One World RTW questions

[phaleesy]

Back to ICN once the RTW is completed in Sept. I'd need to get home to LHR or SIN.

Not the ideal choice because I don't particularly like any of the OW carriers but it's the only logical choice... so I'd need to start a OW RTW again.

I could redeem BD miles to get to SIN/LHR or do paid *alliance flights.

But how are the OW RTW fares in SE Asia or other parts of the world like at the moment?

Many thanks.

[Kiwi]

ICN & NRT still some of the cheapest for DONE4, but nowhere near as cheap as last year.

Next xONEx fare review is likely 1 May.

[phaleesy]

Next xONEx fare review is likely 1 May.

With a price increase?

[Kiwi]

They rarely go down.

xONEx fares are normally reviewed each May and November.

[Kyo]

Really, thought I'd ask this (with only very limited research done, mostly 14 months back)...

Why are the DONE*s more popular than the LONE*s? Aren't the LONE*s significantly cheaper? And isn't that the main point for RTWs... very curious to know. Is it still because the LAN staff don't communicate in English fluently?

[MAN Flyer]

Why are the DONE*s more popular than the LONE*s? Aren't the LONE*s significantly cheaper?

I would hope Y tickets are cheaper than J tickets.

[jhm]

Why are the DONE*s more popular than the LONE*s? Aren't the LONE*s significantly cheaper? And isn't that the main point for RTWs... very curious to know. Is it still because the LAN staff don't communicate in English fluently?

On an idle Sunday, I've been struggling to understand this and in particular, the last sentence. The only thing I can think of is ... do you perhaps think that:

LONE = a RTW issued by L for LAN; their English is not so good; so communicating with them is difficult and LONEs are therefore not so popular even though they're cheaper.

DONE = a RTW issued by D for Delta; English is their native language; so communicating with them is easy and DONEs are therefore popular even though they cost a lot more.

Any better explanations of Kyo's post welcome!

[Kyo]

The first one! Obviously very little insight into this from a very-entrenched *A fan...

Good riddle for a Sunday, though!

Sorry for the oversight.. *embarassed*

I thought LONE*s were OneWorld Explorer RTWs, e.g. LONE4 (have they stopped selling these?)

[jhm]

I thought LONE*s were OneWorld Explorer RTWs, e.g. LONE4 (have they stopped selling these?)

Yes, oneworld Explorer RTWs:

xONEy

where:

x = L (economy), D (business), A (first class)
y = number of continents covered

e.g. DONE3 - oneworld Explorer RTW in business class covering 3 continents

So in answer to your original question, a LONE is significantly cheaper than an equivalent DONE but - surprise surprise - people perfer a DONE if the price is right!

Hint: when/if you ever book a *A RTW, a CRWSTAR2 does not mean that it's issued by Continental, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines etc!

[HUGE AL]

Hint: when/if you ever book a *A RTW, a CRWSTAR2 does not mean that it's issued by Continental, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines etc!

As mentioned before, my how Kyo's knowledge has grown to Kyo+!

[Kyo]

Hey hey hey...

Let's get back on track here!

So does this mean that when ticketing, LAN is still the cheapest for surcharges etc? I'll be the first to admit I'm still a bit fuzzy with xONEx ticketing: First you have to consider the airline (stock) it's booked through, right? Is LAN still cheapest? Then you have to consider where to start the ticket, i.e. in ICN/NRT for the cheapest?

[jhm]

So does this mean that when ticketing, LAN is still the cheapest for surcharges etc? I'll be the first to admit I'm still a bit fuzzy with xONEx ticketing: First you have to consider the airline (stock) it's booked through, right? Is LAN still cheapest? Then you have to consider where to start the ticket, i.e. in ICN/NRT for the cheapest?

Given that you're a "very-entrenched *A fan", I think it's a better use of my time to simply direct you to the search function! IIRC, KeithMEL wrote about this in the planning stage of one of his TRs and you can also find threads like:

http://www.sqtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6506

[Kyo]

As far as I'm aware, KeithMEL has only considered ticketing LAN in passing and various discussions on/off-line have been very vague. The one mention on SQTalk that he does make (and I did notice it / recall it because I'd asked him QUITE a while back) about LAN stock, is uncorroborated with anecdotal evidence of what other OW FFers mention. In fact, don't recall anyone else making much of a reference to them, at all. Do you ticket with LAN, jhm? Why/why not? Or is that better saved for a face-to-face discussion one day?

I'm thinking of ways to use up all these JL Fly-On / FFP miles I accrued last year with them, possibly with a xONEx (thanks again for the proper way to reference things with regards to the dark side)...

I shall now hide in the *A corner again...

[jhm]

As far as I'm aware, KeithMEL has only considered ticketing LAN in passing and various discussions on/off-line have been very vague. The one mention on SQTalk that he does make (and I did notice it / recall it because I'd asked him QUITE a while back) about LAN stock, is uncorroborated with anecdotal evidence of what other OW FFers mention. In fact, don't recall anyone else making much of a reference to them, at all.

You need to look (again) at the link I posted above which mentions ticketing with AA, LAN etc. Hint: you can't just randomly choose a OW carrier and decide to ticket any RTW through them.

[KeithMEL]

As far as I'm aware, KeithMEL has only considered ticketing LAN in passing and various discussions on/off-line have been very vague. The one mention on SQTalk that he does make (and I did notice it / recall it because I'd asked him QUITE a while back) about LAN stock, is uncorroborated with anecdotal evidence of what other OW FFers mention. In fact, don't recall anyone else making much of a reference to them, at all. Do you ticket with LAN, jhm? Why/why not? Or is that better saved for a face-to-face discussion one day?

I'm thinking of ways to use up all these JL Fly-On / FFP miles I accrued last year with them, possibly with a xONEx (thanks again for the proper way to reference things with regards to the dark side)...

I shall now hide in the *A corner again...

Several points here:
1) Last I checked (a while ago) LAN was the cheapest in fuel surcharges.

2) However, one also has to consider the service and support you get from the issuing carrier as it'd be primarily responsible for your ongoing ticketing needs. Making ad hoc changes via another carrier is just asking for trouble especially if they operate on a different GDS to your issuing carrier - numerous horror stories on FT, eg http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/12275412-post67.html. LAN is one of the more challenging carriers, and I do not recommend ticketing with them if you are likely to make multiple, complex changes to your itinerary. IMO, AA and CX have the best ticketing staff and as AA fuel fines are a slight lower I try to make sure any RTW itineraries I do can be issued via AA.

3) In theory you can issue through any oneworld carrier. In practise each carrier has its own internal policies for dealing with oneworld products, just as with *A carriers. So your desired itinerary and/or choice of carrier will impact on whether a carrier will want to ticket the itinerary for you.

If you really want to plate on LAN stock, I'd recommend getting a TA.

Now any volunteers for experimenting with ticketing through one of the lesser known carriers like MX, IB, MA or AY?