First welcome to FlyerTalk with a very good (and well informed) first post! I'll take a crack at the easy questions and leave the hard ones for the real experts
Originally Posted by sc597
Questions:
1. In travelling from SCL to AKL, I would ideally like to go via IPC and PPT. I see LAN fly up to PPT, then Air Tahiti Nui, who seem to codeshare with Qantas, fly from PPT onwards to NZ. Can I use these flights with a OWE ticket? I'm presuming probably not.
You can fly SCL-IPC-PPT with LA, but then you're stuck since, as you presume, you can't use TN on a OWE.
2. From what I understand, if one travels within a continent, land segments do not count as one of your four flights, but multi-leg flights, even if just changing planes, do count as two flights of your allowance?
Multi-segment flights (i.e. different flight numbers) certainly count each segment toward your limit. Not sure about ground segments, though...
3. JAL can be used only with Global Explorer not OWE?
Correct although this will presumably change when they join OW next year, but too late for you.
4. There is much talk about who to buy tickets from and where to start. I am based in London, and I have to say having called BA several times, they are clueless with regard to OWE, and unfortunately one cannot speak directly to the all-knowing fares department! So.. If I were to buy the ticket in London - who would you recommend buying it from? I have seen Qantas suggested here. Secondly, in terms of European hops to save money - Stockholm or Copenhagen seem to be recommended? And would I buy it from the OneWorld office in that country?
The canonical advice is NOT to start in London since that will severely limit your options in Europe; it's hard to get around Europe without going through LON. If you start there, once you return, you'd be restricted to domestic UK flights only. Better to start somewhere like AMS where you can get a cheap one way flight (or train) to get there in the first place. Then you can return to LON, hang out as long as you want, and use the tail end of your ticket for your European travels.
Good luck,
Michael