Thanks for all the above advice and info.

It appears to me the backtracking issue is untrue. If you think of a clock with 3 digits instead of 12, labeled area1, area2, area3, as long as you are going in a continuous clockwise or counterclockwise direction around this clock, it cannot be called backtracking. Hence, the itinerary above is 3,transit 3(specifically allowed in rules),2,1,1,transit 1(specifically allowed in rules),3,3 - a nice consistent counterclockwise sweep around the area clock.

So the real problem remains the 20 segment limit. I will advise my friend to drop South America, or keep 5 continents but whittle down the trip to 20 segments. Also, I will advise him to seek out a new Quantas One World agent.

Again, thanks to all above for all of your help.

Russ