Yes, start in Japan.
DONEx starting in Pakistan and India look cheaper, but both carry significant tax burden that is impossible to avoid .. so in the end, it's not really worthwhile if you have a choice.

This is very kind, thank you! I will try to change to ex Japan and report back.

I am looking for suggestions for the first part of a DONE5. I am looking to credit to AY+ but the tracking year ends part way through the ticket. At this point I will have needed to get from OSL to EZE and looking at options to collect at least 37500 tier points (happy to buy remaining 7500 with Avios). Travel will be in 2nd week November 26 and ideally will not require too much additional travel time. Would also be good to avoid using more segments in EMEA than is necessary to allow extra holiday at end of ticket when returning to OSL.
The alternative is to give up on getting AY+ Gold at the start of the ticket (or do additional points run prior to RTW) and maximise use of segments in second part of trip (to be taken in 27). If I did this I would likely start with OSL-HEL-DWR-EZE using AA codeshare where possible

Edit: in some way related to this. Is the restriction on OSL-DOH as first leg a limitation of the Oneworld tool or a RTW restriction?

limitation of the tool.
don't use the tool.
frankly that should be the first thing people see on this forum.

Agreed.

As an aside I did notice the tool seems to have had an upgrade as a couple of the bugs appear to have gone and it now shows seat availability by fare bucket when you select flights. Still plenty of bugs left though like not being able to select QR on the first sector, the flights it offers being randomly a bit random (eg sometimes LAX-HKG only QF via SYD not CX direct !!!) and it not being able to tell the difference between a <24 hr transit and a >24 hour stopover.

I don't know why they can't fix all of the bugs. They only have to try and use the thing with real itineraries people have booked through agents or airlines to see it doesn't really work very well. If they did that, added the ability to select any oneworld operated flights, including code shares, that we know exist for a given route (as ITA matrix pops them out so the data is available) and added an option to let you select the ticketing carrier then it would be very useful. But they haven't, probably won't and it isn't !!

Now this one could be interesting. If you're not otherwise traveling to SWP and it gives you that routing, are you charged for the additional continent?

Yes !!

Darn! I thought that maybe we were looking at a way to get a free continent.

First of all, thanks everyone for contributing to this chat, which has been invaluable. I'm halfway through my RTW booked through BA. Their service was irritatingly poor last Autumn (when I made my initial flight bookings) and worse when I made a change in November; but now I've come to book the final few flights, and their lack of ability to service my bookings is driving me to despair. I've had five (long) telephone conversations with them this week, each one ending with a promise to process the order, followed by an email the next day asking me to call them (no number given of course), which resulted in them saying "we're not sure why you've been asked to call us but there seems to be a problem". When I ask what, they say that it's been flagged by "the back office team" but I can't talk to them, so they'll ask for me. Then I wait for the next email and on it goes. The latest call suddenly increased the promised response time from "24–48 hours" to "5–7 working days"! I still don't know if I can have my flights, which aren't unusual ones.

I guess the lesson is, if you can't book the whole RTW trip through the online form, or want to make changes, be prepared for a lot of grief if you're dealing with BA.

Doesn't surprise me one bit. Anecdotally the only airlines which seem to have any competence in dealing with these tickets are AA and CX and even that depends on who you happen to get hold of. Booking through the online form is at best a lottery and at worst a nightmare so that's not generally recommended. I appreciate that often circumstances change but the best chance of a stress free experience is if you can avoid changes to the itinerary after booking. I was fortunately able to do that with mine and the actual flying part went perfectly. Actually getting all the flights credited to my FF account afterwards has been a total nightmare but that's a whole other OT story!

ChristchurchParkBlue Welcome to FT
What was the route as booked? What route do you now want? A D L class are not always available.
Any over water segments on AA? General opinion is that the AA RTW desk gives the best service and knowledgeable on the rules.

Thanks!

I'm just trying to add in some further flights in North America before flying back to the UK. It all meets with the 'rules', as long as they can get me the flights. The real problem is just the disorganisation at BA's end – nobody who can deal with RTW bookings seems allowed to face the public, so we're just going through a third party (the front line phone people) who have barely heard of Oneworld Explorer, never mind knowing how to handle it. The call handler who took my call today admitted as such when I demanded (politely) to talk to somebody who deals with RTW bookings – "they're all in our back room team so aren't able to talk to you".

Having done everything through BA so far, I assumed I'd have to continue that, even though the extra flights I want will be with AA.

No. But AA tend to want over water intercontinental flights, which can include AA codeshares, to be interested. Worth a phone call to AA RTW desk. But AA may not be willing to take over management of your ticket. Are you in USA now?

What was the route as booked? What route do you now want?

Hi folks,

looking for some thoughts and guidance. I have read recent posts on this thread and the other booking one. I think I’ve managed to get my head around the basics, but still a little uncertain and have a few newbie questions……..
I’ve had a play with the OW online tool and have managed to get a routing that whilst not optimal I can live with.
Basically, departing OSL and heading west to NA, then onto Japan, NZ, then OZ.
Continuing on from OZ ideally I’d like to head for SEZ, I can’t seem to avoid connection in DOH which is triggering the one intercontinental departure/arrival rule.
Is anyone aware of a work around?
Ive read a bit on here about differing YQ charges, how do I minimise these?
Im currently Finnair Plus gold and had assumed that I’d just credit there, but I’m beginning to realise that this may not be most efficient. How do I figure out who the sweetest FF airline is?
This trip is for spring 2027, so I’ve plenty time to figure it all out. Should I book as soon as first flight is available, then take advantage of free date changes or is it better to wait until closer in? I had used some dummy dates in Autumn to price up, and then tried for spring this year and found price dropped by about 10%????
Happy to share itin if that’d help?
From what I gather, AA RTW desk may be currently best option for booking???
thanks in advance

I'm not physically in the USA now – I'm dealing with BA while back in the UK – but my RTW is parked in the USA. My original route was UK – Australia (via Middle East) – USA – UK but I'm trying to add in some additional legs inside the USA before the final leg home. On hold to BA for the fifth day in a row as I write, hoping this time they will be able to tell me they've found someone to look at my request! UPDATE: No luck. Once again: "It's still with the back room team, sir" and a surprise that I've been sent yet another email to call them when nothing has been done. At least they've now promised to call me in 24 to 48 hours.