Working on my first RTW. I've been lurking here for a couple of years now and I hope I picked up a thing or two from you all. Here is my rough itinerary.

NRT-SEA-PHX-MEX-DFW-SCL-MIA-JFK-HEL-BER-MAD-DOH-KUL-NRT

I've been playing around with the super wonky OW tool. This route works there and prices out around $6,700 using random dates.

I am Seattle based. The idea is this would be the bones of 5 separate trips to Tokyo, Mexico City, Santiago, Europe, and SE Asia where I'd return to Seattle on separate flights between each major segment. The whole thing would be spread over 8-10 months. I'd book through AA most likely.

Few questions:

1. How accurate is the pricing on the OW tool? And does the pricing change if the dates change significantly? I can't price it out anywhere close to the dates I'd actually want to fly, so I'm not sure how much, if at all, the pricing would change for my real dates.

2. If I book through AA, would the flights to/from MEX and SCL on AA be enough to satisfy them, or do I need to also fly them on an ocean crossing? I'd prefer not to unless I have to but there are many comments about needing to include an ocean crossing with AA to book with them.

3. With my few extra segments I'd likely add stops in Europe and SE Asia, but I'm open to suggestions on maximizing North America as well (e.g. can I work my way back to Seattle somehow during the back and forth?)

4. I plan to credit to AS. Given my start date would be in early 2027, I'm hoping they will have implemented the new earn program by then (2027 is later then "later in 2026"...) and I'd select whatever method uses the anticipated 250% earn rate on partner business flights.

5. Anything obvious I'm missing, could improve on, etc,?

Many thanks for any advice you can provide!

1. The base fare shouldn't change much or at all by date. However, taxes and fees can be vary quite a bit depending on how and which airline books the trip.

2. IME AA's requirement is not for a transoceanic flight, it is for an intercontinental flight. I'm in the middle of an AA booked DONE6 trip where the TPAC leg is on QF and the TLANT leg is on QR. My only long flights on AA metal are JFK-GRU-MIA and that satisfied AA enough that they ticketed the trip.

3. You could fly SEA-MEX on AS and that would save a segment. Not sure how that fits with your AS earnings goals though. Finnair flies SEA-HEL non stop, so that might give you a more convenient way to wrap up your North America portion. For SCL the MIA<>SEA non-stops on AA and AS could be an option. If you must go through JFK you could try to get on AA's LAX-JFK or SFO-JFK premium transcon flights.

4. No clue about AS earnings...

5. The OneWorld online tool is terrible and it may be artificially constraining you WRT to choices/options. Study the OneWorld Explorer rules sheet and build your own itinerary that meets the rules. Use EF, Google Flights, etc. to find non-stop OneWorld flights. Then call the AA RTW desk and feed them the segments one by one.

Link to the OneWorld Explorer rules sheet:

https://assets.ctfassets.net/m9ph4qv...5_DEC_2025.pdf

Since you posted ~3:30hrs ago the rules have been updated following the HA brand~routes of AS formally joining oneworld.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/37719280-post755.html

I don't think Alaska Airlines flies to MEX.

How about
NRT-SEA-PHX-MEX-PHX-SEA-DFW-SCL-MIA-SEA-DOH-BER-MAD-DOH-KUL-NRT

This way, you can get the return flights back home as part of the ticket, instead of shelling out extra.
Remember, DFW-SCL is seasonal. If you are traveling to SCL outside of the S.Amer summer season, fly SEA-DFW-GRU then GRU-SCL on your own (separate ticket), coming back SCL-MIA-SEA
Also, SEA-HEL is both seasonal and only 2-3x per week when actually in service.

If you are optimizing this for more miles.. or more direct routing (ie, less flight time)... or certain carriers.. then that's important to factor in.

Nice catch. And how's that for timing...

You're right. I had my Mexican cities crossed :o

The base price for each country, in local currency, stays the same for months or in the past for years. A few countries may have the base price in USD. So buying with a start point in another country you have possible variations due rate of currency exchange. ROE variations can be minor or major (~Egypt).

Real taxes, in local currency, can change at any time. Total of real taxes is usually minor compared to the total price.

Airline carrier surcharges (local currency), if any, can change at any time. Total can be significant compared to the total price. Predicting airline carrier surcharges based on route~airline is hard to impossible.

First, thanks everyone for all the input. It's all super helpful and much appreciated.

re: the suggested route: NRT-SEA-PHX-MEX-PHX-SEA-DFW-SCL-MIA-SEA-DOH-BER-MAD-DOH-KUL-NRT, I didn't realize I could go back to SEA that many times. Anytime I included it more than once on the OW tool, it broke so I wasn't sure if it was the defective tool or against the rules. This will be super helpful.

