Oneworld Explorer Fare (xONEx) Discussion

[Sydney]

Good afternoon, am hoping for some help and advice please.
We're retiring at the end of the year and have been trying to piece together our first DONE4 with the help of AI.
Is this route legitimate please?

1	Tokyo → Hong Kong	Cathay Pacific (CX)
2	Hong Kong → Sydney	Qantas (QF)
	Sydney stopover 1 - home
3	Sydney → Nadi	Qantas (QF)
4	Nadi → Sydney	Qantas (QF)
	Sydney stopover 2 - home
5	Sydney → Queenstown	Qantas (QF)
6	Queenstown→ Sydney	Qantas (QF)
	Sydney stopover 3 - home
7	Sydney → London via Singapore	Qantas (QF1)
8	London → Rome	British Airways (BA)
9	Rome→ Madrid	Iberia (IB)
10	Madrid → Reykjavik	Iberia (IB)
11	Reykjavik→ Helsinki	Finnair (AY)
12	Helsinki → New York	Finnair (AY)
13	New York → Los Angeles	American Airlines (AA)
	LAX-SYD-LAX separate ticket. Sydney stopover 4 - home
14	Los Angeles → Seattle (Alaskan Cruise)	Alaska Airlines (AS)
15	Seattle → Honolulu	Alaska Airlines (AS)
16	Honolulu → Tokyo	Japan Airlines (JL)

Also, where do you suggest we buy it from? Read a thread that suggested calling up AA in the US.
Thanks very much!

 

[I love to travel]

Good afternoon, am hoping for some help and advice please.
We're retiring at the end of the year and have been trying to piece together our first DONE4 with the help of AI.
Is this route legitimate please?

1	Tokyo → Hong Kong	Cathay Pacific (CX)
2	Hong Kong → Sydney	Qantas (QF)
	Sydney stopover 1 - home
3	Sydney → Nadi	Qantas (QF)
4	Nadi → Sydney	Qantas (QF)
	Sydney stopover 2 - home
5	Sydney → Queenstown	Qantas (QF)
6	Queenstown→ Sydney	Qantas (QF)
	Sydney stopover 3 - home
7	Sydney → London via Singapore	Qantas (QF1)
8	London → Rome	British Airways (BA)
9	Rome→ Madrid	Iberia (IB)
10	Madrid → Reykjavik	Iberia (IB)
11	Reykjavik→ Helsinki	Finnair (AY)
12	Helsinki → New York	Finnair (AY)
13	New York → Los Angeles	American Airlines (AA)
	LAX-SYD-LAX separate ticket. Sydney stopover 4 - home
14	Los Angeles → Seattle (Alaskan Cruise)	Alaska Airlines (AS)
15	Seattle → Honolulu	Alaska Airlines (AS)
16	Honolulu → Tokyo	Japan Airlines (JL)

Also, where do you suggest we buy it from? Read a thread that suggested calling up AA in the US.
Thanks very much!

I think it looks ok. Not sure if AA will sell to you as no Overwater segment. You need a very good TA for this

 

[Sydney]

I think it looks ok. Not sure if AA will sell to you as no Overwater segment. You need a very good TA for this

Nice. Thanks! We weren't 100% sure that we could fly back and forth between Sydney for the South West Pacific continent.
What do you mean by a very good travel agent? Wouldn't all/most travel agents be able to book this?
Can we call Qantas instead and get them to book it? Or is that a pipe dream?

 

[Cynicor]

You don’t want to ticket with QF.

 

[Princess Fiona]

You don’t want to ticket with QF.

No issues ticketing a DONE4 ex Japan on QF

EDIT: however you would want a TA doing this.

 

[Cynicor]

No issues ticketing a DONE4 ex Japan on QF

EDIT: however you would want a TA doing this.

