Have you ever dreamed of just buying an airline ticket and traveling around the world? If you’re really interested in this trip-of-a-lifetime, it’s important to know how those round-the-world fares really work.
You might not know that you don’t need a separate plane ticket for every leg of your trip. As a matter of fact, you can actually purchase a ‘round-the-world’ (otherwise known as an RTW) plane ticket that allows you to fly anywhere on any airline. These RTW tickets are also known as airline alliance passes, because you will book your flights with one airline but fly with their alliance partners. That is because not every airline flies to every destination.
What’s the advantage of purchasing one RTW or alliance ticket? There are several. First, convenience knowing you just have one ticket, but most importantly, you will save a ton of money compared to purchasing each individual ticket separately.
Today, there are several companies that also handle these one-year airline alliance tickets, such as SkyTeam, Star Alliance and Oneworld, or you can work with your travel agent to customize your trip. The tickets come with a certain amount of stopovers and other limitations, such as first, business or economy class so make sure to read the fine print carefully.
The best thing about traveling around the world is that it brings flexibility and freedom and so does this alliance ticket where you can make changes at anytime. Again, it’s important to read that fine print. You might find you can hop from country to country, but not go backwards. It can get tricky.
You’re definitely saving money on this ticket, but just keep in mind that you’re still shelling out between a couple of thousand dollars upwards of $10,000 depending on the route you take and your itinerary. The less stops you make the more you can save. Two- or three-stop tickets might cost only $1,500 – try to do that yourself and you’ll spend way too much money.
On the reward side, just think about the mileage you’ll earn and what you can do with that on your next trip.
Confused by all of this? Of course your travel agent can sort out all of the particulars for you and help you to determine what’s best for your schedule and budget.
Infinite Journeys Travel
