rtw travel agent

Round the World Tickets: The Ultimate Guide (Updated 2024)

Y ou've probably heard about round the world tickets, a one-stop shop approach to cross-continental flying. But let's be real: it's never been easier to book flight tickets yourself, and round the world tickets are pricey. So why do people book round the world tickets, and are they  actually worth the cost?

The quick answer is, it depends . If you're pressed for time, have a seriously fixed itinerary with many international stops to make, it can be cost-wise. However, if you have a whimsical, budget-conscious trip in mind, or are focusing on just one part of the world, there are cheaper options out there that you should know about  (like finding fares yourself on Skyscanner on Kiwi.com ).

So, here's everything you need to know about round the world tickets, followed by our DIY approach that could save you even more money!

• 1 How do Round The World tickets work?
• 2 How to book a round the world ticket
• 3 What are the restrictions and/or setbacks?
• 4 The alternative: book separate flights yourself
• 5 How to book your own round the world trip
• 6 So, what's the cheapest option?
• 7 A Thrifty Case Study: A Round the World Trip from New York City
• 8 What are the alternatives?
• 9 So, is a round the world ticket worth it?

How do Round The World tickets work?

Round the world (RTW) tickets are flight packages that let you visit a number of destinations around the world for one price. These tickets are offered by airline alliances like SkyTeam, Oneworld, and Star Alliance. All the flights in your itinerary must be served by airlines within the chosen alliance.

RTW tickets require you to select your destinations and departure dates in advance. This means you prepay for the pass and book all of your flights before your trip. Note: you don't have to actually fly “around the world” with these tickets , they're also sold as multi-city flights, continent-based travel, or by miles.

The perk of RTW tickets is the ability to book all flights at once at a discounted price, plus ensures a mass accumulation of frequent flyer miles since you'll only be flying partner airlines. You can even purchase part or all of your RTW ticket with relevant miles, where permitted.

How to book a round the world ticket

Round the world tickets can be purchased directly with airline alliances or via  travel agents .

Airline Alliances

• OneWorld Alliance
• Star Alliance

Each alliance offers an online trip planner that allows you to put in every stop of your itinerary and get a price quote. It also makes it easy to work around the restrictions of round the world tickets, warning you when your planned route doesn't meet the requirements. All alliances offer online booking, or you can call one of the participating alliance airlines directly.

Travel Agents

• AirTreks (U.S. – our top choice & has 32+ years experience in RTW planning)
• Liberty Travel (U.S.)
• Flight Centre ( Australia , U.K. , Canada )
• RoundAbout Travel (Australia)
• Student Flights (Australia)
• A travel agent local to you

Travel agents have exclusive access to flight deals, plus receive discounts accessible only via their IATA code. They also save a great deal of time and money whilst adhering to your budget and needs. Find an agency that specializes in round the world tickets, so they're aware of the restrictions and can secure the best price.

What are the restrictions and/or setbacks?

RTW tickets often more expensive than a DIY approach (covered later), especially given they exclude budget airlines. Furthermore, there are restrictions to follow, so ensure you've read the fine print. Such restrictions typically include:

• A minimum number of flights to book (typically three), as well as a maximum
• Flights usually must be within the same airline alliance. This can sometimes result in obscure stopovers to stay with partner alliances.
• Restrictions on the direction of travel (e.g. East to West only) and/or requiring you to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at least once
• All flights must end in the city you started from and connect from city-to-city (i.e. you can't fly into London, then take a train to fly out of Paris)
• A minimum number of stopovers
• Additional surcharges for itinerary changes and/or flying to certain destinations
• Missing a flight in your itinerary could result in the remaining flights being cancelled, even if days or weeks away

Whew! Though there are many restrictions, most will come up when making your booking . Simply use the round the world ticket planners provided by each alliance, put in your desired destinations, and the options and costs will be presented automatically.

The alternative: book separate flights yourself

The value of a round the world ticket depends on the route you're taking and the flexibility needed. More often than not, you'll find it's cheaper, easier, and more flexible to book your own round the world trip online across several bookings using multi-destination flight search engines like Kiwi.com  and Skyscanner . You also can mix and match airlines, and aren't confined by the restrictions that accompany an actual RTW ticket.

Credit card points programs also allow multi-city flight bookings, effectively allowing you to book your own round the world trip via points or a combination of cash and points. You can readily rack up a significant amount of miles just by hitting the minimum spend within a set time. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is our top pick as a beginner card. On hitting its minimum spend, you can earn up to 60,000 points worth $750 – more than enough for an international flight .

Flight deal subscriptions like Scotts Cheap Flights compile discounted airfare to your inbox, based on the desired departure airports. Whilst this doesn't include RTW flights, this could help you cover some of the legs of your trip, as it has majorly discounted international flights departing the U.S. For those outside America, similar services exist in the U.K. ( Jack's Flight Club ) and Canada ( Next Departure ).

The only major drawbacks with booking a RTW ticket yourself is the time and patience needed to make the booking. Additionally, you may end up with frequent flyer miles spread across a variety of programs, without enough miles in any program to use them. Most likely though, you'll come out ahead financially doing it yourself.

How to book your own round the world trip

Kiwi.com  and Skyscanner are the two flight search engines we recommend for booking your own tickets for a round the world trip. They include budget airlines and let you search multi-destination flights, letting you see prices for your entire itinerary at once.

The key difference between the two is that Skyscanner prefers results from partner airlines , while Kiwi.com will always  mix and match airlines (including budget airlines) for the cheapest price . Either booking site can be beneficial depending on your trip, so to get the best price, be sure to compare results and follow these tips:

• Experiment with  the order of your destinations for the best price. Just because a flight is shorter doesn't mean it will be cheaper.
• Experiment with the  dates of each flight . This can be time consuming, but if you're dedicated, you can shave hundreds of dollars off your total cost by simply finding the cheapest dates for each flight.
• Multi-city and  return flights are often better value than booking many one-way flights when they can all be fulfilled by the same airline/alliance. For example, Virgin Atlantic has routes from New York to London, London to Shanghai, and Shanghai to New York, so making one multi-city booking with this single airline will be cheaper than several individual bookings with different airlines.
• Skyscanner prefers partner airlines that can fulfil the entire itinerary you submit, which doesn't always get you the best price on complex itineraries. So if you have a lot of destinations, split your searches into 3-4 destinations at a time . For example, instead of submitting New York > London  > Paris > Beijing > New York as a single search, try searching New York > London > Paris as one search, and Paris > Prague > Beijing > New York as a second search. You don't have to worry about this on Kiwi.com , which always mixes and matches airlines to get the best results.

So, what's the cheapest option?

In our tests, the DIY approach is always cheaper, but it depends on the kind of trip you're taking. Round the world tickets can cost anywhere from $1,500 USD to $20,000 USD . The price varies greatly, and depends on your departure point, number of flights, distance flown, continents flown to, and flight class.

On the other hand, regular flight ticket prices are all over the map, dependent mostly on supply and demand. Sometimes a flight across continents can be even cheaper than a flight within your own country. Since regular flight tickets include budget airlines , sale and error fares , and you can still take advantage of discounts with partner airlines,  booking your own flight tickets has always been cheaper for us .

The only way to know for sure is to compare. Use the links provided in this guide and see what gives you the best result!

A Thrifty Case Study: A Round the World Trip from New York City

As an example, let's find the best price for the following round the world trip:  New York City > London > Paris > Prague > Beijing > Hong Kong > New York City . We want to go in  April and May , and we are booking now in  January . We'll start on Tuesday, April 10, and schedule each consecutive flight for the following Tuesday.

Option 1: A round the world travel agent

Booking with AirTreks also gives you a team with over 32 years of experience in RTW planning, all your tickets in one spot (instead of many confusing separate bookings), 24/7 support, and better routes (less layover time, more baggage, etc.) If you do find a cheaper fare yourself, let them know – AirTreks tells us they're confident they could beat it!

Option 2: A round the world ticket booked directly with airline alliances

Putting in the same itinerary into each of the airline alliances' round the world trip planner gives us the following totals:

• OneWorld: $3,738.86 USD
• SkyTeam: $3,904.28 USD
• Star Alliance: $4,543.84 USD

Not exactly thrifty, and up to 3x the advertised price of the travel agent! True round the world tickets require strategic planning, so using a travel agent's expertise can save you time and money. But let's take a look at booking regular airline tickets yourself…

Option 3: Book your own tickets using Kiwi.com and Skyscanner

Using the Kiwi.com multicity search feature, we enter our full itinerary, and within minutes, we have a variety of options from $1,390 – $1,434 USD .

As we mentioned, Skyscanner usually just shows results from  partner airlines that can fulfill a ticket for the entire route. This route is pretty complex, and it's unlikely one airline alliance could fulfill it all, so let's  break it up .

After half an hour of trying different combinations of multi-city and one-way searches, the cheapest combination I could find for these dates was

• New York City > London > Paris > Prague: $390 USD
• Prague > Beijing: $283 USD
• Beijing > Hong Kong: $119 USD
• Hong Kong > New York City: $493 USD
• TOTAL TRIP COST: $1,285 USD

This is the cheapest option, beating Kiwi.com by only $105. What's going on here? In short, trial and error. The first batch of airlines aren't partners, but Skyscanner sometimes lets you mix and match airlines by using Kiwi.com for booking. And although there are partner airlines to fulfill the rest of the route, Hong Kong Airlines is an independent budget airline with competitive pricing, so it ended up being cheaper to book the flights separately in order to include their fares.

You can take this even further by testing different dates in your itinerary, as well as the order of your flights. As you can see, the process can be time consuming, but a little time rewards you with hundreds or thousands of dollars saved!

What are the alternatives?

Regional flight passes.

While not a round the world ticket in itself, this type of flight pass might be more sensible for your trip, depending whether you'll be flying a lot in one region versus globally. For instance, if you are planning to take more flights around South America than across continents, then you may be better off investing in one of their regional passes (check our guide here ).

Some examples of regional flight passes include:

• OneWorld single-continent passes: available for Africa, Asia, Japan, Australia & New Zealand, Malaysia, South America, Europe, North America, Middle East, South Asian Sub-Continent
• OneWorld multi-continent passes: rather than flying all the way around the world, these passes let you fly in a circle around one smaller area of the world
• SkyTeam regional passes : available for Asia & Southwest Pacific, Africa, Asia, Europe, Greater China, Russia, and USA & Canada
• Independent airline passes in South America : these work within specific South American countries (check our comprehensive list and guide here )
• Qantas Explorer pass : a flight pass for exploring Australia and New Zealand

Building your own stopover

A stopover – that is, an extended layover where you can actually leave the airport for 1 or more days or weeks – can be added for cheap or free to any trip, all by yourself. Our how-to guide here explains exactly how to do this.

Essentially, you find a flight fare that includes a layover, but instead of rushing to your connecting flight, you spend days or weeks in the layover destination, visiting 2 destinations for the price of 1. Whether you go round the world or not, it's a great way to squeeze more travel value out of your flight costs.

So, is a round the world ticket worth it?

In short, for most travellers, the answer is probably no. There are a certain set of criteria where it could be more cost-effective, and some travellers may prefer the ease of having all of their tickets booked in one pass anyway. However, the fixed timing, many restrictions, and high price are likely to be unappealing to those who are seeking a thriftier approach, especially when it's so easy to book yourself for less with Kiwi.com and Skyscanner .

The Thrifty Gist

• Round the world tickets are usually pricier than self-booking, but offer peace of mind and a pre-set itinerary
• A dedicated RTW agent such as AirTreks can save you a lot of time, with the added benefit of 24/7 support, having all of your flights in one place, established airlines with shorter routes, and over 32 years of experience in RTW planning. AirTreks tells us they're confident they could beat the other prices in this post, so if you find a cheaper fare yourself, let them know!
• Round the world tickets can be booked with airline alliances or travel agents, while self-booking regular flight tickets can be booked using the multi-destination features of Skyscanner and Kiwi.com
• Self-booking is usually the cheapest approach to a round the world trip, but can also be more tedious
• Reasons to self-book include the abundance of available error/sale fares , budget airlines, the ease with which self-booking can be done, and that stopovers can easily be added to any trip

Our website contains some affiliate links in relevant areas. This means we get a small commission, at no extra cost to you, for recommending a product we personally use, trust, and own.

trying to fin d the cheapest country to start a Oneworld 4 continent ticket July 2022, it used to be South Africa or Jordan, any update links?

Please send complete information for my round the world travel for 2 – up to a year.

Skyteam RTW tickets are not available currently, and haven’t been since the start of COVID. The Star Alliance RTW business ticket I just booked was half the price of using the DIY method.

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Round The World Airline Tickets

Fly rtw with one world member airlines.

one world's Round The World tickets give you unprecedented access to hundreds of destinations in 170 territories. We offer three types of Round The World trips:

one world Explorer: a continent-based fare,

Global Explorer: a distance-based fare,

Circle Pacific: an inter-continental journey to explore continents that border the Pacific Ocean.

Where to first? The whole wide world is waiting for your Round The World trip.

one world Explorer

Continent-Based Air Travel

No matter where business or pleasure takes you,  one world's vast network means your Round The World trip via  one world Explorer fare makes it easy to travel from city to city, and continent to continent. And, for every dot you connect, you earn more miles and points to spend across the  one world Alliance.

Global Explorer

Distance-Based Air Travel

For an even wider choice of where to travel, book your Round The World trip via Global Explorer, which grants you access to an even more extensive list of airlines, including Aer Lingus, Bangkok Airways,  one world  connect   partner  Fiji Airways , Jetstar, Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Japan, Jetstar Pacific, WestJet, and  Qantas  code-share flights operated by Air Tahiti Nui.

Circle Pacific

Multi-Continent Air Travel

If you prefer to visit multiple continents without actually flying all the way around the world, our Circle Pacific fare lets you explore the continents that border the Pacific Ocean. You can choose to start and finish your journey in one of the following continents:

Asia  (Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam)

Southwest Pacific  (Australia and New Zealand)

North America  (USA and Canada)

South America

Contact a  one world member airline or your travel agent to plan and book your Circle Pacific trip now.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a round the world ticket.

The one world Alliance offers a way to visit many countries, around the world, all in a single itinerary.

On oneworld.com, you can choose to book either one world Explorer, where the fare depends on the number of continents you visit, or Global Explorer, where the fare depends on the distance you travel.

Circle Pacific, an inter-continental journey to explore continents that border the Pacific Ocean, can be booked by your travel agent and is not currently available for booking on oneworld.com.

Where Can I Fly With Round The World?

For one world Explorer and Global Explorer, one world member airlines and affiliate airlines cover six continental regions: Europe/Middle East (including Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen); Africa (excluding countries listed above); Asia (including the Indian subcontinent, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, but excluding countries named above); Australia, New Zealand, and the South West Pacific; North America (including the Caribbean, Central America, and Panama); and South America. Currently, it is not possible to begin your itinerary through Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH) through one world member Qatar Airways. Book both one world Explorer and Global Explorer on oneworld.com.

Through the one world Circle Pacific fare, one world member airlines and affiliate airlines cover four continental regions: Asia (including the Indian subcontinent, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan); Australia, New Zealand, and the South West Pacific; and North America. Ask your travel agent about booking a one world Circle Pacific fare. Routes are subject to change.

Where Can I Travel Now, Given COVID Restrictions?

View entry restrictions and COVID-19 travel requirements for countries around the world on our the one world Travel Requirements Information Portal . Use the map to get information on travel restrictions by country, including entry restrictions, as well as COVID-19 vaccination, testing, and quarantine requirements.

Is Round The World Ticket Business Class An Option?

Yes, Round The World tickets are available in Economy, Business, and First class. On our oneworld.com booking tool, there is a drop-down menu to select your preferred cabin class. Premium economy upgrades will show where available when you select flights.

Is Round The World Ticket First Class An Option?

How much does a round the world ticket cost.

Your Round the World fare is based on a few factors: the number of continents you visit or pass through or the distance travelled, the travel class selected, and the number of travelling passengers. Read on for more information about full fare rules and conditions [Note: Links open PDF in browser]:

What Are The Round The World Rules?

Read on for Round The World rules and conditions [Note: Links open PDF in browser]:

What Should I Know To Help Me Plan My one world Explorer Itinerary?

When planning your one world Explorer itinerary, here are tips to keep in mind:

Destinations are grouped into three zones and six continents:

Zone 1: North & South America

Zone 2: Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Zone 3: Asia and the South West Pacific

Your trip must be in a continuous forward direction, East or West, between Zone 1, Zone 2 and Zone 3. Backtracking within a continent is generally permitted, however some exclusions apply.

Your adventure can last from 10 days up to a year. Travel must be completed within 12 months of your original departure date.

Your trip must start and finish in the same city.

You must cross both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean on your journey.

Your journey can include three to six continents, and anywhere between three and 16 flights.

Review complete one world Explorer fare rules and conditions .

Can I Change Or Update My Round The World Itinerary?

Yes, one world Explorer, Global Explorer and one world Circle Pacific itineraries can be modified to accommodate changes to your Round The World plans.

If you booked your Round The World trip through oneworld.com, contact the ticketing airline (the airline you are flying on the first leg of your journey) to make changes to your itinerary.

If you booked your Round The World tickets through a travel agent, please contact the travel agent to make changes to your itinerary.

Will I Earn Frequent Flyer Points On A Round The World Trip?

Short answer: Yes, you will earn frequent flyer points on your Round the World trip.

Long answer: Yes. one world works in collaboration with all of our partner and member airlines to ensure that you’re rewarded no matter where you travel. On all eligible flights, you will accrue points or miles toward the airline of your choice and toward your one world tier status .

How Can I Pay For A one world Round The World Trip With Frequent Flyer Points?

Currently, it is not possible to use frequent flyer points to pay for a one world Round The World trip.

