There was an article in today's NYTimes that showed the cost differential between starting an RTW ticket in New York versus London or Paris. The cost is significantly lower to start in Europe it seems. So, if I live in the US....

Does it make sense to buy an RTW that starts in Europe, and to buy a cheap RT ticket between the US and my European starting point that has a return date like 11 months from the departure?

eg. Buy RT JFK-LHR-JFK ticket for $400, dep. JFK --> LHR September 15, 2006. Use RTW ticket on Sept 16 to take 3 week vacation to Europe, India, Asia, arrive in New York October 10 or so. Put tickets in drawer.

On August 15, 2007, use last leg of RTW ticket to go to London for a week. On August 22, 2007 use the return part of JFK-LHR-JFK ticket to get back home. Voila -- 2 years worth of vacations and I've saved some money!

Would this work? And, if so, are you all laughing at me for just figuring this out now?