The Freedom of Round-the-World Tickets

Do you want to travel the world? One of the cheapest and simplest ways to do that is with a round-the-world airline ticket.

Several airline alliances offer round-the-world tickets, more commonly known as RTW tickets. The perks of round-the-world flights far outweigh the cost of multiple one-way tickets.

So what is a round-the-world ticket anyway?

How Does a RTW Ticket Work?

A RTW ticket is an airline pass based on a mileage system that allows you to book an itinerary of flights for much less than the cost of individual tickets. Depending on your destinations, the passes also let you fly with other airlines in the same airline alliance.

For example, if you buy a ticket from American Airlines, you can connect to flights with their partner airlines, such as British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas.

Round-the-world tickets are available with OneWorld, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam. Each alliance has different conditions for its passes, but generally speaking, the ticket is valid for a year (12 months) from the start date.

When you purchase the ticket for your round-the-world trip, you’ll need to move either east or west because, depending on the alliance you choose, backtracking can cost you.

It’s easier to move from country to country or even continent to continent, although you can make up to three or sometimes even five stops in one country before moving on.

Star Alliance Round-the-World Tickets

Star Alliance allows five stops in the U.S., for example. However, you must make sure you begin and end your trip in the same country.

Star Alliance offers round-the-world tickets in 26,000, 29,000, 34,000, and 39,000-mile packages. The more miles you buy, the more destinations you will be able to visit. It depends on how much money you want to spend.

The 29,000-mile round-the-world ticket will get you to roughly three continents, while the 34,000-mile deal will get you four continents and the 39,000-mile deal will get you five or six continents.

Star Alliance also allows passengers to backtrack over continents, but not over oceans. When you fly over oceans, you are required to keep moving in your original direction. Therefore, you could fly from London to New York, New York to Los Angeles and return to New York, but you could not return from New York to London.

Also, if you land in one destination and then take a train, bus or smaller airline to another destination before continuing on your RTW journey, those miles will be counted against your ticket.

OneWorld Explorer

OneWorld offers three types of round-the-world trips: Explorer, Global Explorer and Circle Pacific.

The OneWorld Explorer fare is based on the number of continents and you travel to rather than mileage. Your fare includes 3-6 continents and between 3 and 16 flights. Travel must flow in one direction, but backtracking within a continent is generally allowed.

You must begin and end in the same city and travel must be completed within 12 months. No matter the length of the flight, one flight counts as one segment (limit of 16), whereas with a mileage-based pass, longer flights take up more miles, so you run out faster.

The OneWorld Global Explorer pass is mileage-based, allowing 26,000, 29,000, 34,000, or 39,000 miles. This pass benefits from a more extensive list of airlines, allowing for a wider range of destinations. However, there is still a limit of 16 segments for the Global Explorer pass.

Many of the rules are similar for the above OneWorld passes, including that you must cross both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans but may only do so once.

The Circle Pacific pass covers the continents bordering the Pacific Ocean, so it may be preferable to those who do not wish to cross the Atlantic on their travels.

What Does a Round-the-World Ticket Cost?

This is where the travel agencies come in. AirTreks will give you a quote and travel tips for free. On their site, just type in which cities you want to visit, and they will give you suggestions of destinations you can add for the same price.

Just for giggles, I created an itinerary from Denver, planning to return to Denver after visiting Dublin, Paris, Bangkok, Buenos Aires and Bogotá. The entire quote came to $3,605, and AirTreks let me know that I could also add New York City, Los Angeles or Miami for the same price.

Your travel agent will help you change flight dates and times as you plan your trip, and you can do this at any point before you go or along your way. However, if you want to change destinations, you will have to pay a fee.

In general, RTW tickets cost between $1,500 and $15,000 USD, depending on mileage, destinations, class, number of stops, dates and fees. Some passes allow 24-hour stops in one destination, but that would also increase the price.

AirTreks is the most popular among frequent travelers, but you can also buy RTW tickets with STA Travel or Flight Centre (Europe/OZ/NZ). All three of these agencies will book flights for you based on the airline’s partners and the lowest fares they find.

Is a RTW Ticket Right For You?

Regardless of which alliance you choose, RTW passes are popular because they allow you to make changes to your itinerary on a whim. If you follow the airline rules, you can change dates and times as you please and keep adding to your mileage.

Each airport will also add on fees and taxes to your ticket, ranging from $5 to $100 USD, so include this in your research.

RTW tickets are great for people with a set schedule in mind, people who are looking to buy tickets for big groups like families, frequent fliers looking to gain miles and perks, and people who dislike flying with budget airlines.

In the end, a round the world airline ticket could end up saving you up to 30% off on point-to-point tickets.

What better way to travel around the world?

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Go World Travel Magazine is a digital magazine for world travelers. Our editorial content is produced by a dedicated team of travel journalists who know the regions they cover. We cover travel in more than 90 countries.

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