A round-the-world ticket is a single booking for flights across multiple continents, traveling in one direction with an Alliance, or any direction with AirTreks. Alliance RTW tickets work when the traveler has flexibility on timing and books 6 to 9 months in advance
A round-the-world ticket is a single airfare that takes you to multiple destinations across several continents, then brings you back to where you started. Instead of booking each flight separately, you get one ticket that covers the whole route.
The traditional version, sold by airline alliances like Star Alliance and oneworld, requires you to keep moving in one general direction (eastbound or westbound) and return to your country of origin within a year. You typically get between 3 and 15 stops, and the ticket uses multiple airlines within that alliance to cover the globe.
AirTreks builds a custom RTW ticket with 3 to 50 stops or more, based on knowledge, fare database and airline geography and understanding built since 1987. We combine airlines from every alliance plus independent carriers, which means your routing options are much wider and often cheaper, more direct and with less rules than what a single alliance can offer.
The real advantage of a RTW ticket over booking flights individually is the practical wisdom our agents and algorithms employ, as well as saving you hours and hours of time trying to figure it out on your own as well as peace of mind of working with a firm that has done this for almost 40 years. When you book 6 or 8 international flights separately, costs add up fast. A well-constructed RTW itinerary bundles those flights together at a lower total cost. For a typical 5 to 8 stop trip in economy, you're looking at $3,000 to $6,000 total, which is often thousands less than the same flights purchased one by one.
RTW tickets also give you structure without rigidity. Your flights are confirmed in advance, but most tickets allow date changes on individual segments (usually for a fee of $50 to $250 per change). That means you can extend a stay in Bali or cut short a stop in London without rebuilding your whole trip.
Most RTW tickets are valid for up to one year from your first flight, which gives you the flexibility to travel at your own pace. Whether you want to circle the globe in three weeks or stretch it over ten months, the ticket framework supports both approaches.