Dreaming of round the world holidays? All the big airline alliances like OneWorld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam are offering their own round the world tickets (RTW ticket). Basically buying a RTW ticket makes you eligible to take X amount of flights (depending on the type of your round the world ticket) during one year. A round the world trip is an amazing experience! The ticket gives you the freedom to travel pretty much anywhere, also to some places you wouldn’t be able to visit otherwise just because it is so expensive to fly there. Or you just never thought about going there! Round the world trips are generally an economical way to travel for a longer period of time.
Some general advice before we start: remember things like time zones, jet lag, using lightweight luggage and leaving enough times in between flights. Everything is possible during a world trip. A round the world trip would be a great way to spend your honeymoon. One option would be to choose the destinations according to your preferred honeymoon locations, and perhaps even add a honeymoon cruise on the itinerary. Or if you are into skiing, choose the places you are going to visit accordingly. You got the idea. And of course, remember to practice eco friendly travel on the way!
Here you can find one trip around the world plan. It puts emphasis on traveling to some less popular destinations. My experiences are based on our trip around the world with a OneWorld ticket.
Let’s say you are leaving in UK and you want to go to Alaska, Tasmania, Cook Islands, Antartica, New Zealand, Namibia and Patagonia. You are well aware that these places are not really on the list of cheapest destinations, but let’s make it nice and easy, cheap and let’s try to use as few flights as possible.
You need to get yourself a trip around the hubs world. What are hubs? London LHR, Chicago ORD, Los Angeles LAX, Sydney SYD, Shanghai SHA… Hubs are major airports that connect to a big number of destinations and make it easy for world travelers to point their world trips almost whichever direction they want to.
One option for this trip would be the following: London LHR – Chicago ORD – Los Angeles LAX – Santiago de Chili SAN – Sydney SYD – Johannesburg JHB – London LHR. That should be not too expensive with a OneWorld ticket. You need to take 5 continents: Europe, North America, South America, Oceania and Africa. You are entitled to 20 legs.
Once you have the structure of the round world trip you can add extra legs to go to these remote places you selected.
An example of a world trip full of contrasts:
London – Chicago – Anchorage – Los Angeles – Santiago – Comodoro – Santiago – Cook Islands – Sydney – Hobart – Antartica – Hobart (Tasmania) – Sydney – Johannesburg – Windhoek – Johannesburg – London
The rules of most round the world tickets are quite restrictive. One of them is that you cannot fly two times to the same place. The trick is to by extra legs from another carrier. Let’s break down this world trip.
London – Chicago. Direct flight with British Airways BA or American Airlines AA, you might want to spend some time in Chicago and discover this vibrant city. Take a boat trip on the Lake Michigan, roam around the city, go to the Niagara Falls and Detroit.
Chicago – Anchorage. Two solutions. If the seasonal routes are already open you can try to get to Anchorage using one of the legs available in the RTW ticket. If not, Alaska Airlines can fly you to Anchorage with a direct flight. (frequent traveler tip, there are check-in machines inside the transit area, no need to go through the security if you are just connecting through Chicago). Keep in mind that whichever solution is chosen, this will count as a leg on the RTW ticket. If you don’t fly with OneWorld, this is called a surface sector.
In Anchorage you can do what everybody does. Rent an RV (Recreational Vehicle) and cruise the wilderness of Alaska. It is a good to stay at least 2 weeks, preferably more if you have the time. You might want to go down to the Kenai Peninsula, all the way to Homer and its spit. Visit Seldovia, the town with no road connection. The scenery on the way is just breathtaking. You will see lots of animals. I highly recommend the 18 glaciers cruise from Whittier if you are into whale watching. You can also visit the Denali national park, which offers more natural beauty.
Anchorage – Los Angeles. Same thing. If the seasonal routes are already open AA will fly you back to Los Angeles. If not, Alaska Airlines can fly you to Los Angeles. If you manage to fly using AA, your previous surface sector will be Chicago – Anchorage. If you fly with Alaska Airline to Anchorage and to Los Angeles, then your surface sector will be Chicago – Los Angeles. OneWorld doesn’t need to know that you are going to Anchorage in between.
I consider that Los Angeles is the ultimate hub. It is just a huge city with a huge airport. The city is fairly uninteresting to me but you might think differently. Another option is to go to San Francisco a few hundred miles up north and a lot more interesting. That can be you extra leg on the Californian coast.
