International Airfare

A one-way price is not half of a return, a six-stop trip is not six flights, and the cheapest search result is frequently the most expensive way to fly the route. International airfare rewards understanding how it is constructed far more than it rewards refreshing a page.

A route is one fare, not a stack of flights

Booked leg by leg, a multi-stop trip is a pile of unrelated one-ways, and one-ways are priced worst of everything airlines sell. Priced as a single itinerary, the same stops go on one fare built across airlines - and the difference between those two numbers on a long route is routinely four figures.

This is the part the big search engines cannot do for you. They price the trip you typed. Nobody types the cheaper version, because finding it means knowing which order the stops go in and which carriers will sit on one ticket together.

Alliance RTW tickets versus a built route

A Star Alliance or oneworld round-the-world ticket is a real product with real rules: a fixed direction, a mileage or continent cap, and every stop inside one alliance's map. When your trip fits that shape it is excellent value. When it doesn't, the rules cost you more than the fare saves - a single stop off the map means either dropping it or buying a separate ticket that undoes the discount.

A route built across airlines has no such map. It is usually the cheaper answer for anything that isn't a clean loop, which is most real trips.

What actually moves the price

The order of the stops. The direction around the planet. How many oceans you cross and how many times. Which two cities you connect by land instead of air. Season, and how far out you buy. Not the day of the week, not clearing your cookies, and not an incognito window.

Where to get a route priced

For a straightforward return between two cities, the airfare sites reviewed below are fine and you should just use them. AirTreks exists for the other case: multi-stop routes priced as one fare across airlines. Bring the stops and the rough months.

If you're still working out what the stops should be, the trip planner page starts a step earlier, and the round the world section is the long version.