DONE4: Help with routing?

[UpTheFront]

After spending far, far too many weeks on this

I'm hoping some of you wise wizards could look over my ex-NRT DONE4. I wanna book it asap, before currencies move and prices rise again and again and again...

How's this:
NRT-SIN-SYD-AKL-BNE-CNS-SYD-xHKG-LHR-MCT-AMM-DME-LHR-YVR-MEX-ORD-LAX-JFK-HKG-DEL-NRT

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[NM]

YVR-MEX will need to be via DFW using AA.

MCT-AMM is only available as a single flight (RJ601) 4 days a week. So avoid any tight connections there as missing the flight could leave you stranded for a while.

AMM-DME is only operates twice weekly as RJ177 on Tuesdays and Fridays, so again a risk of delays if you miss the flight for any reason.

But it looks legal to me.

 

[UpTheFront]

Thanks! Good points to be aware of about MCT-AMM and AMM-DME.

As for YVR-MEX, I believe JL (of all people) do it twice a week. I'd rather avoid domestic AA...

 

[NM]

As for YVR-MEX, I believe JL (of all people) do it twice a week. I'd rather avoid domestic AA...

You are correct. JL12 does it Mondays and Thursdays with a 744. Gee, I love this place where I can learn something new every day.

 

[Hawkeye]

You are correct. JL12 does it Mondays and Thursdays with a 744. Gee, I love this place where I can learn something new every day.

Yes, my thoughts exactly when UpTheFront posted his initial routing a couple of weeks ago. I've now seen a couple of additional postings about this route either here or on FT.

I suspect it is no longer be such a secret!

 

[Keith009]

There are rumours on FT that the ex-HKG price increase on 1st Sept is actually an across the board increase for all origins - ticket fast!

If you're dealing with AA NRT I suggest dropping 4 segments to get an etix so you can get ticketed asap as AA NRT does not do remote payment/ticketing for paper tix (anything more than 16 segments, and open dating). You can then reroute later to restore the 4 segments.

 

[littl_flier]

There are rumours on FT that the ex-HKG price increase on 1st Sept is actually an across the board increase for all origins - ticket fast!

Another One? :shock: :evil:

 

[Keith009]

Not confirmed as to whether it's only an increase for ex-HKG, or across the board. But better to be safe...

 

[v8Statesman]

Not confirmed as to whether it's only an increase for ex-HKG, or across the board. But better to be safe...

Any idea how much?

 

[Keith009]

OW RTW products price increase Sept 1 - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[UpTheFront]

Thanks for the heads-up, QF009. I've just booked 16 sectors with AA and as soon as the taxes are calculated I'll call japan and buy it. As you say, better safe than sorry. The shifting HKG winds make NRT's prices look ominously low... :-|

 

[Keith009]

I've seen Dublin return taxes in less than 6 hrs. You might want to try calling NRT in the day instead of getting back to ATW to check if the final rate has entered the booking. If it has, then you can purchase the tix right away. Don't be surprised if your taxes are a little on the high side though, as you'd get slugged by UK APD twice. (2 LHR stopovers)

 

[UpTheFront]

I've seen Dublin return taxes in less than 6 hrs... Don't be surprised if your taxes are a little on the high side though, as you'd get slugged by UK APD twice. (2 LHR stopovers)

Thanks for the reminder. I just called AA back and changed my second LHR stopover to a transit, which is probably what it'll end up being anyway. From memory the APD only applies to >24-hr stopovers, right?

Believe it or not, though, Dublin had already come back with the taxes, LESS THAN AN HOUR after I made the booking. Now they have to be recalculated so I guess I'll have to wait till tomorrow. Any idea what time Dublin closes?

Btw: the price including tax was 796,320 yen, implying taxes of just $US450. Surely that can't be right? Hmm... maybe I shouldn't have changed the itinerary after all. Wish I'd just paid the taxes and been done with it for that price...

 

[Keith009]

The rates desk is open 24 hrs, IIRC.

The tax is quite decent. Yes APD only applies to stops of more than 24 hrs. Maybe they miscalculated APD and only included it once. (they certainly do the reverse miscalculation a fair bit anyway...:-|)

 

[serfty]

Avoiding the UK APD in a premium cabin can result in a direct reduction in +++ of up to ~¥18,000.

 

[NM]

From memory the APD only applies to >24-hr stopovers, right?

It all depends on the type of transit. Here is the definition for exemption due to transit:

Transit passengers transferring to an international flight within 24 hours.
Transit passengers transferring between flights when the connecting time to a UK
domestic flight does not exceed 6 hours or when a flight arrives at or after 1700 one
day and a connecting UK domestic flight departs by 1000 the following morning.
Transit passengers who do not deplane.

 

[UpTheFront]

Apparently the dublin desk does close, according to AA.

Then Japan doesn't open till after Dublin's closed. By the time Dublin re-opens, Japan's about to close. And the only time they do overlap is at 4am when new york, despite sinatra's cliche, is asleep.

Which means that each step, from booking to taxing to ticketing, takes a full day. A wee bit frustrating. If an office in each continent took care of its own region's bookings, taxes & ticketing, it'd save us 72 hours on foreign bookings like these...

 

[Keith009]

Apparently the dublin desk does close, according to AA.

I stand corrected.