The rough plan is Tokyo in January, Mexico City in February, Santiago in March/April, Europe by way of Helsinki in May, and then back to Europe and on to SE Asia in Sept/Oct. That aligns with the seasonal routes to SCL and HEL and hits some of my favorites times to be in these spots.

And I don't care too much about maximizing miles, probably? I'm admittedly keeping this pretty simple the first time just to see how it works out. I'm sure by the next one I'll be geeking out and squeezing every last drop from my 16 segments...

I'm sure I'll be back with more questions, but again thanks everyone.

The online tool has a lot of problems... and Oneworld has no incentive to fix the tool or improve it. After all, why allow users to create complex (yet allowable) itineraries for ticketing? The airlines would love to passively force the traveler into simplifying their RTW trip, so that the online tool will accept it.

Yes, you can return to SEA multiple times as long as you are following the various other rules for flights.
Looks like AA has already suspended DFW SCL after March, so it may be similar for 2027.
Finnair has SEA-HEL scheduled for Sun/Tue/Fri this year, starting at the end of May. Again, prob a similar sched for 2027.

When booking these tickets, I always advise people to focus on visiting the cities you want. If you aren't trying to achieve a certain status, then forget about mileage maximizing.. though you may choose to fly (or avoid) certain carriers which will then impact your routing choices. There will be plenty of people who look down on RTW tickets < 16 segments.. ignore them and focus on what works for you.

Last but not least, you don't have to wait until November to book your ticket if it ends in October. Date changes are free (after you take the first flight) so all you need to do is get the routing correct at ticketing AND ensure your first flight is on the correct date. After you fly the first segment, "expand" your trip out to the proper dates as time progresses.

The DFW-SCL routes are Chilean summer season oriented for Antarctica and Patagonia. They will return next year. And both of those destinations are fantastic, though I preferred Antarctica.

BA once told me in reference SYD-JFK-LAX-DOH “I couldn’t cross North America 3 times like that”
Whilst the rule sheet is clear, interpretations are dime a dozen.

More like misinterpretations are dime a dozen. The rules even list the departure and arrival points which constitute a North American transcon for the purposes of the ticket so there's no need for any interpretation of that and no excuse at all for any agent to get that particular rule wrong.

Hoping someone can give me some advice. I booked a OWE flight and received a confirmation email and booking reference, listing the full correct itinerary. A few days later I got an email with a couple of minor flight time changes which prompted me to go to MMB and take a look just in case. I found that one long-haul stopover leg was missing from my itinerary.

I made the booking on the OW website and some reason the flight is booked through Qantas, even though I have status with BA. I called Qantas who acknowledged the problem and said they would deal with it but they needed to get confirmation from CX as that was the missing leg. However it has now been two days and I've not heard anything. I appreciate these things may take time. How long should I wait before pushing this? Am I correct to assume that this is their problem and if there is now no availability on that leg that they would need to find a way to re-route me? The trip isn't for a couple of months.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

More a question for https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...iences-91.html

QF is the default ticket issuer from the OW web site for many *ONE*'s depending on origin.
If you have AA long over water flight you could have asked AA to issue. Is a pity AA did not get the contract as default ticker issuer.

QF ticketing service
Often poor to hopeless. Some get lucky and get a knowledgeable helpful agent. Most QF phone agents are not resident in AU.

Used to be a thread on for *ONE* issues on QF issued tickets. Now gone? Renamed/merged?
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...ed-qantas.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...g-queries.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...qantas-qf.html

CX - QF
CX are know to auto cancel if a change is not re-ticketed - revalidated in a short time. A shorter timer than most airlines.
QF are know to be very slow in re-ticketing (corporate incompetence??). Happens many times. On AFF are many examples.

As a wild guess (without evidence) is was caused by QF.
Do you have screen shots - PNR - email 081 ticket of what you selected - paid for?
Do not like you chances of getting fixed. Keep phoning QF.
What is the itinerary route?

Thanks for your help.
I don't have any ticket numbers just a reservation confirmation email with the whole route and a booking reference.
My route is LON - HKG - BNE - LAX and then further stops. The missing segment is HKG to BNE

I'll call them again today.

Thanks,
Roland

Pester Qantas, daily if necessary. The longer it goes unticketed, the greater the chance of my flights dropping off.

Without the 081 ticket number you have nothing. A PNR booking reference is not a ticket.
If you started in OSL would have saved 1000's.
From the OW web site can you get the itinerary to price out again for the dates you want?.
Keep phoning QF.

