AROUND THE WORLD AIRFARE RESEARCH REPORT

Transcription

1 JUNE 2012 UPDATE AROUND THE WORLD AIRFARE RESEARCH REPORT Definitive Report on the State of RTW Tickets

2 FROM THE PUBLISHER At BootsnAll, we work and live by a set of four core values - embrace change, love learning, make meaningful connections, and work and play with passion. These four values shaped what has become the Indie Travel Manifesto. Our core values and tenets of the Manifesto all point towards the granddaddy of all adventures - the RTW trip. We hope for all world citizens to travel the world in some capacity at some point in their lives. The Around the World Airfare Report is a research project to help travelers overcome one of the barriers to this sort of travel, the air ticket - frequently called a RTW ticket. We made a few changes to this version after taking into account what we learned about round the world flights in our inaugural report that published in March The first thing you ll notice is that we still searched each route leaving from three cities around the world - New York, London, and Sydney. Only in this version we decided to search using only companies based in each country (except for Do It Yourself using Kayak, which we searched leaving from all three cities). The reason for this was to give a more accurate portrayal of how a search would be conducted by a traveler looking to go on a round the world (RTW) trip. We also decided to eliminate searching directly with the alliances (you can read the in depth reasoning behind this decision on page 5 in the executive summary). We will be updating this report in the future, so please visit RoundtheWorldTicket.com to share your own experience under the specific companies and /tweet me with any positive or negative feedback on our process and/or findings. We will continue to push forward on this and I know that we will learn from the feedback. Cheers, Sean E Keener Student, Indie Traveler, and CEO BootsnAll Travel Network One-Stop Indie Travel

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY More and more people are taking extended time off to travel long-term before retirement, whether it s a gap year before or after college, a career break, or pulling the kids out of school for a year for the ultimate field trip. The purpose of this report is to study the options round the world (RTW) travelers have when it comes to their biggest expense - the flights. FINDINGS After the last report came out, several travelers expressed their concern about the accuracy of the prices using the DIY model with Kayak. Because Kayak uses other sites to actually book their tickets, sometimes the price of the initial search differs from the price you receive after you click through to the site where you book the ticket. We made sure that we clicked through on each one-way flight, and we even recorded both prices to see how much of a difference it made (which was miniscule - the average difference between the initial quoted price and the final price was 3.65%). We also want to make it clear that the DIY price using Kayak was obtained during a one-day search, which isn t a good representation of how an actual search would happen in a real travel scenario. Most people who choose to buy oneway tickets as opposed to a RTW ticket do so for flexibility purposes. They want to be able to go where they want when they want and be able to change their itinerary on a whim. Booking all your one-way flights up front would be counterintuitive to that philosophy, so keep that in mind when checking the prices we shopped.

4 LESS COMPLEX ROUTES - 6 flights: The DIY option of buying point to point tickets proved to be cheapest from all three cities we searched - New York, London, and Sydney. Flights can change dramatically over the course of days, weeks, and months, so just because this report shows DIY as the cheapest option, that might not be the case when traveling in real time. EXTREMELY COMPLEX ROUTES - 11 flights + overland: The DIY option was cheapest from both New York and Sydney, though only one other company from Australia was able to provide a price for the full itinerary. From London, both Travel Nation and Round the World Experts were lowest (coming in at $3USD apart). CUSTOMER SERVICE: For both routes departing from the US, AirTreks and the World Traveler s Club responded promptly and provided us with competitive quotes. STA Travel did not provide a price for either route leaving from the US after correspondence and even a phone call with one rep. They ignored our requests for a quote after initial contact. For routes leaving from the UK, Round the World Flights provided excellent service for each route, offering money saving opportunities and responding promptly. STA Travel UK provided good service with the second, more complicated route, but fell flat on the first. After some back and forth, they simply stopped responding and never offered a price. Travel Nation also scored high marks, responding promptly and offering alternatives that would save the customer money. Round the World Experts provided excellent service for route one, but average service for the more complicated route. For routes leaving Australia, Round About Travel s representatives tried hard to help us and were prompt in responses, but ultimately weren t able to fill either of our requests fully. On the first route, STA Travel provided us with a price, albeit three weeks after our initial contact, and the price was more than double the lowest price. For the second route, after some back and forth with an STA Travel rep, they told us that they could not look at flights for the end of our trip because they were more than 10 months out (though we were told the limit is 11 months from other providers). Flight Centre owns Escape Travel (unbeknownst to us at the start of our research), so we sent two separate enquiries in for the less complicated trip and received two separate prices (that varied quite a bit). We had quite a bit of back and forth with Flight Centre for the second trip, but it took nearly a month to receive a final quote, which was significantly higher than the DIY option. DATE FLEXIBILITY: Making changes to a RTW plane ticket is perhaps the most complicated part of the process. Many companies (World Traveler s Club, Travel Nation, Round About Travel, and Round the World Experts) advertise free date changes, but that is only partially true. While it s true that the above companies won t charge a fee themselves for making a date change to your itinerary (depending on the time of that change), customers are still at the mercy of the airlines. If there are no seats left, limited seats, or the flight you are trying to change to is more expensive, you will pay more. Other companies (AirTreks, STA Travel, Flight Centre, and Student Flights) may charge a fee on top of what the airlines charge, but it s dependent on the situation. The most important thing to take away from this is that each situation is different. You may be able to change a date for free, or you may pay hundreds of dollars.