Oh I absolutely could ticket it. But QF are terrible to ticket with for DONEX

 

[Sydney]

Can anyone recommend who we can use or contact please to ticket it? A couple of specialist sites we thought we could use say that it needs to be ex-AU.

 

[Cynicor]

Madrooster might. I can but I'd probably charge around $500ish for 1 ticket, and $800ish for 2,

 

[Sydney]

Madrooster might. I can but I'd probably charge around $500ish for 1 ticket, and $800ish for 2,

Thanks heaps!

 

[Sydney]

Oh I absolutely could ticket it. But QF are terrible to ticket with for DONEX

Why is QF terrible to ticket with for a DONE4? Also because our current draft itinerary is Tokyo to Hong Kong on Cathay, could we call Cathay to ticket? Or should we change our first flight to Tokyo to Sydney with Qantas to ticket with Qantas?
Thanks to any and all for any assistance and info!

 

[moa999]

The various threads on FlyerTalk probably have more experience on current booking p4ocedures. My last DONE was mid-2010s.

If expect the Fiji return to have been ruled out, but can't see anything against it.

If you can book everything online on the Oneworld website and not change it then that's great, otherwise you have to use whatever airline it defaults to as the booking partner to change things
Qantas is generally not liked as they add extra fees.

 

[JesterinOz]

Why is QF terrible to ticket with for a DONE4? Also because our current draft itinerary is Tokyo to Hong Kong on Cathay, could we call Cathay to ticket? Or should we change our first flight to Tokyo to Sydney with Qantas to ticket with Qantas?
Thanks to any and all for any assistance and info!

Im looking at booking a DONE4 ex TYO as well.. The AA RTW desk is out as you don’t have an AA intercontinental flight. Having looked at a lot of FlyerTalk posts, most people gravitate towards booking through a TA and on a Qatar ticket to reduce your surcharges (however that won’t be an
option for yr itinerary), whereas QF is more expensive. Maybe AA or AY is a cheaper option.? I haven’t found the right TA either, some are based in the UK or Europe but id be open to the right TA in Aus. I do have the option of the AA RTW desk if I need to.

If you haven’t seen them, I’d recommend you have a look at a YT channel: Matt’s Planet. He’s done a few DONE3/4s and has some good tips.

 

[Sydney]

Our itinerary is totally flexible so if it's necessity to change flights to allow ticketing through AA, we're happy to do so. Don't want to fly Qatar though as don't want to support it.

 

[justinbrett]

I've had many DONE4s out of HND booked on QF, don't think any of them have been a problem.

That said, I know if you have a stop in the same city more than once it fails most of the automated systems which is why you need a good TA.

Im looking at booking a DONE4 ex TYO as well.. The AA RTW desk is out as you don’t have an AA intercontinental flight. Having looked at a lot of FlyerTalk posts, most people gravitate towards booking through a TA and on a Qatar ticket to reduce your surcharges (however that won’t be an
option for yr itinerary), whereas QF is more expensive.

My QF DONE4 out of HND for next year was less than $9300 all inclusive.

 

[Sydney]

Im looking at booking a DONE4 ex TYO as well.....
If you haven’t seen them, I’d recommend you have a look at a YT channel: Matt’s Planet. He’s done a few DONE3/4s and has some good tips.

Thanks. I'll check out that YouTube channel. If you find a good TA, please share as I can see us doing a yearly DONE4 for the foreseeable future.

 

[Sydney]

I've had many DONE4s out of HND booked on QF, don't think any of them have been a problem.

That said, I know if you have a stop in the same city more than once it fails most of the automated systems which is why you need a good TA.

My QF DONE4 out of HND for next year was less than $9300 all inclusive.

Would love to pick your brain. Is there a forum or place where you share all your DONE4 itineraries? We are very flexible as just enjoy travelling pretty much anywhere, except have no desire to go to Africa.

 

[JesterinOz]

I've had many DONE4s out of HND booked on QF, don't think any of them have been a problem.