Edit
OSL vs LON
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onew...l#post37563229

It's all sorted but an extremely painful experience. Probably had around 5 hours on the phone or on hold.

There were two problems - the first was that CX didn't confirm their leg and much later in the whole saga it appeared the USA routing was invalid (even though the tool and the confirmation said it was ok). So I had to compromise and take a CX flight on a different day and do one overground segment in the USA so will need to book a separate flight for that.

I appreciate that ROW routings are complex but this was crazy. I had to escalate to a supervisor and made it clear that this was their problem. They had confirmed a booking in writing saying that a ticket would be issued. I said that they couldn't say this and then decide not to follow though, even though they hadn't taken payment yet. I'm not sure if my OW status was a help here.

I felt they were pretty sneaky a couple of times to try and get me to give up. At one point they said that I hadn't put in credit card details when making the original booking but this was impossible as the booking can't be submitted without it (I offered to screen share to show them). Another person told me all the flights were not reserved when in fact the only flight with the problem was one CX leg.

@Mwenenzi I couldn't start from OSL due to work/time commitments but the flights fit within my budget.

My reason for the trip is that I have a few work meetings in North America and also a friend in Australia who is very ill. When trying to book the North America trips alone it was actually more expensive than the ROW trip which was a good for me so I can see my friend and keep within the travel budget for my clients.

All in all its going to cost me £418 more for the extra flight and I get one day less in Australia to see my friend, however by this time I was committed to my work meeting dates so had no choice.

I'm a fairly frequent flyer but never done ROW before so it was a bit of an adventure/experiment. Based on this booking experience I'm not sure I'd do it again.

Good you got it sorted (081 e-ticket issued). Keep checking for schedule changes from time to time.

QF agents are know to make up rules. And claim a route is invalid when by the rules it is not.
Still 95% sure the problem was with QF not issuing ticket in time so CX auto canceled its segment. Not caused by CX. Happened before many times with QF.
What was your full routes, including stopover vs transits:-

• as booked on OW web site
• as now ticketed

We can check against the rules.
Next time do not ticket a *ONE* with OW QF online. Use AA or real live travel agent (not OTA).

I'd be grateful if anyone can see any issues with this routing:

OSL-xDOH-LHR-LAX-MIA-ORD-NRT-DEL-NRT-SIN-NRT-SYD-CNS-PER-LHR-OSL

From CNS Wikipedia there is not a CNS PER nonstop flight by QF So need CNS-BNE/SYD/MEL-PER. An extra segment.
Or fly JQ CNS-PER (economy) non stop as allowed by ONE rules
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairns_Airport

Mwenenzi ,

In your experience, is using Wikipedia for finding airport connections more accurate than using the flight connections website? In this case:

https://www.flightconnections.com/fl...rom-cairns-cns

Quick daft question. How does one contact the AA RTW desk from the UK? Is it just call the general AA UK number and ask to be put through? Is it only available during US (presuming Dallas so CST?) office hours or 24x7? Thanks

Dial +1 800 843 6200 from anywhere

The desk is based in Dallas so UK time - 6hrs

Thanks.

Looks OK to me A map from the Great Circle Mapper - Great Circle Mapper

A possible issue is your flights through Tokyo - are they all through NRT, none through HND?
You are using 15 segments, so you can fly CNS-PER via BNE/SYD/MEL/ADL

Why are you asking? Have you been told it is invalid?

a) Oneworld has no NRT-SYD, only HND-SYD, so the final Tokyo stop needs to be HND not NRT. ORD, DEL and SIN are served from both HND and NRT so the first two Tokyo stops can be at either. airport.
b) The only direct CNS-PER is a QF codeshare on JQ, which is permitted but it is an Economy Class only flight and getting L Class on the codeshare looks to be tricky.
As you have another sector available then I would suggest:
OSL-xDOH-LHR-LAX-MIA-ORD-NRT or HND-DEL-NRT or HND-SIN-HND-SYD-CNS-xBNE-PER-LHR-OSL

I was unsure that the three EUR stops were valid albeit one is just xDOH.
On a separate point I had always assumed that NRT/HND were a surface segment (which is why I had only used 15 segments) but this https://princeoftravel.com/guides/wh...inal-airports/ implies that they are coterminals - are they correct or are RTW tickets different in some way ?

OW RTW - Circle Pacific ticket do not have "co-terminals"

Are allowed 2 stopovers (+24hrs) in continent of origin (EU-ME)

QF flys MEL-NRT and CNS-DRW-PER