5 RESEARCH METHODS THE ALLIANCES When pricing routes in the first version of the report, we tried searching directly with the three main airline alliances (Star, oneworld, and Sky Team). We found out that when trying to contact one of the member airlines directly, we had little luck in getting estimates, much less competitive ones. We came to the conclusion that there are a few reasons why a traveler would want to use one of the alliances and how to best go about using them: The traveler has existing mileage with one of the member airlines that he or she could use to pay for part/all of the RTW ticket. The traveler wants to build mileage for future trips by going with one airline alliance. If a traveler wants to use one of the alliances, it is faster and more beneficial to contact a travel agent who uses the alliances for their tickets (we contacted travel agents from each region on this version of the report, and if they used the alliances to get us a price, it is noted). The rules and regulations make RTW fares from the alliances restrictive, but if your route is not a complicated one and can fit within those rules, then it might be your best option. We did not shop directly with the alliances in this particular report because both routes visit a few out-of-the-way places. We also learned in the last report that it is almost always easier to speak with a travel agent or expert on RTW fares if you want to use the alliances to book your ticket rather than trying to go through the airlines directly. As you will see, several of the travel agents we contacted used the alliances to find prices for these routes. HOW WE SHOPPED We started our search online for each company/agency we used. We tried to do as much as possible via online trip planners and correspondence. We had to call a few companies to offer more information, and that will be noted in the details below, but we were largely able to compile prices using online methods. Each route provided challenges and offered different results as far as the five criteria we judged on: Price - Lowest and highest Search Options - Ease of shopping/obtaining prices Customer Service - How was the customer service? Date Flexibility - Cost of changing dates Route Flexibility - Variety of options offered (number of carriers, routes, and destinations) WHEN WE SHOPPED We sent in all initial inquiries for both routes on April 19 and April 20. The trip dates for route 1 were July 1, November 1, 2012 (a four month RTW trip). The trip dates for route 2 were August 1, April 1, 2013 (an eight month RTW). We had to change a few dates on route 2 (by about a week) so the final flight was 11 months from the search date. Flights are not available until 11 months prior to departure. DATA COLLECTION METHOD We had two main routes that we searched leaving from 3 different cities around the world - New York, London, and Sydney. This version of the report differs from the last one in that we chose different providers for each city/country, and we excluded the alliances (see The Alliances section above). Some companies did not get back to us with an estimate, and that will be noted both in the pricing breakdown and in more detail in the following sections.

6 Route 1: RTW Highlights Example #1: NEW YORK» REYKJAVIK» MOS- COW» CALCUTTA» BALI» MELBOURNE» NEW YORK Price Breakdown: DIY option using Kayak - $3087 World Traveler s Club - $4221 Air Treks - $4298* STA Travel - No response Example #2: LONDON» MOSCOW» CALCUTTA» BALI» MELBOURNE» SAN FRANCISCO» LONDON Price Breakdown: DIY using Kayak - $3010 Round the World Flights - $3365 Round the World Experts - $3764 Travel Nation - $3707 STA Travel - No response 6-STOP HUB CITIES Example #3: SYDNEY» NEW YORK» REYKJA- VIK» MOSCOW» CALCUTTA» BALI» SYDNEY Price Breakdown: DIY using Kayak - $3785 Student Flights - $4381 Escape Travel/Flight Centre - $4920 Escape Travel/Flight Centre - $5964** STA Travel - $8980 Round About Travel - unable to price because of Iceland As stated, we shopped each route departing from three different cities around the world - New York, London, and Sydney. Here are the pricing results for each (the lowest price for each option is in green; the highest in red). *Included free stopovers in Oslo and Hong Kong and travel insurance. **Before learning that Escape Travel was owned by Flight Centre, we submitted two separate inquiries and received two separate quotes, which is why there are two different prices.

