What round-the-world flights actually cost: alliance RTW fares, custom multi-stop builds, business class options, and the pricing factors most travelers overlook.
Breakdown of round-the-world trip costs covering alliance RTW fares, custom multi-stop pricing, business class options, and hidden expenses.
Alliance RTW economy fares range from $3,000-$10,000 depending on mileage tier and number of stops.
Custom multi-stop itineraries range from $2,500 (simple 3-4 stops) to $15,000+ (complex 6-10 stops).
Business class RTW tickets start around $8,000 and can exceed $25,000 on premium carriers.
Peak season travel increases RTW fares by 15-100%; shoulder seasons offer best value.
Hidden costs (visas, insurance, change fees, baggage) may add $1,500-$3,000 to total trip budget.
Quick facts
Economy RTW range
$3,000-$10,000as of Jun 2026
Custom multi-stop range
$2,500-$15,000+as of Jun 2026
Business class RTW
$8,000-$25,000as of Jun 2026
Best booking window
6-8 months outas of Jun 2026
Seasonal price increase
15-30% during peakas of Jun 2026
The Flight Cost (The Part AirTreks Handles)
When people ask "how much does a round-the-world trip cost?" they're usually conflating two completely different budgets: flights and everything else. This guide focuses on the flight cost, the complex, variable piece that depends on routing, timing, cabin class, and ticket strategy. Ground costs (accommodation, food, activities) vary by region and travel style, and we'll touch on those briefly, but the flight is where expertise makes the biggest difference in what you pay.
The short answer: a round-the-world flight itinerary costs between $2,500 and $25,000+, depending on how many stops, which cabin class, what you are optimizing for, and when you book. That's a wide range because RTW trips are not a commodity. A 4-stop economy trip through well-connected hubs is a fundamentally different product than a 10-stop business class routing through Africa and South America.
Alliance RTW Tickets: $3,000-$10,000
Alliance RTW fare products from Star Alliance and oneworld are what many travelers think of as an RTW Ticket. These are priced by total mileage flown or by number of segments, with directional requirements (strict east or west, no backtracking).
Star Alliance's Round the World fare starts around $3,500 for economy class at the lowest mileage tier (26,000 miles) and scales up to roughly $10,000 for higher mileage tiers with more stops. Premium economy and business class tiers run $5,000-$12,000+ depending on routing.
oneworld's Explorer fare is structured similarly, with pricing based on the number of continents visited and total distance. A 3-continent economy itinerary starts around $3,000; 5+ continents pushes toward $8,000-$10,000 in economy.
The catch: these fares require availability in specific, limited booking classes. AirTreks does about 100,000 searches per month of oneworld and Star Alliance fares, and we find that about 29% of fares are available or bookable. That number is worth sitting with for a moment. It means that when you see a published RTW fare and start building your dream route, roughly seven out of ten route combinations won't actually be available at that price. The published price only works if the airlines have seats available in the RTW fare classes (typically mid to lower-tier economy buckets). During peak seasons or on popular routes, those classes sell out, and the fare either jumps to the next tier or becomes unbookable on your preferred routing.
From plan to ticket
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This is why so many travelers get frustrated trying to book RTW tickets on their own. The price looks great on the alliance website, but when you try to actually book specific flights on specific dates, the seats aren't there. A good consultant knows which routes consistently have inventory and which ones are perpetual dead ends.
Star Alliance has 26 member carriers, oneworld has 14. But not all members are created equal when it comes to RTW bookability. Some carriers almost never release seats in the fare classes that RTW tickets require. Air India, despite being a Star Alliance member, has essentially 0% availability in RTW booking classes. South African Airways is the same story. On the oneworld side, Malaysia Airlines books at about 4%, and Royal Air Maroc at roughly the same. Iberia hovers around 10%. These aren't bad airlines. They just don't play the RTW fare game. Knowing which carriers to build your route around (and which to avoid) is half the battle.
The carriers that consistently deliver: Qantas on transpacific and Oceania routes. Cathay Pacific for anything touching Hong Kong. American Airlines for North and South American legs. Qatar Airways for Middle East connections to Europe and Asia. On the Star Alliance side, Singapore Airlines, ANA, and Lufthansa are reliable workhorses.
Custom Multi-Stop: $2,500-$15,000+
Custom multi-stop itineraries, built from individual fare components rather than an alliance product, offer more flexibility but more price variation. A skilled fare constructor can sometimes beat alliance pricing by combining round-trip fare components, circle trips, and strategic positioning.
Simple custom builds (3-4 stops, well-connected cities, economy): $2,500-$5,000. These are often competitive with or cheaper than alliance RTW fares because you're not paying for the full circumnavigation mileage.
