Flights: Will £8000 be enough? This will cover some ground already well beaten on this branch but with just a few months left before departure, I need to start thinking about what to do about flights. OK, so we have already had the first leg of our RTW having spent 15 weeks backpacking through Africa and the Middle-East. What a life altering experience that was ... but I digress. The next leg of the trip will take us completely around the globe for an anticipated 8 months or more. So, do I buy a canned RTW ticket or buy tickets as we go? An impossible question to answer, perhaps, but here is what I was thinking ... - RTW - £2,000 per person for the OneWorld Explorer 5-continent RTW ticket (about £1,700 + tax) - £1,000 per person additional allowance for exploring the Pacific Islands region - £2,000 miscellaneous for some flights here and there (internal flights in Oz, for example) Grand total of approximately £8,000 for two people to go around the world (give or take) - this is just for the flights - Separate tickets The real question, then, is whether we will be better off booking separate tickets and getting them as we go. Can it be done for significantly less than the RTW tickets? Would it be worth it? Having already experienced life on the road a little, I can attest to the liberation of not having a set agenda. Buying a RTW will tie us down to a specific route - if not a specific schedule. I am worried, however, about whether we will be able to get the flights that we want when we want them. It's a classic dilema and I'm under no illusion that anyone can answer the question for me. Perhaps instead, some seasoned travelers who might have done a similar route could offer up some useful suggestions and comments. Although we don't technically have a route set in stone, here is approximately what we want to do: London -> India - overland through India India -> China(Beijing) - overland through China, ending up in Hong Kong Hong Kong -> Bangkok some exploration of the SEA region Bangkok -> Western Australia Western Australia -> Eastern Australia (perhaps via Uluru) overland exploration of Australia Eastern Australia -> New Zealand overland exploration of New Zealand New Zealand -> Pacific Islands a month or two exploring the Pacific Island region ??? -> Easter Island Easter Island -> Chilli overland up to Quito, Ecuador - 1-2 week trip to Galapago Islands Ecuador -> Mexico overland exploration of Mexico Mexico -> USA USA -> London Yes, there is a lot here and we probably don't have enough time in 8 months to do everything justice. The idea is that we determine how well we explore a given region once we arrive. Perhaps explore some places in depth whilst just the highlights of others. Who knows, we'll see when we get there. I guess I'm just looking for some general feedback and some inspiration. If I'm going to fork out £8,000, is this money better spent on the RTW (+ supplimental flights where applicable) or chipping away at it bit by bit as we buy flights en-route? - CDM

1. Christopher, Good luck on your travels. My wife and I just complete a year-long RTW. We didn't do a RTW ticket, but purchased one-ways. We bought five ahead of time for $5,000 through Airtreks.com (all prices are for two). Honolulu, Hawaii - Auckland, New Zealand Christchurch, New Zealand - Sydney, Australia Perth, Australia - Singapore Lisbon, Portugal - Johannesburg, South Africa Cape Town, South Africa - Buenos Aires, Argentina We then purchased four others on the road (we had planned to go through China but because of SARS were forced to go around) Bangkok, Thailand - Seoul, South Korea $375 Seoul, South Korea - Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia $770 Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia - Berlin, Germany $1,100 La Paz, Bolivia - Los Angeles, California (to get home) $1,500 As you can see we didn't take any flights within countries or many even within continents, so in that way our trip differs, but the total price seems to be right in line with yours. Again, best of luck. Garvin http://theenchilada.tripod.com

2. Garvin, Looks like you had one hell of a trip. I'm sure you have a lot of great stories to tell - which I hope you will :-) I'm glad to see that my initial estimate is not too drastically off course compared to what you've done. What did the rest of your budget look like? Based on our experiences traveling through Africa & Middle-East and on comments here on the TT about the cost of traveling in our destination countries, I'm roughly budgeting about £60 per day for the two of us (8 months = 240 days @ £60/day = £14,400 ). With the exception of a few thousand extra for gear, a new underwater camera and housing and some odds and ends, the £60/day will need to see us through the whole trip. What kind of daily average did you end up spending? Also, where did you spend the most/least money? - CDM

3. It's a difficult decision. I was on the road 2 years for my trip. I flew by a One World Gloabal Explorer and a Star Alliance Star 2 plus quite alot of add on flights. In my experience RTW tickets are extremly good value (unless you buy them in North America). You are right kin that they do limit your freedom a little as they force you to a more or less predetermined itinerary (though you can reschedule for $75 a go). On the otherhand a RTW ticket does giv eyou the flexibility to fly to expensive flight destinations and at expensive times of the year, which would not be economic on a pay as you go basis. In my view your budget is pretty sensible. I would query whether spending that additional £2k exploring the pacific islands. People tend to overestinmate their ability to tolerate a life in paradise beaches. People tend to get bored after say 10 days and I personally would spend more time in places with more to see (and you are hitting plenty of those.) If you do wnat to see the Pac islands then check both of One World's RTW tickets. If I remmeber rightly the less well known mileage based opne also allows you to use the Qantas and American affiliate airlines which do a good job ovf covering the PAcific. Wade ------------------------- If interested in RTW travel check free egroup myurl