Does Your one world Explorer ticket include checked-in baggage?

Two free pieces of 23 kilos each shall be permitted. Additional allowances may apply. Refer to individual carrier websites.

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Plan an Around the World trip in 2024

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Ready Round-The-World Deals

Planning tips for your around the world trip, why book with airtreks.

Customer Testimonials

Welcome to airtreks.

Super Human Service on Around the World Tickets and your complex travel needs since 1987 My name is Sean Keener, I am the lead travel servant at AirTreks and I welcome you with open arms and gratitude.

You are in the “right place” if you…

• Know that you need an around the world ticket or an air ticket with 3 or more stops (We can do up to 100 stop for country counters)
• Are interested in this concept of slow travel or long-term travel.  We have been called authorities on this topic over the past decades
• Want to look at other options beside Disneyworld and Carnival Cruises and other manufactured travel experiences
• Want to explore the concept of collecting experiences vs material things
• You need a travel logistics partner to organize and book the best routes with best chance of being on time with less hassle
• Want to meet or read about people like you that have done around the world travel and how it impacted their lives and their communities.
• Want to see what an around the world trip might cost ?
• Want to explore taking your family on a life changing trip that will impact your childrens lives in ways a classroom or school can’t
• Need to book group international airfare for companies, groups, churches and schools.

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Round the World

Buying a multi-destination ticket has never been simpler.

Do you want to travel the world? Are you excited to discover and experience different countries and cultures? Are you looking for the best value for travelling to the world’s top iconic cities?

Our Star Alliance Book and Fly tool helps you plan and book multi-destination fares online. Certain exceptions apply. Alternatively, contact a member airline or your travel agent.

One Star Alliance ticket. Limitless travel possibilities.

Imagine embarking on a journey that takes you all around the world. Picture all the places you will go, the sights you will see, the people you will meet. Now imagine doing all of that and more, with just a single ticket.

The Star Alliance Round The World ticket offers you a travel experience unlike any other.

Journey across the world and visit up to 15 cities, while enjoying the kind of seamless flexibility and outstanding value for money that only the world’s largest airline network can offer. Where will your Round The World journey take you? Imagine your trip and make it a reality—all in just a few clicks with our Star Alliance Book and Fly tool. Certain exceptions apply. Alternatively, contact a member airline or your travel agent.

• Terms and Conditions

Book and Fly

• Single ticket valid on all Star Alliance members
• Every journey is different
• Follow our tips and reminders while booking

How to Map Your Journey

• Start and end in the same country
• Follow one global direction (East or West)
• Cross both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
• Have a minimum of 2 stops and maximum of 15 stops
• Travel between 10 days to 1 year
• Transits must be less than 24 hours
• Stopovers are more than 24 hours
• Check the terms and conditions for detailed inclusions

Flexibility

• Save your itinerary at any time
• Contact support 24/7
• Accrue frequent flyer points or miles
• Upgrade your flight or entire itinerary at any time, subject to availability

Round The World in Just a Few Clicks

Select your destinations.

Start by entering your Origin City. Then add destinations by entering the city name or by selecting cities on the map.

Choose Your Flights

The system will automatically select the flights for each segment, but you may also pick flights from the Star Alliance network that best cater to your needs.

Enter Your Details

Provide the necessary travel details such as your contact information and identification documents to help us secure your booking.

Pay Seamlessly

Enter your payment details to complete the transaction.

Circle Pacific

The itinerary can be accessed and changed by visiting staralliance.com and entering the Itinerary Code under 'Open Saved Itineraries' in the booking tool. Thank you for using the Star Alliance booking site for your journey.

• Planning: Please save your itinerary and copy the 20-character code for us to better assist you.
• Booking: We kindly ask that you refer to the terms & conditions for further booking details and reservation requirements.
• Availability: Please be reminded that pricing and availability is subject to change at any time without notice.
• Payment: If you experienced a problem with completing your payment, please indicate this when reaching out to our dedicated team of specialists.

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Round The World Tickets – The Essential RTW Guide

A Round the World ticket (RTW ticket) is a special kind of airfare that can take you around the world using different airlines.

RTW tickets are offered by the global airline alliances and also some specific airline partnerships.

This guide provides a detailed overview of Round-the-World airfares and discusses alternatives such as flying around the world using long-haul budget airlines.

Let’s jump straight in to our essential RTW ticket guide.

1. Introduction to Round the World Tickets

2. round the world ticket rules, 3. round the world tickets from airline alliances, 4. oneworld round the world tickets, 5. star alliance round the world tickets, 6. skyteam round the world tickets, 7. other round the world tickets, 8. round the world flights on long-haul budget airlines, 9. rtw ticket agents/brokers, 10. round-the-world ticket tips, 11. round the world tickets guide summary.

What is a Round the World ticket?

A RTW ticket is a special kind of airfare that is literally a circumnavigation of the world using a number of different airlines. With up to 16 possible flight segments, a RTW ticket is valid for 1 year after the first departure and must start and finish in the same country. It must follow either an easterly or westerly global direction of travel.

The following is an example of a Round-the-World ticket route starting in London, UK:

London-Dubai-Delhi-Bangkok-Hong Kong-Singapore-Perth-Sydney-Auckland-Honolulu-Los Angeles-San Francisco-London

or in airport code notation:

LHR-DXB-DEL-BKK-HKG-SIN-PER-SYD-AKL-HNL-LAX-SFO-LHR

This is quite a normal Europe-Asia-Oceania-North America RTW routing with 12 segments. In fact this was the first round-the-world flight itinerary we ever flew on – way back in the mid-1990s and well before the 3 main airline alliances were formed. In those days you got paper issued tickets and up to 24 segment coupons were possible!

How much does a Round-the-World ticket cost?

An economy RTW ticket will generally cost between $2,500-$6,000.

A  premium economy RTW ticket (where available) will roughly cost between $3,500-$7,500.

A business class RTW ticket will cost $5,000-$14,000 .

A first class RTW ticket costs $8,000-$20,000 .

Round the world ticket prices can vary significantly depending on the routing and the departure country. RTW tickets are bookable up to 12 months in advance and are in standard e-ticket format.

The benefit of RTW tickets is that they are a convenient package that allow you to visit many cities. This can include some of the more obscure places which would otherwise be expensive to reach on a single trip.

How about Chile’s Easter Island, Rarotonga, Vladivostok, Reunion Island or Svaalbard, to name but a few?

A well planned 16 segment RTW trip could save you 25-40% compared with buying standard point-to-point tickets.

A Round the World ticket must begin and end in the same country though not necessarily the same city in the case of larger countries. As examples, from the US you could start a RTW route from Boston and end it in Seattle; from Australia you could originate from Sydney and end in Brisbane, Melbourne etc.

As mentioned, you must follow either an easterly or westerly global direction of travel . Did you know that flying times will actually be quicker if travelling in an easterly direction due to the presence of the jet stream – about 6 hours faster globally than going westerly!

For RTW tickets there are 3 main geographic zones (known as Traffic Conferences ) which divide the world:

• TC1: Americas (including Greenland, Caribbean, Hawaiian Islands)
• TC2: EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa plus Seychelles)
• TC3: Asia and Oceania

On a RTW ticket you are permitted to cross each traffic conference once only; in addition, you can only cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans once each. However, backtracking within a single TC zone is permitted .

Most RTW ticket tariffs are based on total permitted mileage bands – from 26,000 to 39,000 miles . As a guideline, the circumference of the Earth at the equator is 24,900 miles.

A standard alliance RTW ticket allows 16 flight segments – thus up to 15 stopovers can be made between your origin and final destination city. In airfare terms, a stopover is regarded as staying at a destination 24 hours or more. The minimum amount of stopovers on a RTW ticket is 3.

A segment is actually a flight or flights between 2 cities under a single flight number. So Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta with KLM (KL809) is a single segment despite the stop in Kuala Lumpur. AMS-KUL-CGK is 1 segment but 2 sectors (2 take-offs and landing).

RTW tickets do allow you to include a maximum of 5 surface sectors . For instance one could fly into Bangkok (BKK) with the next flight being out of Singapore (SIN). In this case the trip BKK-SIN is taken independently of the RTW ticket, either overland or on another airline ticket. Note that a surface sector is still regarded as 1 flight segment and BKK-SIN mileage would also be added to the RTW ticket’s permitted total.

Watch out if flying in and out of a large city’s different airports as that would cost you a segment. For example, if you fly into London Gatwick and then leave out of London Heathrow, then Gatwick-Heathrow would be counted as 1 segment to be taken off your maximum allowable 16 segments.

RTW tickets are flexible in the sense that you can freely change the dates of your flights , subject to seat availability. Changing the routing on an alliance RTW would incur an extra charge of $125 plus any adjustment of taxes.

It is possible to have open segments on a RTW ticket which means that you do not yet have a date or confirmed seat for a specific segment. This may be less time consuming than booking everything in advance and then having to change the dates on multiple flight segments.

Children’s Round the World Tickets : Generally an infant under 2 who does not need a seat would pay 10% of the RTW fare; children 2-11 with a seat pay 75% of the RTW fare – although Star Alliance does not offer this discount on business and first class tickets.

Standard RTW tickets are offered from the global airline alliances Oneworld , Star Alliance and Skyteam . When considering a RTW ticket from an alliance take a good look at their route network as there may be some regions which are not as well covered.

Oneworld lacks a comprehensive route network in Africa but is very strong in Europe, North America and Australia.

Star Alliance is relatively weak in South America, the Middle East, Australia, Indonesia and Russia. It has extensive coverage of Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.

Skyteam lacks coverage in Australia/New Zealand and South America but has a good network in Europe, North America, Middle East and Asia. It has the best alliance network in China.

Alliance RTW tickets include the following checked baggage allowance. Economy class has 1 piece (20kg), business class 2 pieces (total 30kg) and first class 2 pieces (total 40kg).

Oneworld offers 2 types of round-the-world tickets based on either continents visited or maximum mileage.

The oneworld Explorer (ONE) ticket is based on number of continents visited (3, 4, 5 or 6) with no maximum mileage in either economy class (L), business class (D) or first class (A).

In terms of notation, an economy class oneworld Explorer ticket covering 4 continents would be a “ LONE4″ . A business class 5 continent ticket would be a “ DONE5″ and so on.

Oneworld defines its 6 continents as follows:

• Europe/Middle East including Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Russia west of the Urals, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen
• Africa (excluding countries named above)
• Asia including the Indian subcontinent, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia east of the Urals, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (excluding countries named above)
• Australia, New Zealand and the South West Pacific
• North America including the Caribbean, Central America and Panama
• South America

You can fly on 16 segments with a maximum of 4 segments in each continent (exception: 6 in North America). You can only stop twice in your continent of origin.

Travel is permitted on the following oneworld airlines and some limited partner/affiliate airlines: American Airlines (AA), British Airways (BA), Cathay Pacific (CX), Finnair (AY), Iberia (IB), Japan Airlines (JL), LATAM (JJ), Malaysia Airlines (MH), Qantas (QF), Qatar Airways (QR), Royal Jordanian (RJ), S7 Airlines (S7) and SriLankan Airlines (UL).

Note that LATAM is planning to leave Oneworld by October 2020.

The Oneworld Explorer is often the RTW ticket of choice from air travel pros due to the lack of mileage limitations. The ticket is valid from 10 days to 12 months.

Oneworld also sells mileage based RTW tickets called Global Explorer . There are 4 mileage tiers:

• Tier1: up to 26,000 miles (economy class only)
• Tier2: up to 29,000 miles (economy class only)
• Tier3: up to 34,000 miles (economy, business or first class)
• Tier4: up to 39,000 miles (economy class only)

The Global Explorer ticket allows travel on some other selected oneworld partners including Aer Lingus, Alaska Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Fiji Airways, Jetstar, Meridiana and WestJet.

Premium economy flights on Oneworld RTW tickets are available for a surcharge (per sector) on the following airlines where available: American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, Japan Airlines and Qantas.

Oneworld’s online booking tool is here . Tip: If you have an itinerary already in mind then just enter the airport codes like this: “LON HKG SYD SFO LON” to quickly complete your map route.

Star Alliance offers 3 mileage based Round-The-World tickets – with a maximum of 29,000 miles (RWSTAR1), 34,000 miles (RWSTAR2) and 39,000 miles (RWSTAR3). These are available in economy, premium economy, business class and first class.

Star Alliance also offers a cheaper 26,000 miles RTW special fare for economy (5 stops) and business class (15 stops).

Travel is permitted on the following Star Alliance airlines: Adria Airways (JP), Aegean Airlines (A3), Air Canada (AC), Air China (CA), Air India (AI), Air New Zealand (NZ), ANA (NH), Asiana Airlines (OZ), Austrian Airlines (OS), Avianca (AV), Brussels Airlines (SN), Copa Airlines (CM), Croatia Airlines (OU), Egyptair (MS), Ethiopian Airlines (ET), EVA Air (BR), LOT Polish Airlines (LO), Lufthansa (LH), Scandinavian Airlines (SK), Shenzhen Airlines (ZH), Singapore Airlines (SQ), South African Airways (SA), SWISS (LX), TAP Portugal (TP), Thai (TG), Turkish Airlines (TK) and United Airlines (UA).

You can go here to use the Star Alliance RTW Book and Fly tool which will give price quotations for Star Alliance Round-the-World tickets. For trip ideas see the Star Alliance inspiration page .

Similarly, Skyteam alliance offers 4 mileage based Round-The-World airfares in economy, business and first class. These have maximum mileage of 26,000 miles (RTWSKY 4), 29,000 miles (RTWSKY 3), 33,000 miles (RTWSKY 2) and 38,000 miles (RTWSKY 1).

3-15 stops are allowed on Skyteam RTW tickets with a validity of 10 days to 12 months.

These are available for travel on Skyteam carriers: Aeroflot (SU), Aerolineas Argentinas (AR), Aeromexico (AM), Air France (AF),  Air Europa (UX), Alitalia (AZ), China Airlines (CI), China Eastern (MU), China Southern (CZ), CSA Czech Airlines (OK), Delta (DL), Garuda Indonesia (GA), Kenya Airways (KQ), KLM (KL), Korean Air (KE), MEA (ME), Saudia (SV), Tarom (RO), Vietnam Airlines (VN) and Xiamen Air (MF).

Note Air Europa is likely to leave Skyteam.

Skyteam’s online Round the World ticket planner is here

A number of airlines market their own RTW tickets in conjunction with selected partners. These tend to be cheaper and are simpler products than the main alliance RTW offerings. Prices start from about $1,600 in economy.

The Great Escapade – This is a UK-based RTW airfare from Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Silk Air and Virgin Atlantic . The maximum permitted mileage is 29,000 miles although up to 4,500 miles can be added on at a rate of £130 per 1,500 miles. This fare has unlimited stops and is good for UK-Asia-Oceania-North America-UK. Prices depend on the route and start from about £1,300 in economy class; fares also available in premium economy and business class.

Virgin Australia offers a RTW fare from Australia in conjunction with Virgin Atlantic. You can fly around-the-world on these 2 airlines alone: Virgin Atlantic between Los Angeles-London-Hong Kong and Virgin Australia on Hong Kong-Melbourne-Los Angeles. There are other possible ticket combinations which also include Qantas and Cathay Pacific flights.

The alliance RTW tickets do not cover travel on no frills budget airlines. The likes of Easyjet and Ryanair , Air Asia, Scoot and Southwest all have excellent regional networks.

We are seeing the advent of long-haul budget airlines which can connect the regions offering cut-price travel. This gives the opportunity to construct an independent RTW ticket with a mix of airlines.

In theory it should be possible to put together a budget RTW ticket for little over $1,000 base fare although there are still some limitations on trans-Pacific flights. Also remember the budget airline fares do not include checked luggage – which could be important on a RTW trip where you may be hitting a variety of different climates – and this could add to the base cost significantly.

For those who don’t want to have the RTW ticket restrictions of 16 stops and 12 months, putting your own trip together using independent airlines might be a good option. Especially gap year travellers who are flexible and want to create their itinerary as they go.

Obviously you won’t earn any alliance frequent flyer miles if you go the budget route.

The following airlines offer long-haul budget flights:

LEVEL – This low-cost airline from International Airline Group (IAG) operates trans-Atlantic flights from its Barcelona and Paris Orly base. It flies to Boston, San Francisco and Buenos Aires and one-way prices start at $200.

Scoot – The Singapore-based budget airline has a good network covering south-east Asia and Australia. It also has flights to Athens and Berlin from Singapore. It uses Boeing 787 aircraft. Whilst base fares may be cheap, Scoot is well known for higher ancillary fees.

Air Asia X – The medium-haul arm of budget heavyweight Air Asia flies Kuala Lumpur-Honolulu via Osaka using an Airbus A330.

Jetstar – The Qantas low-cost subsidiary has an extensive network around Australia and Asia. It also flies from Sydney and Melbourne to Honolulu with fares from $225 one-way. It is actually possible to fly with Jetstar on  Oneworld Round the World tickets.

An example RTW budget itinerary would be:

London-Athens (easyjet); Athens-Singapore (Scoot); Singapore-Sydney (Scoot); Sydney-Honolulu (Jetstar); Honolulu-Vancouver (Westjet); Vancouver-London (Air Transat)

Now, we are not necessarily recommending you go out and book a budget RTW. The extra charges will certainly add up and each booking will be separate.

That said, some of the above budget airlines have very reasonable premium seat products. These could be a budget alternative to buying a RTW ticket in premium economy.

For those on a standard alliance RTW ticket, budget airlines can still be useful for taking cheap side trips whilst on your journey.

An interesting tool for putting together an independent RTW or multi-stop air ticket is Indie from US based agent Bootsnall. It can give you an immediate bookable quote for up to 18 stops (no mileage limits) and uses both standard and budget airlines.