7 Route 1: RTW Highlights RTW HIGHLIGHTS PROVIDER SCORECARD This route was a 6-stop RTW trip that focused on larger cities with big, international airports, though some were a bit out of the way and not on the typical tourist trail (mainly Reykjavik and Moscow).» Jump to United States Scorecard» Jump to United Kingdom Scorecard» Jump to Australia Scorecard SCORECARD: DEPARTING FROM THE US The DIY method using Kayak was the cheapest option leaving from the US, and the other two options were not close in price (though AirTreks provided two free stopovers, making this an 8-leg trip instead of 6-legs). Each option provided easy methods of searching, with AirTreks having the most sophisticated (and easy to use) online trip planner. The World Traveler s Club provides a simple online form to fill out. Both AirTreks and the World Traveler s Club responded with quotes within 24 hours. All providers contacted (except STA Travel) responded promptly with a quote. We submitted a request online to STA Travel on April 19, never heard back, then contacted them by phone on May 3. The customer service rep provided us with an address to send our itinerary to, and she told us she would have a quote to us by the end of the next business day. We never heard back. As far as flexibility goes (in terms of changing dates and/or route), the DIY method is always going to be best, but keep in mind that prices are always changing, and most people who choose DIY don t book all their flights at one time before departure. 6-STOP HUB CITIES Changing dates is always going to be easier with any company than changing the actual route. It can cost extra with both AirTreks and World Traveler s Club, but if you are charged and how much you are charged depends on a wide variety of factors (see Date Change section below for more in depth information). We only had issues obtaining a price for this route from STA Travel, resulting in high marks for route flexibility with all other companies. SEARCH OPTIONS Because this route was pretty short, searching was rather easy for most companies, though we did run into a few problems because of the out-of-the-way location for some cities on this route. AirTreks online trip planner is easy to use and has a nice, interactive map to go along with it, making it easy to search. Once you enter your trip, you must fill out and submit a form with your address and phone number to receive a quote. STA Travel has an online form to fill out, which we did. We never heard back from them, so we called their toll free number (they also have a chat option which we tried to use a few Overall grade weighted by price over all other criteria. Traveled with one of these providers? Share your experience.

8 times, but we always had problems with it). After calling, we sent the itinerary and dates to the customer service rep. The World Traveler s Club has an online form to fill out. It is simple, but effective. They have an office in the Bay area, so if you live nearby, you can stop by the office or call their toll free number. When using Kayak for one-way flights, we searched all flights at one time. Because Kayak uses airlines and flight consolidators to book their flights, we clicked through until we had a confirmed price. Keep in mind that if you do decide to buy one-way tickets as you go, you most likely won t be booking them all at once up front in the same manner we searched. Flights change constantly, so that same ticket could be more expensive (or possibly even cheaper). CUSTOMER SERVICE With AirTreks, we received a firm quote back the same day we submitted our trip details. We never heard a response from STA Travel after submitting our initial request, then we called and got an address from a customer service rep and were told that we d receive a quote back with a day. We never heard back. We received a quote back on the same day from the World Traveler s Club. DATE FLEXIBILITY According to an AirTreks rep, AirTreks allows date changes. Fees are applied according to the airlines rules for each individual ticket, plus any additional fare increase and tax. Some airlines do not charge a fee to make changes, others do. For AirTreks, exact fees are advised when tickets are purchased an additional $100 reissue fee is applied if AirTreks is involved in making a change after tickets are issued. Some tickets can be changed directly with the airlines, thereby avoiding this additional fee. Many of STA Travel s Student Exclusive tickets offer special date change and refund rules just for students and youth. Ticket changes start at just $50, but you may be charged a fare difference if there is one. Each customer will have their own travel expert to work with, and the travel expert can help with any changes you may need to make after booking your ticket. With World Traveler s Club, their website states, Changes to your tickets are best made prior to their being issued - that is when they are easiest and least expensive to modify. All changes are completely free of charge prior to your trip being confirmed. Once it is confirmed and prior to tickets being issued, changes can be made for a nominal fee of $50; please note that your fare may also go up or down depending on the change (i.e. new flight dates, routing etc.). Once tickets have been issued, any change in the flight routing would result in a penalty. The old ticket has to be refunded and exchanged with a new ticket for the revised routing; there is usually a significant cost for doing this. Changes in flight dates (without changing the routing) are much easier and often free of charge, except the first flight (from your departure city to your first international destination) which can be changed only by paying a penalty. After the first flight, changes to flight dates are either free of charge or incur a fee, depending upon the type of ticket, fare paid etc. An around-the-world or circle-pacific trip usually consists of multiple tickets, and each ticket may have different rules for flight changes. If in doubt, please ask your travel consultant who will be happy to clarify the rules associated with each ticket on your itinerary.

