Round-the-world Airline Tickets
June 26th, 2003 Posted in General, Long-term travel, Travel bargainsI just received an e-mail from someone who had bought my book. He wanted some advice on tickets saying, “I’ve been informed from other people that it is more cost effective to purchase tickets separately once you get to your destination, point by point. But, I’m not sure if that same logic applies to my situation…”
It’s a common question for many people setting off for an around-the-world trip and one in which the answer depends a lot on the itinerary and where the person lives. There are essentially four ways to do it:
1) Buy a round-the-world ticket from an organization of airlines, such as the Star Alliance.
2) Buy a pieced-together RTW ticket from a “bucket shop” who will use a wide variety of different airlines. You can find these in newspaper travel sections in big cities or in the US, try AirTreks or Around the World Tickets.
3) If you fit the criteria to get a student price, you can get a pieced-together RTW ticket made up of student-priced fares from STA Travel.
4) Just buy your initial one-way ticket from your own country (try a bucket shop/consolidator for the cheapest one-way deals) and then buy the rest of the tickets locally as you go.
I’ve used options #2 and #4 myself and talked with plenty of people who have used the others. Here’s when each option makes sense.
Star Alliance and the like
This is usually the most expensive option from the US, where the price is about double what it is in the rest of the world. Figure on several thousand dollars for the least number of stops. If you can buy this (and leave from) Canada or elsewhere, the price is more reasonable. Advantages include being on known airlines, getting frequent flier miles on one system, and always having an onward ticket to show immigration folks. Disadvantages, besides price, are that you’re locked into a set itinerary, they’re only good for one year, and your choices are limited to where those partners fly.
Consolidater Tickets
These are usually far cheaper than the formal alliance deals and offer more flexibility since they can in theory use any airline. You still usually only have a year to use the whole series, but there’s some wiggle room in there sometimes with the last leg. Advantages are price and the ole “onward ticket” advantage. Disadvantages are that you’re still locked into an itinerary and you can end up on some odd airlines you’ve never hear of (Tarom, Biman Bangladesh, Air Jordan, etc.) You may not get frequent flier mileage on some or all legs of the trip.
STA Travel and the like
Kind of the middle ground between the first two options if you qualify. Cheaper than what non-students pay, with a mix of airlines and options. Service can vary drastically between offices and again, you’ll pay more in the US than elsewhere.
Buy as You Go
I did my last two circle-the-globe trips this way and came out way ahead both times. It depends on where you’re going though. The dirty secret of airlines (and bucket shops) is that prices vary quite a bit depending on where you buy your ticket. Buying a flight in London, Delhi, Singapore, or Bangkok will cost you far less than buying it in Chicago or Tokyo. Most consolidators buy a lot of their RTW ticket legs from Bangkok agents and have them shipped to them in the US. Advantages, besides price, are that you can adjust your itinerary as you go and you don’t have to worry about being somewhere by a certain date or having only a year before you have to head home. You could get a job somewhere overseas and not have to worry about losing the use of a ticket. Disadvantages include the need to have a disciplined budget, not knowing what the whole trip will cost, and not having an onward ticket if you get hassled by an immigration official (rare outside rich countries, but it happens).
So what about the reader I mentioned above? He was living in Tongo, South Pacific and was not going to Southeast Asia or India. The Star Alliance ticket there was half the price it is in the US. In his case, that was the best option.
19 Responses to “Round-the-world Airline Tickets”
By Jared on Jul 20, 2003
Hey Tim,
me and my buddy are going to be traveling around the world (hopefully to all 7 continents) and we are leaving June of ‘04…. our situation is traveling everywhere but by being spontaneous, because we heard you can hitchike on yahts and other boats to get to places… so we would like a relaxed airline that would take us on the one way around the world…. and very cheap because we are poor college students… but we want to take a year off and experience everything as possible…. so we just need some advice about what would be best for 2 guys that are going to be random, yet on some type of schedule, and cheap
thanks alot!
jared
By karl on Sep 18, 2003
im thinking about travelling next year could you give me some tips on travelling and on some of your favorite destinations.
the info would be great as im not sure where to travel yet.
thanks alot !!!!
karl
By Jodi on Oct 30, 2003
I was wondering if you could give me some advice…My boyfriend & I are planning to leave Tokyo - go to Thailand, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Egypt, Jordon, Isreal, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Morroco, Canada, Brazil, Peru. Starting next Aug. I’m Canadian so & was planning to buy our tickets in Canada because I figured it would be much cheaper than buying them here in Tokyo. Can you give me some suggestions? We would prefer the cheapest of course, but would also like to knoe the cost beforehand. Do you have any idea how much this would cost? The agent I’ve been dealing with won’t give me a straight answer. Thanks.
