Thanks to all for your thoughtful replies so far!

Here's the text in question from the full rules
in GDS (lifted through Expert Flyer, departure and return to OSL):

STOPOVERS: 2 STOPOVERS REQUIRED AND UNLIMITED FREE STOPOVERS PERMITTED ON THE PRICING UNIT UNLIMITED IN AFRICA
2 IN AREA 2
UNLIMITED AT ANY POINT EXCEPT IN LIBYA.

OR - 2 STOPOVERS REQUIRED AND UNLIMITED FREE STOPOVERS PERMITTED ON THE PRICING UNIT
1 IN LIBYA UNLIMITED IN AFRICA
1 IN AREA 2
UNLIMITED AT ANY POINT.

OR - 2 STOPOVERS REQUIRED AND UNLIMITED FREE STOPOVERS PERMITTED ON THE PRICING UNIT
2 IN LIBYA UNLIMITED IN AFRICA
UNLIMITED AT ANY POINT EXCEPT IN AREA 2.

and yet the rules summary talks about max 2 within "continent of origin". Can anyone help translate?

Firstly you don't say when you are flying but on current schedules BA can offer OSL-xLHR-RAK on Mondays and Fridays without the need to schlep between LHR-LGW and saving you a sector which you might want to use elsewhere.

The rules showing on Expertflyer feel like they are intended to be read by computer rather than humans but let's have a crack at it!
Area 2 comprises Europe/Middle East and Africa.
As you don't wish to visit Libya we'll go with the first stopover option where the intention is to show that you can have UNLIMITED FREE STOPOVERS anywhere (which are however limited by the number of sectors permitted in each continent), UNLIMITED FREE STOPOVERS IN AFRICA (which are however limited by the four sectors permitted in Africa - and also the fact that Oneworld has no African airline at present), and 2 IN AREA 2. The UNLIMITED FREE STOPOVERS IN AFRICA comes before the 2 IN AREA 2 and overrides it.

So, bearing in mind the sector limits you can have UNLIMITED FREE STOPOVERS, UNLIMITED FREE STOPOVERS IN AFRICA plus 2 IN (THE REST) OF AREA 2 - the rest of area 2 in this case being Europe/Middle East which is the Continent of Origin.

Thank you Franky The Anorak ! On reflection I think your interpretation makes sense, otherwise why the repeated insistence on "unlimited in Africa"? It is however a bit wierd that you only get 4 but there we go..

So now my next challenge is to somehow reassure my agent (or indeed the American RTW desk if it comes to it) , so that I can get this routing ticketed. It feels like there is no rock solid authority on how to interpret the rules*. Is this also your experience? Any advice appreciated.

*yesterday I rang the AA desk and each time was told a completely different restriction. One agent said I could never fly Africa to Europe on this fare, and it needed to be via Asia!

Thank you both! Planning our next jaunt and I didn’t realize we could fly into ICN and out of GMP without using up a flight segment.

I think that you should start with the official OneWorld Explorer rules as published by OneWorld, rather than EF's interpretation of what it thinks that they are. You can find the official OneWorld Explorer rules here.

I believe expert flyer links to the actual full GDS rules (which is what travel agents use), rather than its own interpretation. But you're right, everything should all be summarised well in your linked rules.

RTW newbie seeking planning guidance
 

Hello, I'm not a novice traveler, but totally new to booking Oneworld RTW trips. Thought I have done a lot of homework on this topic, but even as I think I know a decent amount, there are so many things I still don't understand.

I am US based, and am trying to get to CPT in mid 2026. My thought is to build out a RTW itinerary (DONE4?) presumably starting in OSL, and using the AA RTW desk to book. My main objective is to get to South Africa, then fly home in a "fun" way, and then I'll have some portions of a US-EU trip left to finish up the ticket in the future. I'm not thinking of good creative ideas to build this up more I'd like to maximize my earnings in AA as much as possible. I've done searches for D space and my very rough outline seems mostly doable.

Initially my thought was something like OSL-DOH-CPT(stop) then continue eastbound eventually to ORD. Maybe CPT-DOH-SYD-HND-JFK(stop), later doing ORD-LHR-OSL. Realizing that is only half of the segments I could fly, there is room for building it out much more.

One other last minute thought I had would be to go the other direction, same starting point, OSL-DOH-CPT, then come back more directly to home, i.e. CPT-LHR-ORD, and I'd have a lot more segments to use for later going westbound eventually back to OSL. Is there a benefit to going one way vs. the other given my preferences?

