A round-the-world ticket (also known as round-the-world fare or RTW ticket) is a product that enables

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

lers to fly around the world for a relatively low price. RTW tickets in the past were generally offered through marketing agreements between airlines on several continents. Now, they are almost universally offered by

airline alliance An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within c ...

s such as SkyTeam,

Star Alliance Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenge ...

and

Oneworld Oneworld (stylised as oneworld; CRS: *O) is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance for the world's frequent international travellers. Its central alliance offic ...

, or by specialist travel agencies that will spend time customizing a trip for the consumer. Prices vary but are generally in the range of 2,500–6,000 USD for an economy class ticket and 5,000–14,000 USD for business class. Sometimes, depending on airline and stops, it can be as low as 1171

GBP Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...

(~ 1829.57

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

). An alternative for a round-the-world ticket is a continent pass.

Structure

Round-the-world tickets are priced according to

travel class A travel class is a quality of accommodation on public transport. The accommodation could be a seat or a cabin for example. Higher travel classes are designed to be more comfortable and are typically more expensive. Airlines Traditionally ...

, origin of travel, number of continents, mileage (usually between 30,000 and 60,000 km), and sometimes season of travel. The traveller benefits from the large and optimized network of the airline alliance and can often participate in the alliance's frequent flyer programs, although round-the-world tickets are usually subject to restrictions. The start and end of the journey almost always have to be located in the same country and exactly one crossing each of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

must be included in the itinerary. The number of stops is usually restricted to 5–16, and backtracking between continents (especially Europe/Asia) is often restricted. The dates and journey do not have to be planned, but may be changed en route at a local office of any airline in the alliance (although a change of destinations often results in an additional fee, and if the next flight is left open-dated the booking can be dropped by the airlines).

Specialist travel agencies

It is possible to piece together a round-the-world route by combining one-way tickets on various

airlines An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in whic ...

without resorting to alliances. In addition, discounts often apply to some long- and short-haul legs. It can be useful to consult with travel agents who specialize in round-the-world itineraries to compare fares and itineraries. These can be found in major cities that are transit hubs — San Francisco, London, New York, Bangkok, etc. — and many of them also provide services online. The overall booking process can vary from a few days to weeks based upon itinerary, budget, and other considerations. Travel agents may get parts of tickets issued by contacts in other countries, and often use pre-arranged contractual agreements with various airlines. Low-cost carriers often only have tickets which do not include other airlines. It is important to have long waiting time between such flights, preferably a hotel night, which gives the chance to see one more city. Otherwise a flight cancellation might destroy the entire itinerary.

References

External links

* {{Commercial air travel Airline tickets