this is my schedule for an upcoming business trip:

1. nrt for 3-4wk
2. sin for 2wk
3. nrt for another 8-12wk

my airfare in J is comparable to a 3continent RTW, so i'm trying to see if i can persuade my company to get that instead.

as i understand it, not including any MR, the very minimum routing i'd need would be:

ord-nrt-hkg-sin-hkg-nrt-hkg-lhr-ord

i'm not sure if this will work as there will be 5 segments in asia, or would nrt-hkg-lhr not count towards that 4segments since i'm enroute to LHR?

I presume you are talking about xONEx RTW (there are various types of RTW each with their own rules)?

It counts - so either purchase an extra asian segment, or take BA NRT-LHR or AY NRT-HEL.

kiwi flyer, you made the right assumptions! sorry i wasn't more detailed. thanks for the info. i didnt know about the BA flt. i guess that would be a good alternative. thanks again.

I actually don't see anything in it for you, although if your schedule permits you could include the 4 European segments that are allowed. Ideally you'd like your transpacific on Cathay, but that eats another segment HKG-NRT. In your shoes, I think I'd actually pay for the HKG-SIN-HKG separately - it's short enough to not pay for more than coach, and probably won't break the budget. Then ORD-LAX-HKG-NRT-HKG (HKG-SIN-HKG) HKG-NRT-LHR-(europe)-ORD. You can of course buy a 5th segment in Asia for USD150 in coach, but some airlines insist that "extra" segments be chronologically after the included segments, and HKG-NRT is too long to languish in coach, and $300 for D class doesn't seem much of a value.

Remember that when you get home you will have 4 North American segments to use as you see fit, until the one-year expiration, EXCEPT that you turn into a pumpkin when you return to the originating city. So don't begin in ORD, or don't "end" there if you want those segments. You are allowed only 2 stopovers; don't waste one on the way out. You'll burn one when you return home, and that will leave you just one. Have a nice trip ORD-ANC-ORD or something. You can also go someplace and stay less than 24 hours - we did that to SXM once and it worked okay.

No. The rules changed some time ago allowing you to return to your originating city and still have more fliights after (i.e up to the 12 months after your first flight for the 6 NA flights but with only 2 stop overs)

The change was made about November 2004. I have used this to my advantage a few times and have another booked now to use it.

If you choose a Global Explorer RTW ticket instead of the Oneworld Explorer you would be able to use JAL also making the trip from NRT-SIN and back easier.

You could also buy a Circle Pacific ticket and return through Australia instead of Europe.

Mwenenzi/NM, thanks for your info. i had planned on doing mdw-dfw-nrt and "return" to chicago via ord to avoid the "pumpkin" clause (my last rtw was early 2004).

Mwenenzi, just so i understand you correctly, if i originate from ORD and return to ORD, can i still take 3 more trips within north america from ORD (since i have 6 unused segments)?

millionmiler, thanks for your suggestions! my first thought was rtw as that was the only ticket i had experience with (early 2004). i will look into that again.

johnax, thanks for the suggestion on using CX over pacific. i know i'd rather their service vs AA, but without the info from Mwenenzi/NM, i had intended to depart from MDW which means i'll need to fly via DFW and thus hadnt considered CX. but with Mwenenzi/NM's new info this avenue might be open again!

love all the ideas guys. if anyone has any other, i will certainly appreciate it!

The Global ticket is similar to the Oneworld ticket except that it is based on miles flown instead of segments. Its often similar but not identical in price obviously depending on the flights chosen. It also allows a few extra airlines including JAL since last month.

i was reading fewmiles 2002 circle pacific rules (is there anything newer?!?) and there's something there against backtracking, with exceptions that do not apply to my desired travel ... how did you envision it to work with my nrt-sin-nrt segment?

Here's a collection of various useful files, mostly pretty up to date - http://www.hardlink.com/~markdu/OWFiles/

I don't think the Circle fare works for you as it limits stopovers in the same city; in your case Tokyo would be the knockout.

Also, IIRC Global Explorer fares ex-USA are higher than comparable-class *ONE3 RTW tickets, so although you'd be able to use JAL, you might end up paying more than you need to, esp. given you can limit your Asian segments to 4 by flying ORD-NRT-HKG-SIN-HKG-NRT-Europe.

You mentioned mileage accumulation in passing, and of course that's a key benefit of the OWE over the GlobEx, especially if you want to contribute some of your own $ by adding additional segments somewhere. (With the continent segment limits, you can't use all 20 coupons on an xONE3 without purchasing some additional ones - 3 intercontinentals, 6 NA, 4 Eur, 4 Asia = 17.) Even so, you could easily accumulate 45K+ BIS miles on a 3-continent RTW, enough to move you quite some ways along the EXP path (if you fly in business class or higher, based on qualifying points.)

You are right about that. A Circle Pacific probably won't work for you.

Yes. You have a max of 20 segments, with up to 6 in NA, but only 2 NA stopovers (as NA is the originating continent). You could go ord-nrt-hkg-sin-hkg-nrt-hkg-lhr-ord-anc-dfw-lax-las-ord (with stopovers in ORD & ANC for example). You have 12 months to complete the ticket, so the ORD stopover could be say 30 weeks and then 3 weeks in ANC. What is your intended routing ? How interested are you in maximising miles as opposed to minimising flight times ?

thanks everyone for their help. my plan to buy a DONE3 was foiled ... my T/A managed to get a fare low enough that persuading my management to spring for the DONE3 is impossible

sigh.

Not too surprising. The airlines have lots of negotiated fares that knock down the RT costs from anywhere to anywhere below the RTW fare costs (and that make sense, given max 6 segments for the RT vs 20 segments on the RTW -- quite a difference in the seat miles).