RTW in J for $3,000 Less

[madmat777]

Hi All,

This is my contribution to help the path of those weary soles who follow. Thanks to many people here I have been able to save around $3k off the book price for a DONE4 (similar savings are available for *ONE*). I thought I would offer this post as a step by step guide on what to do. For those that have done it a 1000 times it may seem simple, but if you are a virgin at it, you are happy to get some help.

You can get savings by doing this in Tokyo, Jakarta, Johanasburg and Columbo (please correct me if I am wrong on this - I've just used Tokyo). Also AA charges less in taxes and fuel fines etc, so even in econnomy it is worth doing this.

I'll list the steps of what I did:

1. Use the OW itinerary planner - I'm not sure what others think of it but it is simple to use and very fast to come up with a few different itineraries and makes sure that your itinerary fits in the rules. oneworld - Itinerary Planner
   The oneworld planner is useful in that it gives up to date timetable information. However, it is buggy and often invalidates otherwise valid routings. I would cross check with MilageMonkey which is more au fai with the xONEx rules (although time table information my not be 100%). Use both for best performance.
   .
2. Get yourself a subscription to Expert Flyer or one of the other tools that allow you to see the seat availability. It may cost you $99USD per year but it makes your life so much easier. Make sure that the seats you want are available. ExpertFlyer.com - Empowering the Frequent Flyer (there is a 5 day trial available. There is also the Month version at USD5 per month. Discontinue when travel complete.). Do this just before the next step to save yourself a lot of frustration on the phone to the AA ATW staff.
   .
3. For me I needed to start my trip in Tokyo (NRT) so I got a one way J ticket there. Cost me 60,000 QF points. Since I do similar trips three to four times a year, I can have this RTW finish back in NRT the day that my next one starts. Since it was an award ticket I wanted this first to ensure that I had that secured before I finalised the rest.
   .
4. OK. Once you have your itinerary and you know that there are seats available, ring Dallas and speak to JR . ok scrap that. Call AA ATW desk in Dallas you will have to stay up to around 11pm AEST. Phone number +1800 247 3247 The opening times for the AA ATW desk are listed in this post.
   
   Will seperate the next few even though it should all be one point.
   .
5. Tell the operator that you want to book an Around the World ticket in the class that you want (First, Business or Econnomy). Start reading out the dates the cities and the flight numbers. The staff here are very good and I got through 14 flights in around 8 minutes. I was a bit worried as I needed a BA trans-atlantic flight and I heard that they required you to have an AA flight. Well I just rattled off the flight numbers and the operator did not ask any questions.
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6. Make sure they take your FF number, can be QF or AA etc. From that they get your name. (Edit: One tip is if you haven't used your QFF number but have BA or QF segments, call QFF and ask them for your AMADEUS reference as you can then use that to go to the BA site to manage your booking - If your QFF # is in the booking correctly it should show up under "My bookings" when logged onto you QFF account. Mine showed up a few hours after I booked it. Not all flights showed in QFF even though they are all there in AA - i'll keep an eye on it).
   .
7. Let them know that you want to pay in the currency that you are departing from. In my case I had to say "Yen". Some here have said that you need to call back to get the fare, in my case the operator just wiated around 30 seconds and then gave me the fare over the phone. (EDIT This is only the base fare and does not include all the taxes etc, you need to call back for that. Further Edit: In my case when I rang Tokyo 12 hours later the full fare had not been calculated. I would suggest asking Dallas who long you should wait before you call Tokyo to pay for it)
   .
8. Make sure you get your PNR or locator number (well its actually letters) Not sure at this stage if it can be used in the QFF web site.
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9. As soon as you get off the phone go to AA web site and check the itinerary. Mine had one date wrong so I had to ring straight back to get it fixed. https://www.aa.com/aa/reservation/findReservationAccess.do All you need is your name and the number you got in step 8.
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10. Depending on how long before you fly, you have around 28 days to pay for the booking (almost enough time to study the forex market to find the best time to pay to extract that extra saving... or not). (Edit. You need to pay within 7 days or the taxes get recalculated. If that happens, call back dallas to get it re-done. You also need to remember that airlines put prices up more than down, so if you wait too long and the fare needs to be recalculated, you may pay for it).
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11. Ring up the AA office which you are paying the ticket. In my case I called Tokyo +81 3 4550 2111 option 2 is for English and 2 again to purchase tickets. When I got through to an operator the taxes had not been calculated and so he asked if I could call back in a few hours. I kept checking the ticket in the AA site https://www.aa.com/aa/reservation/findReservationAccess.do and noticed that at the bottom of the page in red font was a note that the fare was not available. Once that was gone I called again as below.
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12. OK Rang back and had fun reading credit card numbers and email addresses to the operator in Tokyo (perhaps I should have added the email address in when I was speaking to the operator in Dallas - I now see why you want to do as much of the complex stuff from Dallas and not Tokyo). The taxes totalled around 28000Yen ($299 AUD a heck of a lot cheaper than QF taxes etc). As soon as I got off the phone I checked my AA reservation and my ticket went from "On Hold" to "On Request", this is simply that some airlines need post booking confirmation before it is all confirmed. Just check back later.
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13. Still waiting for the final confirmation - I'll let you know how long that took.