By cheap plane ticket on Mar 21, 2006
cheap plane ticket
Brain: an apparatus with which we think we think.
By catmeisha on Aug 1, 2006
Enjoyed reading your postings on RWT as I have been considering purchasing same BUT not knowing exactly where I shall wander after India have decided to go with purchasing individual segments. I have to go from West Canada to Switzerland and searching for a cheaper flight for that leg at the present, Transat goes into Frankfurt on a one way lower price and would have to bus down to meet up with group. I will hopefully make it to Bangkok and pick up a bucket shop ticket to Nth America as you suggest. Any helpful hints Tim? Am a senior and love good prices and collecting travel points. What else is new…!
By tim on Aug 7, 2006
Catmeisha,
You are approaching it the right way by being flexible. If a ticket to Switzerland is not a deal, go to Frankfurt or somewhere else with more competition, then go overland. This can be applied to a lot of locations and is another reason why figuring it out as you go along makes it cheaper. New budget airlines are popping up all the time and they are not a part of any RTW alliance. And yes, Bangkok is still bargain city for flights. Just pop into travel agents where you are and start asking about flights and routes. They are used to dealing with backpackers on a budget in all these countries if you are in the right neighborhood.
By L'aura Marie on Sep 30, 2007
Ciao! I want to travel mostly thru Europe via Pittsburgh by round the world ticket, 1st stop being London. If I were to travel by train thru EU, can I pick up flights again in say Turkey then head on to India? How does that work? Thanks so much!
By Mary on Jan 22, 2008
Can you buy a ticket say from Medford,OR to las vegas but get off in Salt lake then catch the return part of your ticket from salt back to medford? Reason : ticket cheaper to vegas but salt lake is my wanted
destination-flight to vegas round trip stops both ways in salt lake?
By KAMALA DAS PENWELL on Mar 3, 2008
Thanks for the article and i find it quite useful. I live in Delhi (Indian) with my american husband. It will be great if you could provide some address of bucket shops in New Delhi, Singapore and London.
Kamala Das Penwell
By Cassandra on Mar 16, 2008
Hi!
My friend and I are currently in Wellington,New Zealand and wanted to plan a trip to Thailand in June. We were wondering what your advice would be for the cheapest airfare.
Thanks
Cassandra
By Mark on Apr 21, 2008
Travelling during the peak tourist season, to a destination will be more expensive. The airlines
The airlines are often willing to fill the seats during the slow seasons and thus lower their ticket prices. Travelling coach can also help you when you need to be for less money.Nice posting so informative, thanks
By Teresa Viberg on Jul 4, 2008
What can I expect to pay for an airline ticket/s to Jorden or Turkey?
By Teresa Viberg on Jul 4, 2008
From San Francisco
By tim on Jul 6, 2008
This is probably your best bet for scoping out prices:
Vayama.com – Save up to 63% on international flights.
By Airline Tickets on Jul 16, 2008
Your Article was on airline tickets is very nice.
You can just go through my site once.
Find really cheap airline tickets, Dirt cheap airline tickets at tickets for tomorrow. We have a list of really cheap international airline tickets, and dirt cheap airline tickets, cheap airline tickets. Book your very cheap airline tickets at http://www.ticketsfortomorrow.com
By David on Jul 16, 2008
I am stocked about seeing Peter Greenberg explain gas prices to me on larry king tonight at 815 http://yovia.com/peter-greenberg-and-larry-king-to-discuss-oil-prices
By Dirt cheap airline tickets on Aug 23, 2008
I think the best option for one that likes to travel is to buy as you go: You can save a lot and have a thrilling and unusual travel too.
By dirt cheap airline tickets on Aug 24, 2008
Good to see the news from Star Alliance. And I feel that passengers have to educate themselves about the best periods to buy tickets and how can they avail cheaper airline tickets. For this purpose I suggest you to provide or suggest some travel guide to the passengers.
By Discount Airline Tickets on Sep 26, 2008
This story is very useful. Really I like it. Here we can find discount airline tickets. You can check it also http://www.globester.com