"Around-the-World" Fares

Want a cost-effective way to visit a lot of places with a lot of flexibility? If you are like us, you have a long list of places to see and things to do in your travels. Most people are not aware that there is a way to cover lots of the world in a cost-effective manner through these special program offered by most of the world's major airlines.

Around-the-World fares allow a myriad of travel choices at near bargain-basement prices.  We have used them for both business and pleasure trips with excellent results.  In fact, if your employer is paying for an international trip, chances are that you can arrange your travel with a few extra stops (assuming you have the time!) for even less than a standard return ticket.  Here's an example:

A few years ago, we needed to visit resellers in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.  A trip to any of these places would have been expensive, but to cover them all was almost a budget-buster!  However, in looking at our schedule and where we needed to be, we were able to arrange a trip to hit all the places we needed, plus get back to the home office, work a trade show, visit family and return home - all on one ticket!  And, the really neat thing is that the ticket was much less than we would have paid for any of the international locations by itself. 

Our trip started and ended in Italy, but it could have been anywhere, as these fares work from any major city.  We flew from Milan to Singapore, then to Sydney, added a stop in Adelaide, back to Sydney and onto Auckland, then to San Francisco, to Las Vegas for a trade show, to Cleveland for our family visit and finally back to Milan.  Total cost?  About $3,500 each.  Oh, and did I mention that was all in Business Class?

If it sounds complex, it is.  You need a really good travel agent who can help you work out the details and deal with the airline, but that is how they make their commissions, and this really works.  Most of the programs require that you travel for a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of a year.  You must always go in the same direction, and depending on what part of the world you visit, there are various levels of fares.  (For example if you stay north of the equator there is one fare, but if you want to go south there is an add on for that zone.)

One final note: Think out of the box.  Maybe you don't plan to spend a year traveling - we certainly don't!  But there is no reason you can't keep your ticket active the whole time.  It may be that you want to stop at one place, fly home then come back later within the valid travel period to continue your journey.

These programs change a lot, so we will try to keep up with the latest information and provide you the best links to suppliers who offer them. So stay tuned, and we will be working on this and other helpful tricks to make you truly a Savvy Traveler!