oneworld - xMRU to S. America without LHR?

I am working on an itinerary for either a DONE 4 or DONE5 xMRU and trying to figure out a way to S. America. After reviewing some discussions around here and using the OW timetable, what I am discovering is I have to go through LHR to get anywhere in S. America from Africa. Does this count toward my continent count? I was hoping to avoid Europe and not have it included in my count as I was going to hit (in order) Africa, S. America, Australia and Asia on a DONE4 or including N. America after S. America on a DONE5. Am I looking at a DONE5 or DONE6 if I want to following this order? If flying through LHR does count, could I turn the order around to Africa, Asia, Australia, S. America and still hit a DONE4?

Sorry for the rambling post but this came as quite a suprise to an admitted newbie around here. I had always assumed (yes, I know the danger) that there was a flight from JNB or CPT to EZE or GRU.

There's no way of avoiding (paying for) Europe on a OneWorld Explorer: no Africa to America flights, so your (compulsory) trans-Atlantic segment must end in Europe (*). If you want to do Africa, Asia, South West Pacific and South America (in any order) then you need at least a xONE5.

(*) The one exception being ORD-DEL, but the rules seem to be interpreted as requiring Europe to be included as a continent in this case, even though you don't physically touch it and that's not actually what the rules say.

It's not possible to avoid Europe, and yes it will count toward your continent count.

I am working on an itinerary for either a DONE 4 or DONE5 xMRU and trying to figure out a way to S. America. After reviewing some discussions around here and using the OW timetable, what I am discovering is I have to go through LHR to get anywhere in S. America from Africa. Does this count toward my continent count? I was hoping to avoid Europe and not have it included in my count as I was going to hit (in order) Africa, S. America, Australia and Asia on a DONE4 or including N. America after S. America on a DONE5. Am I looking at a DONE5 or DONE6 if I want to following this order? If flying through LHR does count, could I turn the order around to Africa, Asia, Australia, S. America and still hit a DONE4?

Sorry for the rambling post but this came as quite a suprise to an admitted newbie around here. I had always assumed (yes, I know the danger) that there was a flight from JNB or CPT to EZE or GRU.It is not possible to avoid Europe on a oneworld Explorer ticket (such as a DONE4/DONE5). You could avoid LHR by flying MRU-JNB-MAD-GRU/EZE/GIG/SCL, etc. and you can avoid North America by then flying SCL-AKL/SYD. The other way around, you could do MRU-JNB-HKG (Asia flights)-(Australia/NZ)-SCL-(South America)-MAD/LHR-Africa. You can't hit South America, Africa, Asia and Australia on a DONE4 though, you need either a DONE5 (without N. America) or DONE6.

You can't hit South America, Africa and Australia on a DONE4 though, you need either a DONE5 (without N. America) or DONE6.

I believe you can. MRU-LHR-MAD-SCL-AKL-SYD-JNB-MRU for example.

I believe you can. MRU-LHR-MAD-SCL-AKL-SYD-JNB-MRU for example.Oops, I meant to include Asia too.

Thanks. Very helpful as always. It looks like we are locked into a DONE5 at the very least then.

We are taking a one year RTW honeymoon and trying to chase the sun around the globe leaving in early September 2007. We were trying to avoid winter in N. Asia so that is why we wanted to go west around the world from Africa, S. America, SWP and then Asia. Perhaps it is back to the drawing board. It seems like a waste to not use the Europe legs if we have to pay for them anyway. My concerns are the weakness of the dollar and how time in EU will effect our budget and avoiding winter in N. Asia if we turn the itinerary around and go to Asia after Africa.

Again, much appreciated.