Star Alliance - Discrepancy between online tool and manual calculations for RTW coupons?

Hi all,

I'm trying to book a C class RTW ticket and I'm a newbie so I'm confused by the difference between what the Book-and-Fly online tool says is my number of segments/coupons and what I get when I count the segments myself. Basically, the online tool is calling my itinerary 17 segments and says it is an invalid routing whereas I manually count 15 unique flight numbers, which I thought is the definition of a segment. My wife and I would greatly appreciate any help you may have since this is our honeymoon tour :p. I called the Star Alliance RTW Help Desk and they did some handwaving explanation but never really addressed the question.

Thank you so much!

Here is the itinerary

Routing:
KIX-PVG-HKG-TPE-SIN-MLE-SIN-BKK-DEL-ZRH-ATH-MUC-BOS-SFO-HND-HKD

Mileage: 28937
Stopovers: 10 / 15
Coupons: 17 / 16

Leg 1
From/To: Kansai International Airport JP (KIX) - PuDong Airport CN {PVG)
Flight No: NH 153
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 1625
Destination Time: 1800

Leg 2
From/To: PuDong Airport CN (PVG) - Hong Kong International Airport HK {HKG)
Flight No: FM 811
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 1530
Destination Time: 1810

Leg 3
From/To: Hong Kong International Airport HK (HKG) - Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport TW {TPE)
Flight No: TG 600
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 1245
Destination Time: 1410

Leg 4
From/To: Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport TW (TPE) - Changi Airport SG {SIN)
Flight No: SQ 877
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 1410
Destination Time: 1845

Leg 5
From/To: Changi Airport SG (SIN) - Male International Airport MV {MLE)
Flight No: SQ 452
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 2040
Destination Time: 2210

Leg 6
From/To: Male International Airport MV (MLE) - Changi Airport SG {SIN)
Flight No: SQ 451
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 2325
Destination Time: 0705

Leg 7
From/To: Changi Airport SG (SIN) - Suvarnabhumi International TH {BKK)
Flight No: SQ 976
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 1530
Destination Time: 1655

Leg 8
From/To: Suvarnabhumi International TH (BKK) - Indira Gandhi International Airport IN {DEL)
Flight No: TG 315
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 1950
Destination Time: 2245

Leg 9
From/To: Indira Gandhi International Airport IN (DEL) - Zurich Airport CH {ZRH)
Flight No: LX 147
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 0200
Destination Time: 0625

Leg 10
From/To: Zurich Airport CH (ZRH) - Eleftherios Venizelos Airport GR {ATH)
Flight No: LX 1830
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 0945
Destination Time: 1320

Leg 11
From/To: Eleftherios Venizelos Airport GR (ATH) - Munich International DE {MUC)
Flight No: LH 3389
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 1300
Destination Time: 1435

Leg 12
From/To: Munich International DE (MUC) - Logan International Airport US {BOS)
Flight No: LH 424
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 1530
Destination Time: 1800

Leg 13
From/To: Logan International Airport US (BOS) - San Francisco International Airport US {SFO)
Flight No: UA 181
RBD Code: A
Depart Time: 1445
Destination Time: 1806

Leg 14
From/To: San Francisco International Airport US (SFO) - Narita Airport JP {NRT)
Flight No: UA 837
RBD Code: D
Depart Time: 1120
Destination Time: 1410

Leg 15
From/To: Haneda Airport JP (HND) - Hakodate Airport JP {HKD)
Flight No: NH 4783
RBD Code: Y
Depart Time: 1430
Destination Time: 1550

I count one extra coupon for the surface sector between NRT and HND ( dont forget that surface sectors count ) but that still only comes to 16 sectors .

I would have thought the O/D open jaw is fine as usually you just have to complete the journey in the country of origin , you dont actually have to return to the point of departure , so I suspect that counting 17 rather than 16 is just a glitch ( although , as always , I am open to correction )

....Routing:
KIX-PVG-HKG-TPE-SIN-MLE-SIN-BKK-DEL-ZRH-ATH-MUC-BOS-SFO-HND-HKD

Mileage: 28937
Stopovers: 10 / 15
Coupons: 17 / 16........

Your routing is actually:

KIX-PVG-HKG-TPE-SIN-MLE-SIN-BKK-DEL-ZRH-ATH-MUC-BOS-SFO-NRT-HND-HKD

There is no SFO-HND flight. NRT-HND is a surface segment which must be counted both in segment count and mileage count.@:-) Not sure where 17th segment came from unless they count HKD-KIX.:confused:

Your routing is actually:

KIX-PVG-HKG-TPE-SIN-MLE-SIN-BKK-DEL-ZRH-ATH-MUC-BOS-SFO-NRT-HND-HKD

There is no SFO-HND flight. NRT-HND is a surface segment which must be counted both in segment count and mileage count.@:-) Not sure where 17th segment came from unless they count HKD-KIX.:confused:

Hmm.!! There can be a SFO-TYO-HKD flight though. I am currently on an RTW on which I arrived into into DCA and departed from IAD, and no surface segment indicated or coupons used nor mileage counted. I think TYO is the designated common code for all Tokyo Area airports.

I still defer to good travel agents for RTWs and as such haven't tried my hand with the online tool. So, I can't really think where the tool is failing.

TerryK is right!

The RTW rules for transfers are:

Surface sectors and multiple airport cities require a separate coupon.

For that reason NRT to HND (=surface segment) and also the final trip HKD to KIX (another surface segment to close the loop) require 2 coupons.

I checked a similar issue with the online tool: If you transfer or have a stop-over in NYC = New York City with EWR, LGW, JFK airports: Arriving in one and departing from another airport will cost you one coupon, what´s ridiculous for a 20 minute cab ride on your own cost between LGW and JFK airports.

You can solve your limitation on the max. number of coupons by using for legs 15 and 16: NRT-NGO-KIX, available on NH, that means starting again from NRT instead of HND and going again to your start of the journey, to KIX instead of HKD.

KIX-PVG-HKG-TPE-SIN-MLE-SIN-BKK-DEL-ZRH-ATH-MUC-BOS-SFO-NRT-NGO-KIX