I'd like to do the following starting next January

1) Mid-January - Fly New York to London to Edinburgh (2 weeks in Edi)
2) Late-January - Fly Edinbrugh to London (1 week in London)
3) Early-February - Fly London to Delhi (2 weeks in India)
4) Mid February - Fly Delhi to Beijing (3 weeks in China ... overland to South China)
5) Early/Mid March - Fly from South China to Bangkok (spend 4 weeks in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam ... I can get to these places via AirAsia)
6) Early/Mid April - Fly Bangkok to New York (1 week in NY)
7) Late April - Fly NY to Lima (1 week in Lima)
8) Early May - Fly Lima to Buenos Aires (2 weeks in Argentina)
9) Late May - Fly Buenos Aires to Edinburgh (3 weeks)
10) Mid June - Fly London to New York.

I believe I should be able to do step 1 and step 10 as a single Round-Trip ticket, and then steps 2 through 9 as a 4-continent RTW ticket via on OneWorld (Europe, Asia, North America, South America ... in that order). I've heard that it is cheaper to book a RTW starting in the UK rather than the US, which is why that would make sense. Is this true? Does my plan make sense? Does anyone know how much this should cost, and whom I should order through to get the best service?

Also, I would have liked to be in South America before North America, but I dont think there are flights from Bankok to Lima or Argentina that do not stop in Australia. If I am wrong please let me know.

More generally -- What are peoples expirience using OneWorld for long trips of this sort? How early in advance should I book?

Anyway ... please help, and give any advice you have on booking this

A rough cut at an itinerary is somthing like this:

EDI-LHR-DEL-HKG-BJS//HKG-BKK-HKG-JFK-LIM-SCL-EZE-LHR-EDI

You can do South America before North America by using the transit without stopover to South America. Replace the ...HKG-JFK-LIM... with HKG-LAX-LIM just pick the CX flight that arrives in LAX after the departure of the LAN flight SCL-LIM. Then you would revise the EZE-LHR segment with EZE-USA-some flights in the US-LHR-EDI.

The lower cost for RTW starting from the UK are in economy class only, not business or first. If that is your intention, then the UK is a good place to start. And of course do you intend to accrue FF miles? If so, then many of these flight will earn 0 miles (CX) or 25% miles (BA/QF). And no it is not to early to start planning, booking for a January departure.

First, who should I call to book this? I found a very helpful fare spreadsheet that quoted the price for this economy ticket as 2,500 USD originating in london ? Is that correct? If so, that's awesome , because AirTreks gave me a quote of $5000 for the same itin.

Thanks for the advice. I am planning on flying Economy (i'm graduating from college in December, so dont think it's a great idea to spend all my savings). Is there a way for me to accrue more miles? Also, when I try to do the ticket on the OneWorld planner that you download from their site, it says I have one too many Asia segments (five instead of four ... looks like they're counting my overland china segment as one). Is there a way to fix that?
Also, can I make a stop in Europe somewhere on the way back from North/South America before I head back to Edinburgh? Meaning can I go to some random European city to use my other "original continent" stop-over?

Again, thanks for all your help

You can call AA's RTW desk and set it all up so that when you get to the UK, just go to the LHR ticket booth. Do NOT get it issued in the USA because you will pay the higher US price.
The official OW planner is a bit buggy, but you are OK with 4 segments in Asia.
It appears that you have 8 or 9 flight segments to use out of your 20 permitted. You can use up to 6 within North America and 2 or 3 in Europe. You could fly to Mexico or Central America, then instead of returning to the US, fly Iberia nonstop to Madrid and use up to 3 segments in Europe, but only 1 stopover. Or fly to any other non-UK destination from AA's USA gateways, eg ORD-FCO-MAD-HEL-LHR. And you don't have to return to EDI since surface segments within the country of origin are permitted. The Scottish may think that England is another country, but for this fare LHR and EDI are in the same country. Saves a segment for another use.

