|
Fancy a stopover or two - or nine? Paul Edwards explores the joys of around the world tickets
It's an exciting notion, isn't it - the thought of swanning into a travel agency, throwing down your credit card and asking them to send you around the world for less than a dollar a mile?
Round the world tickets (RTW) now make up an estimated one fifth of all long-haul flights. The idea is - if you're flying to London you've already travelled across half the world, so why not fly back over the other half?
The deal has never been better - RTW fares have remained almost constant for the past five years, but the destinations offered have increased and the fine-print restrictions reduced.
Much of this is because most of the world's airlines are now divided into two camps - oneworld and Star - and compete fiercely to attract RTW passengers.
We put them to the test with celebrity traveller Frankie J Holden, who trotted the globe many times as presenter of The Great Outdoors and - hypothetically - wants to zigzag his way across five continents.
"I've never bought an RTW ticket, although the thought has crossed my mind," Frankie says. "I somehow thought it would be all too hard and expensive - seems I was wrong."
The former Ol' 55 front man has a brother in Japan and another in Romania. On his global wish list he wants to meet up with each of them for a beer, have a stroll in the Himalayas, see Gallipoli, sail the Mediterranean, watch flamenco in Andalucia, try to find a missing wallet in Marrakesh and see if there's any work for him in Hollywood.
Karsten Horne, Managing Director of Reho Travel, took up the challenge and had answers and prices within 30 minutes.
"If Frankie had a preference for Star Alliance carriers he could do the following:
· Sydney/Tokyo - All Nippon
· Tokyo/Bangkok/Katmandu - Thai
· Katmandu/Vienna/Istanbul - Austrian
· He then needs to ferry and overland or buy a ticket from Malaga to Marrakesh and then Marrakesh to Casablanca ($697)
· Casablanca/Frankfurt/Los Angeles - Lufthansa
· Los Angeles/Melbourne - United
"All up this would cost him $3399 plus about $300 worth of taxes for the actual RTW fare. He would have to also buy a Melbourne/Sydney ticket or fly with Singapore Airlines via Singapore to Tokyo to avoid the extra cost.
"Now, if he preferred Qantas and the oneworld alliance he could do this:-
· Melbourne/Tokyo - Qantas
· Tokyo/Hong Kong/Delhi - Cathay
· Delhi/Kathmandu/Delhi - Buy a separate ticket for $420
· Delhi/London/Istanbul - British Airways
· Malaga/Madrid/Marrakesh - Iberia
· Marrakesh/Madrid/Los Angeles - Iberia
· Los Angeles/Melbourne - Qantas
"All this would cost him from $2939 using a oneworld Explorer airfare plus approx $300 worth of tax. It seems this itinerary suits oneworld marginally better than Star. It can go either way, depending on the countries covered by specific itineraries."
Our celebrity hypothetical traveller could also land at all the intermediate stops for no extra cost, other than airport levies. He would need a visa for Nepal, which his travel agent could organise.
Until recently RTW tickets were limited to the same general direction - no doubling back. Now this restriction has been reduced to no re-crossing the same ocean.
Lucy Hayes of British Airways says the entertainer's itinerary is quite straightforward compared with some.
"With an RTW ticket you can fly into places most people have never heard of," she says. "The ticketing process is quite painless, at least as far as the passenger is concerned. Technology has streamlined everything, even for the people making the booking
"Our Global Explorer airfare gives up to 34,000 miles around the world, providing a choice of up to 15 stopovers from 600 destinations. The price depends on the date of departure from Australia. "
Another option is oneworld Explorer, where the fare is determined by the number of world zones used, with a minimum of four and a maximum of six. Three free stopovers are permitted in each zone, with the option to buy unlimited additional stops. Up to 20 flight segments are permitted in total.
This option offers more than 650 destinations in 135 countries.
Richard Froggatt, South West Pacific manager of Austrian (formerly Lauda) says RTW tickets through the Star Alliance are a significant part of his bookings from Melbourne and Sydney.
"Being based in the centre of Europe we are naturally seen as a long haul carrier and people assume - quite rightly - that we're particularly strong with our connections around that part of the world.
"When you think of the number of Australians with family close to Austria - think Greece, Italy, Netherlands, UK, Germany and eastern Europe - it explains why RTW is such a large part of our business.
"What we're seeing is clients who want to fly to the Old Country, see a little of the rest of Europe, and perhaps stopover in the US on the way home. The RTW ticket makes sense. It could be done outside the RTW system, but it would cost more.
"If Frankie chose to fly with Star Alliance he could visit his brother in Romania rather than drag the poor fellow over to Istanbul."
| "I'm not greedy," says Frankie J Holden. "I'm hardly touching the world's surface, and missing out on South America entirely, but this would do me nicely. Not all of it will be flying, but I'll never be too far from an airport.
First stop. Tokyo. The Bill Murray film Lost In Translation really got me in. But I won't stay there long since I have a brother who lives on one of the islands and he tells me once you get outside the big cities Japan is a lovely, tranquil place. We'll see.
Second stop. Off we go to Nepal, flying into Katmandu. I want to see Everest and climb some fairly low mountains. My good friend Denise Drysdale has been there and I reckon if she do it, I should give it a go.
Third stop. Istanbul. I'll be having a beer with another brother while I'm there. He doesn't live in Turkey, but just across the way in Romania, where he's a teacher. So I'm going to ask him to meet me in a bar near the Blue Mosque where we'll rent a car and drive to Gallipoli. Then down the coast to pick up a yacht.
Fourth stop. This could take a while - I fancy renting a yacht in Turkey and sailing it around the Mediterranean. I'm going to leave the boat on the Spanish coast at Malaga and head inland where I want to go through the white villages of the Alpujarra region of Andalucia and see Cordoba, Seville and Granada.
Fifth stop. Just a short flight from Malaga to Marrakech. The last time I was there I lost a wallet in the market. It had $75 in it and I'm confident someone will have found it by now and the police will be keeping it safe for me.
Sixth stop. Time to go home, now - I'm tired of having fun. How about Marrakech to Los Angeles, then back to Melbourne? While I'm in LA I'll contact a couple of agents to see if there are any Brad Pitt-type roles waiting for me.
|
|
As examples of the places you can go with an RTW ticket:
Lan (oneworld) fly into Cuzco (Peru)
Finnair (oneworld) fly into Rovaneimi (Finland)
British Airways (oneworld) fly into Dar Es Salaam
Lufthansa (Star Alliance) fly into Baku (Turkmenistan)
Austrian Airlines (Star Alliance) fly into Male (the Maldives)
Lufthansa (Star Alliance) fly into Casablanca.
Though not strictly a true RTW ticket, a Lufthansa/United combination allows a stop in USA, a stop in Europe and a stop in Asia and starts at $1650.
Star Alliance's Star Special has a maximum of five stops and starts at $2399, while its regular RTW fare has a maximum of 15 stops within 29,000 miles and starts at $2899.
The oneworld Global Explorer starts at $2509 for 26,000 miles with a maximum of 20 flights. The same group's Explorer fare - governed by the number of flights in each world zone - starts at $2939.
Frequent flier points can be earned on all RTW tickets.
|
www.oneworld.com
www.staralliance.com
www.visalink.com.au
www.travelvax.com.au
www.reho.com
www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_au
www.laudaair.com.au
Note: All prices and destinations were correct at the time of going to press.
Source = The Sunday Age
|
.jpg)
