Round the World Airline Tickets

April 26th, 2008 chris Posted in Travel |

I can’t remember where I first heard about Round the World (RTW) airline tickets, but I’ve been intrigued ever since. The idea of packing up and circumnavigating the globe seems very appealing to me, and I’ve been looking into it ever since I left Google at the end of 2006. I still have other obligations to finish up before I actually board the plane, but I thought I’d write down what I’ve learned so far.

There are several programs available from various airline alliances and travel agents. Choosing one requires analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, such as region of travel, cost, and what airlines you prefer to fly. I’m in the United Mileage Plus program, so I gravitated toward the Star Alliance RTW Fare. In addition to the trip itself, a RTW ticket is a good way to move to more elite status within an airline’s program, enabling easier upgrades to business and first class, better airport lounge access, and other travel perks.

You have to follow certain rules with a Star Alliance RTW Fare, such as:

  • Must start and end your trip on the same continent
  • Must travel in one direction around the world (i.e. west or east)
  • Can’t backtrack or change directions outside of a continent (but within a continent is okay)
  • Have to stay within your mileage cap. The highest cap is 39,000 miles.
  • The trip must be longer than 10 days and less than a year.
  • There must be at least 3 stops and no more than 15 stops.

Star Alliance has a useful trip planner which validates these rules and knows the flights available for Star Alliance. The map below is the route I’ve been planning in the trip planner:

04-08-07-trip-map-01.gif

Something I found interesting was the costs of these tickets, particularly for business and first class fares. I’ve never traveled internationally on first class, but it can easily cost over $10,000 on a top-tier airline from the US to Europe, especially since I would be leaving from San Francisco (SFO). A first class Star Alliance RTW fare with a mileage cap of 34,000 miles leaving from SFO is listed as $11,200 on airtimetable.com. This is an opportunity to fly first class internationally, and what better time to do it then when you’re traveling so many miles.

By the way, the ticket prices differ based on the class of service, miles traveled, and where the ticket originates from. Some people have been known to travel to places like Sri Lanka to get as much as half price on these tickets, although you must then start and end your trip in Sri Lanka. How to get there and back is an exercise for the reader.

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