Round the World Air Trip
July 27, 2024 7:03 AM Subscribe
I live in the UK and plan to visit relatives in NZ next year. It seems a good idea to buy ‘round the world’ tickets and stop in a few extra places. Has anyone done this and got advice on which tickets, where to stop, or any other points?
Best answer: I also used Airtreks. Much better than a traditional RTW ticket from an airline.
posted by aramaic at 8:44 AM on July 27, 2024
posted by aramaic at 8:44 AM on July 27, 2024
Best answer: Packing for long trips with lots of different weather in different places (hot desert vs moderate Mediterranean climates vs winter temps vs rainstorms) or activity types (hiking boots needed vs “nice” shoes vs ski gear) can be a pain. I prefer to limit my trips to a single “season” of clothing needed when I can because it prevents me from having to pack my whole wardrobe.
posted by A Blue Moon at 9:22 AM on July 27, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by A Blue Moon at 9:22 AM on July 27, 2024 [1 favorite]
Best answer: My husband and I have used RTW tickets at least four times. We've always used One World and have never had a problem. We like having the Miles / Points accumulate in one account. Checked bags are transferred (so far) smoothly between airlines: e.g. in May we connected Alaska to American to Qantas and our bags arrived with us in Auckland. Both One World and Star Alliance have tools for the passenger to select destinations, available flights and receive the calculated fare. It can become laborious but I enjoy it. I will check out Airtreks though for future travel; it's not been on my radar.
posted by namret at 9:26 AM on July 27, 2024
posted by namret at 9:26 AM on July 27, 2024
Best answer: We have gone around the world a few times, at least once via NZ, but didn't use RTW tickets; instead we did a series of one-way tickets.
Going to New Zealand, your most obvious stopover options heading east are Dubai, Shanghai, and Singapore. Seoul, Qatar and Hong Kong are also options. Heading west, the most obvious options are Los Angeles and San Francisco, with NYC, Vancouver and Honolulu as less obvious options. In either direction, you can often get options to route via Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney. (I have done Boston -> Paris [a whole lot of European train and ferry travel] Frankfurt -> Singapore stopover -> Brisbane stopover -> Sydney stopover -> Wellington [rest of itinerary massively disrupted by COVID] and LAX -> Sydney stopover -> Melbourne stopover -> Wellington, for example.)
I don't know how much time you have. If you have three days at each stop, you can enjoy any of the named cities but probably not much more.
If this is a several months' journey, Singapore is a great starting point for Southeast Asia; you can get to Bali, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Siem Reap, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang (for starters) in under three hours. There are several low-cost Asian airlines that can help you do this.
There is a lot to see in Australia as well; if you have a couple of weeks you could see Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, the Great Barrier Reef and the Red Centre (note: Red Centre is best visited in the Northern Hemisphere summer/Southern Hemisphere winter).
US west coast has jaw-dropping scenery including Big Sur, the Northern California Coast, Crater Lake in Oregon, in addition to the cities, especially if you are comfortable driving on the right side of the road. (I am leaving out probably nine hundred breathtaking scenic things.) You could spend a year in New York City and still not see everything.
Whatever you decide to do, you are going to have an awesome trip. Once you figure out where you are going, MeFites have amazing tips for whatever place you are going to! Some of my favorite travel experiences everywhere I've been were recommended by MeFites.
posted by rednikki at 5:54 PM on July 28, 2024 [1 favorite]
Going to New Zealand, your most obvious stopover options heading east are Dubai, Shanghai, and Singapore. Seoul, Qatar and Hong Kong are also options. Heading west, the most obvious options are Los Angeles and San Francisco, with NYC, Vancouver and Honolulu as less obvious options. In either direction, you can often get options to route via Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney. (I have done Boston -> Paris [a whole lot of European train and ferry travel] Frankfurt -> Singapore stopover -> Brisbane stopover -> Sydney stopover -> Wellington [rest of itinerary massively disrupted by COVID] and LAX -> Sydney stopover -> Melbourne stopover -> Wellington, for example.)
I don't know how much time you have. If you have three days at each stop, you can enjoy any of the named cities but probably not much more.
If this is a several months' journey, Singapore is a great starting point for Southeast Asia; you can get to Bali, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Siem Reap, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang (for starters) in under three hours. There are several low-cost Asian airlines that can help you do this.
There is a lot to see in Australia as well; if you have a couple of weeks you could see Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, the Great Barrier Reef and the Red Centre (note: Red Centre is best visited in the Northern Hemisphere summer/Southern Hemisphere winter).
US west coast has jaw-dropping scenery including Big Sur, the Northern California Coast, Crater Lake in Oregon, in addition to the cities, especially if you are comfortable driving on the right side of the road. (I am leaving out probably nine hundred breathtaking scenic things.) You could spend a year in New York City and still not see everything.
Whatever you decide to do, you are going to have an awesome trip. Once you figure out where you are going, MeFites have amazing tips for whatever place you are going to! Some of my favorite travel experiences everywhere I've been were recommended by MeFites.
posted by rednikki at 5:54 PM on July 28, 2024 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone, these are very helpful. You’re all the best.
posted by Phanx at 4:56 AM on July 30, 2024
posted by Phanx at 4:56 AM on July 30, 2024
How many places do you want to visit? I'm stopping over in Singapore on my back from the UK, and it doesn't cost me any more as the plane was going to stop there anyway. You could do similar in Dubai, maybe Kuala Lumpur, or China. Going the other way, LA or San Francisco or maybe Vancouver. You could probably add an Australian stop in as well, say London-KL-Sydney (could be handy if your NZ destination is Wellington or Christchurch, as you could skip Auckland).
posted by Pink Frost at 9:55 AM on July 30, 2024
posted by Pink Frost at 9:55 AM on July 30, 2024
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posted by trig at 7:21 AM on July 27, 2024 [1 favorite]