October 31, 2023

Advantages of Round-the-World Tickets Compared to Regular International Tickets

The world is vast, offering countless sights, experiences, and opportunities. Fortunately, accessing even the most enchanting destinations has become easier than ever before. From planning and booking round the world airfares to backpacking on a shoestring budget, not everybody wants to travel the same way. If you’ve ever considered exploring the world’s furthest corners, round the world (RTW) airfares are a great way to do it. In this article, we’ll compare the pros and cons of RTW airfares and regular international flights.

The Pros of Round the World Airfares

RTW flight tickets, or round-the-world airfares, allow you to see more of the world for a lower price. You can customise your ticket, scheduling all your flights before you even depart, meaning there’s less stress once you finally hit the skies. Let’s look at some of the reasons you should consider round-the-world airfares for your dream holiday.

Greater Flexibility

While some might argue that RTW flight tickets lack flexibility because you need to plan all the stops before your trip, this isn’t necessarily correct. It’s true that once booked, you may need to pay fees to change your stopovers, but it’s certainly possible to make changes if you fall in love with one city and want to stay longer.

Where the flexibility comes in, is during the planning phase. Sure, you need to plan in advance, but you can practically go anywhere in the world. You also don’t need to always fly in and out of the same city. For example, you might fly to the UK but then travel to France via train and fly to your next destination from there.

Cost-effective Travel

Airfare Geeks knows first-hand that round-the-world airfares are typically cheaper than other fares. Not all airlines offer RTW flights, but the ones who do are quite happy to offer discounted fares because you’re essentially booking multiple flights in one go. For them, it’s like making a bulk sale.

Flight specials are often only made available to travel agencies such as Airfare Geeks. We package flight deals into our round-the-world tickets, making it a much cheaper way to travel than if you were booking every flight yourself. Plus, if you choose a direction (east or west), it’s even cheaper because you’re booking shorter flights.

See More of the World

The obvious benefit of a round-the-world trip is being able to see more of the world. Your dollar goes further, and you can plan the dream holiday you’ve always wanted to take. Although some people prefer the spontaneity of jumping on a plane with no return ticket, many travellers like to plan carefully with RTW flights to ensure they see everything they want to.

Earn Reward Points

Although a round-the-world ticket is essentially just one ticket and one booking, it’s still a lot of individual flights. If you include multiple cities on your trip, your airline reward points will add up quickly. Companies like Oneworld, Qantas and Emirates offer rewards systems, allowing you to redeem points for future travel or other rewards.

The Cons of Round the World Airfares

Every traveller is different, and RTW airfares are more suitable for some. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

RTW Trips Take Time

To get the most value out of a round-the-world trip, you’ll probably want to include as many stops and as many cities as possible. The only problem here is that it takes a lot of time. Of course, it’s not compulsory to travel on your RTW ticket for months on end, but to see all the places that interest you, you’re probably looking at months away rather than weeks. If you have employment or other responsibilities, taking a few months off to travel is not always easy.

Extensive Planning is Required

While this isn’t necessarily bad for some people, some travellers out there like things to be a bit more spontaneous. When you book a round-the-world airfare, you must plan all of the stops at the time you book.

Let’s say you arrive in Paris on a round-the-world ticket, and you’re scheduled to spend a week there. But you hear about a festival in Spain that you don’t want to miss, and it’s happening in 3 days. Some airlines allow you to change your stops, but there’s likely to be a fee. So, you’d either need to miss the festival or make your own way there and back to Paris to catch your next scheduled flight.

The Pros of Regular International Airfares

For many travellers, the idea of booking all of your stops in advance for a lengthy holiday isn’t ideal. Or, perhaps you simply don’t have the time to travel for months, but you still want to see different parts of the world. Let’s look at the benefits of booking regular international airfares over RTW airfares.

Book and Travel Quickly

As we mentioned, RTW airfares require a lot of planning before you book. However, if you feel like travelling overseas tomorrow, you could book a regular flight and be on your way. The same applies while you’re away. You’ve got the flexibility to book subsequent flights and make your way around the world at your leisure.

Flexible Airfare Conditions

RTW airfares aren’t completely inflexible, but it’s fair to say regular flights are more flexible. You can make changes to your flights more easily, sometimes with fewer fees depending on the type of ticket you book. Remember our scenario of being in Paris but wanting to get to Spain at short notice? This type of spontaneous travel is easier with regular international airfares.

Enjoy More of One Country

Let’s consider the opposite scenario now. Forget about your Spanish festival, and consider that you arrive in Paris and fall in love with the city. If you want to explore the region more or simply stay and immerse yourself in one place and culture, you can do that with regular international flights.

Even during the planning phase of your trip, if you’ve travelled extensively before and know exactly where you want to spend your time, you might prefer to just book regular flights and spend more time in a select few places. We should note, though, that this is just as possible with RTW airfares because you have the flexibility to choose where you’d like to be and for how long.

The Cons of Regular International Airfares

Like anything, regular international airfares have their drawbacks, too.

Airline Prices

RTW airfares are designed to maximise your travel dollar, whereas regular international flights are often more expensive. You’re somewhat at the mercy of airline price fluctuations, especially if you want to make spontaneous travel arrangements. World travellers on a budget would be far better advised to investigate some round the world airfares from Airfare Geeks.

More Difficult to Plan an Extensive Trip

The process of booking RTW flights with experienced travel experts like Airfare Geeks is much easier than booking everything yourself. The planning can be cumbersome if you’re relying on regular airfares and booking everything yourself. You need to find the best value flights for every leg of your trip and book them separately, which is time-consuming.

What’s the Verdict?

Ultimately, both forms of travel are perfectly fine, depending on your needs. If you love spontaneity and want to head to Europe with no return ticket, regular airfares are the way to go. If you want to plan the trip of a lifetime, exploring multiple countries with cheaper airfares, round the world airfares are better.

Airfare Geeks is here to help you see the world with ease. Contact us today and find out about our amazing RTW airfares with the best airlines in the world. We’ve also got a range of special travel deals to some of the most beautiful places on earth. If you’re ready to travel, we’re ready to book your trip.