My apologies for not figuring out how to quote text, so be patient with me... :P

I don't know what SOTO is, but I assume that it has something to do with purchasing in a locality other than departure. I *specifically* asked AA whether I could do this, and they said yes. Actually, I asked two people at different points, and they both said yes. One gave me the price in USD after the exchange, and there was maybe a 1% exchange surcharge. Now if they tell me something different, I will be very very upset.

I realized the BA - QF thing, and I am thinking of modifying the itinerary to go to Sydney instead.

Quite by accident, I found out about the Anchorage problem. They cease on Nov 10th, if I remember right. I can deal with that, though it is disappointing. My justification was because I would like to see the Northern Lights, so I will just try to go to Finland or Sweden before starting anything. Freeze my hiney, but it would be worth it.

I am beginning to look more closely at what offers first and what doesn't. If it becomes "not worth it", I will book BC.

I have to drop Papeete for financial reasons. Wish I didn't have to. It is high season when I would be there (early March), and I can't afford the hotel cost. It would be okay if I could do it for 3 days, but given that it is minimum a week because of the flight schedule, it becomes cost prohibitive for me. It is the irony of flying FC, but staying in hostels. Go figure.

I want 100K base miles because I am psychotic. Actually, I want 200K FF miles more. In the next 3 years, I will have little non-loan positive cash flow, because I am going to graduate school. Having the miles will give me the opportunity to take a trip in the middle for cheap(er). The 200K is because a FC ticket to Europe is 100K, and I would like to go FC with my mother. She has never had the chance for FC, and unless I treat her at some later point, she never will. That's my rationale, for better or worse.

As far as silver's comments, I don't think I completely understand them. I only have "two" stopovers (I think). One is London, which is my gateway, and the other is Dubai. I was told that I still get 4 segments. My understanding is that I can use those segments in any way I want, even for milage runs. A stopover is anything over 24 hours, as I have been told. Otherwise, they don't care where I fly through, or how many times I do it. Right? I hope?

I don't think that the fare would change with an open jaw. The fare is a set rate, and taxes are based on where you are going from, not where you are going to...generally.

There is actually only going to be one *stop* in London. The first will be a connection, so I will stop on the way back only. I talked to the agent specifically about this, and she said it was fine.

Yes, I have been following the burst. It will cost me an additional hundred dollars so far...

If you have any opinions on who has the better of the FC's between Qantas, AA, BA, Lan Chile, or Cathay, I would appreciate it. Especially the first three. I am going to try to rework getting BA to Australia and CX to Asia. A big decision I need to make is the trans-at. I want to go on BA, but I want AA's FF program. Guess you can't have everything you want. If you have an opinion about that, I would like to hear it. Needless to say, I like to hear lots of points of view, then I will make my own decision.

Thanks.