Round The World Tickets

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#2235923 13-May-2019 13:02

I'll second Yosemite & SF over LA. Grand Canyon and Death Valley are also great. Vegas, not so much, but YMMV.

When I was looking at Amtrak prices (NY to Washington DC), it was cheaper to hire a car and drive than take the train (2 adults with 2 suitcases). Figure about US$100 per night for accommodation, including taxes. You can do it for less, but you'll probably not sleep too well... bed bugs and rowdy neighbours and too close to the freeway.

frankv

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#2235925 13-May-2019 13:07

Dingbatt: You are obviously experienced travelers but in my experience there comes a point with complicated travel that it is best to get professionals involved.

My experience is the opposite. A travel agent will give you the nearest approximation they can think of, rather than looking too hard at making it work your way.

The more complicated your plans, the more they want to try to simplify it to *their* plan.

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#2236045 13-May-2019 15:16

frankv:

Dingbatt: You are obviously experienced travelers but in my experience there comes a point with complicated travel that it is best to get professionals involved.

My experience is the opposite. A travel agent will give you the nearest approximation they can think of, rather than looking too hard at making it work your way.

The more complicated your plans, the more they want to try to simplify it to *their* plan.

The problem with many travel agents these days is that it's become a low margin (and for many) a low wage job. Many who had the skills left the industry.

Spending hours trying to make things work doesn't make them extra $$, so in many cases it's not worth their time. Find a good travel agent and they're worth their weight in gold still.

I know enough to do my own bookings, but when you start looking at complex RTW itineraries there are plenty of benefits in having a good travel agent. The last time I used one for a complex itinerary resulted in me explaining GDS fare rules to a Flight Centre agent who told me I couldn't book what I wanted to book!

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#2236062 13-May-2019 15:35

Over the past 10-15 years we have done many long and complicated multi-stop trips e.g.to North America > Europe > UK > home, including many rental cars, many train trips (one was four trains in a day from English Midlands to a small town in Germany) all with accommodation, tours etc - and did it all via Expedia, Booking.com, and trainline.com, Amtrak, etc.

All of these were done from home with not a travel agent in sight - and we have had not one hiccup. It's certainly possible (easy, even) to do it yourself - just takes some commonsense and patience. Strictly-speaking these were not RTW trips in the sense that the OP is talking - but we did go rtw.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

graham007

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#2236065 13-May-2019 15:42

I have done 2 round the world so far, and excluding that 3 EU trips, and 4-5 asia trips, and each trip would have average of 6 to 12 flights different carriers , never used a agent , did everything on my own, expedia, and airline direct.

kiwiace

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#2237003 14-May-2019 21:31

Hi, great thread - people who are booking DIY RTW trips (or getting them from MOA or STA etc) at the good prices quoted, does it tend to be a series of one ways (and a mixture of airlines? including budget ones?) that you end up with?

And what's the best online tool? I played around a lot with Kayak in the past to get ideas.

I tend to be able to find great return prices to Europe online (Cathay last time for example), but using one ways on those carriers (or stopovers in HK say) quickly got uneconomic. Similarly Air NZ has specials to LHR via LAX but I find you can't get that price online if you want to stop in LAX for a week.

cheers

Chrisclarke

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#2238226 15-May-2019 10:18

Appreciate all the advice.

For comparison so far:

Star Alliance RTW ticket: (for four) coming in at $22K - $25K depending on dates.

Direct: Coming in at more than above. Example, return on United from Heathrow to Chicago $550USD. One way on the same flight $3200USD!

Agent: One agent has just quoted $9,800 for all four of us (although this will go up as the date gets closer) - I had to double check he hadn't missed any sectors.

Cheers, Chris.

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eracode

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#2238306 15-May-2019 12:24

Are Star Alliance 'avin' a larf?

The agent at $9,800 sounds pretty good and realistic - assuming it ticks all your boxes.

Just checked on Expedia and right now you can get return fares to FRA in, say, November, for well under $2,000 per adult. I know that's not directly comparable to a true RTW ticket and I know it depends on how far ahead you book, and what time of year you fly - but it does put the $9,800 for four into perspective - let alone the $22k from Star A.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

blackjack17

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#2238326 15-May-2019 12:57

Wow.

Thought I would put the destinations in with some random dates. $42,120.74

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sbiddle

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#2238330 15-May-2019 13:02

eracode:

Are Star Alliance 'avin' a larf?

The agent at $9,800 sounds pretty good and realistic - assuming it ticks all your boxes.

There is nothing wrong with the *A RTW fare - comparing that with another option which is offers RTW world flights isn't comparing apples with apples. For many people travelling around the world wth a simple itinerary like the OP, a true RTW fare (like the *A ticket is) will not be the cheapest approach.

If you do want to take full advantage of it however, especially with a business class RTW fare, it represents incredibly good value for money especially with the fare flexibility it offers. You can do a lot more with that $4k - $5k fare than you could do with individual fares.

eracode

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#2238345 15-May-2019 13:27

@sbiddle

Quote: "... comparing that with another option which is offers RTW world flights isn't comparing apples with apples...".

Which is exactly why I said "I know that's not directly comparable to a true RTW ticket..." - because I knew someone would try and have and have a go on that.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

kiwiace

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#2240912 19-May-2019 19:01

Hi all

If anyone has some intel, Still interested in what sort of fares the agent is using to get to $9800 (is it a bunch of one ways? main airlines or budget)

and whether there is a non-obvious way to scope these sorts of fares out online. cheers!

eracode

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#2240957 19-May-2019 20:31

kiwiace:
Hi all

If anyone has some intel, Still interested in what sort of fares the agent is using to get to $9800 (is it a bunch of one ways? main airlines or budget)

and whether there is a non-obvious way to scope these sorts of fares out online. cheers!

Perhaps ask the agent for all the details of the flights.

IMO the price sounds more than reasonable and so long as it all checks out, why not just go with it.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

kiwiace

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#2240991 19-May-2019 21:33

I'm not the original poster, more interested in techniques in general (since it is hard to sort these out yourself on a single airline's website). Agree it's a pretty good price!

eracode

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#2241125 20-May-2019 08:05

eracode:
kiwiace:

Hi all

If anyone has some intel, Still interested in what sort of fares the agent is using to get to $9800 (is it a bunch of one ways? main airlines or budget)

and whether there is a non-obvious way to scope these sorts of fares out online. cheers!

Perhaps ask the agent for all the details of the flights.

IMO the price sounds more than reasonable and so long as it all checks out, why not just go with it.

Sorry - my post above was based on my misunderstanding that you were the OP.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

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