Other well known specialist RTW agents are:

• Airtreks (US)
• STA Travel (UK/Australia)
• Trailfinders (UK)
• Roundtheworldflights.com (UK)
• Travel Nation (UK)
• Roundabouttravel (Australia)
• Airfare Geeks – MAVE Travel Group (Australia)

[We have no connection with any of the above agents.]

It is always worth getting multiple quotations for your RTW ticket from specialist agents/brokers as well as the airlines and alliances.

Generally you extract get better value from the alliances if making at least 10 stops. For those needing shorter round-the-world ticket itineraries (say 5-7 stops), an agent may be able to quote a cheaper ticket price than an alliance – particularly in business class.

Cheaper Airfare Countries – As with cheap business class tickets , you will save a significant amount of money (especially in business or first class) by buying and starting a RTW trip from one of the cheaper airfare countries – this includes Sri Lanka, Egypt, Mozambique and South Africa. Although you may sometimes have to find a local travel agent to ticket the fare and also need to factor in a positioning flight to that particular starting city.

For example, let’s take a simple OneWorld Explorer RTW route in business class London-Los Angeles-Sydney-Bangkok-Hong Kong-Doha-Johannesburg-London . The price (US dollars) varies depending on which is our starting city.

At the time of writing, the oneworld Explorer price from Los Angeles is $13,700; from Sydney $11,100; from London $10,800; and from Johannesburg $9,700. Simply by starting from Johannesburg instead of Los Angeles in this case, you could save $4,000.

The reason for the UK and South Africa being cheaper has been the recent relative weakness of the pound sterling and rand.

Prices have be as low as $5,000-$8,000 in some markets although airlines eventually raise prices if too many tickets are being sold to non-residents. Starting in Colombo (Sri Lanka) will price at just under $8,000.

It is also worth calculating the price per segment for your RTW ticket. Anything under $400 per segment for business class is very good value.

With 30 to 80 hours of flying time on a round-the-world ticket – depending on route and segments – maximising your business class experience can make your journey a lot more comfortable. Not only on board with flat seats and premium catering but also on the ground with dedicated check-in, fast-lane security and airport lounge access options .

Taxes and Surcharges – The first airline on the RTW itinerary will normally issue the ticket and calculate the taxes and fuel surcharges. RTW ticket fare calculations can be complex and there may be significant differences in taxes and charges between airlines – these can run anything up to about $2,200. Before booking, experiment by changing the airline of your first flight to see if the surcharges can be reduced.

That said it is worthwhile getting your RTW ticket issued by a major airline (such as British Airways or American Airlines) as making changes will probably be easier.

Airport taxes vary significantly so be flexible with your route and research alternative transport options as well – whether low cost airlines or high speed trains – and consider your surface sector options. With some of the highest air passenger taxes in the world, London UK may be one stopover to avoid.

Frequent Flyer Elite Status/Air Miles – If you are planning to fly on an alliance Round-The-World ticket then you definitely should be a member of one of the airline frequent flyer programs in the alliance.

Now flying on a paid business class RTW ticket from a cheaper country is an excellent way of accelerating yourself to top tier elite status in a frequent flyer program . Do watch the timing of the trip in terms of your membership year – whether you want to credit all the status miles over a single year or perhaps over 2 membership years.

Some flyers will try to max out the number of possible segments (16) and fly on the longest possible flights to get as many frequent flyer miles as possible – particularly on a Oneworld Explorer ticket which has no mileage limitations. You often have the choice of flying under a codeshare number rather than operating airline which can also make a difference to the award miles credited (depending on your airline program rules).

Lastly, never skip a flight on a RTW ticket as you risk your entire itinerary being cancelled. Always inform the airline in advance if you need to change the flight date.

Cabin Limitations – Be aware if buying a first class or premium economy class RTW ticket – many airlines/routes do not have these cabins available. First class seats tend to only be available on major routes.

Star Alliance carriers with a premium economy cabin are Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, EVA Air, Lufthansa, LOT Polish Airlines, SAS, Singapore Airlines, THAI and Turkish Airlines.

Nested RTW Tickets – If you do a significant amount of travelling it is possible to run more than one RTW ticket at the same time. Flyers with nested RTW tickets generally use the tickets to travel between their homebase and their favoured (cheaper) starting points.

RTW Tickets with Miles/Points – A number of airlines offer the possibility of booking an award round-the-world airline ticket – for a hefty amount of points. Here are a few examples:

Qantas (Oneworld) charges 132,400 (economy), 249,600 (premium economy), 318,000 (business) or 455,000 (first class) for a Round-the-World ticket up to 35,000 miles, 16 segments and 5 stopovers.

A RTW ticket (Star Alliance) using Lufthansa Miles&More points will cost 180,000 (economy), 335,000 (business) and 500,000 (first class) before applicable taxes and surcharges.

ANA offers round-the-world awards with up to 8 segments (with some restrictions) based on various total mileage bands. A trip of 25,001-29,000 miles costs 120,000 miles (economy) and 170,000 (business). Travelling between 44,001-50,000 miles costs 200,000 miles (economy) and 300,000 miles (business).

Skyteam’s Korean Air charges 140,000 SkyPass miles (economy) and 220,000 Skypass miles (business) for a Round-the-World ticket.

You can sometimes extract more value from an award chart by booking 2 or 3 long-haul one-way flights with stopovers and effectively creating your own RTW ticket.

We would probably recommend booking business class rather than economy class on rewards as it is priced at 1.5-2x points (compared with the standard 3.6x average business:economy airfare ratio).

And as we are talking about a significant chunk of miles/points needed for RTW tickets, don’t forget that airlines can always devalue their award charts at any given moment!

• A Round-The-World (RTW) ticket is a special airfare for circumnavigating the globe with up to 16 segments (15 stopovers) and valid for 12 months.
• Travel starts and ends in the same country and follows either an easterly or westerly direction. Up to 5 surface (overland) sectors can be included.
• RTW tickets are offered by the main global alliances – Oneworld, Star Alliance and Skyteam. Simpler RTW tickets can be offered by various airline partnerships.
• Tickets are normally mileage based (26,000-39,000 miles) or continent based and are generally issued by the first airline flown.
• Dates can be changed for free, route changes cost around $125.
• You can only cross the Atlantic and Pacific ocean once but can backtrack within a continent.
• Economy RTW tickets cost $2,500-$6,000 although more basic tickets can be cheaper.
• Premium economy RTW tickets (where available) cost roughly $3,500-$7,500.
• Business RTW tickets cost $5,000-$14,000 – mainly depending on the starting country and the strength/weakness of the local currency. Cheaper countries to start a RTW ticket include Sri Lanka, Egypt, Mozambique and South Africa.
• First class RTW tickets cost $8,000-$20,000 but ensure first class cabins are available on your proposed flight routes.
• Taxes and surcharges can cost up to $2,200 on a RTW ticket.
• RTW tickets can help you get top-tier elite status in a frequent flyer program and a significant amount of air miles/points, especially by maximising your route options.
• Get a quote from a RTW-specialist agent as they can sometimes be cheaper than an alliance fare, particularly for trips with less stops.
• It is possible to fly around-the-world using a mix of budget airlines which would can cost $1,000-$2,000, but watch for extra charges.

Article originally published June 13 2017. Last updated 9 Dec 2019.

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The In-Depth Guide to Buying an RTW Ticket

Last Updated: February 7, 2023

When it comes to planning an entire trip around the world , travelers have essentially two options: buy flights as you go or plan your route in advance.

Buying as you go gives you flexibility but risks you losing out if a flight is sold out (or overpriced).

Planning in advance requires more work upfront but makes for a more relaxing trip since all your planning is done before you go.

Both options have a place in your travel toolkit, but today, I want to focus on the latter.

Simply put, round-the-world (RTW) tickets are one of the most convenient ways to travel around the world. They make planning your trip simple and straightforward, allowing you to visit the destinations you want to see without having to worry about booking flights along the way.

You just plan your route, book your RTW ticket, and that’s it! They really take the hassle out of planning a complex trip over multiple continents and are a great choice for novice travelers who might not be comfortable improvising a trip on the fly.

And to top it all off, by purchasing your ticket in one bulk RTW package, you can usually save yourself some money too — which is always a plus in my book!

That said, knowing if a RTW ticket is the best way to get around the world really depends on the kind of trip you are taking. Round the world tickets come with many rules and conditions that might not work for you.

In this post, I’ll go over everything you need to know to help you decide if a RTW ticket is the right choice for you and your next globetrotting adventure.

Table of Contents

How Do Round the World Tickets (RTW) Work?

Star alliance round the world tickets, oneworld round the world tickets, skyteam round the world tickets, how much do round-the-world rickets cost.

• Where Can You Book an Around the World Ticket?

Are RTW Tickets Worth Buying?

• Book Your RTW Ticket

Before we begin, what exactly is an RTW ticket? RTW tickets are actually airline alliance flight passes. An airline alliance is a partnership in which airlines share seats on planes, passengers, and elite status benefits. You buy a ticket from one airline that can be used with them and their partners for one price that lets you travel around the world on that one ticket.

For example, if you book with United Airlines (Star Alliance), your ticket is only good for airlines that United partners within that alliance.

And if you book with American Airlines (which is part of the Oneworld airline alliance), you can only use their partners.

Since American Airlines doesn’t fly everywhere in the world, you’ll need to rely on its partners. Say you need to get from New York City to Nairobi, Kenya (a destination American doesn’t serve). You may technically book your flight with American Airlines for that route, however, you will actually fly one of its airline partners on the sections of the journey that American Airlines doesn’t fly.

It’s important to remember that none of these alliances include the world’s budget airlines such as Ryanair (Europe), Southwest (US), Air Asia (Asia), or Tiger (Asia/Australia). These airlines offer fewer amenities and cheaper fares than the “major” airlines of the world (i.e. large, international carriers that are part of an alliance).

But they also are less comfortable too, which is the trade-off.

RTW tickets can be purchased for seats in economy, business, and first-class. They also come with a number of terms and conditions. Generally speaking, a RTW ticket is valid for one year from the start date and requires you to end in the same country you start in. You don’t need to end in the same city but you need to end in the same country.

Here is a breakdown of the rules for each major airline alliance’s round the world ticket:  

Journeys need to start and end in the same country and go one direction: east or west. You’ll need to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and can only do so once (so no doubling back).

You’ll get up to 16 flights on your ticket and the ability to cover up to 39,000 miles (which is enough to get you to almost every continent). They also provide free rebooking should you need to make any changes once you’re on the road (there are some caveats to that, which you can read int heir terms here .

Using their booking map, you’ll be able to create a 100% unique itinerary based on where you want to go. They also provide several thematic suggestions based on world history, romantic getaways, world wonders, food and wine, and more. Be sure to check them out for ideas and inspiration to get the ball rolling.

You can also have up to 5 “surface” sections in your itinerary. This just means you can travel from one destination to another 5 times outside of your RTW itinerary.

For example, you can fly to London as part of your RTW ticket and then have your onward flight depart from Paris . That will allow you to get to Paris from London via a cheaper flight or train ticket, allowing you to save money.

The distance between “surface” sections is still counted toward your overall 39,000 miles but surface sections can save you money when cheaper budget options are available (or if you’d just prefer to travel overland in certain regions/countries.)

They also have a second RTW ticket option, though it’s not a traditional RTW plan. It’s called Circle Pacific and it lets you travel in a circle around all of the countries that border the Pacific Ocean. So, instead of going around the globe you’ll be looping around the Pacific Ocean, starting and ending in the same destination.

The journey is good for up to 6 months (compared to the 1 year offered by their standard RTW ticket). Some of the most popular countries and regions included in this plan are Australia , New Zealand , Fiji , China , Japan , Southeast Asia , Vanuatu , Hawaii (and the rest of the US), and Canada .  

Oneworld Explorer is their segment-based pass, which focuses on continents. You can choose plans that offer access to 3, 4, and 6 continents. The more continents you plan to visit, the more expensive your ticket.

The plan also includes up to 16 segments (same as Star Alliance), however, there are no overland penalties. And since it’s continent-based, there’s no maximum mileage limit either. One of the benefits of this option is that every segment is counted the same — whether it’s a two-hour flight or a ten-hour flight — so you can really maximize long-haul flights and cover a lot of ground.

Their Global Explorer plan is the mileage-based pass (similar to the Star Alliance option). It has four options for milage: 26,000, 29,000, 34,000, and 39,000. Those (very roughly) translate to 3, 4, 5, and 6 continents.

The third option is Oneworld’s version of the Circle Pacific, which is effectively the same as the Star Alliance option.

Overall, Oneworld has access to slightly fewer destinations than Star Alliance (1,100 compared to 1,250) but all of the major regions are within reach. Unless you’re looking to get far from the tourist trail and visit obscure destinations, Oneworld will be able to get you to wherever you want to go.  

SkyTeam is the third option for RTW tickets. They have a plan similar to Star Alliance’s RTW ticket, however, they offer a rather limited version of it. The carriers and destinations are not nearly as comprehensive as either Star Alliance or Oneworld.

Personally, I wouldn’t even bother looking at their options. Both Star Alliance and Oneworld have much better products.  

On most RTW tickets, you can change the dates and times your ticket at no extra charge — as long as you don’t change the destinations.

For example, if you have a Tokyo to Los Angeles flight that you want to change, you can change the date and time without a fee. However, if you decide to fly from Tokyo to San Francisco instead then you have to pay a fee (usually around $125 USD).  

Where Can You Book a Round the World Ticket?

While you can book RTW tickets directly with the airlines above, you can usually find a better deal by booking through a third party.

Third-party bookers don’t just deal with one alliance — they mix and match from all available airlines (excluding budget airlines) to find the lowest price, which saves you money. Moreover, the overland mileage doesn’t count against your flight because there is no mileage limit.

In short, you’ll want to compare booking direct with booking via a third-party company, though it’s most likely that the third party site will have the better price.  

That depends.

RTW tickets are great for people with a set schedule. If you know your travel dates and destinations and don’t plan on changing your trip very much, an RTW ticket will save you a lot of time and a bit of money.

RTW tickets cost a lot, but if you pick one of the popular travel routes, you will find that you will save money in the end. Buying a ticket on a route like this will most likely cost less than if you were to book all your flights separately. You’ll also get more peace of mind since you have a company to help you with any changes you need to make, not to mention the fact that you’ll have everything planned before you leave home so that, once out in the world, you’ll be able to relax and enjoy yourself.

You should buy a RTW ticket if…

• You’re happy to fly on a set schedule
• You don’t plan to change your dates a lot
• You’re buying tickets for a big group like a family
• You don’t like budget airlines
• You’re visiting a lot of far-flung destinations and taking lots of long-haul flights
• You’re already a frequent flier and are looking to gain perks

If you are any of the above, a round the world ticket will probably save you at least 15-25% off the price of point-to-point tickets.

You should NOT buy a RTW ticket if…

• You want to fly a lot of budget airlines
• You don’t care about points or miles
• You have not set plan
• You’ll be gone longer than a year

If your trip matches any of these points, booking on your own, using budget carriers, and waiting for deals is going to work out a lot cheaper than buying a RTW ticket.

However, there is no definitive answer as to whether or not you should buy one of these tickets. It really depends a lot on your specific trip. A lot of people swear by around-the-world tickets and I believe that for the right trip, these tickets can be PERFECT.

You just have to figure out if your trip is the right trip for this kind of ticket.

To do that, use the interactive booking tools on the booking sites above. They all have websites where you can plan your route and get price estimates. That’s going to be the best way to compare prices and figure out which option is best for you.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner . It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld . If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

• SafetyWing (best for everyone)
• Insure My Trip (for those 70 and over)
• Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage)

Want to Travel for Free? Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals.

Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip? Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more.

Ready to Book Your Trip? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip.

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We have exceptional  round the world tickets  from SWISS, Lufthansa, Finnair, Austrian, Qantas, oneworld, Star Alliance and more. Our experts understand the ins and outs of travel, as we only hire experienced consultants with a focus on on-board product quality and frequent flyer accrual as part of our detailed cost-benefit analysis. We are ATAS accredited and winner of multiple awards over our 15 years of trading.

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The Pro’s and Con’s of Buying a RTW Ticket

By: Author Adam Cheshier

Posted on Last updated: September 24, 2021

If you're planning a trip around the world, a 'round the world ticket (RTW ticket) can help save you time and money.

Keep reading, and we'll show you how, as well as some of the downsides of buying flights as you go.

Table of Contents

What is a Round the World Ticket?

Booking yourself, using a travel agent, making up your own rtw ticket, rtw tickets summary.

A 'round the world ticket is a single airline ticket that includes flights to different cities, countries, and continents.

Some travelers prefer to book RTW tickets rather than deal with the hassle of booking flights as they go.

It is a more organized strategy for a long trip, providing a set itinerary and less uncertainty.

An around-the-world ticket can save you money and grant your family the peace of mind of generally knowing where you will be and when.

However, a RTW ticket isn't for everyone.

For travelers who live by the old saying “schedules are for trains and plans are for architects,” a RTW ticket may feel restrictive.

Having a set itinerary from the get-go isn't necessarily everyone's style. And there's no guarantee that a RTW ticket will end up saving you money.

It requires a lot more attention to detail in the planning stages of your journey and could keep you constantly on the move, even on rainy days when you don't have the energy.

However, even if you feel like you're not the type of traveler to book a round the world ticket, it's worth continuing to read to find out in what ways a RTW ticket could be to your benefit.

How to Book a RTW ticket

There are two ways to book your round the world ticket; either you do all the research, pricing, and buying yourself, or you work with a travel agent who will help you with all the heavy lifting.

We will break it down both ways, so you know which is better for you.

If you decide to book a RTW trip yourself, sign up for any and every frequent flyer program that crosses your path – that is if you haven't already.

A big trip around the world can result in many loyalty points and possibly save you money on future trips.