Doesn't he have one transatlantic too many in this itiniary - even if he starts the RTW in LHR ? He would surely have to book JFK-LHR-JFK on a seperate ticket if starting in LON.

I am not sure about the LONEx fares, but the UK has not been the best place to start a RTW in J or F. I recently did a DONE3 ex Romania and saved a bucket !

Not sure I understand why HKG-JFK-LIM would have to be replaced with HKG-LAX-LIM. A transit through JFK would be a few more miles and a nice free (short) transit at home for the OP.

Yep, HKG-xJFK-LIM is technically just as valid. Personally I prefer to go via LAX and use the almost 24 hr LAX transit for a little R&R, but the OP is probably young enough to do it direct without a problem, and go to a Lima disco on arrival.

The HKG-JFK-LIM may not be enough time to make the connection in JFK. During daylight savings time, the HKG-JFK flight arrives about 9:30 pm and I believe the LAN flight departs JFK before 11:30 pm. 2 hours is cutting it close, especially if travelling in coach. The extra miles is less than 300 miles. To me not worth it since you can have a 20+ hour stop in LAX.

The nonstop HKG-JFK arrives around noon, and IMHO since the OP lives in NYC, even 8 hours at home may be nice (I know I'd appreciate a stop at home in the middle of a RTW).

I did a Star Alliance RTW last summer going east via SIN, CHC, AKL, HNL, LAX, AUS, IAD, back to europe. I spent quite a few hours with the travel agent. I recommend you sit down with some travel agent you trust. Ask about cancellation insurance, ask how long your ticket is valid for. Although you might think you won't change any dates, you will. Ask about backtracking. You might also have to fly some metal instead of any codeshare One World. I personally would have preffered taking OneWorld (because of points) but I had to take Star Alliance because of easier connections to NZ (with ANZ) and the US (with ANZ and UA). I hope this is of some help.

Nah, you get better advice here than from any TA unless they specialize in RTW's (niche market). While you raise valid concerns, they do not apply to the OW xONEx product. Date changes are free, backtracking is permitted within continent, don't have to add up all your mileage, changing the routing is permitted with reasonable fees, and you have a year to do it all. That's why we love the OW product.

MiamiBeach--I keep forgetting about the n/s HKG-JFK, so yes that may be a better choice than HKG-LAX.

From all of your phenomenely helpful repsonses, I think my idea should be theoretically possible. I called the AA desk as suggested, and the agent quoted me a price of ~1700 GBP for a 4 continent Economy-class RTW ticket, originating in the UK. I looked at the helpful fare spreadsheet that someone posted on this site, and it seems like that should be the price for a 5 continent off-peak RTW. I am flying off-peak from the UK (leaving in late Jan), so is the quote wrong, or the spread sheet wrong? (I believe I should be paying around 1,389 GBP for 4 continent off-peak economy starting in the UK)

The spreadsheet is, I think, correct. Perhaps the quote was including taxes and/or fuel surcharges?

UK law requires airlines to quote all fees and surcharges in the fare, so the quote you got definitely includes them (while the spreadsheet does not). GBP 1700 is about right for a GBP 1400 fare.

Okay, so here is my general travel plan (starting in jan of 2007 and going for ~6months). can you guys/gals make suggestions about the cheapest possible way to do this

New York - Edinburgh - Delhi - Beijing - South China (HK, or Guangzhou) [overland] - Bangcock - Saigon - Phonm Penh - Bangcock - Lima - Buenos Aires - Patagonia - Buenos Aires - New York - Tel-Aviv - Athens - Edinburgh - New York (whew)

What I'm thinking is to do a 4 continent RTW originating in the UK and returning there. Then paying for the first leg and last leg on a seperate roundtrip ticket. Does that work? Does it make sense? Also, I understand that you only get two stopovers in the originating continent, do Tel-Aviv/Athens work in that regard? What should the total cost be?

Any insight into these questions would be appreciated, thanks for all your help.