What I do is buy my own side tickets to visit additional places. So, for example, I'll have an RTW stop in Singapore, and get my own ticket SIN-KUL-SIN. As far as the RTW is concerned, I have a stop in SIN that's x days. It doesn't matter that some of those days I'm actually flying to KUL, staying there, and flying back. When segment-constrained, it makes sense to use RTW segments for long flights and buy your own for short ones.

In case anyone still has doubts about the AA RTW desk, they saved me with a last minute rebooking so I could escape Tokyo before Typhoon Jangmi arrived.. and avoid the awful mess at HND with flight delays and cancellations. Just imagine trying to push through that situation with QF.

Did you try asking the American Airlines around the world team about this? IIRC they are sometimes able to bend the rules when there are flight cancellations and schedule changes. Maybe other more experienced people can chime in?

Given they are already on a legit routing, albeit with an unfortunately long connection time, I don't see the AA RTW desk breaking a basic rule like that.
There are other legit options available that do not require something that extreme.

I did. They said no.

Which is what I expected. Had there been no flight that day, it probably would have been a different story, but no one is going to get all excited about a 5:45 connection.

Thanks for letting me know. I'm still somewhat new to RTW tickets. I'm now really kicking myself for doing an ex-HND ticket earleir this year! I feel like ex-OSL is great because that's not a OW hub but it's too bad the least expensive point of origin in Asia is the least expensive OW hub there too. CX carrier surcharges are high and AA earnings on CX aren't as good as JL. Malaysia Airlines doesn't have the coverage that CX and JL have.

Checked EF just now. FWIW, AA/QR DONE3 ex-Norway is listed as USD 5,621, while ex-Japan is listed as USD 4,925.

what was it before?

Did the price actually go down? I'm seeing old DONE3s out of TYO going for $5015.70

Probably due to FX fluctuations.
ex-Japan fares are in JPY
ex-Norway fares are in NOK
The actual fares rarely change.
but both currencies move against the USD - up or down from time to time.

Yes, due to FX, ex-Japan fares went down a bit.

OSL/Europe origination still has value for people who wish to maximize JL segments in Asia...

JAL announced higher fuel charges for int'l tickets a few weeks ago. About $315 per segment. Not sure how that applies to xONEx tickets though.

Is this applied as YQ? If I book a JL operated but AA marketed flight, can I avoid the $315 YQ?

Ex OSL DONE3 is a base fare of NOK 52,398 which is unchanged. As others have observed, any changes in other currencies are FX fluctuations. When optimised, these tickets still represent exceptional value on a per segment basis.