Please explain to me how they work.
thanks for the replies guys!! i'm still looking in to what is the best option for flights. So with the RTW tickets, it's possible to change the dates/places I fly to/from right? I just cant change the date I leave and return to home? Also, I'm a little confused about the over land travel with RTW tickets...what if I fly into Sydney but then bus to melbourne, can I fly out of Melbourne or would I have to get back to Sydney? Would the bus count as part of the RTW ticket? Would buying one way tickets the whole trip be a better option? Sorry for the all the questions i'm just a little confused! Thanks again for the replies!!
Reply to this I think it might be more economical to buy a round the world ticket, but I dont know enough about them, having never bought one. Hopefully somebody who knows better will come along soon to answer your questions.
Mel
Reply to this The way to do it is simple. You do a list of the places you want to go first...and than you do your homework to check which way is the more efficient to do.
In general, RTW allow you to change dates without any charges, but if you want to change the itinery, you will have a charge.
Star Alliance RTW are built on the number of miles you fly...and open jaws (meaning land travel) do count.
One world is based on "regions"you fly to.
If you do a RTW, be careful to due to new rules, you are limited to 16 segments on most of them. It may sound a lot, but this means, 16 flights max...not specially 16 cities visited!
If you do put down a list of places you want to go, I can give you a direction to where to look for. Its also depend where you start from...Buying a RTW in the US/Canada...is pretty inefficient to me because they are double the price than say in Asia.
Hope this help,
Peter
Reply to this I went around the world with no RTW ticket. Instead, I bought tickets as I went along. I met certain people on the road and completely changed my itinerary twice along the way. I went to countries I never considered going to before I left home. For me, it was worth spending the extra cash to have that flexibility. If I did another RTW trip, I would rather delay my departure a couple extra months to save up the difference rather than buckle myself down with an RTW ticket. But a lot of people legitimately disagree. You just have to figure out what you would rather do.
Reply to this Hi Justin,
You actually raise a very valid point. Buyinga RTW ticket make sense if you know exactly where to go in a certain time frame. But if you are on a "year" experience, I think you are simply right.
If I would say that for somebody who wants to do a two to three month trip...go for the ticket, but on a year plan, you are actually right and do...or go...where the wind bring you.
And this come from a guy with his fair share a travel. Thanks Justin!
Peter
Reply to this when we bought RTW tickets exiting Sydney, we had to pay $50 for every change we made as long as it was just a date change. For location changes it was something like $150...just go to a couple of travel agents and get some competitive quotes
Reply to this here's a great link that will explain your options for RTW flights...at the bottom of the article is a list of the best companies to book with.
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0401/around_the_world_travel.shtml
I am about to go on a 5-6 month trip and have narrowed it down to airtreks or STA travel. With airtreks, it depends on which airline you are flying with if you have to pay extra for date changes - think you will always be charged for a destination change. If you book with STA travel (they are targeted to students and young adults) you can change the dates without charge as far as I know.
To refer to a previous question, you CAN fly into a city and out of another city - just ask. My itinerary includes a flight into Singapore (overland travel to bangkok) then the next flight is out of Bangkok to Kathmandu etc.
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