What constitutes an " around the world " ticket?

[midas]

I just wondered if someone here might have knowledge of how airline tickets are calculated these days? When I was living in Australia it was simple to define what was around the world i.e. circumnavigating the globe and simply starting in Sydney and ending in Sydney.

But I want to make a journey which is essentially a clockwise " loop " - Bangkok to Tokyo to Mexico City to Lima to Santiago de Chile to Sydney back to Bangkok.

I already have two separate quotations- the first mainly on ANA via Tokyo but terminating in Mexico City and then returning the same way and a second quotation which leaves out Mexico and uses Qantas Airways which  flies to Santiago from Sydney.

There is very little price difference between the two but I wondered if I were to combine both of these journeys so it becomes one clockwise loop does anyone with experience of these things think the fare for this would be calculated as an around the world ticket?

[KittenKong]

You would find it easier to do that yourself if both airlines were in the same group.

 

https://www.oneworld.com/flights/round-the-world-fares

 

http://www.staralliance.com/en/round-the-world

 

https://www.skyteam.com/en/round-the-world-planner/

 

Though some online agents will calculate round the world fares also and they can do it across any airlines.

[KhunBENQ]

2 hours ago, midas said:

Bangkok to Tokyo to Mexico City to Lima to Santiago de Chile to Sydney back to Bangkok

Star Alliance does not accept this as a round the world.

They require a west or eastward loop over the Pacific and the Atlantic.

Your route does not cross the Atlantic.

 

From South America you would have to continue eastward (Africa, Europe).

E.g. Santiago de Chile -> (Atlantic) -> Johannesburg -> Sydney -> Bangkok.

South America to Sydney would be a "return" via Pacific.

 

(I haven't checked whether my example is feasible, although I believe to have seena flight from South America to South Africa?)

[craigt3365]

What cities are you trying to visit?

[midas]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

What cities are you trying to visit?

Those cities I mentioned are actually the ones I am intending to visit

 

Tokyo (actually Sapparo in Hokkaido  )

Mexico City (actually Pueblo is my destination which is close by)

Lima ( end destination Cusco to go to  Machu Picchu )

 Santiago de Chile ( the reason to go down there is because QANTAS is probably the only airline that goes to Sydney via the  southern hemisphere departing from this city)

it would be very useful for me to go this way on Qantas because this will enable me to make a brief stop over in Melbourne before returning to Bangkok (as opposed to returning from Mexico City to Japan and Bangkok on ANA as I originally intended)

[craigt3365]

Try skyscanner and google flights. I've gone through this a few times. In the end, i went with individual tickets due to the restrictions of RTW tickets. Also, I didn't have very strict destinations. LOL

 

https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-tips/buying-a-rtw-ticket/

https://www.airtreks.com/

http://www.roundtheworldticket.com/

https://www.skyscanner.net/news/best-round-world-ticket

https://chrisguillebeau.com/round-the-world-plane-ticket/

 

[midas]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

Try skyscanner and google flights. I've gone through this a few times. In the end, i went with individual tickets due to the restrictions of RTW tickets. Also, I didn't have very strict destinations. LOL

 

https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-tips/buying-a-rtw-ticket/

https://www.airtreks.com/

http://www.roundtheworldticket.com/

https://www.skyscanner.net/news/best-round-world-ticket

https://chrisguillebeau.com/round-the-world-plane-ticket/

 

 

Thanks a lot for that Craig because i didn't know about those websites

and aren't they fast at calculating?

I quickly just tried airtreks and amazingly the result was quite a lot cheaper than  two quotes I have already received from an agent to simply return on ANA from Mexico City or leave out Mexico City and Japan and simply fly through the southern hemisphere on Qantas to Santiago and then Cusco and then return the same way via Australia .

I just expected it to be considerably more expensive to do the clockwise loop but if I can even find something which works out near to what I would have been paying on the return journeys I will be delighted and it seems from airtreks that that may be possible 

Edited August 21, 2017 by midas

[craigt3365]

I've met Matt and Chris before. Great info on their sites!

 

Best of luck!

[Boycie]

http://www.roundtheworldflights.com Great prices and T&C too, from personal experience.

 

Enjoy the journey as much as the destination 

Edited August 22, 2017 by Boycie

[LALes]

Your itinerary is more of a Circle The Pacific than RTW.  That's what you should be investigating.

I used to use Air Treks quite often when they (and I) were still in San Francisco.  They have a lot of

interesting packages or you can devise your own.

[khunbillmex]

LALes is correct - CirclePac is what you should be asking about.

From the OneWolrd website you can get some info from here: https://www.oneworld.com/flights/multi-continent-fares/circle-pacific

 

I can also recommend Air Treks.

[smccolley]

I used to just bracket tickets - I would get a round trip from Denver to Tokyo, then Tokyo to Mumbai, then Mumbai to Denver. I'd go one way one week and then return the other way. It wasn't all that expensive. Great way to spend a week :)

 

[tryasimight]

You could try Santiago to Auckland on one of the South American airlines ( I think I flew LAN some years ago)and then Auckland to Oz. Might give you more flexibility.

[bubba45]

Lately I've found the easiest way to do complex itineraries like you're proposing is buying individual tickets, sometimes one way, depending on fares.  At least compare that to what you get from agencies.  You never know.