A few of the largest frequent flyer programs in the travel industry are Star Alliance and oneworld . These are excellent programs with which to start.

Each program combines points from dozens of airlines worldwide, which means you'll probably book at least one flight that can contribute to one of these programs.

You can also use a travel agent. It is well-debated whether or not travel agents save you money.

On the one hand, their job is to find the best deals on flights for you. On the other, what money they save on good flight deals could be lost due to commission rates they receive.

Dave, the Editor in Chief at Go Backpacking, used AirTreks , a company specializing in RTW tickets, when he wanted help booking the first four flights for his trip around the world. 

AirTreks are experts at what they do. He was happy with the service they provided and would gladly work with them again.

Their services, tailored to backpackers and long-term travelers, are worth working with to help ease the burden of planning.

The main advantage of scheduling your own around the world trip is the total freedom to go where you want when you want and on a travel budget that works for you.

It also assures you that you've exhausted all options and you know you're booking the most affordable flights possible.

For more, check out our guide on how to book a cheap flight . 

It may also mean you're able to use travel points or miles you've accumulated over time by signing up and using travel rewards credit cards .

Travel agents won't be able to apply those points to your round the world ticket, which means you're missing an opportunity to save thousands!

Booking each leg of your trip allows you to familiarize yourself with budget airlines around the world that traditional travel agents may not use.

Many times, the commission rates of budget airlines aren't worth a travel agent's time, and, therefore, they will skip right over a budget flight that could save you money.

Scheduling and booking the trip for yourself will allow you to schedule the right length of layovers, pick your seats on board, and will probably leave you better researched for each particular city on your itinerary.

However, with all the advantages of booking yourself comes the time-consuming disadvantages (which may end up driving you up a wall).

The details can become overwhelming and confusing, which is why travel agents use specific computer systems to keep it all straight.

And, in the end, you may not even save enough to warrant all the hassle.

Whether or not you should book RTW tickets is dependent on what type of traveler you are.

Below we've highlighted what we believe are the main focus points of what you just read:

• Your trip will be more organized with a RTW ticket
• RTW tickets could be restrictive if you are a spontaneous traveler
• You can book a RTW ticket yourself or through an agent 
• Working with a company like AirTreks can save you time and money when buying a RTW ticket

There are pros and cons to every choice you make while traveling, and your decision to book a 'round the world ticket is just the beginning.

If you're on the fence about whether or not a RTW ticket is for you, let us know your concerns in the comments below – maybe we can help!

Adam is the Community Manager at Go Backpacking . You can find more of his writing on his own blog, Wanderway . Read his debut travel fiction novel, Summer of '92 , on Amazon now!

Planning a trip? Go Backpacking recommends:

• G Adventures for small group tours.
• Hostelworld for booking hostels.

lombokwander

Thursday 16th of May 2019

Nice tips and suggestion

• Is It Worth It?

Around The World Ticket: Is It Worth It?

by Jason Moore

*This post contains affiliate links – if you decide to purchase anything through those links we receive a small commission at no extra charge, and you’ll be supporting Zero To Travel. Thanks!

An around the world ticket (also known as an RTW ticket for short, or “Round the World”) is a special type of plane ticket that allows you to circumnavigate the globe.

When done right, booking an RTW ticket can save you a lot of money.

That being said, around the world trip planning isn’t your ordinary Google Flights search for a few sweet deals. This is a whole different way to travel.

Stringing together multiple flights across several continents requires strategic planning, skillful budgeting, a lot of knowledge about international travel, and hours and hours of research. It’s a daunting task, but almost every RTW trip starts by answering one simple question:

Should you buy an Around The World ticket or book each leg of the trip as you go?

The answer to this question will impact your budget, timeline, destinations, and even how you travel. Booking an around the world ticket (or not booking one!) is a big deal, and honestly, RTW trips aren’t for everyone.

So let’s dig into the pros and cons of Around The World tickets with a look at the average price for one, common rules and restrictions, how to make changes and cancellations to RTW flights, and a few pro tips to help you add more stops, score free layovers, and get the best bang for your buck on your RTW ticket.

Here’s what will cover…

Around the World Ticket FAQs

What is an Around The World Ticket and How Does It Work? How Much Does an Around The World Ticket Cost? What is an Air Alliance and How Do They Work? What’s the Difference Between Booking with Airline Alliances and Travel Agents or Booking Sites? What are the Rules and Restrictions of an Around The World Ticket? Can You Change Dates or Destinations While Traveling on an RTW Ticket? How Long is an Around The World Ticket Good For? How Many Stops Can You Book on an Around The World Ticket? Do You Always Have to Start and End in the Same City on an RTW Ticket? Why Can’t You Backtrack with an RTW Ticket? Can You Use Budget Airlines in an RTW Ticket? Can You Redeem Points or Miles for Around The World Tickets? Tips, Tricks, & Travel Hacks for Around The World Tickets When is the Best Time to Book an Around The World Ticket? The Pros and Cons of Around The World tickets Podcast Episode Show Notes

[spp-player]

Listen to the full Zero to Travel podcast episode featuring around the world ticket expert Dale Vaughn from AirTreks as he shares his tips and advice for booking an RTW ticket.

What is an Around The World Ticket and How Does It Work?

An RTW ticket is an around the world one-way ticket with a bunch of stops along the way. You can tailor your trip to however many destinations and continents you like, but there are (generally) only three rules for an RTW ticket:

• You have to book every stop and destination in advance
• You always have to fly in the same direction (always flying east to west, for example)
• RTW tickets are good for up to 11 months from start to finish

The specific rules and restrictions of your Around The World ticket can vary based on if you book with an airline alliance vs. a third-party travel company like AirTreks or STA Travel.

We’ll get into all the pricing, red tape, and RTW travel hacks down below, but that’s the nuts and bolts of an RTW ticket. Or as AirTreks Marketing Director, Dale Vaughn puts it:

“An around the world ticket is exactly what it sounds like. You go in one direction around the world—circumnavigating it—with a handful of stops along the way.”

So if Around The World tickets are just a string of flights on different airlines, what’s the advantage of buying an RTW ticket upfront vs booking each leg of travel separately as you travel?

The answer is simple—it costs a lot less when you buy everything in advance. And the reason why has to do with what happens when you buy multiple flights at once and the weird world of airline alliances.

How Much Does an Around the World Ticket Cost?

Obviously, it’s impossible to give an average price for an Around The World ticket. Every RTW ticket varies based on your starting city, the number of stops, when you fly, the duration of your trip, and flights and airlines you choose.

“It all depends on where you are and where you want to go,” argues Vaughn from AirTreks. “But, it would be very easy to plan an around the world trip with four or five stops for around $2000 or less,” he continues. “We have a travel planner, named Nicola, who lives in London. She planned an RTW trip from London > Chicago > LA > New Zealand > Bangkok > London for less than $2000.”

Again, that price is just one example of a common RTW route. Don’t be surprised if your dream Round The World trip costs closer to $5000—or even more. And that difference is largely based on who you book your RTW ticket through (an alliance vs a travel agent or booking site) and how the three big airline alliances work when you buy an Around The World ticket.

What is an Airline Alliance?

Almost all Around The World tickets are air alliance flight passes. That means that you’re basically buying a “pass” to use multiple airlines within a single alliance. And almost every major airline belongs to one of three airline alliances:

• Star Alliance – 27 members including United, Air Canada, and Lufthansa
• Oneworld – 13 members including American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas
• Sky Team – 20 members including Air France, Delta, and KLM

Airline alliances were started in the late 90’s to make international travel easier, and more affordable by leveraging larger networks for better connections, more destinations, and competitive prices. So it’s no surprise that the three major alliances have dominated RTW ticketing for the past 15 years.

Airline alliances are why your last trip to Europe probably started on a United flight out of New York or LA and ended with a Lufthansa connection in Germany. You didn’t book with Lufthansa, but both Lufthansa and United are part of the Star Alliance network. So United works with them to get you to your final destination instead of going through the hassle of creating their own flight to a city they don’t service regularly. This is essentially how alliances book RTW tickets. But things are changing.

What’s the Difference Between Booking with Airline Alliances & Travel Agents or Booking Sites?

When you book an Around The World ticket through an alliance you only get access to the airlines in that alliance.

When you book through a third-party travel company they can mix and match flights and destinations to tailor your dream trip to your ideal budget. It’s just a larger pool to draw from.

“You can book an RTW ticket from London > Chicago > LA > New Zealand > Bangkok > London for less than $2000”

Remember that an Around The World ticket is really just one booking for multiple flights from different airlines. You can’t book your entire RTW trip through American or Delta because they won’t go to all the places you want to visit.

Instead, you create an Around The World ticket by choosing flights and destinations from within an alliance network and the end result is that your ticket is a little cheaper and the trip easier than booking every single flight on your own. At least that’s the goal.

However, the benefits of airline alliances don’t always go to the customers, and alliance RTW tickets can come with a lot of rules and restrictions.

A Guide to the Most Common Round The World Ticket Rules & Restrictions

According to Vaughn, Around The World tickets through an alliance usually come with a fair bit of red tape:

“The alliances are basically a partnership between airlines that give each other better rates, although you don’t typically see the benefits of these better rates,” explains Vaughn. “When you book an RTW ticket through an alliance or try to book the entire trip yourself you’re typically restricted to major hub cities and major airlines.”

Vaughn argues that alliance RTW tickets usually aren’t as flexible as something from a professional travel service like AirTreks . And for most people, flexibility is kind of the whole point of booking an Around The World trip.

Here are some answers to the most common questions concerning rules and restrictions on Around The World tickets.

Can You Change Dates or Destinations While Traveling on an RTW Ticket?

When you change your ticket (if that’s possible through your RTW provider), you’ll almost always have to pay a change fee. Altering your Around The World ticket is like changing any other flight. You’ll usually have to pay the difference between your old flight and your new flight and you’ll likely pay some kind of admin fee.

The same goes for changing dates and pushing back a connection. “It all depends on the airline,” explains Vaughn.

Change fees can add up regardless of who you use. So while it’s nice to have some flexibility built into your RTW ticket through a travel agency or booking site like AirTreks , you should really put some time and thought into your timing and destinations. Or, as Vaughn cautions, it pays to work with a person instead of a booking site:

“When you plan a trip and you know that you’re gonna be creative on the ground, it helps to be involved with a person instead of a search algorithm because algorithms can’t help you with that kind of flexible creative travel planning.”

Pro Tip: Budget for short roundtrip flights or bus trips from select hubs instead of adding stops or making major reroutes to your Around The World ticket.

How Long is an Around The World Ticket Good For?

Most RTW tickets have a time restriction of 11 months to complete your trip. But that’s changing. AirTreks offers RTW trips that can last for years. According to Vaughn, the timeline is up to you:

“If you want to break the Guinness World Record and see all 197 countries in less than two years, you’d contact us. We’ve helped multiple people break the record, and that takes two, three years for people to do.”

But the catch is that AirTreks (and almost every airline search engine in the world) can only book flights up to one year at a time because flights just aren’t released that far in advance, let alone pricing. That’s the main reason that Around The World tickets typically “expire” within 11 months—you can’t book tickets more than a year in advance.

How Many Stops Can You Book on an Around The World Ticket?

The short answer is: as many as you want. The whole point of an Around The World ticket is to take you around the world. That can include as few as three stops or more than 20. It’s your call. The only difference is the price.

An RTW ticket with only three destinations can cost as little as $1500 while a more extravagant RTW ticket with a dozen destinations can be upwards of $10,000. It’s all about customizing your ticket to your ideal trip and finding the budget that works for you.

Do You Always Have to Start and End in the Same City on an RTW Ticket?

Yup. You can book all kinds of trips and all kinds of combo flights, but if you book an RTW with an alliance or a third-party vendor you have to start and end in the same city.

Image Credit: AirTreks

Why Can’t You Backtrack with an Around The World Ticket?

One of the core restrictions for most Around The World tickets is the rule against “backtracking” or traveling in more than one direction (i.e. always east to west). For whatever reason, it’s just cheaper to fly in the same direction for all your flights. It’s just one of those things, even among airline alliances. That’s the main reason Around The World booking agents don’t typically allow switching directions—it just costs them more.

However, AirTreks says they don’t have any restrictions on the direction you can travel. “There are some ways to save money by going in the same direction,” argues Vaughn, “but that’s flexible. You can go in any direction, you can go in loops, you can go back and forth.”

Can I Book Budget Airlines in an Around The World Ticket?

You can always book a budget airline like Spirit or RyanAir, but it’s not always worth the savings. Most budget airlines charge extra for checked and carry on bags , have small cramped seating, and don’t provide the same in-flight amenities as other airlines.

Work with your booking company (or price out other options) to see if that Spirit Airlines flight from NYC to Costa Rica is really worth saving $40 (spoiler alert: it isn’t).

Can You Redeem Points or Miles for Around The World Tickets?

You can always book legs of your trip with miles , but not typically through booking sites. You usually have to handle miles and points booking directly with the airline. So that’s an added hassle. Also, many travel agents don’t make any money off of trips or RTW legs booked with miles, so they’ll typically offload that responsibility to you.

If you’re a can-do person, you can use miles and points to book parts (or all!) of your RTW ticket.

Tips, Tricks & Travel Hacks For Around The World Tickets

When is the best time to book an around the world ticket.

You’ve probably heard that the sooner you book your ticket, the better, but that’s just not true.

“The sweet spot for the best prices for flights is typically between four and six months out,” argues Vaughn. “The only exception is the holidays (December).”

And he has the data to prove it: “We measured this over thousands of different trips and we found on average you’re going to save between 30-40% on the price of the ticket when you book 4-6 months ahead of time.”

Look for Free Stopovers

A lot of people don’t know that they can get free stopovers and layovers in multiple destinations with the right carriers. Use the airline booking system to your advantage. As of January 2019, Turkish Airlines does a free hotel stopover in Budapest if you fly with them. So you not only get a free stopover in a fantastic destination, you get a free hotel if you book with them. You don’t even have to add it as a separate destination.

Pro Tip: The AirTreks trip planner will even give you suggestions for free stopovers at certain destinations.

Fly in the Same Direction

Yes, you can backtrack on RTW trips with AirTreks or other travel agents, but it’ll cost you. Fly in one direction and help keep costs down.

Crossing the Equator Costs Money

According to Vaughn, “Crossing the equator adds a couple of hundred dollars to your trip. If you can bunch your southern and northern hemisphere trips together it helps with cost-cutting.” Try to only cross the equator twice.

Get Travel Insurance

C’mon. You’re going around the freaking world. Get travel insurance. We love World Nomads travel insurance .

Tell People You’re Going to Travel the World

“When you say I want to travel the world in your diary, that’s one thing. But when you tell Facebook or your friends, it’s real,” argues Vaughn. “You can’t go back after that,” he adds.

Commit to Yourself

Vaughn adds that saying “yes” to yourself is a huge part of planning a successful RTW trip:

“Have you given yourself permission to take the trip of your life, or are you gonna let this be a dream? After that, it’s just a matter of planning.” AirTreks even offers free tools to help you talk to your boss about your RTW trip. So that’s awesome.

RTW Pros and Cons: Should You Buy an Around The World Ticket?

RTW travel really is for anyone and everyone, but AirTreks has found that many of their trips are popular with certain types of travelers.

Around The World Tickets are great if you’re a:

• Gap Year Traveler
• Taking a Career Sabbatical
• Family Traveler (especially if you’re buying lots of flights for the kids!)
• Senior & Retiree
• Solo Traveler & Digital Nomad

And Around The World Tickets are great if you:

• Like sticking to a schedule
• Have the budget to pay for changes
• Want those frequent flier miles
• Hate budget airlines
• Plan to go to off the grid destinations

Airtreks has an awesome flight booking tool to help you see if an RTW ticket is right for you.

Podcast Show Notes

Since 1987, AirTreks has been a leader in multi-stop international travel and is the leading expert on RTW plane tickets. You’ll love that their team is made up of experienced independent travelers who truly care about your trip.

In this podcast you’ll learn:

• Differences of round the world tickets vs. normal plane tickets
• Advantages and disadvantages of a RTW ticket
• How to create a blank canvas for travel
• The general cost of RTW tickets (and how to keep the cost low)
• How to learn about hidden costs for trips
• How you can get incentives to hang out in certain cities
• Specific travelers that benefit from round the world tickets
• The best way to plan your route
• And so much more!
• Tortuga Backpacks
• Round The World Travel + GAP Year For All! With Sean Keener

* Tortuga and Airtreks references contain affiliate links – if you decide to purchase anything through those links I’ll receive a small commission at no extra charge and you’ll be supporting my work. Thanks!

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How to Travel Around the World and Plan an RTW Trip

Thinking of an around the world (RTW) trip? Whether you are a student planning a gap year, a family ready to take your life on the road, or an empty nester ready for an adventure of a lifetime, we have some advice from those who have already taken the plunge.

Booking a round-the-world (RTW) trip can be a complex business, so I’ve gathered the best tips, tricks & advice.

Ads are how we pay our bills and keep our blog free for you to enjoy. We also use affiliate links; if you make a purchase through them, we may receive a small commission at no cost to you.

Top Tips to Travel Around the World and Plan an RTW Trip

RTW travel is the ultimate trip. What you need to know to circumnavigate the planet while stopping off wherever takes your fancy.

Best Places to Book Cheap Airfare

If you are yet to book your airfare, I thought I’d share two of my favorite resources for cheap airfare. 

• CheapOAir   You can use ‘CheapOair explore’ feature to find cheap flights to anywhere in the world. CheapOAir lets you find the best flight deals and book airline tickets at the cheapest price possible.
• AirTreks creates “Round the World” — sometimes referred to as RTW — tickets by finding the best individual airline tickets based on the lowest available fares. RTW tickets enable travelers to fly around the world stopping in many locations for a relatively low price. 

