Around the World
Airline Tickets

"11 tips on how to find cheap
round the world tickets
and your options for cheap RTW tickets"

Backpacking around the world?

Do you want to have a good time and cruise around the world?

Finding cheap around the world airline tickets requires a lot of patience and endurance. Start your research at least 6 months ahead so you have time to compare the airplane prices.

Here are tips on how to find cheap RTW-tickets and options for cheap round-the-world tickets.

Hope it's useful! :-)

How to find cheap round the world tickets

1. Use your time…

   …and compare air fares for package deals online. By buying the first option you see, you might risk missing other better deals. If you know what stops you're going to take along the road, present the itinerary for travel agents/airlines and check out who can give you the best price.

   But remember this: Just because a RTW-ticket is cheap, doesn't necessarily mean it's the best. Mind that some airlines have a higher crash record than others, like China and Russia.

   Ask the travel agent/airline about all the options around a RTW-ticket, for example: free stopovers.

2. Buy your RTW-ticket at least 6 months before

   Prices for RTW-tickets tend to be low when you buy your ticket 6-12 months in advance.

3. Ask friends, family and colleagues where they bought their ticket…

   …maybe they have any recommendations for cheap RTW-tickets?

4. When deciding where to go, try to choose gateway cities…

   …like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, New York, and Amsterdam. Like, Bangkok is the gateway city to Southeast Asia. It cost more to buy a "direct" flight to Phnom Penh in Cambodia than just buying a ticket to Bangkok.

5. Purchase your around the world airline ticket directly from the airline and not from a travel agent

   Travel agents live on commissions and these commissions are "disguised" in booking or service fees. You'll likely save money by buying your airline ticket from an airline.

6. Buy a standard RTW-ticket…

   …instead of customizing a route. A typical standard RTW-route can start from UK, Bangkok, Auckland, Fiji, Los Angeles and then back to UK.

7. Keep traveling in one direction

8. Fly out on a weekday, instead of a weekend

9. Total cost

   Make sure that the cost they're offering you is the total cost, including flights, most taxes, surcharges on selected flights and booking charges. Some taxes are collected at the airports and aren't included in the price, like Phnom Penh International airport in Cambodia.

10. To save money combine flights with ground travel

    As long as you're in the same region or country, ground transportation might save you money on around the world airline tickets.

    Here are examples of places where you can use ground transportation to your benefit:

    • Kerala to Kathmandu
      
    • Moscow to Beijing
      
    • Singapore to Bangkok (you have to sneak around the insurgency in Southern Thailand, but otherwise you're fine)
      
    • New York to Los Angeles
      
    • Los Angeles to Mexico City
      
    • Paris to any city in Europe
      
    • Sydney to Perth

    Certain countries are at war, have isolated themselves from the world or there's an ongoing conflict in the country. Sadly you can't travel through these countries, like Burma, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

11. RTW tickets can be cheaper if you buy them outside your country

    Example: In times where the Euro is strong compared to other currencies.

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Options for
Cheap RTW Tickets

One World and Star Alliance are the biggest companies offering around the world airline tickets.

One World: One World is based on the number of continents you're going to visit (including your continent of origin) and which class you're going to fly (to save money you should of course stick to economy class). With this company you can have up to 16 flight segments.

One World

Star Alliance: Star Alliance is based on total number of miles of your planned trip, included the country where your trip starts. RTW-fare includes up to 26 000, 29 000, 34 000 or 39 000 miles.

Star Alliance

Sky Team: Sky Team offers up to 15 flight segments and includes up to 26 000, 29 000, 34 000 or 39 000 miles.

Example of Sky Team fare (39 000 miles):

New York-Paris-Rome-Madrid-Prague-Moscow-Amsterdam-Bangkok-Seoul-Beijing-Tokyo-Los Angeles-Mexico-Santiago -Buenos Aires-Atlanta-New York = $6011 (economy class)

Sky Team

STA Travel: STA Travel offers special discounts for students and those under 26, and the tickets are valid up to 18 months.

STA Travel

One of their cheapest RTW-tickets is this:

Classic route (Europe, Asia, Australia and North America) = £ 959 (for students and those under 26)

Cheapoair: Check out their World Travel Deals (click on the banner, link opens in a new window)

Low airfare guarantee, it searches over 400 airlines in seconds and you can earn airline miles on most CheapOair flights.

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