Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
There is a third alliance, Skyteam (skyteam.com), that includes Aeroflot, Aerolíneas Argentinas,
Aeroméxico, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Air-
lines, Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Garuda Indonesia, Kenya Airways, KLM, Korean Air, Middle East
Airlines, Saudia, TAROM, Vietnam Airlines, and Xiamen Airlines.
While Skyteam offers RTW tickets, their tickets don't cover as many destinations as Oneworld's or
Star Alliance's. Most of the alliance members are small airlines that don't fly many long-distance routes.
Skyteam is simply not the best option when choosing a RTW ticket. I would not recommend booking one
with them, because of their limited options.
It's important also to remember that none of these alliances include any of the world's budget airlines.
A budget airline is an airline that usually offers fewer amenities (think cattle car) and cheaper fares than the
“major” airlines of the world (that is, large, international carriers that are part of an alliance). Think Southw-
est versus United, or Ryanair versus Air France. You will find these airlines throughout the world, and there
is an especially large glut of them in Europe. Some budget airlines are Ryanair (Europe), easyJet (Europe),
Southwest (US), Spirit (US), Air Asia (Asia), Tiger (Asia/Australia), Jetstar (Australia), and Transvaia
(Europe). We'll talk about them in more detail in the next section, on getting cheap point-to-point flights.
These airlines have much cheaper fares than major, international airlines (think Delta, American, British
Airways, or United), but since they only fly regionally and don't partner with anyone, you can't use them
on your round-the-world ticket.
Each airline alliance has its own rules for how its round-the-world tickets work:
Star Alliance
Star Alliance passes are based on how many miles you travel, and they offer passes in 29,000-, 34,000-,
or 39,000-mile increments. To put that in some context, 29,000 miles will get you roughly three continents
(outside of the United States), 34,000 miles will get you four continents, and 39,000 will get you five or six
continents. The more miles you get, the more destinations you can see and vice versa.
Each pass is allowed up to fifteen stopovers (a stopover is considered twenty-four hours in one destina-
tion), and you can get the ticket in first, business, or economy class. There is also a special Starlite economy-
only fare for 26,000 miles, but this is limited to a maximum of five stops. The more miles you want on your
ticket, the more places you can visit—but also the more money you will pay.
Star Alliance also requires passengers to start and end in the same country, though not necessarily in
the same city. Also, you can backtrack over continents but not over oceans. This means you can fly from
Australia to New York and then New York to Los Angeles, but you can't go from Los Angeles back to Aus-
tralia. When you cross an ocean, you have to keep moving in your original direction. It should also be noted
that backtracking, surface sectors (what they call the parts of your trip you take overland and not with an
airplane), and transits and connections all count against the mileage total.
For example, if you fly from LA to London and then from Athens to Bangkok, the mileage from London
to Athens is counted against your trip even though you might be doing it overland on a train or flying with
a cheap budget airline like Ryanair.
Oneworld
Oneworld offers two different kinds of passes: one that is segment-based and another that is mileage-based.
Global Explorer is Oneworld's more conventional, mileage-based round-the-world ticket. There are three
levels—26,000, 29,000, or 39,000 miles—in economy class as well as a 34,000-mile ticket in business and