I hope this helps.

Matt.

 

[Keith009]

Excellent post!
Some corrections:

Let them know that you want to pay in the currency that you are departing from. In my case I had to say "Yen". Some here have said that you need to call back to get the fare, in my case the operator just wiated around 30 seconds and then gave me the fare over the phone.

You've only been given the base fare. It does take some time for the +++s to be calculated, and you'd have to call back for that

Make sure you get your PQR or locator number (well its actually letters) Not sure at this stage if it can be used in the QFF web site.

You get a record locator. The PQR is invisible to you as a pax. It is a set of tariff and ticketing instructions for the ticketing office which must be present in your booking for the ticketing office to commence the ticketing process, and is valid for only 7 days once created.

In other words - if it's been more than 7 days since your itinerary was last fared, you'd need to call the ATW desk to get it done again. Try not to get the local office to do it.

Depending on how long before you fly, you have around 28 days to pay for the booking

I got 6 weeks but I am not flying till July. I used to get 3 weeks regardless of when I'm flying though. Extensions are possible, but of course that leaves you unprotected against enhancements or fare increases which may occur in the interim.

Might this be a candidate for a sticky?

 

[simongr]

Some great info there that we can use as the basis for the cheap *one*. Probably need to add updates when currency moves might make certain ports more or less cheap.

Just in relation to this:

[*]Make sure you get your PQR or locator number (well its actually letters) Not sure at this stage if it can be used in the QFF web site.

One tip is if you haven't used your QFF number but have BA or QF segments, call QFF and ask them for your AMADEUS reference as you can then use that to go to the BA site to manage your booking.

 

[zig]

Thanks for the detailed post, very helpful information for someone who has never booked this before (ie me) but hopes to one day soon. Agree with the suggestion that it be made a sticky.

 

[madmat777]

thanks guys, edited as suggested.

 

[liebs]

Madmatt - thanks for the post
Im a complete NEWB here, so half the terms you used I had to look up in the glossary of abbreviations.

Im an infrequent flyer who despises economy class and is interested in using the tips you presented...however a couple of points:


* Do these suggestions only apply to a flight with AA ?
* Can the same suggesitons/tips be used on a trip involving only 2 continents - and is that a cheaper alternative?
* Just out of interest , you talk about a saving of $3000 - what sort of price are we talking about in total (assuming one is not fortunate enough to have any FFP's to use at this time)
* Johannesburg is one of the cities I need to visit

Hope this makes sense.

Thanks,

 

[simongr]

This is an "around the world" ticket and covers 3 or 4 continents flying on Oneworld carriers. The price starting in NRT is around $7000 compared to $10,000 starting in SYD. There are savings included as a result of not booking through QF who have ridiculously high fuel surcharges.

 

[serfty]

Great post!

.

Just a few comments:

1. Use the OW itinerary planner - I'm not sure what others think of it but it is simple to use and very fast to come up with a few different itineraries and makes sure that your itinerary fits in the rules. oneworld - Itinerary Planner
   .
   • The oneworld planner is useful in that it gives up to date timetable information. However, it is buggy and often invalidates otherwise valid routings. I would cross check with MilageMonkey which is more au fai with the xONEx rules (although time table information my not be 100%). Use both for best performance.
     .
2. Get yourself a subscription to Expert Flyer or one of the other tools that allow you to see the seat availability. It may cost you $99USD per year but it makes your life so much easier. Make sure that the seats you want are available. ExpertFlyer.com - Empowering the Frequent Flyer (there is a 5 day trial available). Do this just before the next step to save yourself a lot of frustration on the phone to the AA ATW staff.
   .
   • There is also the Month version at USD5 per month. Discontinue when travel complete.
3. ...
   .
4. OK. Once you have your itinerary and you know that there are seats available, ring Dallas and speak to JR . ok scrap that. Call AA ATW desk in Dallas you will have to stay up to around 11pm AEST. Phone number +1800 247 3247
   .
   • The opening times for the AA ATW desk are listed in this post.

     Monday          : 01:00 to 09:30, 23:00 to 00:00 AEST
     Tuesday - Friday: 00:00 to 12:00, 23:00 to 00:00 AEST
     Saturday        : 00:00 to 12:00
     Sunday          : 01:00 to 09:30 AEST

5. ...
6. ...
7. ...
8. Make sure you get your PQR or locator number (well its actually letters) Not sure at this stage if it can be used in the QFF web site.
   .
   • It actually called a PNR locator (Passenger Name Record), and, No, it can't be used with Qantas; as noted the Amadeus number is your mate. If your QFF # is in the booking correctly it should show up under "My bookings" when logged onto you QFF account.
9. ...
10. ...
11. ...

 

[Keith009]

I wish I hadn't mentioned the PQR now.
Like i said it is not for you to use so please don't ask the staff for it. You'd just know it's in there if a fare quote is attached to your booking, ie within 7 days from the date your itinerary was last priced.

