This guide breaks down what a Round the World ticket is, and how best to approach travel planning to plan a journey around the globe that’s stress-free.

If you’re the type of person who likes booking flights using the ‘Search Everywhere’ feature on Skyscanner, you’re likely the type who a Round the World ticket was made for.

What is a Round the World ticket and how does it work?

A Round the World ticket (or RTW ticket) is a specialist fare where you get an allowance of miles, continents, stopovers and flights to travel across the world in one go. Effectively, it’s the type of fare that lets you plan a journey where you’re camping on the foothills of the Himalayas one day, and then sailing along the fjords the next.

A Round the World ticket (or RTW ticket) takes away the headache of having to plan a journey with multiple stops, and removes the hassle of booking flights separately if you’re looking to travel to multiple destinations. It makes travel planning multi-stop trips simple.

Photo of a serene beach in Sardinia, Italy — Sardinia, Italy

How does a round the world ticket work?

An RTW ticket is a specialist ticket that takes away the headache of having to plan a journey with multiple stops, and removes the hassle of booking flights separately. Instead, you get an allowance of miles, continents, stopovers and flights to travel across the world in one go. And even though you'll be flying with different airlines, you can still earn loyalty points along the way. Plus, an RTW ticket can cost less than booking flights individually, leaving you with enough for an over-priced airport coffee.

Booking flights on a Round the World ticket: how to get the best RTW ticket

When travel planning for a global adventure, you might want to know where to get the best Round the World ticket. The answer depends on where you’re looking to travel, how far you want to travel and your budget. The most common way to buy a RTW ticket is to go through a specialist tour operator or an airline alliance. There are three main airline alliances, oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance, though Sky Team no longer offers a Round the World ticket.

As there’s a lot to consider between the RTW ticket offered by Star Alliance and the various options with the oneworld alliance, here’s a breakdown to help plan a journey:

How to find the best Round the World ticket:

RTW ticket benefit	oneworld alliance RTW ticket	Star Alliance RTW ticket
Member airlines	oneworld member airlines: 1. Alaska Airlines 2. American Airlines 3. British Airways 4. Cathay Pacific 5. Fiji Airways 6. Finnair 7. Iberia 8. Japan Airlines 9. Malaysia Airlines 10. Oman Air 11. Qantas 12. Qatar Airways 13. Royal Air Maroc 14. Royal Jordanian 15. SriLankan Airlines	Star Alliance members: 1. Aegean Airlines 2. Air Canada 3. Air China 4. Air India 5. Air New Zealand 6. Ana 7. Asiana Airlines 8. Austrian 9. Avianca 10. Brussels Airlines 11. Copa Airlines 12. Croatia Airlines 13. EGYPTAIR 14. Ethiopian Airlines 15. EVA Air 16. LOT Polish Airlines 17. Lufthansa 18. Shenzhen Airlines 19. Singapore Airlines 20. South African Airways 21. Swiss 22. TAP Air Portugal 23. Thai Airways International 24. Turkish Airlines 25. United

RTW ticket benefit	oneworld Explorer	oneworld Global Explorer	oneworld Circle Pacific	Star Alliance Round the World ticket
Pricing model	A continent-based fare available across economy, business and first-class cabins.	A distance-based fare based on four mileage tiers. Availability is cabin-type dependent: Tier 1: Up to 26K miles. Available for economy and business cabins). Tier 2: Up to 29K miles. Only available for economy cabins. Tier 3: Up to 34K miles. Available for economy, business and first-class cabins. Tier 4: Up to 38K miles. Only available for economy cabins.	A distance-based fare based on three mileage tiers: Tier 1: Up to 22K miles. Tier 2: Up to 26K miles. Tier 3: Up to 29K miles. Available across economy, business and first-class cabins.	Distance-based mileage fares based on four mileage tiers: Tier 1: Up to 26K miles. Tier 2: Up to 29K miles. Tier 3: Up to 34K miles. Tier 4: Up to 38K miles. Available across economy, business and first-class cabins.
Where can I go?	The traveller must select between three and six continents, with no maximum mileage considerations: Continent 1: Europe, Middle East (but includes Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Russian territories west of the Urals) Continent 2: Africa (excluding those named above) Continent 3: Asia (includes Russia east of the Urals) Continent 4: Australia, New Zealand and the South West Pacific Continent 5: North America (includes The Caribbean and Central America) Continent 6: South America	Global	The traveller must select a minimum of three and up to four Circle Pacific regions that border, or are close to the Pacific Ocean, and must stay within their mileage limits. Region 1: Asia (includes China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia. Typically, excludes India, Central Asia, and inland parts of China i.e. Chengdu) Region 2: South West Pacific (incl. Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia) Region 3: North America (Pacific-facing USA and Canada. Typically, excludes Hawaii) Region 4: South America	Global
General rules	One continuous direction (either east or west). Backtracking is permitted within continents. Maximum one Atlantic and one Pacific crossing.	One continuous direction (either east or west). Backtracking is permitted within continents. Maximum one Atlantic and one Pacific crossing.	One continuous direction (either east or west). Backtracking is permitted within regions. Pacific loop only.	One continuous direction (either east or west). Neither reversal nor backtracking is permitted. Maximum one Atlantic and one Pacific crossing.
Stopovers and flights	Maximum of 16 flight segments / coupons. Minimum of 2 stopovers in total. Maximum of 2 stopovers per city, and 4 per country.	Maximum of 16 flight segments / coupons. Stopovers allocated per tier: Tier 1: 3–5 stopovers in total. No more than 2 stopovers per region. Tier 2: 3–10 stopovers in total. No more than 3 stopovers per region. Tier 3: 3–15 stopovers in total. No more than 4 stopovers per region. Tier 4: 3–15 stopovers in total. No more than 4 stopovers per region.
Open-jaw permitted?	No (must start and end in same city)	No (must start and end in same city)	No (must start and end in same city)	Yes (start and end in same country)
Trip duration	Min 10 days; max 12 months	Min 10 days; max 12 months	Min 5–10 days (by class); max 6 months	Min 10 days; max 12 months
Can I collect loyalty points?	Yes with oneworld carriers	Yes with oneworld carriers	Yes with oneworld carriers	Yes with member airlines

A photo of Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu in the Sacred Valley, Peru — Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, Peru

What’s better, a Round the World trip or booking flights myself with multi-city search?