One rule that I'm confused about how it might lead to issues with my plans, rule 4(e) Is this only if I have a second departure/arrival in Europe or will this cause me issues in my plan all together?

Appreciate any advice the experts here can share, steering my in the right direction if I'm off base with assumptions, as well as any suggestions for how to spice it up.

If you are flying OSL-DOH-CPT then you cannot exit Africa using CPT-DOH-SYD as you cannot have a second Europe/Middle East departure on itineraries including South Africa. On Oneworld Cape Town is a bit of a dead end and having flown OSL-DOH-CPT you would have to make your own way to Johannesburg and pick up your RTW ticket from there. Routes possible are JNB-HKG, JNB-PER or JNB-SYD.

OSL-DOH-CPT-LHR-ORD is also not a valid routing due to the second Europe/Middle East departure.

FF earnings to AAdvantage is complicated. Dedicated thread--> https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...age-miles.html
AA RTW desk can book you an AA codeshare on other OW airline operated flight. But check if best for AA earnings.

QF fly JNB-SYD with an A380. CPT-JNB would need to be a ground segment. Ground segments count in the 16 total, but not in the continent counts.
QF fly SYD-(AKL)-JFK with a B787. Counts as 1 segment as 1 flight number.
Cannot see the logic of SYD & HND is you are not going to stop. For TYO be carefull with HND & NRT.

thank you.

I would probably stop in one or both places I mentioned, and more. But not a primary destination for this journey. Not that this matters other than for segments

I only put HND in there as I thought Japan would be a good stopover point as I love visiting there plus a Oneworld hub. The new A350 biz cabin is tempting too. Similar with SYD. A place I enjoy and another alliance hub.

I tend to default to Qatar flights based on past experiences. While researching this I had thought QF flights had higher fees, but both QF routes you mention would be unique in my flight map and the JFK flight would certainly qualify in the arbitrary “fun” category in my head.

My understanding for an AA 001 ticket only BA carrier surcharges are charged.
My understanding for an QF 081 ticket QF & BA carrier surcharges are charged. The online OW booking tool often defaults to QF ticketing
[but may be incorrect]

With just those five cities you specify, that makes it a DONE5.

Be careful with the terminology. 'Flight segment'? Going into ICN and out of GMP does not count as one of your four permitted flights in Asia but it most certainly does count as one of the 16 segments allowed on the ticket.

By way of a sanity check - I have a 16 Segment DONE 4 all booked and ticketed (thru BA)

I have a segment from JNB - SYD which lands at 1430 and the same day I have another segment - SYD - PER domestic.

Have no idea whether it was booked as a "thru flight" (ie JNB-PER with a connection in SYD) or two seperate and non-connected flights (doesnt really matter except availability in fare buckets are different)

Anyway - given that I land into SYD at 1430 (from JNB) I went for the last connecting flight of the day which is the QF 655 at 1945. Strangely, when I booked there was no D class availability on the actual QF655 but there was D class on the code share - Fiji Airlines FJ 5252 so that was booked and confirmed.

FJ have now moved their code share FJ5252 to the earlier Qantas flight (QF653) which departs at 1830 and this was done quite a few weeks ago. My ba.com booking still shows my departure as FJ5252 at 1945 and I called BA again today to insist they correct the flight (having done so before with no result as they told me their systems were still showing 1945 departure not 1830).

They finally have agreed that the FJ5252 now leaves at 1830 so I asked they put me back on the 1945 flight which is now plain vanilla QF655. They told me they could only see one seat in business class (I need 2) so I could either stick with the new departure at 1830 or book another day.

There are currently 6 J class seats available on the QF655 (I called Qantas who confirmed and EF shows the same thing) so I told BA I wanted the original flight as booked and they have emailed QF to ask that I be put back on the 1945 but said that they may refuse (no doubt due to lack of D class)

So................I presume I can "insist" they put me on QF 655 - as there are J seats available and its not my fault that Fiji Airlines moved their code share flight earlier. 4 hours is probably enough time to connect in Sydney (and make the 1830) but the JNB-SYD flight is on an A380 and I want as much time as possible to allow for any delays.

Thoughts ?

This is a D fare and you need D availability.
6 seats open doesn't necessarily translate to D=6, so why the fuss? Codeshares change all the time and you can probably get a free rebooking,but now you are asking for space to be opened up which is different.you can probably get one business seat and one economy seat on the same flight.