Hey guys,

Here is the situation:

I was originally planning to book an RTW ticket in J to start in Sydney for 12.9k (with the main focal point being LHR as I will be in Europe for a good seven months on exchange). After playing around with Oneworld's planning tool, it turns out booking RTW out of LHR is much cheaper than booking out of SYD (due to the AUD). I was wondering if it were possible to book a standalone SYD-LHR-SYD in the cheapest discount economy (around 2.8k) and during my time in Europe, book another RTW in J LHR-LHR (around 10.4k AUD), but - and here's the bit I'm not sure about - if that RTW trip could include SYD in it without Qantas telling me that I am not allowed to have two open tickets like that (I'm not too sure what the rules are here).

Reason I ask is my plan is to leave SYD for Europe during August, stay there until mid Feb (travelling around Europe making my own plans in the meanwhile), then going from LHR (on my RTW ticket) through the US and Canada, and then back to Sydney where I will stay for a few months, and then go back to LHR (via a few destinations in Asia) hopefully for the olympics, and then returning on the originally booked SYD-LHR-SYD ticket in economy.

So basically (tentative destinations):
SYD-LHR-own travel plans-LHR-JFK-DCA-ORD-YYZ-DFW-LAS-LAX-SYD (and stay for a few months)-BNE-MEL-HKG-BKK-SIN-FRA-MAD-LHR-LHR-SYD

Red is the original SYD-LHR-SYD, Blue is the RTW

The price would work out to be only 400 more than SYD-LHR-SYD, and it would give me more flexibility in my options (not to mention more SC's too!)

So basically, is it against any rules, whether with Qantas or with Oneworld, to have two open itineraries with the same destinations on both of them? And is it against the rules of RTW to make your own travel plans as well as holding the RTW ticket (I notice it uses up a flight segment if you choose a Surface section)? Also, I assume as I start in LHR (I have never booked with another airline other than Qantas), I will be booking with BA. Will there be any problems/delays regarding points and SC's?

Thanks so much for any help and I hope all that wall of text made sense! Sorry if I am asking stupid questions. I have never booked an RTW before and would prefer not to throw that much money down the drain in the event that they tell me I am violating the rules. I have read the terms and conditions too but would like to double check with the knowledgable members here =)

Thanks again.