My favorite travel insurance: One last thing before you get started! Have you looked into travel insurance yet? You can Click Here to find the best deal on travel insurance and why you should not travel without it.

19 Travel Experts share their top tips for RTW travel

I asked 19 travel experts to share their top tips for RTW travel, how they researched and budgeted for their trip and their favorite stop on their RTW trip. I’m positive, these stories about travel around the world will inspire you to plan your own RTW trip !

RTW Travel Tips from Leanne Scott of theglobetrottergp.com

Trip Length:  4 Months Number of Places Visited: 10 Countries

I took 4 months to travel from Australia (where I’d been working for 2 years) back home to the UK. I wanted to pack in as many experiences as possible into 4 months as I knew my travel opportunities would be a bit limited for a few years when I got home. So I was a little over-ambitious and managed to squeeze in 10 countries!

My route took me through the Australian outback into Thailand where I spent a week sailing around Thai islands. I took the well-trodden indo-china loop through Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos before traveling to Indonesia via Malaysia and Singapore. I then hopped over to East Africa and spent my final 3 weeks on safari in Kenya and Tanzania.

Because my time was limited and my plans were ambitious, I decided the best way to fit a lot into such a short time was to take several adventure tours. I took several tours with  G Adventures and Intrepid . Its a faster-paced way of travel but I had some incredible experiences and made some amazing friends en-route.

The Cost: It is a slightly more expensive way to travel and my trip cost me around £12000 but I took a lot of flights and 6 tours in this time.

When I have the luxury of time, I travel a lot slower savoring my time in each place. But when I’m short of time I still occasionally take a small group tour.

I’m so torn which was my favorite countries I visited during my whirlwind RTW trip but it’s probably a close tie between Laos and Indonesia. Both Kwang Si waterfalls in Laos and The Gili Islands in Indonesia are incredibly relaxing places where I could recover after some fast paced travel!

RTW Travel Tips from  Zenja from Bearly Here   

Trip Length: 6 Months Number of Places Visited: 5 continents and 22 countries.

During preparations, we were overwhelmed by all the information you can get online about buying your flights, but after all the research we decided to go for a combination of flexibility and affordability. Instead of RTW tickets, we bought all our flights separately. For the total of 9 flights, 4 of which were intercontinental, we paid 2368 USD per person.

Here are our tips: 1. Consider other forms of transportation. In some places (like South America or Russia) it might be cheaper to take a bus, train or even a ferry. Pros: beautiful views and possibly money saved on accommodation. Cons: can be less comfortable and takes longer time. 2. Take advantage of frequent flyer programs. For our first class ticket from Singapore to New Zealand, we paid 49 USD per person, thanks to previously collected bonus points. 3. Book less of the trip in advance. You don’t have to plan your trip 100%, and if you fall in love with a tiny fisherman village, you can stay there longer. 4. Make yourself familiar with RTW tickets limitations. It would be a pity to compromise on a trip of a lifetime because of a few formalities.

Favorite location:  While we visited many incredible countries, during this trip, we left our hearts in Bolivia. Bolivia’s nature is absolutely stunning; its quaint charming towns and friendly people are so inviting that you just don’t want to leave. Salt flats, lake Titicaca, archeological sites and rainforests – it’s truly magnificent.

Round the World Travel Tips from Tomáš Novák of  etabroad.com

Trip Length:  4 Months Number of Places Visited:  8 countries

How to buy cheap flight tickets for RTW trip

We did a quick RTW trip and in 4 months visited 8 countries. Some were popular locations and some less common. As we live in the Czech Republic, it is not the usual country to start an RTW trip. Because of this, we couldn’t use any special tool for buying RTW air ticket as they are very expensive especially when we wanted to visit countries such as Uzbekistan or Bolivia.

We made a basic plan and choose some spots/countries we wanted to visit and how long we want to stay there. Then we monitored airfare prices and bought the tickets at the cheapest price.

The result was that we bought tickets even on the jump and not in the order we wanted to fly them. That means we added some stops because we founded a cheap flight there. We bought the first flight ticket about 6 months before departure and the last one about 2 months before we left home.

A good destination where you can stop on the RTW trip and usually buy very cheap tickets is South-East Asia as there are many low-cost carriers. Another very good and usually cheap route is Sydney-Honolulu because there is daily service of Jetstar Airways.

Favorite destination – Bolivia

Bolivia was our dream for a few years because this country can offer a very broad variety of activities for any traveler. We enjoyed bike downhill on the Death road, visited huge dessert covered with snow or visited active mine.

RTW Travel Tips from Sarah and Justin  travelbreatherepeat.com

Trip Length: 13 months Number of Places Visited:  27 countries & three continents

Our RTW trip was the best year of our lives. In addition to numerous trains, buses, bicycles, and boats, we took 30 flights on almost as many airlines. A lot of planning goes into RTW trips, and sometimes that can be overwhelming. But if you’re going to take a year off from your normal life to travel, you might as well have fun planning it too. Here are our top tips to help you out.

• Start planning early. We started planning nine months in advance. From creating bucket lists to budgets to thinking about what we would pack and how we would store all of our belongings, there’s was a lot to plan. The earlier you start working on everything in an organized way (we used a lot of spreadsheets), the better.
• Know yourself and your travel style. Are you a planner or more laid back? Do you like luxury accommodations or hostels? Do you like seeing all the sights and attractions or just soaking in the local vibe of a place. Don’t worry about what you see on Instagram or other blogs. This is your trip, so do what makes you happy. Plus, your style will impact your budget, itinerary, and what you do every day, so it really is important.
• Decide if you want to buy an RTW ticket. This should happen pretty early in the process since it will significantly impact your itinerary and budget. We ultimately decided against an RTW ticket because we needed to return to the US twice, and they aren’t cost-effective if you’re backtracking. Booking everything separately takes more planning, but gives you more flexibility.

Favorite location:  We have a hard time picking a favorite destination from our trip. One of the best was our month-long road trip in New Zealand. We traversed both the North and South Islands and saw the most breathtaking landscape and interesting animals. It was a truly special time.

RTW Travel Tips from John & Heather Widmer of roamingaroundtheworld.com

Trip Length: 10 months Number of Places Visited:  22 Countries, 4 Continents & 100 different locations

As we’ve been constantly traveling around the world over the past five years, we’ve now taken a few RTW trips. Yet during our most recent journey, we took a unique approach by traveling entirely around the world without using any flights! Instead, we traveled overland using public transit, in addition to our secret weapon of utilizing repositioning cruises to cross the world’s oceans.

Repositioning cruises are seasonal voyages in which a cruise line relocates a ship from one part of the world to another. The lengthy and exotic itineraries sometimes aren’t attractive to cruisers, so prices can become heavily discounted in an attempt to fill the ship with paying passengers. So our strategy was to take advantage of these discounted fares as our primary means of transportation. In doing so, we essentially pieced together a cheap world cruise!

This RTW trip was a total of 10 months, including 2.5-months cruising around the world on four different cruise ships. We visited over 100 different locations during this time and stayed in 74 different beds along the way. One of the nice aspects of cruise travel was being able to sleep in the same place each night while being transported to an interesting new port to explore while we slept.

Our RTW route zigzagged through some of the most expensive countries in the world, including Canada, Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, Italy, France Switzerland, and the UK. Despite the pricey locations and traveling by luxury cruise ship, we were happy that our budget held strong at about $60 per day per person, inclusive of all costs. The best part is that we didn’t have to spend a dime on flights! The total trip cost came to $19,000, per person, for the entire 10-month journey.

We traveled at a fairly fast pace during much of the trip, often stopping in places for just a few nights at a time. But we did slow down on few instances by pursuing month-long stays in Canada and Japan, plus half-month stays in South Korea and Italy. Maintaining a fast pace for long stints can admittedly become exhausting, but the luxury of cruise ships on sea days gave us plenty of time for rest & relaxation in between our aggressive itineraries overland.

In doing research for this RTW trip, we tried to nail down the repositioning cruises first, then fill in the overland gaps in between. The repositioning cruises are one-time voyages, so that helped to provide some time constraints while traveling overland. Then we tried to pack in as much as we reasonably could while researching and ultimately doing the activities we enjoy the most, which gravitates towards adventure experiences.

We purchased our cruise tickets on various sites and agencies, depending on the deal. We often held out to actually make those purchases last-minute, as rates can sometimes hit their lowest just before the cruise embarks. But it’s a risky proposition, as rates can also go up and even repositioning cruises do sell out.

Our biggest tip for planning an RTW trip is to nail down a handful of destinations that are highly intriguing for you to visit. Then try to connect those points of interest as economically as possible, whether that be by land travel, budget flights, or repositioning cruises. We suggest spending on all the wonderful things you can experience in a destination, rather than spending on getting there.

As for utilizing repositioning cruises, it can be an extremely complex procedure to attempt to line up an entire round the world trip in this fashion. Instead, we recommend trying to incorporate a repositioning cruise into one leg of a RTW trip to see how you may like it. The most common repositioning cruise that can be found are Transatlantic. Look for those running from the US to Europe each spring and from Europe to US every fall.

Favorite Location:  It’s tough to pick a favorite location, because we genuinely enjoyed every single place we visited so much. But if pressed, we’d say Japan was a favorite during this RTW. The food, the culture, and the beautiful scenery all really clicked with us during the month and a half we roamed around the country.

RTW TRAVEL PLANNER

Plan a trip of a lifetime! You can research thousands of flight combinations to create one-of-a-kind routes for your next round-the-world trip.

Start by simply adding in your starting location below:

RTW Travel Tips from Erin Homles of  Explorewitherin.com

Trip Length:  3.5 weeks Number of Places Visited:   7 countries

Deciding to visit the US from Australia is a fairly long trip, so I decided if it was going to be big – it needed to be huge. Back in 2007, I was still using travel agents to help me form an itinerary. I ended up with something that looked like Australia to US to UK to Germany to Israel and back to Australia.

The Cost:  The biggest thing I found was whether Israel would be considered Asia or Europe. For the purposes of our RTW, it was considered Asia and therefore fit into an RTW ticket. Tickets were roughly $3,000. It included several flights within the United States as well.

I spent roughly $100 – $200 per day. Back in those days I enjoyed vacations and splurged regularly. These days I’m much more travel savvy. I could do the same trip for half the price if I was to redo today.

Itinerary: I went for nearly 7 weeks. Approximately 3 – 4 weeks were spent in the US. I spent 3 nights in Hawaii, 3 nights in Hollywood, 3 nights in Anaheim, 3 nights in San Diego, 3 nights in Las Vegas, 7 nights in New York with a day trip to see Niagara Falls and one night in Washington DC.

From the US I flew to London, then to Munich in Germany. With a day trip to Switzerland. My flight to Israel had an 8-hour stopover in Madrid, Spain so I made it there as well. I then spent nearly 2 weeks discovering Israel. The way home was long. Israel to London, London to Singapore, Singapore to Perth, Australia.

I think I took about 13 flights with One World Alliance- Qantas, America Airlines, etc. All airlines went smoothly and worked well together.

My biggest tip when booking RTW is to check one-way ticket prices before booking a RTW. Often you may find cheaper tickets doing it yourself!

My Favorite Location  would have had to be New York. It was my first time and it was everything I saw in the movies. The Statue of Liberty, the shopping, I adored it. Israel was also eye-opening. I’d always been scared to visit, but it was incredible.

RTW Travel Tips from Oksana & Max of drinkteatravel.com

Trip Length: 3 months Number of Places Visited: 5 continents

When we sat down to plan our yearly travels we had destinations scattered across 5 continents on our list. So we knew that THIS was the time to use our little stash of Frequent Flyer Points on a OneWorld Round The World flight ticket.

Our RTW points journey began while living in Australia. A friend suggested that we give the Qantas Frequent Flyer points credit card a try and from there we became obsessed with earning points.

The card came with a 50,000-point bonus and we began putting all of our monthly bills on credit, bought all of our groceries on credit, and even found a 3rd party company that allowed us to pay our rent on credit. Then we came up a killer itinerary to get the most bang for our frequent flyer bucks, put it through the wringer to avoid going through airports with high taxes and tariffs and finally called to book!

RTW Travel Tips from Lisanne van Beurden of chaptertravel.com

Trip Length: 1.5 Years Number of Places Visited:   11 countries

In 2015 my boyfriend and I left to Australia with a one-way ticket. We didn’t plan how long we would travel, but eventually stayed abroad for 1.5 years and traveled to 11 countries.

The Cost: Before we left we saved up 6000 euros each, sold what we could, and quit all the subscriptions to make sure we barely had any expenses during our trip.

Our RTW tip for people that want to do the same and those that want to start their RTW trip as soon as possible with little money, we recommend going to a country like Australia where they offer a Working Holiday Visa (always check requirements if you’re able to get this visa). With this visa, you can work for a certain amount of time, have a unique experience and save up money to see more of this world. Of course, there are more countries that offer this visa .

After Australia, we left for Asia and used the money that we earned to backpack to some amazing countries.

Our favorite location during our RTW trip was definitely Nepal. The people here are so friendly, nature is amazing and we love Nepali cuisine.

Round the World Travel Tips from Claire Drinkwater from Backpackingbella.com

Trip Length: 10 months Number of Places Visited: 8 countries

When I was a student, the round the world flight maps at a local travel agent would always catch my eye. One day, I told myself, I will do a trip like that.

Over a decade later, I took the plunge and contacted Flight Centre UK, which has a dedicated round the world airfares team. Over the coming weeks, a consultant called Adele helped me create my dream trip itinerary. She was patient, researching various options and reassuring me that the flight dates along my chosen route were flexible.

I planned to spend about a month in each country, except for New Zealand where I’d stay longer on a temporary work visa. My final schedule had eight stops, from India, through Southeast Asia, to Australia, New Zealand, and South America.

The Airfare Cost:  The £3000 airfare price was calculated by miles traveled and depends on the continents you want to visit. While it’s a lot of money, it’s cheaper than booking all the flights separately.

As I embarked on my long-awaited trip of a lifetime, I was happy to have a plan ahead of me. Adele was on hand when I inevitably decided to change my flight timings because I had fallen in love with a place and wanted to stay longer.

Favorite locations:  I ended up staying in Bali for two months, as this island’s beauty, spirituality and laid-back lifestyle captivated me. I also adored New Zealand, a stunningly gorgeous country with friendly locals. Some of the South Island scenery is so vivid, you feel like you’re seeing a photoshopped version of real life.

Around The World Travel Tips from Demi Johnson from Around the World With Her

Trip Length: 1 year & 3 months Number of Places Visited: 6 Countries

In 2015, I decided I wanted to take do a  Working Holiday Visa in Australia  and quit my job. this was going to be a big trip, and I thought, why not combine it with other places around the world!? I set about looking for flights but realized it was going to take a lot of time and planning booking several different flights through different airlines.

A friend mentioned STA travel for booking RTW trips, but as someone who likes to organize things without a company, I was initially skeptical.

However, after a look around the website, some of the multi-stop flights they were offering were amazing. I eventually booked London – Manila (1 month in the Philippines), Manila – Sydney (1 year in Australia), Sydney to Auckland (1 month in New Zealand), Aukland to Fiji (2 weeks in Fiji), Fiji to Los Angeles (2 weeks in the USA) and New York – London.

The Airfare Cost:  That was 6 separate flights, and it cost me around 1400 GBP, a price I think is amazing. I went on to use STA travel for flights again to book a multi-stop trip to SriLanka, Singapore, Bangkok, and Delhi, again because of the amazing price.

This time I added on the choice of changing dates. I paid an extra 75 GBP and was allowed to change the dates of my flights free of charge (if there was availability). I did this with my flight to Delhi from Bangkok as I was enjoying Thailand so much, and it was a simple and easy process.

My favorite location was Australia. The diversity you can find in one country is amazing: beaches that run for miles, bustling cities, rainforests, deserts, mountains and everything in between. I love animals and so the range of different animals also drew me to Australia. The country itself is quite expensive for traveling, however, if you combine it with working, the wages are high and so it is a lot easier to travel.

RTW Travel Tips from Jack and Jill of jackandjilltravel.com

Trip Length: 11 months Number of Places Visited:  12 countries

$2000/month per couple seem to be the average budget one can expect to spend regardless of routes and activities.

My husband and I went on an around the world trip for 11 months, visiting 12 countries. If we were to do it all over again, we would do the same thing we did: buy a one-way ticket and work our way overland as much as possible. We created “anchors” – big experiences we wanted to do scattered throughout as some sort of a path to guide our way. For example, we committed to do some volunteering experience in Banos, Ecuador. We also knew we wanted to do Huayhuash Trek in Peru that needs to be done when the mountain passes are open.. Then I wanted to spend time with my family in Indonesia. This created some constraints in our decision making in terms of timing and routes, which made it easier in a way. It can be overwhelming when the world is truly your oysters.

The Cost: When we left we had a specific amount of money saved up (about $23k for both of us) and we said, “we either go for one year or until the money runs out.” The latter happened around month 11. After our trip, I asked around other couples who went on RTW trips and found that surprisingly, $2000/month per couple seem to be the average budget one can expect to spend regardless of routes and activities.

Our favorite location:  I think Jack and I can mutually agree that South America is our favorite region we visited on this trip. I’m quite partial to Peru. Jack might say Ecuador. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these are the 2 countries we spent the most time in (6 weeks in Ecuador, 4 weeks in Peru).

What we loved most about doing an RTW trip is the ability to stay and “hang” in countries that we enjoy. Something I truly miss now that we go back to doing “normal” trips.

RTW Travel Tips from Nicky Williams of Go Live Young 

Trip Length: 9 months Number of Places Visited:  15 countries In 2016/17 we undertook a nine-month round-the-world trip as a family of five. Our three boys were 8, 10, and 12 at the time of travel. We spent just three months planning our trip and organizing our lives in the UK. Our route took us from the UK to China, and then on to SE Asia through Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. From here we traveled on to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, before heading home via the USA, South Africa, and Mauritius.