9 ROUTE FLEXIBILITY Both AirTreks and the World Traveler s Club were able to easily accommodate our itinerary. STA Travel never responded with a price after several tries. SCORECARD: DEPARTING FROM THE UK The DIY method was cheapest leaving from the UK, but the price discrepancy was not as large as from the US. All companies were competitive. Searching was relatively easy with each company as we sent inquiries through online methods, using online forms and ing with customer service reps. Response time was favorable with each company, with Round the World Flights getting back to us quickest. When we sent an enquiry into STA Travel UK, we received an back asking us a few questions, then we never heard back again after our reply. As far as flexibility goes (in terms of changing dates and/or route), the DIY method is always going to be best, but keep in mind that prices are always changing, and most people who choose DIY don t book all their flights at one time before departure. Changing dates is always going to be easier with any company than changing the actual route. It can cost extra with Round the World Flights, but if you are charged and how much you are charged depends on a wide variety of factors. With Travel Nation and Round the World Experts, they don t charge customers for date changes themselves, but you are still subject to airline fees if they apply (for more in depth information, read the Date Flexibility section below). We only had issues obtaining a price for this route with STA Travel UK, resulting in high marks for route flexibility with all other companies. SEARCH OPTIONS We initially tried using Round the World Flights online trip planner, but Moscow was not available, so we sent an to one of their customer service reps. They also have a phone number. After using their online enquiry form to send in the request to STA Travel UK, we received a response asking to clarify a few things. We answered those questions via . They also have chat and phone options for searching. We used the online quote form with Travel Nation. It is a simple form to fill out manually with dates and destinations. They also have a phone number to call. For Round the World Experts, we used their online trip planner to obtain a quote. It was a simple, no frills form to fill out manually. They also have a phone number to call from both England and Ireland. When using Kayak for one-way flights, we searched all flights at one time. Because Kayak uses airlines and flight consolidators to book their flights, we clicked through until we had a confirmed price. Keep in mind that if you do decide to buy one-way tickets as you go, you most likely won t be booking them all at once up front in the same manner we searched. Overall grade weighted by price over all other criteria. Traveled with one of these providers? Share your experience.

10 Flights change constantly, so that same ticket could be more expensive or cheaper - you never know. CUSTOMER SERVICE We received a response within a day with a quote from Round the World Flights. STA Travel UK responded immediately via with some questions, which we answered, then we never heard back from them with a price. After our initial contact with Travel Nation, we received a price back three days later. With Round the World Experts, we received an estimate back within hours and a firm price a day later. Each traveler booking with Round the World Experts gets a personal Travel Butler to assist them with booking, changes, and anything else they might need. DATE FLEXIBILITY If using Round the World Flights, you may be able to change your dates for free, but it depends on who you end up booking with (they act more like a travel agent, so you may end up with an alliance ticket - if so, you would abide by all their terms and conditions, one of which is free date changes). Many of STA Travel s Student Exclusive tickets offer special date change and refund rules just for students and youth. Ticket changes start at just $50, but you may be charged a fare difference if there is one. Each customer will have their own travel expert to work with, who can help with any changes you may need to make after booking your ticket. According to their website, Travel Nation provides a free date change service once you re travelling (subject to seat availability in the same booking class). The only fees payable by you will be those passed on from the airline or other third parties if they apply... The new route you choose has to fit in with the conditions of your original ticket and charges do apply. If your ticket is re-routable, we will advise and also indicate the likely costs on your Travel Nation booking form. The exact cost will vary depending on what your new plan is and is calculated on a case by case basis. From a Round the World Experts rep, The ticket I put together for you the airlines don t charge any fees for date changes. We also have a Travel Butler service when booking with us, meaning you don t pay any admin fees for date changes. This means as long as there is availability you can change the dates on your tickets as many times as you like for free through our Travel Butler, so it is a very flexible ticket. Changing locations is different and airlines are a lot more restrictive with this. If you want to change locations you would pay a reroute fee, which the airline charge us, this is normally 250 per person to change and you would pay any difference in taxes too. ROUTE FLEXIBILITY Round the World Flights, Travel Nation, and Round the World Experts were all able to easily accommodate our itinerary. STA Travel never responded with a price after several tries. SCORECARD: DEPARTING FROM AUSTRALIA DIY using Kayak was the cheapest option leaving from Sydney, and they were considerably cheaper than the other three options. The initial search was relatively easy on all sites, except for Round About Travel, where we couldn t get a price for this route. Response time was generally slower from all companies in Australia, but that was partly because the initial requests were sent in before Anzac Day.