Los Angeles – Santiago. Direct flights every day with AA. Santiago is a mix of modernism and tradition in the middle of South America. The city is a highly recommend stopover, not just a hub.
Santiago – Comodoro – Santiago. This is a typical extra leg. You will need an extra carrier to take you there since the rules of the RTW ticket will prevent you from going back to Santiago to continue your trip. Just take a round trip for a couple hundred dollars. Patagonia is a heaven for fishermen and nature lovers. If you like emptiness, riding horses and fresh air, this is a must see. Another place where you have to spend at least 3 weeks. You can try to stretch your stay in order to add Ushuaia and Cape Horn on your world trip itinerary.
Santiago – Auckland. You can do like the national sport of NZ, rent a van and drive across the country. One idea could be to fly to Queenstown at the very south of the south Island and drive all the way back to Auckland. You will find cheap tickets from Air New Zealand to go from Auckland to Queenstown. For the van I suggest going with mainstream rental companies as there can be very big discrepancies between van depending on the rental operator. Britz is recommended. Their vans are new and well maintained.
On your way you can go bungee jumping, skiing, scuba diving, visit many different spas and discover a very interesting wildlife and hot springs. You will have to take the ferry with the rental van. No big deal, the ferries are full of rental vans! Just remember to book ahead to make sure there is space for you and your vehicle.
Auckland – Cook Islands – Auckland. Air New Zeland can fly you there for almost nothing. A round trip would be around $400-500. If there is nothing cheap, why not divert to Tahiti instead, flying with Tahiti Airlines? It is recommended to have some basis of French but it’s not mandatory. Don’t spend too much time in Papeete, the city is not that interesting. If you can pay the price, the intercontinental Tahiti is a must. Incredible over the lagoon bungalows. Don’t miss the bounty night on Saturday night. If you happen to go there in July you will enjoy the national party call Heiva. Try to attend some dance show. Unforgettable experience!
Also as soon as you can, go to Mo’orea just some 8 miles from Tahiti to see where the pictures on the Tahiti postcards were taken. Take a trip around the island, go to the Intercontinental Mo’orea for some stingray petting… although you can find them by yourself, which is a far more rewarding experience!
Auckland – Sydney. You have to enjoy the amazing city of Sydney. Not just a hub either. Among recommended things, Roar and snore, spend a night at the zoo, go to Manly the nice upper class suburb with its great beach and scenic hike, try to go to the Opera house, and if you can’t you have to take a boat ride in the harbor to take the usual tourist picture.
Sydney – Hobart – Sydney. You could sail there if you have the time. There are regular boats from Sydney. If you want to fly, you will need another extra round trip. You can try Qantas but there are other carriers with decent prices.
Hobart is a great little harbor. The wildlife in Tasmania is amazing. If you are very lucky you could see a Tasmanian devil, but there is little chance as a mysterious type of cancer is destroying their population. The food in Tasmania is delicious and they make the best honey in the world.
Antarctica. You can take a ferry from Hobart to Antarctica and touch the oldest ice in the world. One of the most remote places you will ever see for sure! Will this be the highlight of your round the world trip?
Back to Sydney for more flying.
Sydney – Johannesburg. Johannesburg is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. However a lot of work has been done in order to host the Football World Cup. In order to stay safe you should try not to draw attention to yourself. That said I’ve spent 2 weeks in South Africa and drove across the country without any problem. Use common sense and follow the advices from the locals and you should be fine. South Africa is a wonderful country, full of contrasts. It is highly recommended to take a guided tour of Soweto. The South West Township is where Nelson Mandela is coming from, the origin of many cultural changes of this very special country.
Johannesburg – Windhoek. South African airlines can fly you there. That would be another surface sector since you can find flights from Windhoek back to Europe. Namibia is the first country which put the protection of the nature in its constitution in the 1990s. Their efforts in the past few years have been remarkable and the country is now known as the biggest zoo ever. There are numbers of parks where you can go for a game ride, some sort of Safari but without hunting. Many places let you drive a car across the hundreds of miles of tracks where you can see all sorts of great animals. Elephants, lions, rhinos, zebras, springboks…
Windhoek – London. Back home
How exciting! Did you realize you have the option to go to these great places you’ve been dreaming on for so many years? It is possible. I’ve done it and I’ve loved it. A trip around the world is really a life-changing experience! You will never stop thinking about your world trip.
great blog thank you