Our trip was all about family time and the chance to explore the world together, building lifelong memories. We were conscious that our children were growing up fast and we wanted to do a big family trip before they hit exam years! 15 countries visited, 28,000 miles and countless memories made.

The Cost: We purchased around-the-world flights for our trip, amazing value at £10,000 for the five of us. Twelve international flights in a loop around the world. We supplemented these with budget airline flights, train, bus, and boat travel. Primarily, we stayed in 2 and 3-star hotels and guesthouses, occasionally renting an apartment when it was cheaper to do so. Costs varied depending on where we were traveling. SE Asia was cheap to travel in, with us spending about £150 per day. Australia and New Zealand are much more expensive (comparable to the UK), with us spending more like £250/£300 per day.

Our favorite locations vary between us all. Mine was Bhutan, a fascinating tiny country in the Himalayas. A country with breathtaking scenery but seemingly standing still in time. The boys loved road tripping through New Zealand in a camper van and the time we spent in Australia.

RTW Travel Tips from Rohan Cahill-Fleury of  www.travelsofabookpacker.com

Trip Length: 16 months (so far) Number of Places Visited: 28 countries and 3 continents (so far)

We began our round the world adventure with a start point, an end point and no plan in between. We were living in Germany (my partner’s home) and decided we would end up in New Zealand (my home) whenever the time was right. We saved for two years, drew up a travel budget and planned a rough route of places we wanted to see along the way.

The Cost:  We planned to spend an average of €50 a day between the two of us and 16 months in, we’ve managed to keep this to an average of €40 including all flights, visas, accommodation, and food.

The hardest part for us is striking the right balance between having it planned out so we don’t need to stress about bookings or get overwhelmed by all the options but also leaving ourselves open to changes in plans and being able to go with the flow. We like to plan our entrance and exit dates for a country and then plan 2-3 days ahead so we can stay longer in places we like and move on when we don’t enjoy somewhere. Visa allowance often dictates how long we stay in a country but we’ve found 3 weeks to a month to be a pretty good amount of time for seeing all the main places. We stayed much longer in India (4.5 months) because it’s so big and Georgia (3 months) because we loved it so much!

Our Favorite place  was Georgia which completely stole our hearts. There are mountains, beaches, vineyards, old towns, monasteries, and amazing people, culture and food! The capital, Tbilisi, is an eclectic mix of old and new and we wandered the streets every day for weeks, always finding something new. We loved Georgia so much on our first visit that we changed plans and returned for another 7 weeks (we’re really glad we left our plans open!)

RTW Travel Tips from Philip Turnbull of  zentravellers.com

When my wife and I started talking about a trip around the world we knew that it was going to be an expensive proposition.  We were already fairly frugal and considered ourselves savers but to fund a year abroad we knew that we would have to take it to the next level.  To make sure that we accomplished our goals we set it up so that we saved money straight off our paycheques before we could spend it and steadily increased our savings rates as we received raises.  Any surprise money (bonuses, presents, tax returns) all went into our trip savings as well.

We did still spend some money and didn’t live like total misers while dreaming of our trip abroad, but what we did spend was done so thoughtfully and according to our values.  For instance, we went to Japan for our honeymoon, Cozumel for a dive vacation, and went on several ski trips with close friends.

When most think of a trip around the world the immediate thought is that it would be way too expensive and that there’s no way you could afford it without millionaires.  We recognize that we were privileged to have well-paying, stable jobs, but we mainly funded our trip around the world by avoiding keeping up with the Joneses.  We had an old reliable car, we didn’t buy the latest iPhone, and we rented our cozy house in Calgary.

There are a lot of things you can spend money on, and it’s easy to do so without realizing it.  If travel is important to you, set a goal and work towards it.  You’ll be surprised at how achievable it is.

My favorite Location: Our favorite location is an impossible choice, but if I had to pick one it would be the Galapagos Islands, specifically Isla Isabella.  This island is predominantly a protected national park and has the smallest population of the inhabited islands.  It is teeming with wildlife and the diving is absolutely incredible.

RTW Travel Tips from Roobens Fils of beenaroundtheglobe.com

Trip Length:  1 year Number of Places Visited:  30 countries

I didn’t buy an RTW ticket but I spent a year on the road, traveling in Europe and Asia. One of the best tips I can offer is to research beforehand where you want to go and which areas you want to visit. It doesn’t have to extremely precise, but just have an overall vision of your itinerary.

You’ll then save a LOT of money on flights/trains/bus rides. Since you’ll have an idea of the places you want to visit, you can do a proper research like “how to get there from here”, what’s the cheapest way to go (bus, plane, train…), how long does it take, etc.

For instance, you might be in Belgrade and want to go to Bucharest. You’ll then realize, there’s no bus nor trains going to Bucharest, just flights a few times per week, the next one being in four days. During my trip, I visited about 30 countries. Sometimes I just stayed a few days, sometimes a month.

My favorite destination was Iran. People are lovely, hospitable and so friendly. They’re happy to see tourists visiting their country. Moreover, the food is delicious, and as a tourist, there are many places to visit in this beautiful country.

RTW Travel Tips from Channa of  twoweeksleave.com

Trip Length:  7 Month Number of Places Visited:  24 countries I did an around the world trip a few years ago and went to New Zealand, Asia, and Europe.

I bought my ticket from a student travel agency because it was my first trip overseas (go big or go home!) and thought that would save me some hassle. It was fine, but I definitely paid more than I should have and I wouldn’t do that now. Online all the way!

I didn’t do much research at all! The best way to find out what to do is talking to other travelers. Staying flexible is the key to enjoying your trip.

The Cost:  All up I spent about $15,00, or about $70 a day. You could do it for less, but I don’t think it would be enjoyable. It’s easier to keep costs down in places like Asia and Eastern Europe. Plus, travel within those continents is very cheap. Flights in Europe can be €10!

My favorite destination was Budapest because I was never meant to go there! I was bored of the city I was in, so went to the train station. There was a train to Budapest leaving in 20 minutes so I jumped on board. Budapest was amazing!! A fantastic vibe, loads to see and do, a fascinating history and great nightlife. Everything a backpacker wants!

RTW Travel Tips from Sara of  ourkindofcrazy.com

Trip Length:   65 Days Number of Places Visited:   4 Countries We took an Around the World trip that started a bit by accident.  We both had time off in the Spring, so decided we would do a few small trips. We started with wanting to go to Finland but also found a great deal for a trip to Bali.  So, as soon as I realized we could do an Around the World trip if we added somewhere in the middle between the two, I was all for it.

An Around the World trip had been a dream of mine, and this was the perfect time to make it happen.  We planned for about 2 months before we left, but that was mainly tacking down dates and deciding which countries we would go to. We did our Around the World trip in just 65 days, as that was all the time we had available.

We went to 4 countries and took 17 flights and 21 boat rides.  We started in snowy Finland and traveled all over Lapland. Headed to Dubai, and then the Maldives for 2 weeks, where we hit both resort and local islands. Then we finished our last 30 days in Bali, Indonesia.

Our one tip for an Around the World trip is if you are purchasing your airline tickets as you go, (we did this as well) just be sure to have an exit ticket from the next country you are traveling to.  We could not leave Maldives until we purchased our exit ticket out of Bali.  They would not let us check in for our flight.

The Cost: We ended up spending way too much money since it was a spur of the moment ticket from Bali to Los Angeles. If we had known, we could have purchased in advance and saved money.

One Last Thought: Just be sure to know the rules of each country, if you are trying to take it one day at a time.  It ended up working out in the end, but we would have loved to spend a few more free days on our trip without rushing home.

RTW Travel Tips from Mike & Anne of  HoneyTrek.com

Trip Length:   2,501 days (so far) Number of Places Visited:  56 Countries & 7 continents

We left on our RTW in 2012, and 2,501 days later…we are  still  on it. We’ve explored 56 countries together across all 7 continents and even wrote a book for National Geographic about our travels.

A trip around the world is NOT a string of vacations, it’s unlike any other journey. It requires a fair bit of planning and a savings account to match your style of travel. As long-term travel coaches, we only recommend an RTW ticket for someone going on a trip shorter than four months.

Everyone else should buy flights a la carte using miles + dollars; it’s cheaper and gives you way more flexibility. Traveling around the world will truly change your life and we can not recommend it highly enough.

We started HoneyTrek Trip Coach because we remember how scary and complex it was to prepare for our departure. If you are looking to chat with someone who has done a multi-year RTW and has helped other people mobilize their journeys (70+…even someone $1,000s in debt!), reach out to us!

RTW Travel Tips from Julianna Barnaby of thediscoveriesof.com

Trip Length:  10 Months

Number of Places Visited:   4 Continents

Route: I traveled to Asia, Australia, and South America to and from the UK for 10 months. Flight Cos t: £1999

RTW Travel Tip – Use the Oneworld Site  When I was researching my round the world travel trip, I initially started working with a couple of travel agencies to help me to put the itinerary together – but it just didn’t quite work. I had a set budget and a list of preferred destinations and wanted to know which combination of destinations would work best with my budget but I just couldn’t get a straight answer until I started hunting around to see if I could buy my ticket direct.

The Oneworld Alliance is an alliance of leading airlines including British Airways, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, and American Airlines and guess what… you can book your Round the World ticket direct on their website. I always tell anyone considering buying an RTW ticket to check out the site – it is a bit clunky but you can add in your destinations and it gives you a price right there and then -meaning you can make a custom itinerary really easily and cut out the third-party booking fees.

When I did book my ticket with them, I ended up covering all the destinations I needed and saving over £500 from what I’d been quoted. Double win. All that was left for me to do was pack and hit the road!

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More Tips to Inspire You to Travel

• The Ultimate Travel To Do List
• 52 Tips to Travel Around the World
• 52 Reasons to Visit Indonesia
• 52 Things To Do in Buenos Aires

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Alexa Meisler is the editorial director of 52 Perfect Days. Born in Paris, France she has since lived in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon. She currently resides in San Diego with her husband and son where they enjoy exploring California and Mexico.

Travel has always been a part of her life; traveling to such places as Morocco, Tangiers and Spain as a young child as well as taking many road trips to Mexico with her grandparents as a young girl. Since then, she has traveled abroad to locations such as Russia, Taiwan and throughout Europe.

Prior to working at 52 Perfect Days she was a freelance travel writer; focusing on family and women’s adventure experiences.

Alexa these are amazing trips. We love doing slow travel; a few months in 1 country on a house sit, then we move forward. 1 month minimum. Gotta get a feel for the place.

Pinning this for later! So many great tips and ideas here. I’d love to do an RTW trip one day. Will definitely be coming back to this list for some inspo and tips once I get that plan in the works.

https://teaspoonofadventure.com

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Okay, go ahead, play connect-the-dots! Do not let the choice of destinations determine your route. An RTW travel specialist will always have plenty of options on which to base the routing decision, such as available flights, transportation connections, and affordability. There are a few things I would like to stress: if your path allows it, try to see or do what you are most interested in first in a country, since time runs out fast; travel slowly, see fewer places, and stay in each place at least 2 to 5 days to get a feel for it, before deciding to leave. Sleeping in the same place every night for a week (every month or so) will help you avoid burning out from constant movement. "Keep your options open! Do NOT get locked into an itinerary with non-refundable, no-changes-allowed tickets. On a long trip, you never know what to expect. That is the fun of it! You may be bored by the ballyhooed 'must see' tourist sensation which is teeming with tourists, and fall in love with a small village 'off the beaten track' where the local people are excited to see you and may even invite you into their homes. By 'off the beaten track' I do not mean Lonely Planet's travel guide destinations. Anything mentioned in a widely read book is definitely not an unspoiled travel destination. Remember, this is YOUR trip, make your own marks. If you can go overland, do it. You do not get to experience places too well from your seat in an airplane, but often you have to cross a big amount of water or avoid a country that is off limits to travelers (like present Rwanda and Somalia). Sometimes (like in Africa) the connections from one place to another are just too hard to make. In those cases, buy an airline ticket." <Axel Lambert> "A common planning mistake is locking in a route that is not really necessary, desirable, or optimal. Another one is eliminating destinations because of false assumptions about possible routes. Many travellers prefer crossing large stretches by land, since water is rarely feasible, but then those stretches (e.g. the Karakoram Highway), become destinations in themselves. Another mistake is to pass up stretches, like the KKH, based on the false assumption that RTW tickets require an unbroken route by air. It is not necessary to backtrack by land to resume the air itinerary. Moreover, focusing on routes distracts people from thinking about the reality of what life (and travel) will be like in the places they will be passing through, and thus living in." <Edward Hasbrouck> Detailed itineraries are available in RTW Trip Abstracts , the last section of the guide. There are also extensive routing considerations in the section on Weather . Here are a few generalized examples of RTW routes: US, Hawaii, Fiji (or Cook Islands or Tahiti), New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, India, Africa, and Europe. Trans-Siberian railroad from Moscow to Vladivostok. Trans-Siberian from Moscow to Mongolia, and then the Trans-Mongolian railroad to Beijing. Pole-to-Pole [I would appreciate examples of routes that cover other paths, if there are common ones through S. America and Russia. May start a section or separate file for this. See the rest of this section for more information.] To get an idea of routes that consolidators offer, visit their sites listed in the Consolidator chapter. There is a tendency, or rule, for travel agents to ticket north or south of the equator, so this may be one way to split it into two trips if you are using published-fare tickets. The Southern Route ticket is more expensive, and goes to New Zealand, Australia, East Africa, and South America, with free stops usually in Hawaii, Tahiti, and Fiji. The Northern Route goes to places such as Indonesia, Thailand, India, and Turkey, and is very affordable. If you cannot afford New Zealand, you will find some of the same scenery in Nepal and N. India. Diving in Australia can be replaced by Indonesia and the Red Sea. New Zealand is cheaper than Australia, if you go in that direction. You might consider splitting the trip into multiple RTWs, since you will be traversing many Third World countries, which can wear you down in the long run, so don't do too many of them on one trip. Many people want to sample many places quickly, but if you decide to travel slowly, then also consider a Circle-Pacific ticket. South America is also cheapest if ticketed as a round-trip from LA or Miami, and worth a year by itself. Onward tickets vs. buying all of them: The critical points, if you do decide to go there, are Australia and New Zealand. Most nationalities I believe, need an onward ticket, but if you don't, it is no place to be buying them since they are very expensive there (Americans don't require onward tickets, if they can show sufficent funds in New Zealand). The same goes for Japan, one of the worst possible places to have to buy a one-way ticket out. The countries whose onward-ticket requirements (for most nationalities) most often require through-travellers to buy through-tickets in advance are Australia and Indonesia. My solution for expensive places is to email my travel agent, and have him ship me the tickets. "Buying all your tickets separately or in stages (before leaving, or en route) is nice for the flexibility, but it is likely to be more expensive than if choosing the entire route, buying all the tickets at once, and committing to completing travel within one year of buying the tickets. The price penalty for buying tickets in two or three stages (several flights at a time) may be only a few hundred US dollars (10-15% of total cost), but buying tickets one at a time could double the cost, given the cost of single one-way tickets out of some countries without local discounting." <Edward Hasbrouck> Depending on your interests, you can usually change the dates in your itinerary -- ask before buying tickets. London, San Francisco, Bangkok, Athens, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang are popular places to buy cheap tickets. New York, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Nairobi, are other places for cheap tickets. Sydney is a special case: prices are good, but it's usually ruled out by the Australian onward-ticket requirement for all but Australian and New Zealand citizens. In Amsterdam, have a look at the classifieds in "De Volkskrant" and "De Telegraaf". Another critical juncture is Bombay to East Africa. It is easy to buy tickets there at reasonable prices, but I still don't trust the travel agents. It is best to have confirmed reservations before high season, else you may wait weeks to leave. "Other considerations for route and directions are that it may be a good idea to alternate time spent in Third World countries versus 'civilized' nations. This has a number of benefits and is not difficult to incorporate into most routes. For one, if you are struggling with health or dietary problems, it allows your body some recovery time. Secondly, it provides greater contrast in cultures, giving you greater appreciation of the differences. Third, it allows periods where you can be better contacted by friends or relatives. Fourth, it may be easier to renew travel insurance, vaccinations, change plane tickets, etc., in a more familiar environment. There are numerous other benefits, although spending extended periods in either environment is certainly not to be discouraged!!" <Chris Finlayson> "It is true that to travel to Third World countries it is good to be refreshed beforehand, but a few months in Australia before Asia, Europe before Africa, or the US before South America will do this for you, amongst unlimited other possibilities. It is not necessary (or possibly even desirable) to go to Asia first. Your insurance should cover your return home in the event of sickness WHEREVER you are, and whenever it happens. Also, increasing the levels of difficulty is not necessarily a good idea. It can be good (we found) to plunge into the most difficult at full strength when you are most alert, rather than when you may be worn down a bit." <Chris Finlayson> There are a thousand ways to do Western Europe, due to open borders and many transportation options. Your choices for routes through Asia are more limited, and there is the possibility of dead-ends that can cause you to backtrack long distances. There is a 'tourist trail' (in either direction) from Bali through Singapore and Malaysia, then up into Thailand, hopping to Nepal, and down to Goa in southern India. Since you can now get visas for the Vietnam-China border crossing, it is once again possible to continue overland on the popular London-New Zealand route. If you are using published RTW airline tickets, you might find yourself moving through countries in Southeast Asia in the same order as others due to the nature of travelling there, and the availability of flights in that area. Most travellers pass through SE Asia, so have a look at the Low Res border map at SE Asia Border Crossings . If you want to trace Western history, you might start in Egypt, head up through Israel, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, then wander around the rest of Europe. Another frequent path is from Europe to India, crossing through Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan. If your nationality prevents you from crossing through Iran, you might be able to go south in a variety of paths, or fly across. There are a few overland buses plying this route. Americans and Brits are not always granted visas for Iran (and then sometimes with limitations on duration of stay, and/or for transit, and/or with considerable delays in issuance). If you are rejected in Ankara, Turkey, try Tbilisi, Georgia. There are two main routes down through Africa. The Eastern Route used to start in Egypt, splitting after Sudan (now uncrossable due to civil war) to: Central African Republic (CAR), Uganda, Kenya, or Eritrea. It was also possible to start in Eritrea and continue into Ethiopia, but they are still disputing the border as of 2005. The Uganda leg can pass into Kenya, Rwanda (no longer), or Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of Congo, and also too dangerous). The Kenya leg can pass through Tanzania into Zaire by boat, or by rail or road into Zambia, with a possible side-trip to Malawi (Mozambique may still be recovering from the 20-year civil war, so find current info to see if their are hotspots, and how things are going in general). The route crosses between Livingstone (Zambia) and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe). There are many routes from there to Botswana, South Africa, and Namibia. There is also the option of flying some of the more difficult stretches (e.g. flying between Dar es Salaam and Harare). Considerably more difficult, the Western Route starts in Morocco (as Algeria is very dangerous) and passes through Western Sahara. It follows the coast between Senegal (or Gambia, or the Cape Verde Islands) and Ghana (not advisable in 2005) or the Ivory Coast (or, for those more ambitious and willing to deal with the crime, etc. of Nigeria, further on to Cameroon or Equatorial Guinea), then onward to Central Africa Republic, one of the many places where the routes meet, and a great place to pick up news from other travellers. Intermittent political problems sometimes make it necessary to overfly one or more countries along the way, and this route is only for those with a reserve of emergency money and an extremely elastic budget of time. Zaire (Congo) is too dangerous now to consider crossing to the southern or eastern African nations, so you will have to fly. "If you want to see places that tourists (even backpackers) usually do not visit -- especially in Africa -- you may want to consider buying a full-price, one-way ticket. This allows you all the stopovers en-route that you can think of. I put together trips from London to Capetown with stops in places like Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Zaire (Congo), Malawi and Zimbabwe. Even though such a ticket is not cheap, it beats having to buy individual tickets in those countries or traveling back and forth to Europe. Such a ticket is quite flexible too, in terms of changes and refunds." <Axel Lambert> "South America is usually cheapest as a side-trip from North America, but that is not necessarily a reason not to include it, especially for those starting or ending their trip outside the Americas. It is fairly common for them to go Europe-East Coast USA-Central/South America-West Coast USA-Asia/Pacific or vice versa. As for Africa, it is not always 'very' expensive; it depends greatly on the exact itinerary. Sometimes adding one particular African stop could add $1500 to an itinerary; sometimes you could add six African stops for less than that." <Edward Hasbrouck> Most routes change on the road just from the advice and stories you hear from fellow travellers, and new friends you make along the way. As you cross paths with those travelling in the opposite direction, you will exchange the most up-to-date information. In addition, opportunities arise and political climates change. The more prior planning you do, the more flexibility you will have. Some places are so nice, you will stay longer than planned; others too expensive to stay as long as planned. "Your perception of a country before you get there, and your notions of how long it might take to do things will continually change. Once you are there you will know whether you want to rush through or linger, and you will hear of things that you want to see that you didn't even know existed. We found also that at the start of our trip we just wanted to see everything (it was all so exciting), then as the trip lengthened, although we still wanted to see everything, we found ourselves preferring not to move quite so much, but to base ourselves in one place and more thoroughly explore a particular area." <Chris Finlayson> "Nothing is worse than having a great time and then realizing that you HAVE to catch a flight in x number of days … bummer. Stay away from strict schedules. It is probably one of my main pieces of advice to give to others. I take that back, it is *the* single most important piece of advice I can give." <Alan Nelson> "I am not a big believer in planning out a route in advance. There really is no way to predict which country or culture will compel you to take a closer look. We went to Bali for a week and stayed a month. In 1984 I went to Istanbul for three days and stayed for ten, leaving then only because I had to be in Bulgaria according to my self-imposed schedule. Had I not restricted myself so, I might have spent a month or two in Turkey, discovering the country before its huge tourist boom, and extending my five-month trip because of the lower costs in Turkey. I have met a great many people with RTW air tickets scrambling to get their money back on segments they did not use, or could not get to in time. One German fellow with a one-year RTW ticket made New Zealand his first stop; when we met him he had been there for nine months. For every traveler with the courage to break from his or her planned, prepaid itinerary there must be a hundred who just go on with the trip, full of regrets about the places they did not linger. In the Third World, the traveling, rather than the destination, is the most interesting part of the trip. You can usually cover large areas overland, relying on planes only for crossing highly unstable areas (Iraq, Afghanistan) or the ocean. By shrinking distances and enveloping the traveller in a standard, artificial atmosphere, airplanes are the great destroyers of adventure in the 20th century. So, my advice is: buy a discount, one-way ticket to your first destination and wing it from there. Wherever possible, travel overland and you will find that you need to do a lot less flying than you thought. In the end, you may not even go all the way around the world. You may spend a little more on airfare than you would buying the tickets all up front, but the trip will be your own, and not the routing of some airline or travel agent." <Larry Lustig> I encourage using consolidator tickets, but if you must use published-fare RTW airline tickets, keep in mind that they try to keep you in one hemisphere or allow one crossing for places like Australia, and most do not allow any backtracking. You can get around this by going on side-trips at your own expense. Most RTW fares require that your routing destinations be declared, but only the first flight date must be firmly set. Sometimes, the airline rules can make it difficult to change the routing after you have started. Include as many cities as possible on a published-fare ticket since you can travel past some of them on the ground, to the next airport, without paying a fee to re-issue the ticket. South America and Africa are not covered very well by published-fare RTW tickets. They can be very expensive, and are mostly just a drop-off and pick-up due to the major airlines using the hub and spoke system. For example, British Airways flies round-trips from London to just a few cities in Southern Africa, without stopping in the Mideast or Egypt. They fly in and out of Casablanca, Ghana-Nigeria, Uganda-Kenya-Tanzania, Seychelles-Mauritius, and South Africa on separate round-trips. In general, flights into Africa are cheaper from Europe. "If you are going to research the published RTW airline ticket routing yourself, you will find that it is the most difficult and time-consuming portion of RTW planning. Getting accurate information can be difficult. You may find that limited stops on long-range flights will eliminate most Middle Eastern stop-overs from Asia to Europe." <Alan Nelson> For adventurers with limited funds, you might consider the other option of leaving with only a few tickets. If you have a long list of interests, sellable skills, minimal ties back home, prior travel experience, maturity, and enough money to get started, you may not want a set itinerary, so you can wander as your interests change, and just come home, or find work as you need.