What’s great about booking flights on a Round the World ticket is how seamlessly you can plan a journey to multiple destinations and continents without having to book lots of individual flights and having to handle the logistics of doing so. Many of the Round the World ticket options allow you to simply select your origin, and then the next place you want to go, and then the one after that, etc. to help automate the travel planning process

It can also often cost less to buy a RTW ticket than booking flights individually, and even though you'll be flying with different airlines, you can actually still earn loyalty points along the way.

The caveat to all these benefits however, is that Round the World tickets carry some noteworthy restrictions. For example, there will be a cap to the number of stopovers you can make along your itinerary, so you’ll need to account for the limit when you plan a journey using this fare. You’ll also need to approach travel planning with a bit of a strategic approach as there will be destinations you’ll need to bypass because of rules around the number of stop overs, flight coupons and whether back tracking is permitted. Another restriction worth pointing out because it’s often overlooked is that you don’t have your pick of all flights operating the route you want to travel because a RTW ticket is limited to select flights within an alliance.

There is another option though. A savvy way to plan a journey around the globe based on cheap flights is to use our multi-city search and combine it with using our price alerts tool. You have the flexibility to choose a range of flights, you’re not limited to specific destinations or a certain number of stops in a certain region, and you can still collect your loyalty points too. It’s Skyscanner’s special twist on a RTW ticket! Booking flights using multi-city search, you can:

Save money versus booking separate one-way tickets
Save time by avoiding backtracking - though you can do it if you want to
Gain flexibility to build your own route. It’s like DIY travel, but with fewer moving parts and less rules to consider.

RTW ticket terminology explained:

What is ‘Backtracking’? This is when you’re travelling in one direction and then, rather than follow one continuous motion, you travel in the reverse direction. While the oneworld Explorer RTW ticket and Circle Pacific option allows for regional backtracking, Star Alliance and oneworld’s Global Explorer require forward motion even within continents, so this will impact how you plan your journey.
What is Open-Jaw? This means when your airport of origin and return are different. Star Alliance allows flying into one city and out of another within the same country, but oneworld fares mandate that travellers have to return to their original departure city.
What is a stopover? People use stopover and layover interchangeably but they mean different things. A stopover is when you stay in a city for more than 24 hours before continuing your journey. Shorter than 24 hours is considered a layover. Stopovers are long enough to allow travellers to actually explore the destination rather than transfer to another flight.
What is a flight segment/ flight coupon? Don’t let the word ‘coupon’ deceive you. A flight segment or a flight coupon is a single ‘leg’ of a journey, i.e. one takeoff plus one landing, regardless of whether the journey as a whole includes layovers or stopovers. For example, London - Doha - Singapore is made up of two flight segments despite it being one itinerary.

FAQs

How much do round the world flights cost?

RTW ticket prices swing wildly and can depend on a range of variables such as the class you fly, dates, the number of stops you want to make and how far you’ll fly. If you book via an airline alliance, you’re looking at around £2,000 for an economy-tier ticket with just a handful of stops. If you’re looking to hop around several continents, this would likely jump to £4,000.

Can I pay for more miles, continents, stopovers etc.?

Absolutely but to an extent. RTW ticket fares are modular and often come in tiers, either by mileage or number of stops. So depending on the fare you’ve paid for, you might be able to ‘upgrade’ to a higher tier.

Can I change my itinerary after I buy my RTW ticket?

You bet! RTW tickets may come with some changes, like with date, though be prepared to either pay a small fee or the fare difference depending on the T&Cs of your ticket. Changing destinations is trickier though and usually it’s not allowed. It may require a full rebooking, or if it is, it’ll likely cost a considerable amount.

When should I book a multi-city flight?

If you’re planning three or more stops, a multi-city trip or RTW ticket is likely your best option for saving time and money. If you’re looking at timings, historic data points to 1-3 months for short-haul and 2-6 months for long-haul to lock in decent fares across multiple legs.

What should I consider when planning my trip?

First, what kind of trip do you want? Is this going to be the type of adventure where you’re exploring Berlin, beat by beat, or eating your way around the world through 80 plates? Having a rough idea of where will help you plan the logistics. Otherwise, you might find yourself in Asia in the middle of monsoon season (unless that’s the idea!). Then, there’s the important stuff like passport rules and visa restrictions, and even budgeting for long-term travel. Also, at least consider travel insurance (because, you know, life), oh, and pay attention to the ticket rules, like the number of stopovers, backtracking limits, etc.)

Can I upgrade to business class on some of my flights?

Yep! Depending on your ticket type, some airline alliances may let you mix and match the cabins you fly in to upgrade certain legs to premium cabins, though, if you refer to the table above, some tiers are only available in specific cabins. Make sure to check the small print to confirm.

Can I start my RTW trip from anywhere?

Yes, but check whether you have to start and end in the same city. Also, remember that most airline alliances price their tickets based on mileage or continent visited, so your starting point can impact the total cost.

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