Confused about RTW flight segment calculations?
 

Greetings from Canada. I am currently planning a OW Explorer 4 continents from NA to Asia-Africa-Europe-NA. I read and reread the rules on the oneworld website and still can not interpret whether or not the segments between each continent are allowed as an uncounted segment or if they are caculated as being one of the 4 segments permitted for each continent (i.e. is each contintent's final departure and/ or first arrival flight counted as a segment? Also, the website says that you are not allowed to return to your airport point of entry for each contintent....does this rule apply to transit flights also? I really wish the website would list all clear black and white rules without being so vague on important questions. Also, do you know if I am permitted to make my own way between continents as some of the connections between continents are quite limited? Finally, does anyone know the One World RTW phone info line for Canada? Your help, advice, and guidance to this novice RTW traveller would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any help.

Tim

The rules do indeed seem to be perfectly clear only to people who have worked with them for years. For the rest of us, thank goodness there's FT.

To answer your questions, flights between continents do not count against the number you're allowed within the continent. And you may visit any city as many times as you have segments to burn with one exception: once you get back to the city from whence you started the whole thing (in your home continent, presumably) you're all done. Thus if you originate in Los Angeles, fly around the world, and want to keep the six North American segments "in the bank" for a few months for a later North American holiday, make sure your return home doesn't touch Los Angeles (or presumably any of the co-terminals in the area.)

A couple more things you should know: it appears true that if you buy your ticket on or after 15 April, your total trip will be limited to 20 segments. If you're aggressive and buy the extra two segments you're allowed, at the moment you'd be able to book at least 28 segments.

If you're new at this and haven't noticed, there can be a big price difference depending on where you start your trip.

Hope this helps.

You can not include transoceanic surface in your OWE.

Rute states:
TRAVEL MUST BE VIA THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC
OCEANS. ONLY 1 CROSSING OF EACH OCEAN IS
PERMITTED. TRANSOCEANIC SURFACE IS NOT
PERMITTED.

However, I don't know whether Indian ocean is included in this rule or not.

Your comment on the Indian Ocean is very relevant, as I plan to make my own way on a separately booked flight between Colombo, Sri Lanka to Nairobi, Kenya (for Asia to Africa as Asia-Africa route is pretty much limited to HKG-JNB which doesn't fit my plans). Anyone tried this successfully on the OWE rules? Obviously, I am interested to find out if what I'm trying get away with is permitted?

I don't have a map in front of me, but wouldn't JNB-HKG-SIN-PER be crossing the Indian Ocean twice? But I do think you can open-jaw between continents, with certain exceptions. I seem to remember once that someone open jaw'd between CNS or DRW and SIN because they were doing a cruise or something.