 

[adrian]

Does anybody have any experience purchasing a DONE5 from AA in South Africa? I have purchased through Tokyo a few times before, with success.

I note that AA have a reservation number in Cape Town (002721-440 6440), but I wonder if they are able to accept payment over the phone with an Australian credit card, like the Tokyo office does? Anybody tried this.

 

[Keith009]

Does anybody have any experience purchasing a DONE5 from AA in South Africa? I have purchased through Tokyo a few times before, with success.

I note that AA have a reservation number in Cape Town (002721-440 6440), but I wonder if they are able to accept payment over the phone with an Australian credit card, like the Tokyo office does? Anybody tried this.

You might find this thread on FT helpful:
DONE5 ex-South Africa - FlyerTalk Forums

Good luck!

 

[adrian]

Thanks. Sounds a little complicated......

 

[Keith009]

Thanks. Sounds a little complicated......

You'd be right if you follow the prescribed steps in the OP of this post.

I might also hasten to add that each local office varies in ticketing policies. So point 11 might well only apply to the Tokyo office.

 

[adrian]

You'd be right if you follow the prescribed steps in the OP of this post.

There was something over at FT about filling in credit card authorisations, with passport photos etc, - something I haven't had much luck with in the past (although it was thru Aust/India call centre, and not Capetown). As usual, my booking will be last minute, probably only a couple of days before travel, so might be easier to stick with what I know....

 

[madmat777]

Thanks. Sounds a little complicated......

I agree, but worth the work. The steps that I added to choose my own itinerary comes from me wanting to be on the phone as little as possible and having all the routes planned very well. If that does not bother you then just call Dallas and say "I want to leave from NRT" and let them find the flights for you.

To be honest, I almost did not do it. Except that SWMBO is also CFO and it makes it a lot easier to get this in J when it is sub $10k.

Matt.

 

[madmat777]

.

1. Ring up the AA office which you are paying the ticket. In my case I called Tokyo +81 3 4550 2111 option 2 is for English although all the phone messages are in Japanese. When I got through to an operator the taxes had not been calculated and so he asked if I could call back in a few hours. I have not done this yet. I will edit once I have done those steps, probably tomorrow.

Just edited the original post as quoted here. Should I have told the Dallas office explicitly to have all the taxes calculated? or that I was paying for it from the Tokyo office?

The Tokyo operator asked me if I had ever booked anything through their office before. He did not explain why this was an issue. Any ideas?

Thanks

Matt.

 

[Keith009]

Just edited the original post as quoted here. Should I have told the Dallas office explicitly to have all the taxes calculated? or that I was paying for it from the Tokyo office?

The Tokyo operator asked me if I had ever booked anything through their office before. He did not explain why this was an issue. Any ideas?

Dallas usually asks if I'm purchasing the ticket in Tokyo/Manila/whatever, and probably includes this information into your booking when they "send" it off for pricing. Sometimes the fare and taxes appear in the booking within a few hours, other times it takes about 24 hours. My record was under 2 hours.

I've never been asked that question by the Tokyo aagents. One of them insisted that my first segment had to be on AA, but I hung up, called again and got another aagent who didn't have an issue.

I've organised another ex-NRT for someone from this forum and the time taken between the first call to the ATW desk to Tokyo issuing the ticket was well less than 24 hours (the pricing returned in under 5 hours). Yes I'm nocturnal.... I remember there was a great rush as we discovered that day that surface segments would be included into the segment limit by the close of business 2 days later.

 

[madmat777]

Dallas usually asks if I'm purchasing the ticket in Tokyo/Manila/whatever, and probably includes this information into your booking when they "send" it off for pricing. Sometimes the fare and taxes appear in the booking within a few hours, other times it takes about 24 hours. My record was under 2 hours.

OK in my case they did not ask if i was purchasing in Tokyo. They did ask if I was paying in Yen (i assumed that would mean the same thing). Perhaps I should have asked them to "send it off for pricing".

When you say the fare appears, is that in the aa web site reservation? I dont see that yet (i'll keep looking :shock: ).

Matt.

 

[Keith009]

"Sending off to pricing" is a rather standard procedure that occurs automatically no matter where you're issuing the ticket.

When you say the fare appears, is that in the aa web site reservation? I dont see that yet (i'll keep looking :shock: ).

No - it just means the fare quote (base fare and +++) has appeared in your booking for the ticketing office and your itinerary is hence ready to be ticketed. You won't be able to see this anywhere. As I have free calls to the US on my VOIP plan I usually give Dallas a buzz back either a couple of hours later or in the morning to check whether the fare calculation's been done and my itinerary is kosher for ticketing.

If the base fare you got was JPY780 400 then I'd assume that they'd have set up your booking to be issued in Japan, and perhaps Dublin is simply a little slow in the +++ calculation. But it appears you've got the NRT people to do the pricing now.

 

[madmat777]

Just a quick qn. I've paid for the ticket and am waiting for it to be confirmed. I've checked the booking on Qantas and BA and there it is missing around three of the flights while on AA all the flights are listed.

Is this anything to worry about? All the QF flights are there and they are the ones i want so I can use points to jump up to F.

Matt.