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

circumnavigate Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magellan Exped ...

the world on a single itinerary. RTW tickets in the past were generally offered through marketing agreements between airlines on several continents. Now, they are generally 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 agreement, codeshare ...

s such as

SkyTeam SkyTeam is one of the world's three major airline alliances. Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam was the last of the three alliances to be formed, after Star Alliance and Oneworld. Its annual passenger count is 624 million customers (2024), the second ...

Star Alliance Star Alliance is an airline alliance headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Founded on 14 May 1997, it was the world's first global airline alliance. Star Alliance has 25 member airlines that operate a combined fleet of over 5,000 aircraft, servi ...

and

Oneworld Oneworld (Computer reservations system, CRS: *O, stylised as oneworld) is a global airline alliance consisting of 14 member airlines. It was founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance f ...

, or by specialist travel agencies that will plan a custom trip for the consumer. Prices vary but are generally in the range of US$2,500–6,000 for an economy class ticket and US$5,000–14,000 for business class. An alternative for a round-the-world ticket is a

continent pass A continent pass (usually called something like Europe (air)pass, Pacific (air)pass or American (air)pass) is a product and service of an airline alliance. For a relatively low price the traveler can travel freely using all intra-continental fligh ...

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 program A frequent-flyer programme (FFP) is a loyalty program offered by an airline. Many airlines have frequent-flyer programmes designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the programme to accumulate points (also called miles, kilometres, ...

s, 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 oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

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 the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

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 or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in ...

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 carrier A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...

s 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. These can be more expensive than booking the trip on one reservation through the airline alliance.

References

External links

* {{Commercial air travel Airline tickets

Structure

Specialist travel agencies

See also

References

External links