Hi,

I am looking to get a Round the World(RTW) ticket using my frequent flyer miles. I currently have 110k mileageplus points, 50k AA points and 50k in ultimate rewards. I have been trying to understand the process of booking a RTW ticket using miles and haven't found any useful resources. The following are my considerations.

1. I live in Houston(IAH), TX and can start my trip from anywhere in the continental US.
2. I want to travel to Europe - 10 day stay, SE Asia - 10 day stay, Australia - 7 day stay and then return home. Ideally, I want to hit the following destinations - Houston, Frankfurt, Oslo, Istanbul, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Sydney, Christchurch, San Francisco and back to Houston but I am quite flexible.

I want to get a better understanding of the following.

1. Can I book this trip using miles alone?
2. What should I expect to pay in cash (fees, surcharges etc.)?
3. I heard about a segment limit for RTW tickets. If I want to travel to multiple cities in Europe/Asia, can I book tickets to each of those cities as a part of the segment? How long can I stay in each of those cities?
4. Does the "surface travel" limit apply for tickets booked through miles as well?
4. How do I search for the flights - only on *A/OneWorld website or should I search for award bookings for each individual segment on the alliance partners? I understand that I have to call either United/American to book the trip if using miles.
5. Approximately, how many miles would this trip cost?
6. Does the trip cost/miles depend on the time of travel?
7. How do I use my existing miles to construct the trip? Do I need additional miles in any of the programs for this?

I have been trying to find out answers for the above questions online for the last couple of weeks with no avail. It would be great if someone knowledgable can help me regarding this.

Thanks,
Sunn.