So Many Questions...

We are a retired couple who travel. End of 2025 or Jan 2026 we are starting to explore Asia. We think a RTW is the way to go.

1. OneWorld Global Explorer vs One World Explorer. We will be buying Business Class tix. We would like the most bang for the buck ( cost). Is one better than the other. We plan to us all 16 segments.

2. We can start the ticket any North American city. I've read Canada is a good place to start ( lower fees)?

3. We would like to go to Japan, Viet Nam, Thailand, Singapore, at least. We have unlimited time. Great Circle Mapper is a good resource, I've been playing around with it. Any Asia experts think of a good order we should go?

4. We have been toying with making it a two trip ticket. Asia in early 2026, coming back to US for Spring, then heading back out later in the year, using the full 12 months time limit.

5. We dont mind zig zagging and backtracking.

6. Maximizing mileage and minimizing $$$.

7. Should we status match with AA right before we but the tickets? We have no AA status.

8. Use AA credit Card or Chase Saph Reserve? Thoughts?

I'm not asking for anyone to make a route, really just asking if I'm on the right track in what I should be paying attention to in order to make a RTW work and work it to its full advantage. And are these questions/thoughts in my head important, not just the route, but the other piddly things like status matching and which CC matter.

thanks for reading, and any suggestions that would help me plan
J