I'm looking for help with a *ONE5. My desired stops are SYD - AKL - BKK - SGN (actually wanted HAN but they said it wasn't possible) - TPE - ATH - MAD - NBO - SFO - SYD.

The actual routing I got from calling the AA RTW Desk is below (bold represents cities where I am stopping for 24+ hours; non-bold representing cities I have to fly through to get to the bold cities):

1. SYD - AKL (1 of 4: SWP)
2. AKL - HKG (intercontinental)
3. HKG - BKK (1 of 4: Asia)
4. BKK - HKG (2 of 4: Asia)
5. HKG - SGN (3 of 4: Asia)
6. SGN - HKG (4 of 4: Asia)
7. HKG - TPE (extra segment: Asia)
8. TPE - HKG (extra segment: Asia)
9. HKG - LHR (intercontinental)
10. LHR - ATH (1 of 4: Europe)
11. ATH - MAD (2 of 4: Europe)
12. MAD - LHR (3 of 4: Europe)
13. LHR - NBO (intercontinental)
14. NBO - LHR (intercontinental)
15. LHR - LAX (intercontinental)
16. LAX - SFO (1 of 6: N. America)
17. SFO - SYD (intercontinental)

So, my questions are:

1) Is there a better order for my itinerary? Any way to avoid so many stops (i.e. HKG and LHR)? Also, by switching the order around in Asia, is there any way I can avoid the two extra segments? They are costing $150 USD apiece.

2) I actually live in SFO, but want to purchase my tix in SYD for the savings. I have a friend there who can help me, but what does it mean to "purchase my tickets in Australia?" Does that just mean that my tickets have to be mailed to an address in Australia? Or does the credit card billing address have to be in Australia? Or both?

3) If my friend in SYD ends up purchasing the tix on his credit card (and then I pay him back), would I still be able to take out travel insurance on the tickets?

Thanks for any advice. I was searching endlessly on the web for RTW ticket advice and this forum is a gold mine!