That said, I know if you have a stop in the same city more than once it fails most of the automated systems which is why you need a good TA.



My QF DONE4 out of HND for next year was less than $9300 all inclusive.

So how did you book through QF? Through the automated OW tool? How was the ticketing process? Any ticketing changes/charges?

Im sort of interested to accrue the bonus credit card points and maybe a DSC in late Feb, but I ask because the issue seems to be they have no dedicated SME team and seemingly the general call centres can be a nightmare and/or it’s a US$125 charge for everything. Things can and usually do go wrong, so having someone that can rebook you is a must.

One other issue to consider if say you book yr itinerary and something changes and you need a spare segment (not an involuntary change) then you’ll need to scalp it from somewhere.. Some of my proposed flights are 1 per day. So a consideration when booking 9-12 months out.

 

[Sydney]

Some of my proposed flights are 1 per day. So a consideration when booking 9-12 months out.

What do you mean by this? One per consecutive day? What consideration?

 

[Mwenenzi]

Good afternoon, am hoping for some help and advice please.
We're retiring at the end of the year and have been trying to piece together our first DONE4 with the help of AI.
Is this route legitimate please?

1	Tokyo → Hong Kong	Cathay Pacific (CX)
2	Hong Kong → Sydney	Qantas (QF)
	Sydney stopover 1 - home
3	Sydney → Nadi	Qantas (QF)
4	Nadi → Sydney	Qantas (QF)
	Sydney stopover 2 - home
5	Sydney → Queenstown	Qantas (QF)
6	Queenstown→ Sydney	Qantas (QF)
	Sydney stopover 3 - home
7	Sydney → London via Singapore	Qantas (QF1)
8	London → Rome	British Airways (BA)
9	Rome→ Madrid	Iberia (IB)
10	Madrid → Reykjavik	Iberia (IB)
11	Reykjavik→ Helsinki	Finnair (AY)
12	Helsinki → New York	Finnair (AY)
13	New York → Los Angeles	American Airlines (AA)
	LAX-SYD-LAX separate ticket. Sydney stopover 4 - home
14	Los Angeles → Seattle (Alaskan Cruise)	Alaska Airlines (AS)
15	Seattle → Honolulu	Alaska Airlines (AS)
16	Honolulu → Tokyo	Japan Airlines (JL)

Also, where do you suggest we buy it from? Read a thread that suggested calling up AA in the US.
Thanks very much!

Have you downloaded and understood the OW RTW rules? FAQ - What are the rules?

RTW Flights: Round The World Airline Tickets - RTW

Book Round The World airline tickets. Search multi-city flights to hundreds of destinations worldwide from oneworld Alliance member airlines.

www.oneworld.com

Crediting the trip to QF ffp?
Just because a flight exists, does not mean D business class is available for a OW RTW.
Is SYD-NAN-SYD. SYD-ZQN-SYD etc just a mileage run? Noted you did not list a stopover, but guess this in an error.
Limited to 2 stopovers in continent of origin [Asia], but no limit in others. Must have a stopover somewhere. Other than that transit (<24hrs) vs stopover {>24hrs) are not in the rules. But does effect real taxes and possibly YQ YR carrier surcharges.
Are subject to 4 - 6 segments in the regions.
Is Los Angeles → Seattle a cruise. so no airline? Would be a ground segment

 

[JesterinOz]

What do you mean by this? One per consecutive day? What consideration?

Say I’m planning to fly MEX to JFK on AA as one of my 16, there is only 1 direct flight a day, but multiple connecting flights via DFW or MIA. AA cancels the flight 2 months out and wants to put you on a connecting flight. It’s a voluntary change & you need to find a spare segment or potentially it becomes an open jaw?

Supposedly, it’s a different story if it’s an involuntary change for operational reasons at the last minute. Say the QF1 A380 breaks down and they reroute you and using 2-3 segments in the process. But still without a TA or a SME you might be hassled for going over the 16.