Round the World Travel Guide
An around-the-world trip could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Nowadays circling the globe is much easier than ever. All you need is a flexible airpass, a small savings, and an open mind.
Round the World Tickets
Around the world tickets (also known as Round-the-World or RTW tickets) can be a convenient way to travel around the world. A round-the-world ticket (RTW ticket) is an airline ticket allowing travelers to fly and travel around the world for a relatively low price, usually over a period of up to a year and with between three and twenty stops at different airports. RTW tickets cost far less than the sum of the one-way tickets between each set of individual stops.
RTW tickets are usually offered by airline alliances such as Star Alliance, Oneworld and SkyTeam, or else by specialist travel agencies that will spend time helping customize a trip to the traveler’s needs. They are priced according to class of service, origin of travel, number of continents, mileage (usually between 20,000 and 40,000 miles), and sometimes season of travel. The traveler benefits from the large and optimised network of the airline alliance and can participate in the alliance’s frequent flyer programs.
However, these RTW tickets offered by airline alliances are usually subject to restrictions. The start and end of the journey almost always have to be located in the same country and exactly one crossing each of the Atlantic and Pacific must be included in the itinerary. The number of stops is usually restricted to 5-16, and backtracking between continents (especially Europe/Asia) is often restricted. Prices vary but are generally in the range of $3000-5000 USD for an economy class ticket.
Round-the-world travel agencies. It is possible to put together a round-the-world route by combining one-way tickets on various airlines. This is more flexible than restricting yourself to what an alliance offers and, if you get good discounts on some hops, pricing can be competitive. The only practical way to do this — since it requires both knowledge and contacts — is to go to a travel agent who specializes in round-the-world travel itineraries. The around the world ticket booking process can take a few days or weeks depending on how fast you wish to expedite the process. These Round-the-world travel agents will get parts of your ticket issued by their contacts in other countries or in-house contracts. This can save a lot of money over the airlines.
Popular round-the-world travel itineraries
New York - London - Paris - Prague - Rome - Athens - Johannesburg - Kilimanjaro - surface - Nairobi - Mumbai - Delhi - Bangkok - Singapore - Bali - Sydney - Auckland - Nadi (Fiji) - Los Angeles - Honolulu - New York
Los Angeles - London - Paris - Cape Town - surface - Johannesburg - Abu Dhabi - Kuala Lumpur - surface - Bangkok - Hong Kong - Beijing - Los Angeles
London - Dublin - New York - Vancouver - Hong Kong - Hanoi - Luang Phrabang - Angkor Wat - Bangkok - surface - Singapore - Chennai - surface - Delhi - Istanbul - London