Complex custom builds (6-10 stops, mixed regions, some premium cabins): $5,000-$15,000+. The price depends heavily on HOW the fare is constructed. Two itineraries visiting identical cities can price thousands of dollars apart based on which fare components are combined, which direction is traveled, and where stopovers vs. connections are placed.
Fare construction is a specialized skill: knowing when to use mileage pricing vs. routing pricing, how to avoid Higher Intermediate Point (HIP) checks, when adding a stop actually lowers the total price. That last one surprises people. There are cases where adding a stop in a hub city (say, Hong Kong between Bangkok and Tokyo) actually reduces the total fare because it enables a cheaper fare component combination. Counterintuitive, but it happens regularly.
Custom builds really shine when your trip doesn't fit a clean circumnavigation. Want to visit South America and then jump to Africa before heading to Asia? An alliance RTW ticket will fight you on the directional rules. A custom build doesn't care. Want to fly business class on the 14-hour legs and economy on the 3-hour hops? Alliance tickets require the same cabin class throughout (with limited exceptions). Custom builds let you mix and match.
The downside of custom builds is that each segment is essentially its own fare. If one flight gets cancelled, the airline is only responsible for getting you to the destination on that specific ticket. With an alliance RTW ticket, a cancellation on one leg is the alliance's problem to solve across the entire itinerary. That protection has real value, especially in places where flight disruptions are common.
Business Class RTW: $8,000-$50,000
Business class RTW travel is a different pricing universe. Alliance RTW products in business class start around $8,000-$10,000 for basic routings and climb to $15,000-$20,000 for complex itineraries. Custom-built business class itineraries with premium carriers (Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways) can reach $25,000+.
The key variable is which carriers and which routes. Business class on a Cathay Pacific Hong Kong-London flight is a different product (and price) than business class on a regional Asian carrier. Mixing cabin classes (business on long-haul legs, economy on short regional flights) can bring the total down significantly while keeping the comfort where it matters most.
Availability is the main constraint in business class RTW. Premium cabin inventory in RTW booking classes is limited, especially on popular routes during peak season. Booking 8-11 months out gives the best selection.
Here's something worth knowing about business class RTW pricing. The fare classes that alliance RTW tickets use for business class are very specific, and they're not the same buckets that airlines use for their own premium sales and upgrades. A flight might show business class seats for sale at $4,000 one-way on the airline's website, but have zero availability in the RTW business class booking bucket. This is why you can't just check seat maps and assume the flight is bookable on your RTW ticket.
For travelers who want business class but can't stomach the full cost, a common strategy is to fly business on the two or three longest legs (typically transpacific and transatlantic) and economy on everything else. On a custom-built itinerary, this can save $5,000-$10,000 compared to business class throughout. You get the lie-flat seat for the 12-hour overnight flights where it matters most, and economy for the 3-hour hops where it barely matters at all.
One more note on premium cabins. First class on RTW routing is essentially a unicorn. Very few airlines release first class seats in RTW fare buckets, and the ones that do charge accordingly. If first class is important to you, award tickets using frequent flyer miles are usually a better path than a paid RTW fare.
What Drives the Price Up (and Down)
Number of stops: More stops generally means higher fares, but the relationship isn't linear. On alliance products, it's about total mileage. A geographically efficient 6-stop trip can cost less than a zigzagging 4-stop trip. On custom builds, each additional stop adds fare components.
Routing efficiency: Backtracking is expensive. Flying east across the Pacific, then west across the Atlantic, then east to Asia violates directional logic and pushes you into pricier fare constructions. Hub-aligned routing (using LAX, LHR, HKG, SIN as connection points) consistently prices lower than point-to-point routing between non-hub cities. We cannot stress this enough. Respecting hub geography is the single biggest factor in keeping RTW flight costs down. Trying to fly between two cities that no airline connects through a hub creates what the industry calls dead legs, routes that look reasonable on a map but price terribly or simply can't be booked.
Season: Peak travel seasons (June through August for Northern Hemisphere, December through January for Southern) can increase RTW fares by 15-100%. Shoulder seasons (April through May, September through October) offer the best combination of price and weather. If you have any flexibility on when you travel, shifting your departure by even a few weeks can save hundreds of dollars per leg.
Booking window: The sweet spot is 6-8 months before departure. Closer than 3 months and fare class availability drops. Further than 11 months and schedules aren't finalized, leading to involuntary changes.
Cabin class: The jump from economy to premium economy adds roughly 40-60% to the fare. Economy to business doubles or triples it. First class on RTW routing is rarely available and can exceed $30,000.
Direction of travel: This is one most people don't think about. Eastbound and westbound routings for the same set of cities can price differently, sometimes by $500-$1,000 or more. It depends on which fare components are available in each direction and how the airlines price their specific routes. A good consultant will price both directions before committing.
