Correct

And then if one tries to purchase the ticket by other means - say through the AA RTW desk - one gets in to the rule regarding the fare being the higher of country of origin and country of purchase

Since the OP will be in Europe for some time before setting off on the ex-FRA RTW, then s/he will be OK- but if wanting to puchase in Australia before departure then there will likely be a problem

Couple things I felt like throwing out.

I purchased an AONE5 ex-RUH in January for 11,140 CAD, which is about the same in AUD. That's in FIRST, to make it clear. RUH can be a freaking amazing deal.

I booked using the AA RTW desk and purchased it in YVR to take advantage of the Canadian exception. If you can't purchase online (which lets you pay the originating country price regardless where your computer is physically located or your credit card is set up) a Candian TA can facilitate the purchase for ~$500.

My IPC-LIM route was cancelled. LAN protected me on a crappy regional Y+ product with bad timings but the AA RTW desk came up with a better option a day later that gave me the international J with a better connection. This gave me a 17 segment ticket, so Meredith (the amazing head of the RTW desk) worked some magic and split my last couple flights onto a separate ticket and linked the PNR, and will then reissue them as one ticket preserving my seats etc. after I fly my first couple flights.

One cannot use a paper ticket if any flights are BA operated unless BA issues the ticket. They refuse to honor any paper tickets not issued by them >.<

Well, personally I would drop more locations to free up flights. LAS could easily be done by car or using Frequent Flyer points and adding YYZ is a double whammy because you have two short flights and they book into D not A. If in Asia you want to go to BKK and SIN then you could do NRT-BKK-NRT-SIN-NRT-LHR.

Can you share your experience with RUH? I contemplated starting there but changed to CPT instead as the visa trouble and cost just made it too difficult (and I got more miles for my positioning flight to CPT compared to RUH).

+1, bolded.
Thx.

I had no trouble getting a 72 hour transit visa even with flights leaving before the one I scheduled. I worked with the Saudi Embassy in D.C. for what it's worth. I chose RUH over AMM because I saved $1500 on my J positioning ticket. I considered JNB/CPT but they both were significantly more expensive after I decided to cut out Africa.

I'll report my actual experiences after I am in Riyadh June 14-15.

Wow you guys weren't kidding when you said ex-AMM is a lot cheaper. Finally got some more time to do some planning and its only around $200 more to do an ex-AMM AONE4 than an ex-FRA DONE4.

As my first leg would now be AMM-ORD (with RJ), is RJ difficult to deal with to change my OWE itinerary? Or is there AA codeshare on that flight (which I can't seem to find)?

How hard is it to get a tourist visa for Jordan? Would love to go have a gander a Petra if I were to be there!

Also, was just playing with the oneworld planner... why does it tell me that QF108 doesn't offer First? It clearly does...

Where are you trying to get on QF108? New York or LA? The LAX-SYD sector is a 747 with first class, the JFK-LAX sector is a A330 which does not have first class.

My QF108 booking would be JFK-SYD.

AA issues OWE on behalf of RJ (i.e. when you use the online tool with RJ as your first carrier), so you'll have the benefit of the amazing AA RTW desk for any changes you need to make to your itinerary.

Call the AA RTW desk and ask them. I can understand why the online planner may not be able to comprehend a single flight number that offers business part of the way and first the rest. I have not heard of anyone booking QF 10late as part of an AONE* since it was downgraded to an A330 on the JFK-LAX leg. The AA RTW desk (Meredith, especially) will be able to tell you definitively either way.

Australian Citizens (assuming you are one) get visa on arrival at Jordan.

You can't book QF108 SYD to/from JFK in First (A) class; there is no availability in the fare bucket.

You can book QF107/QF108 for LAX/SYD in A class.

Since when? I travelled on lots of BA segments on a paper-ticketed AONE5 ex-CPT issued on AA stock, starting at the end of Feb 2009 and finishing in DAR at the end of Feb 2010. There was never any question that they wouldn't hono(u)r the coupons. (OTOH, I sometimes had to argue the fare rules, with JL, CX, as well as BA, once it got beyond 12 months from the ticket issue date.)

Since the start of this year.