Round the World Tickets

Round the world (RTW) tickets can be a convenient way to travel around the world. An around the world air ticket lets you pre-buy all your airline tickets before you go away so you don’t have to worry about buying and booking flights while you are traveling. They are commonly used by people who are doing a gap year or some other long term trip.

How Round the World Tickets Work:
RTW tickets are really airline alliance passes. You buy a ticket from an airline than can be used on that airline’s alliance partners. The biggest alliances that offer RTW tickets are the Star Alliance, Oneworld, and World Journey. Each other these alliances offer you ability to travel around the world but you can only travel on that airline’s partners. For example, if you book with United Airlines, your ticket is only good for airlines United partners with. If you book with Air France, you can only use their partners, none of which are discont airline carriers.

Round the world tickets let you choose your destinations, pick your mileage, and a set number of stops. This pass is then good for up to one year from its start date. There is usually a minimum of three stops with the maximum depending on the alliance. Many of the tickets are now priced by miles or continents flown. Oneworld lets you book their RTW ticket directly with them.  Additionally, the start and end location of the ticket must be in the same location and you must cross the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

RTW tickets prices generally average between US$2,700 dollars – $5,000 dollars depending on your mileage, route, and stops. All of those things, as well as the dates of your flights, can all be changed later for a fee. However, the start and end date cannot be changed. A simple two or three stop rtw ticket might cost as little as $1,500. The more you get off the typical routes their airlines fly though, the more expensive your ticket can get.

Are RTW tickets worth buying?
RTW tickets are great for people with a set schedule. If you know your travel dates, locations, and don’t plan on changing your trip that much, an around the world ticket will save you a lot of time and a bit of money.  RTW tickets cost a lot of money but if you pick one of the popular travel routes, you will find you will save money. A typical RTW route is from NYC-London-Bangkok-Singapore-Sydney-LA-NYC.  Buying ticket on a route like this will most likely save you some money.  However, if you want to head to a lot of destinations, on a lot of continents, be prepared to pay more money.

A thing to remember though is that when you travel, nothing ever happens as you plan it- something always changes. The longer you travel, the more your plans change. You stay longer in some places, spend less time in others. Maybe you really liked France and decide to stay in Europe longer. Or you hate Asia and want to move on to your next destination.  Round the world trips are all about going with the flow. If you are tied to a RTW ticket, it can be expensive to change your flight. You lose flexibility and that is the downside to RTW tickets- the lack of flexibility. You can change dates but at a cost.

A perk of RTW tickets to consider is that you will earn a lot of reward miles. If you are a frequent traveler or plan on flying a lot after your trip, an RTW ticket will give you enough miles towards a free flight. Though you will pay more for your round the world ticket, you’ll gain long term perks and, for some people, that is worth paying extra.

RTW Ticket Alternatives
Book the ticket yourself. By booking your own flights, you get more flexibility. You can use discount airlines that the airline alliances don’t partner with and you can wait for flight deals to come around. It will take more work on your part and patience but the money you save can better be spent on other things.

Example: Air Treks had a ticket from LA to Asia to Europe to NYC than back to LA from anywhere between $2900 to $3800 dollars. However, we never found the ticket on the bottom end because of the fees and taxes. Yet we priced out the ticket separately and found it for $2,900 dollars. The low end that Air Treks offered- taxes included.

We did this buy using low cost airlines, plugging in random dates to find the lowest prices, and by using a free flight we had accumlated with miles. (If you travel around the world, you will get enough miles for one free flight).  That is the kind of flebility you can get by booking your ticket on your own.

Use Low Cost Carriers. Low cost airline carriers are great way to reduce the cost of flying around the world and get cheap flights. You can use low cost carriers to get around most of the world now, thus avoiding many of the large airline companies. This saves you money and gives you flexibility. It’s now possible to get to Europe from Asia on AirAsia for hundreds less than flying a major airline.

Reward Yourself. If you don’t have a travel rewards credit card, now is the best time to get one. Most travel credit cards will give you 20,000 miles for signing up, which gets you close to a free flight. All the rewards you earn by spending can be redeemed for cash, travel products, and free flights. Even if you only get one flight, that will still save you hundreds of dollars. This will help reduce the cost of flying around the world.

Should you buy a RTW ticket?
Round the world tickets are good for travelers who have a set route and time table. They can offer cost and time savings for travelers and are especially good if you know where you are going and don’t plan on changing your flights. Moreover, if you are already a frequent flier and looking to gain perks, then an RTW ticket is a great way to pad your rewards program and upgrade you to elite status.

If you don’t have a set route or time travel and are most likely going to change your plans a lot, getting an around the world ticket is probably not right for you. You’ll probably be able to price out a cheaper ticket if you go at it alone, especially if you are not beholden to one airline or alliance.

Consider all of these things when you want to get a RTW ticket. RTW tickets can be good but not for all travelers.  If you are interested in one of these tickets, we use Airtreks when we book our trip. They always have the best rtw prices and very friendly staff. We encourage you to use their services.