Originally Posted by
frfl37
Basically, this is what I want to do. Go LAX-LHR-SYD-HKG-YVR-LAX. To do an around the world--how many stops am I allowed? min. length of stay? max. total journey. Is there a website for this? Presume I would be using AA/BA/CX. Probably would go J or F!!
The rules are complex and vary by:
a) country of origin
b) RTW product
c) date of purchase (rule changes after you buy are not retro-active)
So you really need to spend 20 minutes and do some reading of the Star file.
But to summarize, OW has both an unlimited mileage RTW product (Oneworld Explorer, OWE) and mileage limited product (Global Explorer, GE). OWE is limited to 20 sectors and priced by the number of continents (you buy from 3 to 6 continents). GE is priced by miles flown, and allows using additional airlines (so more routing flexibility than OWE). The pricing is similar for OWE and GE, but OWE allows flying about twice as many miles if you max out the routing (so OWE is half the price per mile).
Min stay: typically 10 days min for return to country of origin, but there are exceptions (the rules are complex)
Max validity: up to 2 years (first flight within 1 year of ticketing, last flight within 1 year of first flight)
Unlimited stopovers (but constrained by the routing rules -- hence no need for a limit on stopovers)