Working on my first RTW. I've been lurking here for a couple of years now and I hope I picked up a thing or two from you all. Here is my rough itinerary.

NRT-SEA-PHX-MEX-DFW-SCL-MIA-JFK-HEL-BER-MAD-DOH-KUL-NRT

I've been playing around with the super wonky OW tool. This route works there and prices out around $6,700 using random dates.

I am Seattle based. The idea is this would be the bones of 5 separate trips to Tokyo, Mexico City, Santiago, Europe, and SE Asia where I'd return to Seattle on separate flights between each major segment. The whole thing would be spread over 8-10 months. I'd book through AA most likely.

Few questions:

1. How accurate is the pricing on the OW tool? And does the pricing change if the dates change significantly? I can't price it out anywhere close to the dates I'd actually want to fly, so I'm not sure how much, if at all, the pricing would change for my real dates.

2. If I book through AA, would the flights to/from MEX and SCL on AA be enough to satisfy them, or do I need to also fly them on an ocean crossing? I'd prefer not to unless I have to but there are many comments about needing to include an ocean crossing with AA to book with them.

3. With my few extra segments I'd likely add stops in Europe and SE Asia, but I'm open to suggestions on maximizing North America as well (e.g. can I work my way back to Seattle somehow during the back and forth?)

4. I plan to credit to AS. Given my start date would be in early 2027, I'm hoping they will have implemented the new earn program by then (2027 is later then "later in 2026"...) and I'd select whatever method uses the anticipated 250% earn rate on partner business flights.

5. Anything obvious I'm missing, could improve on, etc,?

Many thanks for any advice you can provide!