issue paper ticket in advance once payment is received without the pax's physical presence
4) Indicated a preference for holding the ticket and passing it to me on arrival; it didn't occur to me to ask if they'd be willing to mail it overseas if I organise and pay for courier. EDIT: They are willing to mail the ticket if I paid for the courier - simply include the courier charges along with the total fare and wire it across.

Looks like the Philippines is next on my list of countries to visit. Paging jjpb3.

[HUGE AL]

Looks like the Philippines is next on my list of countries to visit. Paging jjpb3.

Perhaps a mini DO is in order...

[milehighj]

KeithMEL, Are the SGN and MNL fares quoted in USD? If so can you post those pls?

With the USD in freefall, these fares are getting cheaper by the day...

[KeithMEL]

Incorrect currency above - the SGN/MNL fares are actually USD. I've rectified the posts.

At A$1 = USD0.92....."while stocks last"

I'm particularly interested in MNL because it'd allow me to lock in 20 segments straightaway. Whereas with AA NRT I'd be forced down to 16 segments first because they'd only do eticketing over the phone. And who knows what's going to happen after mandatory eticketing when I want to reissue back up to 20 segments (ref: first post of the DONE4 report).

If the freefall occurs to a dramatic extent they might reprice all fares overnight.... so again - strike while the iron is hot.

[MAN Flyer]

Just spoke to AA GSA in SGN - process is much the same as NRT. They don't do paper tickets unless you're physically present. But etickets can be issued over the phone with credit card payment.

I presume they also charge 3% for payment with Mastercard and Visa and 5% for Amex same as most other Vietnam TA's ?

[KeithMEL]

I presume they also charge 3% for payment with Mastercard and Visa and 5% for Amex same as most other Vietnam TA's ?

I've never dealt with any Vietnam TAs so it didn't cross my mind to ask about that.

Anyhoo the GSA in MNL seemed a lot more enthusiastic and seemed pretty used to people ringing in from overseas for these things.

[KeithMEL]

Just got off the phone with the ATW desk. The AAgent I normally deal with urged me to issue asap as the impending segment reduction to 16 to accomodate mandatory eticketing is apparently very imminent. So I'm aiming to pay for the ticket by mid April. Will know the total price inc taxes in about 24 hours.

Got the following booked, to commence in July 08 and stretching till July 09 (with dummy dates for the latter bits as the system will only go up to 330 days ---> this is better than open dating so you'd be protected in the event a route gets canned):
MNL
xNRT "JL for JO"
DPS "JL for JO"
xNRT "JL for JO"
MEL QF
CNS QF
MEL QF
xLHR QF
MCT BA
xLHR BA
IST BA
LHR BA
LAX AA
SJU AA
xORD AA
AUS AA
SEA AA
xDFW AA
JFK AA
NRT AA
MNL "JL for JO"

6 week hold period.

[KeithMEL]

Update

For the benefit of anyone who might be interested in ticketing oneworld products out of MNL in future, though I dare say if I do another one after this it'd be back to NRT to 'rescue' some segments after these things get reduced to 16 segments:

I've just initiated the payment/ticketing etc process of my DONE4 with AA's MNL GSA (aka Airesources). The total worked out to be USD7779.70 which includes +++ of USD753.70, contains one dose of the UK APD. Final itinerary as follows with the full 20 segments:

July 2008:
MNL-xHKG-DPS-xHKG-MEL

Jan/Feb 2009:
MEL-CNS-MEL-xLHR-MCT-xLHR-IST-LHR

Dummy dates (for June-July 2009):
LHR-LAX-SJU-xORD-AUS-SEA-xDFW-JFK-NRT-MNL

Not fully optimized for the Asian bit as I was trying to avoid the unnecessary flying on JL for MNL-DPS, I don't need the excess EQPs, and the CX flights actually gain more award miles as JL doesn't attract the status bonus. The rest of the itinerary is a balance between retaining status in the 2009 membership year and getting to places I want to be.

FedEx charges USD30 to courier, and it'd take 3 days to send the ticket to Australia.

Will be wiring money across tomorrow.

Let the waiting begin...