Guide to Buying Around the World Tickets: A Cost Comparison

Last updated on January 24, 2024 by Shannon

Should you buy an around the world plane ticket or book as you go? This is the biggie question for many round-the-world travelers. Central to the question is: Which one costs more?

But it’s the wrong question. The right question is: Is an around-the-world plane ticket the best way to visit the countries you have planned?

I’ve traveled the world for 15 years now, and taken several RTW (which stands for round-the-world) trips—my first long-term trip was a yearlong journey through Australia , Southeast Asia , South Asia, and Europe. For the most part, I’ve skipped buying RTW tickets and instead booked flights as I traveled—and for really good reasons!

The worth of around-the-world planet tickets depends on the logistics of every single trip and every type of traveler. Even something as simple as traveling with carry on luggage can affect which option is more cost-effective for your trip. The other thing new travelers seldom fully grasp are the complex rules associated with an actual around-the-world ticket from an airline alliance (the three available being Star Alliance, Oneworld, and SkyTeam).

Instead of drilling only into costs of an around-the-world ticket (which while valid eclipses some of the other major pros and cons), a better question is: Which flight ticketing option fits my travel style and trip goals?

Let’s look at an overview of what it takes to buy an around-the-world plane ticket (the rules, restrictions, and costs), and then the granular details of flights and country-level restrictions when booking long-term round the world travel.

Table of Contents

Buying Around the World Plane Tickets Through an Airline Alliance

Round the world tickets have a few key advantages that makes this an attractive option for certain types of trips. But there are drawbacks, too. Really, it’s a specific decision that appeals to some travelers.

If you’re keen to fly on a formal RTW ticket, your two primary options are Star Alliance  and OneWorld . These two around the world ticket providers are also the two largest airline alliances in the world. Between the two, they represent the vast majority of the world’s major airline carriers.

The third alliance is too small to be a viable option for most round the world trips, but for clarity’s sake that one is SkyTeam.

None of these alliances include the many budget airlines that have cropped up on nearly every continent.

If you book a RTW ticket through an airline alliance, there are a few industry conventions and rules you will have to follow.

How Oneworld and Star Alliance Plans Work

Both alliances offer total flexibility on which destinations you add to your itinerary—it’s completely customizable. That said, the rules dictate how many, the order of countries you visit, the number of overland segments you add, and the continents visited along your route.

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s offered by the two airline alliances you may be considering for your RTW tickets:

• Star Alliance

A Star Alliance standard RTW flight package consists of 15 stops and 39,000 miles (that means 16 flights), all of your flights must be on Star Alliance airlines . You’re also offered five overland segments in your trip—you could land in Rome and fly out of London by doing the overland bit via Eurorail or budget flights.

Notable, however, is that the mileage on overland segments still counts against your total miles!

The other Star Alliance offering is a RTW-adjacent ticket called “ Circle Pacific ,” which only allows routes through countries bordering the Pacific—while it’s likely your trip will include more than these countries, there is a fair bit on offer so it’s worth investigating!

Oneworld ‘s offerings are a bit different—you can have a continent-based ticket (called one world Explorer) or a mileage-based one (called Global Explorer).

A continent-based oneworld Explorer ticket prices you based on the number of continents visited (three, four, or six) and then you can use up to 16 flight segments, which includes connecting flights. In this way, overland travel would not count against your RTW ticket. Obviously, the more continents you add to this segment-based itinerary, the more the ticket costs.

The Global Explorer, on the other hand, prices the RTW ticket by total mileage (26,000; 29,000; 34,000; or 39,000). If you’re skipping a couple of continents (I skipped three!), this can really work out in your favor and give you a lot of flexibility for the rest of your route. Like Star Alliance, Oneworld offers a Circle Pacific fare, which does not require you to cross both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans.

Pros of Buying RTW Tickets Through an Alliance

• RTW tickets can be a cost-effective option if you are planning to visit multiple destinations around the world.
• RTW tickets often include stopovers at no additional cost, which can be a great way to add extra destinations to your trip.
• RTW tickets can provide peace of mind, as all of your flights are booked in advance and you don’t have to worry about finding and booking flights as you go.

For the sake of ease, I will just list the most relevant rules you will have to follow if you choose to buy your flights on a round the world ticket through an alliance.

Cons of Buying RTW Tickets Through an Alliance

• RTW tickets may be more expensive upfront than booking flights individually.
• RTW tickets sometimes have restrictions and fees, such as change fees or blackout dates.
• RTW tickets rarely offer as much trip flexibility as booking flights individually— you’re committed to a specific route and cannot be able to make last-minute route changes (just date changes).

Alliances Rules for Around the World Tickets

• Because you bulk-buy your tickets at the beginning, there are sometimes real cost benefits—you are never buying last-minute tickets and scrambling on oversold flights at a busy time of year.
• They last a year.
• You’re booking with an alliance and can only sometimes redeem miles you may have earned through travel hacking. You do, however, earn miles along your route.
• You are limited to airlines within the alliance that you select.
• You cannot backtrack on your route. While you can move around a continent freely, your flights can never backtrack from the direction you choose around the world. (Here’s why I think picking a world travel itinerary that flies West is the best option for most.)
• You must start and end in the same country.
• You have to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
• You eliminate a potential source of stress. You won’t need to spend a day searching flights and considering possible routes, you decided all of that before you left.

What does a round the world ticket cost?

Round-the-world tickets start around $2,500 USD for economy class and can go up to $10,000 USD—or far more if you’re flying business class to the maximum number of stops.

The cost of an round-the-world ticket varies significantly depending on: the airline or alliance you choose, the number of stops you plan to make, the class of service (economy, business, or first class), and the specific routes and destinations you want to include in your itinerary.

How many stops on a round the world ticket?

The number of stops varies depending on the alliance you used for your RTW ticket, and the tickets you bought. Star Alliance allows between 2 and 15 stopovers, while the Oneworld Global Explorer allows 16 total flights on your ticket.

Buying Piecemeal Flights Through an Airline Aggregator

Airline aggregators are how most of us book our flights. If you use Expedia, Skyscanner, or Kayak to book your vacations, then you know that these aggregators list the prices for a range of airlines flying your desired route.

For RTW tickets, a couple of specific search engines are designed to accommodate multi-stop trips. Start your search with Indie and Airtreks .

RTW tickets purchased on these special flight aggregators are not locked into the formal rules of a typical round the world ticket—but you also lose the benefits that come with the airline alliance tickets (date change flexiblity and such).

These RTW ticket aggregators mix and match airlines and airline alliances to find the best flight prices for every segment of your trip. These tickets come in at a much lower price than Alliance tickets, but offer few of the perks.

The only thing you really gain is that you have your flights pre-booked, which is ideal for trips up to six months. For longer trips, I find that booking a year’s worth of flights is impractical for most people. It locks you into a rigidly fixed route and timeline around the world.

Book-as-You-Travel

Your third option is to always be just a step or two ahead of your travels, booking the next segment from the road.

Pros of Booking Round-the-World Flights as You Go

• Booking flights as you go allows for more flexibility, as you can make changes or adjust your itinerary as needed.
• You may actually find better deals on flights if you book closer to the travel date.
• You will have more control over your route and the airlines you fly with—this can be good if you’re travel hacking on certain airlines to offset some of the cost of your round the world trip .

Cons of Booking Round-the-World Flights as You Go

Booking flights as you go can be more time-consuming, as you will need to research and book each flight. This is the main drawback—but if you’re on a long trip of six months or more, really you will have down time to research flights.

RTW Tickets vs. Booking-As-You-Go Showdown

• Many RTW ticket aggregators use only major airlines, so you may find better deals for segments of that trip on regional budget airlines.
• If you book through these aggregator companies, what you will have is a series of separate tickets. If you want to move your dates, you will pay the traditional fees associated with each airline impacted by your change.
• Pre-booking means your route and trip is pre-planned so you are relieved of the stress of planning as you travel.
• Both companies, AirTreks and Indie, offer guidance as you plan, which is a nice benefit if the flight planning part is high-stress for you.
• Budget airlines charge for a lot of “extras” that mainstream airlines do not, and many also arrive into alternative airports (these that may be far outside of your destination city and require hefty taxi fees or long bus rides after your flight).

In the years since my first long-term trip, I have used Indie for even just multi-stop tickets. The Indie search engine found a great deal for my Africa flights , which I booked from the U.S. into South Africa and out of Kenya. The BootsnAll crew is responsive and helpful and the search tool is intuitive.

How to Save Money on Around the World Flights

Plan in advance.

Start your research and booking process well ahead of time. Airlines often offer better deals when you book in advance, allowing you to secure more affordable fares.

That means you should be buying a RTW ticket at least six months before your trip to score the best deals. This is a way to save money while booking as you go, too.

Be flexible with your dates and destinations

Consider being open to adjusting your travel dates and exploring alternate routes. Sometimes, flying on weekdays or during off-peak seasons can result in lower prices.

Additionally, being flexible with your chosen destinations can help you take advantage of cheaper flights and optimize your overall itinerary—I share in-depth details about how to actually plan your route around the world .

Explore different airlines and alliances

Don’t limit yourself to a single airline or alliance. Research and compare prices across various airlines and alliances to find the best deals. Sometimes, combining flights from different carriers can result in cost savings. This is crucial when deciding if going with a single alliance’s RTW ticket is the best option for your trip.

Consider alternative airports

Research nearby airports in your departure and arrival cities. Sometimes, flying to or from a different airport can save you money, even when factoring in transportation costs to reach your intended destination. And consider even reversing your overland route, for example, if that lowers costs.

Don’t get stuck on flying into and out of Bangkok just so you could do the circular Banana Pancake Trail of SEA. Instead consider flying into Hanoi and then making your way to Thailand, for example. Or if you find an amazing deal into Kuala Lumpur, then you have a natural starting point for SEA.

Or travel through Africa north to south vs south to north. Basically, keep your brain creatively considering how to massage your routes into something you love, but that also takes advantage of flight deals.

Look for discounted or promotional fares

Keep an eye out for special promotions, discounts, or sales offered by airlines or travel agencies. Sign up for newsletters or follow them on social media to stay updated on the latest offers. This is incredibly true for puddle-jumpers! All of the discount airlines in the world offer flash sales with incredible deals.

Use a travel agent

Some travel agents and online travel agencies specialize in multi-stop itineraries (like AirTreks). They may have access to exclusive deals or be able to provide expert advice on cost-saving options.

How to Book Flights as You Travel Around the World

On my round the world trip, I tracked every single dollar spent on my round the world trip . And after it was over, I estimate that booking tickets as I traveled totaled out to slightly more than having purchased a piecemeal ticket before I left. And it was significantly less (by about $2,000) than a RTW ticket through an airline alliance.

I flew on one-way tickets around the world, and I booked many puddle jumpers on smaller, low-cost airlines too. Take a look at my route around the world . I visited 15 countries and several were grouped in regions of the world that facilitated overland travel.

On my route, I valued the flexibility of my trip far more than the idea that I could have saved a couple hundred dollars by having booked a pre-set route through one of the aggregators.

