How Long Does It Take to Get My Tickets?

Okay, you're working away on deciding where you're taking your RTW trip. So let's say that, at the least, you've got a rough idea of where you want to go. Not every village and mountaintop necessarily, but you've got a decent idea of major cities you're hitting, so you're ready to start plugging destinations into our TripPlanner. (Ideally, it's also not less than 2 or 3 months before you go – sorting out your tickets in advance really helps you get better deals, and as you'll see we need at least 4-5 weeks to get all the tickets and bookings sorted. But more on that to come.)

So you've plugged stuff in to the TripPlanner, you hit "Submit", and you send your itinerary and a few more details to our counselors. But what happens next? How long does all this take? Here ya go:

• 24-48 hours later, one of our expert Travel Counselors gets back to you. They've looked over your itinerary, and they have ideas of how you can tweak it to get the most places you want, for the best deal. So you start talking with them and your itinerary starts to really take form.

• 5 minutes to, who knows, 5 weeks later, you say "Okay, I'm ready to book!" How long this part takes all depends on you. You can make and suggest changes for as long as you want. Your counselor will help you tweak, will help you settle on destinations, dates and fares and all that, but before they can get any of your tickets, you have to give the say-so. Once you're decided, you make payment arrangements, and the counselor starts booking tickets.

• 4-5 weeks later, you go to check the post, and BANG! – there they are. Your round-the-world tickets. Every bloody one of 'em, in your hot little hands. You've been prepping and packing and getting shots and visas, and while you've been doing all that, your counselor has been settling things up with airlines around the world. That's why it takes a few weeks to get everything to you: RTW tickets are complex, and getting them requires dealing with individual airlines across the globe. But now they're here.

It's all done. The planning and booking has all come together. As you walk back to your shambles of a room, possessions and clothes chucked about everywhere, your bulging backpack sitting serenely amidst the chaos, you're holding your tickets. And you're smiling. You're ready to go, and you've got the tickets to prove it.