Does

IAH->NRT->BKK->[Open Jaw]->INC->PEK-> [Open Jaw] -> DXB->AMS->IAH

count as a round-the-world for SkyTeam? I know that with SkyTeam I am allowed to double-back "somehwat" but wasn't exactly sure of the rules. Moreover, I think I am allowed two open-jaws.

Can anyone confirm?

Thanks, John

Travel agent is saying that the open-jaws do not count as stop-overs? So

IAH->NRT->BKK (Stopover) ->[Not via SkyTeam Carrier] ->
KUL->INC->PEK (Stopover) ->[Not via SkyTeam Carrier] ->
DXB (Stopover) ->AMS->IAH

only counts as one stop-over, so not valid.

I don't think there is such a thing as open-jaw on a RTW ticket. If you break your journey at one city and then continue from another, then the sector between these two points is counted as 'surface transport'. It counts in the calculation of the mileage for the whole trip. So, although you are perfectly at liberty to break the journey in this way, this will not reduce your mileage. It's only worth doing it when the alternatives are really ridiculous (for example KE flies ICN to BNE and SYD in Australia, but if you want to visit both places you really have to make your own way between SYD and BNE so that your trip goes ICN-SYD (stop and transfer by your own means) BNE-ICN. But they'd count the distance between SYD and BNE as part of your trip)

I'm puzzled, anyway, by your first itinerary. There are no direct skyteam flights between NRTand BKK. You'll have to connect through ICN. The same is true for your return to PEK. Then to get to DXB, you'll have to go back to ICN again. I'm not sure whether or not you're allowed to transit the same city more than twice. Have a look at the rules which are posted in an early message in the RTW sticky in this forum.

You are staying in the northern hempisphere so I'm sure you'll be well under the 29,000 mile limit if you do IAH-NRT (stop) NRT-ICN-BKK (stop) BKK-ICN (stop now or next time through), ICN-PEK (stop), PEK-ICN-DXB (stop), DXB -AMS (stop), AMS-IAH. You're allowed 15 stopovers, so you could easily add more stops.

added later:
Have just checked that sticky and you seem to be able to transit the same city as many times as you like, as long as you only stopover there once. It's worth looking at it for the booking codes as TA's don't have much clue about them. If you are travelling in business class it's usually D, but for Korean Air it's C (the normal full fare business class code). I once did a RTW trip and could get nothing on any Korean Air flight and it was because the agent was trying to book in D as for every other airline on the trip. There were never any seats only because that booking class didn't exist!

I can get from NRT to BKK nonstop via NorthWest

NORTHWEST AIRLINES FLT:27 BUSINESS MULTI MEALS
LV TOKYO NARITA 700P EQP: AIRBUS A330-200
DEPART: TERMINAL 1 06HR 50MIN
AR BANGKOK 1150P NON-STOP

My problem is that I am running out of time. I can stay on SkyTeam for PEK->ICN->DXB so the Beijing leg counts as a "stop", but then I get to DXB at 3:00am and I have to be at a meeting at 8:00am. Cutting it tight. A direct flight on Air China gets me into DXB the night before. But once I go down that road then I don't get RTW so my boss then is going to insist I take a bunch of the "legs" via economy :-)

Ah! Great that you can get NRT - BKK on NW. That saves time, at least. Whatever day you fly SKyteam to DXB is going to arrive the same day. Can't you leave PEK a day earlier (and skip the stopover in ICN too)?

Presumably you're doing this because you have meetings in BKK, NRT and DXB and your boss is willing to pay C if you do it on a RTW ticket as he knows that is less than the price of IAH-NRT roundtrip? Can't you move one meeting by a day to give yourself time to do it?

IAH - NRT (stop) - BKK (stop) - ICN - PEK (stop) - ICN - DXB (stop) - AMS (stop) IAH is certainly a valid RTW itinerary. Or were you only going to stop in BKK, PEK and DXB? I think the minimum is three stops, maybe more.

With PEK->DXB taken in coach the final fare came to $7200 which is really not that much more than Skyteam's RTW fare (assuming that is still $6600??).

Fingers crossed that I make it across the Atlantic before some bright-spark in accounting notices that this is not an RTW fare :-)

Also, I'm discovering a lot of NW trips in South Asia (BKK <-> TPE, for example). On the maps of the world I've seen, NW doesn't draw these?? Is there posted somewhere a nice map of there routes? They help fill some gaps in the KE routes.

Thanks for the feedback, John