Booking as the year progressed also allowed me to take suggestions from other travelers and to adapt my RTW Itinerary to suit my evolving goals as I traveled (which embraced slow travel toward the end).

Also, to be honest, I didn’t have the money to spring for a ticket up front, and in the end I was grateful not to have to align myself with the rules and requirements and strict timetable of a RTW ticket. That said, some travelers rave about their RTW ticket experience.

Warning: Piecemeal Flights Mean You Have No Proof of Onward Travel

One big heads up —and it’s very important for anyone using this style of travel—some countries require that you have an outbound ticket before you can board the flight or enter the country.

In my more than 15 years of travel, this has cropped up twice as a big issue.

I was not allowed to board my flight from Melbourne to Bangkok until I had proof that I was leaving Thailand within 30-days of my arrival (North Americans are given a free 30-day visa on arrival in Thailand). This is not a rule that Thailand immigration enforces, but it was a random rule for the airline I had unwittingly booked. Australian airlines are notoriously strict about checking outbound flights.

Then, the same thing happened traveling from Mexico to Costa Rica—this is a hard and fast rule that is widely enforced for Costa Rica-bound travelers.

I write this so that you are aware of the possibility. Many long-term travelers fly on one-way tickets and show up with fingers crossed that they won’t have their outbound flights checked. You can mitigate this by planning the next stage of your trip, by booking a refundable plane or bus ticket to another country, or by arriving to the airport early and booking a ticket over wifi/cellular data if it’s required.

To my mind, booking airline tickets as you travel affords the most flexibility for any long trip, but the biggest benefits manifest on round the world trips that will last longer than six months.

If you decide to book your flights along the way, or to book each one independently, below I list my favorite flight search engines and route planning tools.

The Core Pros & Cons of Around the World Tickets

If you’re in a hurry, here are the five core points within the “Buy RTW Ticket” debate:

• Flexibility.  With the RTW plane ticket, you are locked into a firm route and you know the cost of your flights before you leave. If you book as you go, prices might rise as you travel but you’ll have the ability to change your route mid-trip.
• Type of Flights.  You will use the world’s major airline alliances on an around the world ticket. Booking as you go means you’ll likely spend more time flying on budget, low-cost, no-frills airlines.
• Planning Stress.  You either face the stress of spotty wifi on the on the road or you bite the bullet beforehand and add route planning into the madness of preparing for your round-the-world trip.
• Cost Comparison.  How do the airfare costs really stack up at the end of a trip? Since every person’s dream trip is different, you really have to price out the tickets yourself and see if the round-the-world ticket falls within your flight budget and goals.
• Amenities.  Decide the style of travel you prefer and then compare which type of planet ticket will offer the best all around—service, cost, and product—for your specific goals.

Are Around-the-World Tickets Worth It?

BootsnAll put together a free downloadable comparison guide for RTW tickets , and it has a sample of the different prices all of the various alliances would charge on sample routes—it’s a useful read! It’s older but still gives a good idea of what you’re facing when you buy an around the world plane ticket.

That comparison report has good average costs for round-the-world tickets. For your own trip, to budget for the expense, I recommend that you use the airline aggregators as a rough estimate of what you should save before travel .

Use Indie/ Airtreks to price out your route at the time of year you will travel (even if you’ll actually be booking flights in a couple years, try to align your search to a rough timeline of when you would be taking these flights).

Be generous with your estimates here. If there is one outlier flight route that comes up far cheaper than the others, go with an anticipated cost that sits in the median of those that come up in the search engine.

Pricing out daily travel budgets for various countries is easier than flights in many ways. Accommodation averages tend to stay steady over the years—the percent of increase year over year doesn’t noticeably affect a travel budget.

Airline prices, on the other hand, fluctuate on everything from current route competition to the global price of oil. If you’re creating an anticipated budget for future travel then budget high for the flights and you can adjust it as your trip nears and the flight prices become more indicative of the actual costs you will encounter as you travel.

If you’re undecided about which choice is best, know that there is no right answer here. They both work for different reasons.

My best advice is to plan just enough of your trip to stave off the panic attacks.

Leave the bulk of your trip planning to your actual trip. This works particularly well for trips longer than six months. That may sound crazy, but disassembling your life is enough work.

Once you are on the road, you will quickly learn how you want to travel and what you prioritize. I suggest that you book a hostel/hotel for the first week you land at the first stop on your around-the-world itinerary —then, I swear that the rest will work out.

You don’t have to plan the sights, the transport, the nitty-gritty details. That will all happen organically once you land and start talking to other travelers. Once I was actually on the road, I was amazed by how much I had over-stressed in the weeks leading up to my round the world trip.

And from a travel-hacking perspective on flights, if you’re keen to use airline miles and that sort of thing, Chris Guillebeau shared his round-the-world ticket buying strategies  and there are also programs online that teach you how to accrue miles and how to best redeem them for great flight deals.

I only lightly dabble in travel hacking (I own a Chase Sapphire Reserve card—arguably the best travel credit card —and use it exclusively when I am paying for anything and everything. I earn about one $800 flight each year, and I could do far better if I invested time in the travel hacking techniques that many friends successfully employ). But I love the perks of the card (free Priority Pass for airport lounges), too, so that has made it worth it.

How to Research Tickets and Prices

If you’re not completely sure which option works best for your trip, dive into the links below to price out various routes and options. Also, this post shares my exact process for finding great flight deals .

Search Engines for Regular Flights:

• Kayak : I usually start here for my flight searches to get a baseline on the costs, then I move on to a search engine that pulls in more of the low-cost carriers.
• Skyscanner : Use this as your first source for booking flights to or within Asia; the search engine pulls in a lot of the low-cost airlines too and can offer up some great fares you won’t find on the other aggregators.
• Expedia : I have been surprised by some of the great flights I find on here leaving from the US, particularly if you book in advance and have some of the major hub cities as stopping points.
• Google Flights : You know it’s good if it’s from Google, the king of search. This is a nice place to get a baseline for price estimates at the time of year you’ll be traveling.
• Matrix.itasoftware.com : Access to the backend that many travel agents use to find flight deals. It’s not in my regular lineup, but I always have this one in my back pocket.
• Research online : I found many tiny airlines in Africa that are not listed in any aggregator, so checking a guidebook or online for local low-cost airlines in some regions is a good idea.
• Amazing List of Low-Cost Flight Routes : This is a google map with flight routes many of the world’s low-cost airlines fly. Just glancing at it might inspire you to find some interesting routes to add into your travels.

Best Search Engines for RTW Flights:

• Indie  from Bootsnall
• STA Travel for students
• Flight Centre

Best Airline Alliances for RTW Tickets:

Planning your travels.

If you’re in the early stages of planning your travels, the following resources should help.

Dreaming of Travel » Letter to Travel Dreamers | How Do You Make Big Decisions? | Why I Decided to Travel the World | Creating Transformative Travel Experiences | The Best Travel Books

Affording Travel » How to Save for World Travel | How Much Does it Cost to Travel the World | Best Credit and Debit Cards for Travel | Using Geoarbitrage to Live Abroad | How to Work Remotely

Planning Travel » Plan Your World Travel Itinerary | Pack for Long-Term Travel | Homeschooling While Traveling | How to Purge Everything You Own | How to Pick the Right RTW Backpack | Buying RTW Flights

Staying Healthy » Safety and Solo Female Travel | How to Pick the Right Travel Insurance | Travel Vaccines 101 | How to Stay Healthy Abroad

8 thoughts on “Guide to Buying Around the World Tickets: A Cost Comparison”

My partner and I, we are traveling the world on May, We love the idea of the RTW ticket, the only problem is that we live in Middle east we really dont want to take the flight back to Dubai, is there a way to do the RTW without coming back to the initial country ?? Is bit of a shame to just dont take that flight and leave it to waste.

By the way great article we enjoyed reading it.

Have done this but must warn from experience that if you have not pre booked a certain flight out of certain countries you can get stuck for weeks relying on standby for availiabilty.This happened to me on the Bali Australia route and aslo Hawaii to Usa route(3weeks wait list each).and also Vancouver to Uk 2 weeks Also Srilanka to Uk was 2 weeks.Best to plan f your trips around flight dates in some parts of the world cos of waitlists

Thanks for this article, it’s so informative! I think though that you seem to be alright with budget airlines and smaller accommodation, so not going the RTW route and not making plans before hand as to where to stay, eat, see etc might work out for you. But I travel alone mostly, as a solo female, i think it’s imperative i have my accommodation sorted out before hand at least. And i only fly major airlines as i’m a nervous flyer as it is, and I just don’t do smaller planes/unknown carriers. So for me, the RTW makes the most sense. But your article is a good one nonetheless, and covered other angles. I enjoyed reading it.

I can completely understand using major airlines instead of lowcost ones, but I will counter your other point. There is no sane way to book a year’s accommodation ahead of time. I always advise all travelers to book at least a week or two in their destination where they’re landing, then it’s easy to figure out from there. And I was a solo female traveler for essentially all of my travels except some trips with my young nieces and nephews.

You are better off looking at an airlines financial results than going by the size of their fleet. Major airlines lose bucketloads most of the time. Budget airlines often have the newest planes. You can check that before booking. Most airlines have their planes maintained by service companies when they are away from base, so they all get the same treatment. In my experience almost all the incidents one is likely to encounter are caused by things like bird strikes, which no airline can protect against.

Shannon, this type of article has the danger of falling into over qualified “it depends” descriptions. You did a great job of avoiding that pitfall.

The link library at the end makes this a bookmark must.

Thanks for the wonderfulness.

II always aim for very specific and granular information and actionable advice that people can actually use to tweak and fit into their own travel plans. I am so happy to know that you’ve found it useful. Good luck with your traveling planning!

I am going on a round the world trip and having booked my flights in advance looks cheaper and more convenient. I will be working at the same time so I dont need the extra stress. As I also want to go to North Korea some expert advice is always welcome. Also, the necessity to show your outbound ticket in certain countries is a risk I definitely do not wish to take. I already know where I really want to go so I prefer it like this. However, some advice to people searching for RTW offers: NEVER contact roundtheworldflights.com. They are abrupt and unprofessional to say the least.

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Welcome to visit moscow tours.

We provide authentic, informative and memorable tour packages and city tours, at very competitive prices. Visit Moscow Tours are available not only in Moscow, but also in other cities: Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Suzdal and Sergiev Posad.  We also organise customised individual programs tailored just for you.

Our guests come in large groups, small private groups, as couples or as single travellers. We take care of and treat our guests with respect in a friendly and warm family environment. We show people our beautiful cities with passion and deep knowledge of their history, culture and traditions.

Our guides are extremely hospitable, helpful and well-informed. They are simply the best because only by providing the best services can we make the world fall in love with Russia. And we are very happy when our guests say that they will definitely come back to Russia and that they will tell all their friends how great Russia is! That is what inspires us to put even more dedication and hard work into our tours, knowing that what we do is positive and meaningful.

Our classic tours include tours of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, two main Russian cities.

Moscow is a big and busy  megalopolis and Russia’s capital city, where more than 12 million people live and work. Our capital city is happening place; it is mysterious, elegant, luxurious, fashionable, clean and bright, with its unique legends, traditions and events. It is with great pride that we show the Red Square and the Kremlin, our Underground and Tretyakovskaya Gallery, among other stunning attractions.

Saint Petersburg is our second capital,  the second largest city in the Russian Federation. This wonderful city has a strong and lively aristocratic spirit, uniquely Russian royal architecture, magnificent museums and theatres. Saint Petersburg bears the royal heritage of Russia, which can be felt in its air, its streets, parks, monuments, museums and citizens.  In Saint Petersburg tours, we will take you to the Hermitage, Peter and Paul Fortress, Faberge Museum and Orthodox Cathedrals. We’re sure you will love it!

If you have a few more days to spare, venture into the dreamy Russian countryside in Suzdal or Sergiev Posad. Suzdal is a small town with a population of about ten thousand people, situated on less than 15 square kilometres. This tiny area is home to 53 historic cathedrals, five monasteries and a kremlin. Church domes are visible like mushrooms from anywhere and everywhere in the town like in a fairy tale. No wonder Suzdal is called the ‘Town Museum”.  It is definitely worth visiting!

Just try any of Visit Moscow Tours’ tour packages or any individual city tour, and we promise that you will want to come back to Russia again.  Russia is huge with countless amazing places to visit. There are so many unique experiences to be had and energies to be felt that one tour is definitely not enough to explore this vast land. It is also a very safe destination to travel, and we have a tradition of warm hospitality. Our people adore and take care of visitors as our own guests, and even if they do not know your language very well, they still try to be helpful and hospitable.

Our guides will show you the most interesting attractions and historical places, taking you on a journey to the past to enjoy stories of medieval times, the Romanov monarchy, the Soviet Era. And of course, we will show you the contemporary life of our country through authentic local experiences.

We look forward to meeting you soon!

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Moscow Vacation Packages

Moscow vacations are always a great idea when it comes to traveling in Russia. Plan your trip to Moscow with a leading tour operator for Russia and enjoy the ease and pleasure that comes from it. You will stay at the centrally-located hotels, enjoy guided tours to Moscow's best sights with charming local guides, and, most importantly, feel relaxed and immersed in the Russian culture at all times. Wondering what the ideal way to see the best of Moscow is? Well, with a private tour to Moscow, of course! We will listen to your travel preferences and prepare a custom Moscow itinerary just for you. Let's start talking about your upcoming vacation to the gorgeous capital city of Russia.

Moscow Tour Highlights

Explore the capital of the largest country in the world, Russia.

Learn about the most visited sights in Moscow that are worth adding to your Russian itinerary. Create a fantastic tour to Moscow with a destination, choosing your wished activities.

• Moscow walking tour
• The Red Square
• St Basil's Cathedral
• Moscow Subway ride
• Tretyakov Gallery
• The Red Square in Moscow
• The Bolshoi Theater
• Cathedral of Christ the Savior
• Moscow's Kremlin exploration
• 'Seven Sisters' Skyscrapers

Tips for Moscow Travel

Take a look at the good-to-know tips before visiting Moscow and have a fantastic time in the capital.

What to pack

Make sure to check the weather prognosis before your trip and pack accordingly.

When to travel

Moscow is beautiful all around the year. Choose traveling time according to preferred activities.

We suggest to always have some cash with you. You will need Rubles (RUB) for Russia.

How much to tip

Tipping is not required in Russia, but it's considered good etiquette, tip 10%-15% of your bill.

The average summer temperature is approx 18°C (64°F), and winter is around -6°C (22°F).

Some of the most popular souvenirs from Moscow are caviar, Krasnaya Moska perfume.

Best Moscow Sights

One of the highest points in Moscow and one of its most breathtaking places - the Sparrow Hills.

See the 344-feet Cathedral of Christ the Savior - the tallest Orthodox church in the world.

Enjoy masterpieces of Russian opera and ballet in Moscow's legendary Bolshoi Theater.

Being the most recognizable symbol of Russia in the world, Red Square is an absolute must see when in Moscow. 

The famous GUM is a large department store in the Kitai-gorod part of Moscow facing Red Square.

St. Basil’s Cathedral is Moscow’s most famous artistic work of architecture set in the romantic Red Square.

History and luxury is revealed inside the Kremlin as the Armoury Chamber displays treasures like Faberge Eggs.

The symbol of Moscow and entire Russia, the Kremlin is often described as the 8th Wonder of the World.

Moscow Metro is like a whole underground city that holds the world's largest collection of Stalinist Art.

I am very satisfied.

I have been using the Firebirds (Travel All Russia) services for a while. I am very satisfied.

WOW. From the choice of hotels to...

WOW. From the choice of hotels, an itinerary that ran to plan, the amazing Guides and drivers, and of course the stunning cities of Moscow and St Petersburg. No long queues for entry to museums, churches, and palaces.  I would gladly recommend using Firebird Tours (Travel All Russia) to anyone.

THANK YOU for making this happen for me !!!

I must say from the day I started to book my tip till the day I got home I had one GREAT trip and experience I always felt safe and cared for help was seconds away not that I needed any I will defiantly highly recommend your company to any traveler to Russia WELL DONE to the Whole team THANK YOU for making this happen for me !!!

We enjoyed the whole trip a lot

Overall we enjoyed the whole trip a lot. Moscow is beautiful and clean. Thank you very much for your patience and excellent organization of this tour. Everything ran very smoothly and according to schedule. The guides met us on time at hotels or at our train carriage on arrival. They all spoke good English, had a good local knowledge and were very kind and helpful.

The tour lived up to all expectations

I’m most pleased with Travel All Russia in arranging our ‘Volga Dream’ Russia tour, I would recommend using your services again as every aspect of our tour went off without a hitch. The communication between our tour representative was excellent as we required additional days on both ends of our tour. The visa process and the logistics were flawlessly implemented.

We had a great time in Moscow!

Everything was perfect and we are very satisfied with services and accommodations.

Loved my time in Russia

The trip was great. Especially want to mention the guides I had on the extra days were exceptional. Both guides and drivers worked out well. Thanks again for all your help and attention. Loved my time in Russia, and still haven’t stopped talking about it.

Exploring Magnificent Russian Capitals, June 2017

Just want to say that our guide in St Petersburg was really outstanding. You really felt like someone was looking after you. Very observant - knowledgeable. We really enjoyed time spent with her.

Exploring Vibrant Moscow, June 2017

The experience was great!!! We had an excellent guide. The hotel was fabulous.

Thank you for your help !!! was an unforgettable trip.

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International travelers are very attracted to russian travel opportunities but there are many concerns and hesitations due to the complicated visa issues, the language barrier, the confusing cultural differences, and methods and means of travel confusions., our small family business eliminates all of your concerns. we offer personal solutions to all of those problems as well as rare and extraordinary tours with a highly personal touch., we will make your russian travel enjoyable and unforgettable.