If you’ve never considered a RTW trip before, there are tons of things to research, and one of the most important is your flight. If you choose to buy a RTW ticket as opposed to buying as you go, there are many things you need to consider. Here are some tips from those who have already been there and done that.

Using Indie

Indie is BootsnAll’s own multi-stop international trip planner. Indie is the only planner of its kind which allows you to get instant pricing on your trip.

Use Indie at any stage of your planning.

Use Indie at any stage of your planning

If you’re at the beginning of the planning stage, use Indie to get an idea of what your flights will cost. Just register for an account on Indie, enter your destinations and dates, click “search fares,” and get prices. This is a great way to start estimating what your biggest expense – the flights – will cost.

Do it your way with Indie

If you already know your route and find a price you like on Indie, go ahead book online without speaking to anyone. If you need assistance with your route or want to find a better price, get in touch with one of our experts and let them help.

Break your trip up with Indie

Airlines only release prices and schedules 11 months in advance, so if you want to travel for longer than a year, consider breaking your trip up into a few different legs. This also gives you flexibility in case you change your mind and want to stay longer somewhere or want to add a destination that wasn’t originally on your itinerary.

Frequent Flyer Miles

If you have frequent flyer miles that you want to take advantage of, or if you want to build frequent flyer miles for future travels, you probably want to look into using one of the airline alliances.  

Airline Alliances

Star Alliance, One World and Sky Team are some of the largest airline affiliate programs. Using one of the alliances for your round the world trip will afford you to use or build frequent flyer miles.  These alliances are also good for shorter trips.  Keep in mind that there are a lot of restrictions in place with the alliances.  There are mileage caps, you can typically only travel east to west or vice versa, there is no backtracking, and you are restricted to a year.

Join the Program

Once you get your RTW ticket, find out what partnerships the various airlines are a part of, such as Star Alliance or One World. Before you go, get frequent flyer cards with one of the partner airlines that you will be using the most in the future. The average RTW trip is approximately 25,000 miles – enough for one ticket.

Free or Cheap Stopovers

Some destinations may be cheaper than you think: for example, Icelandic Air offers free or cheap stopover options on flights to/from the United Kingdom, and Air Fiji and Air New Zealand may also have similar deals, depending on your destinations.

Airport Hubs

Want to cut down on the costs of your RTW ticket? Fly in and out of major airport hubs such as New York, London, Bangkok, Sydney, Nairobi, and Buenos Aires. Large hubs have numerous and frequent flights, increasing your likelihood of snagging a reasonably priced ticket.

Overlanding on RTW Trips

Don’t forget, overlanding is an option, too! You can fly into one city and fly out of another one. For example, arrive in London , tour Europe, and fly from Rome to your next destination. 

RTW Itineraries

Price out possible RTW itineraries and tickets as far in advance of your trip as you can. This way, you have a idea of what your trip airfare will be and you can budget accordingly. A year in advance is not too early to start getting prices and researching which hubs are cheaper and how routing works. 3 to 6 months in advance is the ideal time to purchase your Around the World Ticket.

Our sister site, Round the World Tickets, has published a free Round the World Ticket Report comparing all the different options out there for travelers.  Be sure to check out the reviews from shopping for RTW plane tickets.