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2157570 ème voyageur depuis Jan 04.
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BA/Quantas
Global Exporer. Which is a similar price and basis to a RTW trip but
is
designed to go Europe-Asia-Australasia-(Africa)-Europe without going
RTW or
through the US. This might be one possibility for your Bulgarian
friend,
though she may have to buy it or start it from London. Theother
alternative
for her would be a RTW fare where she transited in The US. You dont
need a
US visa for this, though they give you hassle and you have to be
escorted
through immigration to the transit lounges etc, but it would break up
the
journet, she could stip over in Mexico, Central or South America or
Canada
if she can get a visa there. However most Oz - AMericaS Flights do
go via
LA. (I think One World may inclusde a Lan Chile flight fro,m OZ
which
aviads the US and goes to Chile )
My second section of the trip was with a Star Alliance RTW which I
bouht in
Bangkok.
I personally find Star Alliance has better coverage than OW, esp if
you want
to cover Asia wherree Singapre and Thai are much more conveneint than
HK
based Cathay Pacific. However there have been a couple of negatives
for
Star Alliance since then firstly Ansett went bust which was bad news
for
anyone contemplating internal flights in Oz. Secondly United is now
in
Chapter 11, so is likely to have to shrink itsnetwork at best and
concevably
might have to close completely - though I suspect that some successor
airline would pick up most of the pieces.
Re buying via an agent rather than airline. In London you will get
the same
prices. In a couple of markets eg Delhi and Bangkok, agents will
give you a
5% discount on the List price offered by the airlines. I prefer
going via
an agent as the bst ones are much better informed than the typical
airline
staff, who in my experience anre most interested in sellings imple
expenisve
business flights, rather than complicated RTW flights, which to be
honest
are a pain in the neck for the airlines and a loss leader. If you
ring
someone like Trailfinders in Lonodn you should be able to speak with
someone
specialist in RTW fares.. If you really have someone which knows
what they
are talking about, you should be able to increase the value of you
ticket
signiciantly by clever routing.If you are based in the US , you might
want
to world out your exact routig with one of the US airlines on their
toll
free line and then finalise the thing by calling an agent in London.
(Thoughwith discount telecom operators transatlantic calls are now
pretty
cheap)
Im not sure either airline grouping will give you a sensible Delhi
Kathmandu
option, you may have to go overland or buy a separate flight with
Royal Air
Nepal.
If you go Star laiinace for example you may wish to add a few more
legs, how
about taking the opportunity to see Fiji?, visit soime friends onthe
west
coast or pop down to central America?
Wade
>
>I'm in the midst of shopping for RTW airfares, and could use some
impartial
>advice. All fares I can get from the US seem to be $4000 plus, so
I'm
>planning on getting a tickets through either Star Alliance or One
World in
>London ($150 one-way with a student ticket from Boston!). Fares
from
>London seem to be in the $2400 to $2900 range.
>My itinerary is:
>London-Paris-Sofia,Bulgaria-Delhi-Kathmandu-Bangkok-Christchurch
(overland
>to Auckland)-Sydney-Boston-London.
>One World seems to be a little less expensive but has some weird
routings.
>For example, they suggested going London-Finland-Sofia or
>Mumbai-Hongkong-Bangkok because that's where their carriers go.
Star
>Alliance seems a little more normal for routes. Does anyone have
any
>thoughts/past experiences with either?
>Also, is there any advantage to booking these fares through a travel
agent
>(it would probably have to be one in London, though one in the US
would be
>preferable) vs. directly from the airlines? I've just been calling
the
>airlines directly as opposed to calling travel agents in London so
far.
>Finally, does anyone have any suggestions for a competitive fare for
my
>friend, who wants to go
>Sofia-Delhi-Kathmandu-Bangkok-Christchurch-Sydney-Sofia, without
actually
>going through the US across two oceans? It appears that the only
way to
>get RTW fares to to go around, but she doesn't actually want to
travel in
>the US, doesn't want to fly Sydney-Sofia the long way nonstop, and
can't
>get a US visa at this point. Just to make things more complicated,
we're
>hoping to coordinate our flights.
>This comparison shopping for tickets is killing me! Thanks for any
help -
>I'm desperate.
>- Emily