[ThaiWai]

 

[dddave]

My first trip to Thailand was part of a RTW itinerary sold by the now defunct AirBrokers International.  For years I had drooled over the ad's in the New York Times..."Around the World-$999"   In 2002, finally got off my butt and did it.

The itinerary was JFK to Taipei, to Hong Kong to Bangkok on China Airways, then Bangkok to New Delhi, Athens, Paris,/London boat train, then back to JFK on Air India.  You had up to a year to complete the trip and could change flights along the way as long as you did not back track...it was a hell of a deal and I had a great time though I would never fly Air India again even if a gift.

Times have changed and I'm sure it costs 3 times what I paid to do the same now, but it got me to Thailand and I never looked back.

 

I think the OP has gotten some pretty good resources already.  I just want to mention that the itinerary he has in mind is more "Open jaw" than RTW.

 

Edited August 22, 2017 by dddave

[Lancelot01]

My understanding of RTW tickets is that they do not allow going back (I seem to remember that it is called backwardation) so whilst most of your itinerary looks ok you would not be able to fly east to Sydney then back west to Bangkok.

[XJ650]

It was probably more easy long time ago. 1989 I bought RTW-tickets for me and my two daughters with Finair. I booked flights from Helsinki (I think you had to start there) to Singapore, stop there for a week, then to Auckland. We stayed in NZ almost 11 months and then I booked flights Wellington to Fidji, stop there for a week, then to Los Angeles, stayed in US for three weeks and left US from San Francisco going to Stockholm. 

I cannot remember the rules more than it was limited to x number of stops. 

As I said, it was probably much more easy at that time, almost no backpackers....

[irishken]

He might not be everyone's cup of tea or the idea itself but i found this very interesting to watch on Youtube although i think some of the videos have been removed since.

Richard Quest around the world on budget Airlines, Airasia,Dubai air ext ext. 

I then checked it out on Skyskanner and i was amazed how many stops you could make and how cheap each flight can be. 

Obviously how much time you have dictates how many stops you make. 

http://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/richard-quest-round-the-world-low-cost/index.html

[midas]

On 8/22/2017 at 7:07 PM, dddave said:

My first trip to Thailand was part of a RTW itinerary sold by the now defunct AirBrokers International.  For years I had drooled over the ad's in the New York Times..."Around the World-$999"   In 2002, finally got off my butt and did it.

The itinerary was JFK to Taipei, to Hong Kong to Bangkok on China Airways, then Bangkok to New Delhi, Athens, Paris,/London boat train, then back to JFK on Air India.  You had up to a year to complete the trip and could change flights along the way as long as you did not back track...it was a hell of a deal and I had a great time though I would never fly Air India again even if a gift.

Times have changed and I'm sure it costs 3 times what I paid to do the same now, but it got me to Thailand and I never looked back.

 

I think the OP has gotten some pretty good resources already.  I just want to mention that the itinerary he has in mind is more "Open jaw" than RTW.

 

 

I think the OP has gotten some pretty good resources already. 

 

Absolutely I am delighted with the results

[midas]

Well I can report back that Airtreks have given me an estimate which is pretty much the same amount as their website gave almost instantly which is very impressive

it is considerably cheaper than a quote I received from a travel agent and quite frankly the price difference is inexplicable. Why would the travel agent be so much more expensive?

Anyway I would like to thank Craig very much for providing the link and I will certainly be recommending Airtreks to other people.

And thank you to everyone else for valuable comments and suggestions

Edited August 26, 2017 by midas

[dddave]

3 hours ago, midas said:

Well I can report back that Airtreks have given me an estimate which is pretty much the same amount as their website gave almost instantly which is very impressive

it is considerably cheaper than a quote I received from a travel agent and quite frankly the price difference is inexplicable. Why would the travel agent be so much more expensive?

Anyway I would like to thank Craig very much for providing the link and I will certainly be recommending Airtreks to other people.

And thank you to everyone else for valuable comments and suggestions

Airtreks has been around for a while and have a good reputation. They get mostly good reviews on YELP but you should read the negative reviews as well because they point out some pitfalls you should be aware of.  Their itineraries can be a very good deal but make sure you really understand the rules, restrictions and itinerary change policies. 

Edited August 26, 2017 by dddave

[inThailand]

I had one. It was the best way to see the world for peanuts. I opted for I  have no idea where I am going vs the east to west cheaper tickets. I didn't make one of my scheduled flights and had no problem booking a new date. Not sure it's the same today.

[midas]

19 minutes ago, dddave said:

Airtreks has been around for a while and have a good reputation. They get mostly good reviews on YELP but you should read the negative reviews as well because they point out some pitfalls you should be aware of.  Their itineraries can be a very good deal but make sure you really understand the rules, restrictions and itinerary change policies. 

I did as you advised and on the link below out of 37 reviews only about 6 are negative. That's not bad!.

They they are probably people who have been offered a cheap price but still expect the moon

obviously there will be restrictions but you get what you pay for. There is no comparison between the standard of service Airtreks has provided me (excellent) compared to the service from the travel agent (like pulling teeth) plus I will save many tens of thousands of baht by using Airtreks

 

https://www.yelp.com/biz/airtreks-vancouver?start=20