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From: nomisch [nomisch@yahoo.com] Sent: mercredi 6 août 2003 09:01 To: RTWers@yahoogroups.com Subject: [RTWers] Re: RTW Air tickets Here's a whole other way to go. I recently discovered a site called flyertalk.com. They provide great helpful information about rtw flights. I am now looking into the One World Explorer ticket which is very flexible and much cheaper if purchased out of Cairo,Egypt directly through BA there. Now that isn't going to suit everyone but since I'm based in Israel it's fantastic. It's much cheaper than me having to get to London, and the ticket price itself, is also that much cheaper. For those interested. Check out flyertalk.com and go into the oneworld forum. Nomi --- In RTWers@yahoogroups.com, Wade Allsopp <wadeall@y...> wrote: > Yes westernair are a Travel Agency. To be honest i havent used them so > I dont know how good they are, but their web site has the best > information on RTW ticket options that I have seen. > > I personally use Trailfinders in London to buy the ticket as they have > very competent staff and are very efficient. they are the biggest > backpacker oriented travel site in the UK. > > What happens re RTW fares is that the airline alliances agree prices > that the various tickets can be sold for in different countries. These > are the fixed official prices for that ticket in that country and you > should pay the same price whether you actually buy your ticket from an > agent or direct from one of the airlines. If you buy the ticket from > an agent the agent will get commission (around 10% I think) but > unfortunately u dont get any discount if you buy direct from the > airline (I think the marketing commission goes to the airline sales > department in that case). > > This is the case in most developed markets such as the UK. In places > like Thailand and India, you should be able to find agents that are > willing to share some of the commission say 5% so u can get a small > discount from the "official" price that you would pay at the airline > office. > > This information applies only to the officuial RTW airtickets such as > Star1 etc which are markeded by the airline alliances. The other type > of RTW fare you can get is a tailor made RTW fare but together by a > bucket shiop or consolidator. In countries such as the UK this type of > ticket is not so popular as the "official" RTW fares are such good > value and the "consolidator" fares are usually less flexible. Howevr > in countries such as the US where "official" RTW fares are very high, > consolidaor fares can often be competitive. I believe that Airtreks is > the most popular US supplier of such tickets. > > Wade > London > > > > > > > --- collonv <rb941c@m...> wrote: > This is a RTW travel agency > which acts as an intermediary for getting > > > > RTW tickect, correct?? > > is it even better to ask straigh to the compagny as oneworld or > > staralliance in order to save money? > > What is the use to buy the ticket from them as they are going to > > charge more (50 pounds I have seen) > > > > However, this is an interesting website to get information of what we > > > > can buy. > > > > Thanks :-) > > Nicolas > > France (toulouse) > > > > --- In RTWers@yahoogroups.com, "Wade" <wadeall@y...> wrote: > > > The following UK site gives a great run down of the 8 leading RTW > > > air fares, iincluing airlines involved, ticket restrictions, pros > > > and cons etc. It also has up to date prices for these fares from > > UK. > > > > > > http://www.westernair.co.uk/roundtheworld1.html > > > > > > For the benefit of those relatively new to this site, we had a long > > > > > discussion early in the life of this site about buying RTW tickets > > > outside your home country. > > > > > > Basically the situation is that the airlines set differnt prices > > for > > > RTW tickts according to the country you buy the ticket in (which is > > > > > also the country where your flights start and end). > > > > > > For some reason the prices charged in North America (and less > > > surprisingly places like Japan, China etc) are considerably above > > > those charged in other countries, particualrly Australia, NZ, UK > > > Thailand and India. > > > > > > This means that it can often save North American travellers many > > > hundeds of dollars to buy a cheap one way to one of the cheap > > > countries (UK tends to be the most convenient) and buy their RTW > > > there. In this case you will probably left with a "stub" North > > > America-London ticket which need not use. > > > > > > There are a few additional complications. On the positive side > > > buying a RTW ticet in UK is very straightforward, u just sort out > > > the itinerary (perhaps better done in the US unless u have cheap > > > transatlantic phone costs) just call an agency such as trailfinders > > > > > who have RTW specialists and dont charge extra commission for > > credit > > > card sales. IN the UK u can buy most RTW tickets on the day if u > > > want (in practice this is not very practical as it usually takjes > > > some time to finalise your itinerary. In the US they are I believe > > > > > one week advanced purchase tickets so a US airline/agent may tell > > > you that you would have to hang around in London for a week to get > > > your RTW ticket in London - this is wrong. You can buy your RTW > > > ticket in london over the phone from the US if u want then either > > > (i) collect it from their offices when u get to London (ii) have > > > them send it to the aireport for you to collect their (may incur > > > surcharge) (iii) have them send it to a UK friend who then posts it > > > > > to u in the US ( I think they cannot post directly to US for > > > regulatory reasons). > > > > > > The recent weakening of the USD has made this somoewhat less > > > attractive then a year ago, however i beleive there are still > > > considerable savings. The strengthening of the Euro on the other > > > hand, has made buying a RTW in London attractive for many Europeans > > > > > (I think the savings are typically ˆ300-600). > > > > > > On the negative side there is one complication that you should be > > > aware of. that is that u can "in theory" - in practice I imagine it > > > > > may well be OK) only change the dates on Star Alliance RTW tickets > > > once u have made the first intercontinental flight. Thus a > > > potential disadvantage is that you would not have flexibility for > > > flight dates on your European stops. In practice, most airline > > > staff seemn unaware of this rule, so im not sure it would be > > > enforced. > > > > > > Wade > > > London > > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > > > > > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to > > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ __ > Want to chat instantly with your online friends? Get the FREE Yahoo! > Messenger http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/
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