Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
first class. Just as with the Star Alliance mileage-based RTWs, all miles are counted, including overland
segments. This pass follows the same rules as above.
Oneworld's other pass is much better and in my opinion the best RTW pass you can buy. The Oneworld
Explorer is based on the number of continents visited (from three to six) and has no maximum mileage limit,
and up to sixteen segments can be included in your ticket. A flight segment counts as one flight, so a ticket
with sixteen segments would have sixteen flights. That includes any connections. If you want to go from
London to Hong Kong but the ticket includes a stop in Dubai, that counts as two segments. With the One-
world Explorer, there are no overland penalties or mileage limits. You simply get sixteen flights.
I like this pass the best for many reasons. Unlike with other tickets, overland segments don't count
against you and there are no mileage requirements. One of the benefits of the segment system is that every
segment is counted the same, so out-of-the-way destinations like Easter Island or the island of Tahiti, which
are far from any main airport, count the same as a two-hour flight. All flights are equal.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Round-the-world tickets come with a number of terms and conditions. Generally speaking, with all alli-
ances, a round-the-world ticket is valid for one year from the start date and requires you to end in the same
country you start in. You don't need to end in the same city, but you need to end in the same country.
Moreover, all round-the-world tickets require you to travel in one direction as well as to cross the At-
lantic and Pacific oceans only once. What that means is you can't fly from New York to London and then
back across the Atlantic to Brazil and then continue on to Asia then back to Europe and finally home to New
York. That's not one-way travel, that's backtracking, and tickets don't allow backtracking between contin-
ents.
Additionally, tickets require a set number of stopovers, each of which is defined as a stay of more than
twenty-four hours. Tickets require you to have a minimum of three stops and a maximum of fifteen. One-
world has a two-stopover maximum permitted in the continent of origin.
Travelers can change the dates and times on their ticket at no extra charge so long as they don't change
the destinations. If you have a Tokyo-to-Los Angeles flight you want to change, you can change the date
and time without a fee. However, if you decide to fly from Tokyo to San Francisco instead, then you have
to pay a fee of $125 USD. Any changes in the destinations on your ticket incur a fee.
RTW Alliance Alternatives
While you can topic RTW tickets directly with the airlines by calling the reservations line listed on their
website, sometimes you can find a better deal by booking through a third party such as Airtreks (air-
treks.com). Airtreks operates differently than the airline alliances. Instead of creating a round-the-world
ticket, Airtreks pieces together individual airline tickets based on the lowest available fares they find. They
don't just deal with one alliance—they mix and match from all available airlines (excluding budget airlines)
to find the lowest price. Because of this, the rules pertaining to alliance tickets don't apply here. You can fly
anywhere and in any direction you want, and the overland mileage doesn't count against your flight, because
there is no mileage limit.
Airtreks' fees range anywhere between $50 and $250, depending on what airline you're traveling on.
Unlike with airline alliance tickets, you will be charged for changing your date and travel times. Since
Airtreks topics regular airline tickets, those tickets are subject to regular airline ticket rules. So, while fares
are cheaper, because Airtreks has to abide by normal airline rules, the change fees are higher.
