sandi

Wow! I'm speechless and that's saying lots coming from me. And, a bit jealous. But hey, what a great adventure.

As to the coming home mid-way, from those I know who have done RTW, it's often around "tax time" - as if we need that reminder!

I do look forward to reading about the planning and adventure as it progresses!

You go girl!

cwn

Gardyloo, I like the idea of starting the RTW ticket in another country....didn't think about that when planning for our first in mid 2008. I have learned so much reading Fodors!

How do you do that? Is it as simple as putting in say Dubin in as the start/finish? I guess the billing address of the credit card doesn't make any difference?

Gardyloo

<i>How do you do that? Is it as simple as putting in say Dubin in as the start/finish? I guess the billing address of the credit card doesn't make any difference?</i>

That's right. The alliance I use, Oneworld (AA, BA, Cathay Pacific, Japan, Qantas, Iberia, Lan et al) has an online RTW booking tool at www.oneworld.com that will let you put in your itinerary, then the site will check it to make sure it's kosher, tell you the price, you type in your CC information, and badda bing, the e-ticket is issued. You may have to travel someplace on a separate ticket in order to take the first flight, but then you're off to the air races.

The prices can vary significantly. For example, a 3-continent business class RTW that begins and ends in, say, Jordan, is around $2500 cheaper than one that begins and ends in the US. Japan is around $1400 cheaper. In many cases the savings are enough to cover the cost of getting to the start point, sometimes by a whole lot. For travelers to Africa it's noteworthy that Namibia and South Africa remain some of the cheapest origin points for premium-cabin RTW tickets in the world, but of course you have to get there to start/end the trip.

thursdaysd

And the One World award tickets are great - I'm currently working on an itinerary (14,000 - 20,000 actual flying miles), that's costing me 130,000 FF miles for business class, and I think it's 100,000 FF miles in economy.

luangwablondes

I flew into Hong Kong and Bangkok a couple times to start trips. The fares for trips are extremely cheaper then origination in USA. I have a couple TAs that quote via email from there.

cwn

Thanks, for the info. We used Star Alliance (United, ANZ, SAA, Singapore, Thai Air etc) for our trip...it allowed us to go to 5 continents and and had the best connections for where we wanted to go. I used the on-line planner, but called the SAA US office for the actual ticket.

That's go to know. The RTW BC tickets were about $500 more than the one way ticket to Auckland, so it was a great deal! We said at the time, that from now on since we are retired and have the time, we will just buy a RTW ticket when we want to go overseas and make it an adventure each time!

Thanks so much the reply.

mariacallas

Thank you all DEARLY for your feedback and ideas. Now I'm getting so excited it will be difficult to sleep tonight. My head is spinning at the possibilities. I'm going to check out that planning tool. and LB, I LOVE your spontaneity. A friend of mine has suddenly found herself in the same position and is thinking of traveling with me for a while. Over the moon happy about that idea, at least until I get my sea legs. She wants to do England and Ireland first. Must say, all those redheads in Ireland are intriguing. (Yes, redheads are my weakness.

thursdaysd

Before you commit to a travel partner you might want to check that you have the same travel styles... There have been some spectacular trip reports here from mismatched travelers. There is a set of questions - what budget - morning vs evening person - when you eat - how much luggage - museums/no museums - you get my drift? People in good marriages can find that they can't travel together - it's a big strain on a relationship.

mariacallas

Good Point, thursdaysd. We're going to discuss all that for sure. Thank you.

luangwablondes

There is nothing wrong with doing it on your own. It forces you to get out and meet people. Many of my friends today are people I met in my travels. And there are things you will find yourself doing that you would never even considered before, and thats a good thing.

There are people that go on their trips together, and don't feel the need to interact with others, and you can tell it in their trip reports and what they do.

The adventures that you read above are just a small part of my travels. They most likely would not have happened if I was with someone else the whole time going RTW.