Route notes
Why this routing works
This round-the-world itinerary is sequenced as a true westbound Pacific crossing: San Diego to Honolulu, then Rarotonga, New Zealand, and Australia before continuing into Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and home. That direction keeps the route moving continuously forward with no backtracking, which is especially useful on a 16-segment ticket with a mix of short regional flights and longer intercontinental legs.
The timing is balanced around mostly short stays of 2 to 4 nights, with a longer 8-night stop in Cairo that creates a clear mid-to-late trip anchor before the final Europe-to-US return. New Zealand is split between Auckland and Queenstown, Australia is broken into Melbourne, Cairns, and Sydney, and Asia is handled as a northwesterly progression from Singapore to Siem Reap, Kathmandu, and New Delhi before continuing to Dubai and Cairo.
From a ticketing standpoint, this is the kind of itinerary that benefits from being built as a single RTW framework rather than as separate one-way purchases. The route links together Pacific island sectors, multiple Oceania stops, and onward flights across several regions while preserving a fixed overall direction of travel and a single end point back in San Diego.
In business class, the routing suits travelers who want to cover a large number of stops in seven weeks without compressing everything into rapid one-night connections. A January departure also places the whole trip inside the January-to-March travel window shown here, which helps keep the itinerary aligned to one season across all segments.