Daily Costs by Region
Flight costs are only part of the picture. Your daily spend on the ground varies dramatically by region. These are mid-range traveler budgets (private room, eating out, some activities):
Southeast Asia: $30-100/day. This is the backpacker's paradise for a reason. A private room in a guesthouse, three meals at local restaurants, a temple visit, and a beer at sunset, all for under $50 in Thailand, Vietnam, or Cambodia. Bump it to $100 if you want air conditioning, the occasional nice dinner, and guided tours. South Asia: $20-50/day. India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are staggeringly affordable. You can live well on $30/day outside the major tourist traps. East Asia (Japan, Korea): $80-120/day. Japan in particular surprises people. It's expensive by Asian standards but reasonable by Western ones, especially if you eat where the locals eat. A bowl of ramen for $8 beats a $25 tourist-menu pasta in Rome every time. Eastern Europe: $50-80/day. Western Europe: $80-150/day. The gap between these two regions is real. Prague at $60/day feels luxurious. Paris at $60/day feels like survival mode. Plan accordingly. Australia/New Zealand: $80-120/day. South America: $40-80/day. Argentina and Colombia offer great value. Chile and Brazil run higher. Africa (varies widely): $50-100/day. This range is almost meaningless given how different Kenya is from Morocco is from South Africa. Research your specific countries carefully. Middle East: $60-100/day.
For detailed destination-specific budgets and cost breakdowns, BootsnAll's travel guides go deeper on the ground-cost side. This guide focuses on the flight strategy, the piece where specialized expertise makes the biggest impact on total cost.
Hidden Costs Most Budgets Miss
Baggage on budget carriers: If your RTW routing includes segments on low-cost carriers (which custom multi-stop builds sometimes do), baggage fees can add $30-60 per segment. Factor this into the fare comparison. A flight that looks $100 cheaper can end up $20 more expensive after you add a checked bag.
Visa fees: Not a flight cost, but trip budgets often undercount visas. Australia ($20 ETA), India ($25-80 e-visa), Brazil ($40-80 for some nationalities). Budget $200-400 for visa fees on a multi-continent trip. Some visas also require proof of onward travel, which is easier to show when you have a structured RTW ticket than a pile of one-way bookings.
Travel insurance: Essential for RTW trips. Comprehensive coverage for a 3-6 month trip runs $500-$1,500 depending on age, coverage level, and destinations. Not optional. A medical evacuation from Southeast Asia can cost $50,000+. We've seen travelers skip insurance to save $800 and then face a $12,000 hospital bill from a motorbike accident in Bali. Don't be that person.
Change fees: Even flexible tickets have change costs. Alliance RTW tickets typically allow date changes for $125-$200 per change. Route changes (different cities) usually require reissuing the ticket, which can cost $200-$500+. Budget $200-$400 for at least one change. Almost nobody completes a multi-month trip without wanting to adjust at least one date. It's normal. Just plan for it financially.
Airport taxes and fuel surcharges: Often included in quoted prices, but verify. Some carriers add significant fuel surcharges on long-haul routes. British Airways, in particular, is known for high surcharges on transatlantic and transpacific routes. A BA London-to-New York flight might add $300-$500 in surcharges on top of the base fare. Sometimes routing the same leg on a different carrier within the same alliance eliminates or reduces that surcharge.
Currency fluctuation: If you're budgeting in US dollars but spending in euros, pounds, or yen for months, exchange rate shifts can quietly add 5-10% to your ground costs. This isn't something to panic about, but it's worth checking the trend before you finalize your budget.
The Bottom Line
Long-time travelers have told us, and we agree. Budget double the money, and pack 1/2 what you think you'll need. They have "what you need" there, wherever you are going. :)
A realistic budget for a round-the-world trip: economy flights ($3,000-$8,000) plus ground costs ($50-100/day average across regions) plus insurance, visas, and contingency ($1,500-$3,000). For a 3-month trip, that's roughly $10,000-$20,000 all-in. For 6 months: $15,000-$35,000. For a year (it happens more than you'd think): $25,000-$55,000, though slow travelers who base themselves in affordable regions can do it for less.
The flight cost is the most variable and the most influenced by expertise. A well-constructed itinerary can save $1,000-$3,000 compared to the same cities booked naively. That's what AirTreks specializes in: not the cheapest possible flight, but the best-constructed itinerary for your specific trip. We've been building these since the 1980s. The routing patterns, the fare construction tricks, the carrier quirks, they're all second nature to our team. You focus on where you want to go and what you want to feel when you get there. We'll figure out how to get you there without breaking the bank.
