Around the World Tickets and Cheap Airfares

By Filipe Morato Gomes

Around the world tickets - should you buy one? Are there cheap airfares to travel around the world, as people often say? What if you feel like changing the dates of your flights? What if you decide to fly to and from a different country along the way? This article tries to help you in the decision making process of buying or not an around the world ticket beforehand.

To buy or not to buy an around the world ticket - this might be one of the major decisions a traveller has to make in the planning phase of an around the world trip. First of all, let me tell you that I decided not to buy an around the world ticket when I travelled around the world. During the trip, most of the times I was glad I didn't have the air ticket but a few other times I wish I had one. It would have saved me a lot of money.

Let's assume you're not cycling or walking or hitchhiking or hopping on a boat all around the world. You'll need to fly. Basically, you have three options if you decide to fly during your journey around the globe. Buying an around the world ticket from a worldwide airline alliance like OneWorld, SkyTeam or Star Alliance; buying an around the world ticket from a consolidator travel agency; or buying air tickets along the way. Here are a few lines about each option.

AROUND THE WORLD TICKETS FROM AIRLINE ALLIANCES

Although usually more expensive than consolidators, this option might be worth looking at especially if you're a frequent flyer of a major airline. If you fly around the world with one of these alliances you might earn enough frequent flyer miles for an additional international flight when you arrive at home. Besides, you know you'll fly on known airlines and you'll have an onward ticket to show in case some immigration bureaucrat asks you for one. Both last arguments represent peace of mind for many people.

On the other hand, these published-fare tickets must be used within a year, which may not be enough time for you. Also, they may force you to follow time-consuming routes through member airlines' hubs. And last but not least, the price is not the same worldwide. For example, an around the world ticket bought in USA is usually more expensive than flying to Bangkok or London and buy the “same” ticket there. Don't ask me why. By the way, if you live in Europe, London is definitely the place to start your trip. Finally, your around the world itinerary is limited to where the alliance partners fly, which may not include regions of the globe you really would like to include in your trip.

AROUND THE WORLD TICKETS FROM CONSOLIDATORS

If you're looking for cheap airfares, consolidators (or round the world specialists) might be the perfect choice for you. Basically, they put together a series of one-way tickets to cover your destinations and for some reason they manage to offer very cheap airfares for those combined segments. Sometimes it's even cheaper to fly around the world than it is to fly round-trip to a single intercontinental destination. I know it sounds weird but it's just the way it is.

Just to give you an example, by the time of research, for £1073 plus taxes you could buy an around the world ticket starting and finishing in London with stops in Cape Town, (overland to) Johannesburg, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Perth, (overland to) Sydney, Christchurch, (overland to) Auckland, Fiji, Cook Islands, Tahiti, Los Angeles and (overland to) New York.

There are some experienced and reliable consolidators operating on the around the world tickets' niche of market out there, including Airtreks and STA. Check them out and you'll find they sell air tickets from the biggest, safest and most well-known airlines in the world and not only air tickets from dubious airlines nobody has ever heard of, as you may be tempted to think.

So, why doesn't every world traveller buy an around the world ticket from a consolidator agency? First of all, not everybody decides to buy an around the world ticket. Some travellers choose to have more flexibility and enjoy the idea of being able to completely change their itinerary as they go, preventing the case of falling in love with a place and decide to stay there a long time, falling in love with someone on the road and decide to travel together somewhere else, deciding to volunteer somewhere and stop travelling, returning home earlier or any other personal or professional reason. Besides that, some tickets forbid any date changes while others permit them for a fee of $50 to $75 a leg. Some other travellers don't know about consolidators or simply don't trust them. And not everybody fancies planning the entire journey beforehand.

BUY AIR TICKETS ALONG THE WAY

That's the other option. As I said before, that was my choice when I travelled around the world. You know, nowadays there are lots of low cost airlines pretty much everywhere and most of the times you're able to find very cheap airfares to fly to your next destination. Sometimes it's even cheaper to fly than travel by bus or boat. Of course, you may fly with some weird airlines and most likely you don't earn frequent flier miles but that's part of the adventure, isn't it?

But the main problem is that if you plan to fly in certain routes you may blow up your travel budget. For example, the cheapest airfare I could find to fly from Australia to South America was around 1.500 US dollars (there's no competition between airlines). In situations like this, you end up whishing you'd have an around the world ticket in your hand.

On the other hand, the biggest advantage, as you can probably guess by now, is that you're completely free to wake up in the morning and decide where to go. You don't have fixed dates to be in a certain place. You don't have to pay a fee if you decide to change your route when you know more about the options you have than you knew at home. You're absolutely free. That's flexibility.

IT'S UP TO YOU

As a final statement I would say that if you want to have 100% flexibility while travelling don't buy an around the world ticket, but if money is your main concern do buy one. And do check consolidators before you opt for a worldwide airline alliance.

But I won't be very helpful if I say that, bottom line, it's up to you whether to buy it or not before you start travelling. You're the one who knows if you feel comfortable leaving home without a proper plan for the whole trip. You're the one who knows if you feel “safer” having everything arranged beforehand. You're the one who might know your travelling style. I have my own opinion but we're talking about your trip. Hope you make the right choice for your around the world journey.

 

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