You're right, I was just trying to keep it simple, there is a difference between segments and stops... However in reality those differences on an RTW don't mean as much since the segments will also be reduced when you need a connection, regardless if you make a stop..... They only become meaningful when you travel within one country/region flying through the same hub a few times. And as always, all the details are in the rules you can find rather easily on the *A website.

The *A book-and-fly tool will also check if you're within the rules, so it's all rather easy to plan if one spends some time. The only thing to be aware of is that the book-and-fly tool might send you in the wrong direction of the globe when given a chance so sometimes it's necessary to include your connection to force your routing correctly. That has confused me a bit in the past wondering why my routing was invalid :-).