11 STA Travel Australia replied within a day of sending the inquiry and asked a few more questions. We responded with answers then followed up a couple weeks later, and they finally replied to our request, about 3 weeks after the initial contact. We had correspondence with Round About Travel and their responses were prompt, but they couldn t get us a price on the route because of Iceland (they use the alliances for booking, and the prices were not competitive when adding in an out of the way place like Iceland, largely because it exceeded mileage limits). Unbeknownst to us, Escape Travel is owned by Flight Centre, and after sending in inquiries to both, we received two different quotes back, one much higher than the other. For purposes of this report, we are using the lower price, but it s worth mentioning that you may want to check both even though they are technically the same company. Flight Centre took six days to get back to us with a firm price. Student Flights took eight days to respond with a final price. As far as flexibility goes (in terms of changing dates and/or route), the DIY method is always going to be best, but keep in mind that prices are always changing, and most people who choose DIY don t book all their flights at one time before departure. Changing dates is always going to be easier with any company than changing the actual route. Round About Travel acts as a travel agent, so changes will vary depending on which alliance they use to book your ticket. STA Travel s rules on changing once locked in are vague. Ticket changes start at $50, but fees and price changes can be added by the airlines. Student Flights and Flight Centre have change fees starting at $38.50AUD, plus you are subject to additional charges from the airlines. We only had an issue with Round About Travel on our route, otherwise each company scored high on route flexibility. SEARCH OPTIONS When searching with Round About Travel, we used their online form to submit a request. There is also a phone number to call from Australia. We initially tried using STA Travel Australia s online trip planner, but we received an error message, so we went to the inquiries page and entered the trip details. There is a phone number available for customers to call as well, and they also have offices around Australia. We searched Student Flights by using their online form, which was easy to use for this shorter trip and was a basic form where you had to manually fill in destinations and dates. There is also a phone number to call if preferred. We used Flight Centre s online trip form, which is a simple form where you fill out destinations and dates. There is also a number to call if you prefer the phone over correspondence. They also have offices around Australia. When using Kayak for one-way flights, we searched all flights at one time. Because Kayak uses airlines and flight consolidators to book their flights, we clicked through until we had a confirmed price. Keep in mind that if you do decide to buy one-way tickets as you go, you most likely won t be booking them all at once up front in the same manner we searched. Overall grade weighted by price over all other criteria. Traveled with one of these providers? Share your experience.

12 Flights change constantly, so that same ticket could be more expensive or cheaper - you never know. CUSTOMER SERVICE We heard back immediately from Round About Travel, but after some back and forth with a rep via , we were told they were not able to accommodate our itinerary because of Iceland, therefore we did not obtain a price. The service was good, and they went out of their way to assist us, but in the end they weren t able to get a price for us. After some back and forth s with STA Travel, we finally received a quote after 3 weeks, though it was nowhere near competitive with the other companies. The customer service reps at Student Flights asked for more details after the initial request, which we provided them with immediately. While nice and helpful, it did take them eight days to get back with us with a firm quote. It seemed a bit unorganized as well as we had two different reps helping us at various times. When using Flight Centre, we had correspondence with two separate customer service reps because we contacted both Flight Centre and Escape Travel (who is owned by Flight Centre). We ultimately received two quotes back, one six days later and the other nine days later. It was a bit confusing, but the mix-up was on our end, so we are not going to penalize Flight Centre for that. DATE FLEXIBILITY When using Round About Travel, changes are typically free. They partner with the alliances to offer many of the RTW fares, so the rules will be based on which alliance customers ultimately book with. Many of STA Travel s Student Exclusive tickets offer special date change and refund rules just for students and youth. Ticket changes start at just $50, but you may be charged a fare difference if there is one. Each customer will have their own travel expert to work with, who can help with any changes you may need to make after booking your ticket. According to the websites, both Student Flights and Flight Centre both charge $38.50AUD to change the date of an already booked flight. You may be charged a fare difference from the airlines as well. If you have to change a flight using their after hours emergency assistance tool, then you may incur another fee. ROUTE FLEXIBILITY Student Flights Australia and Flight Centre were able to accommodate our route easily. STA Travel was able to get us a price, but they seemed to have issues with this particular route, A lot of your destinations are not options that can be used in around the world fares. There are a lot of flights in this itinerary although they are required to get between each destination. Round About Travel tried to make our route work, but they were unable to accommodate this particular route. From a rep at Round About Travel, Unfortunately we wouldn t be able to come up with anything competitive containing Iceland. If it s a must you ll be better putting together a series of one way tickets which is something we don t book.

13 The Best and the Worst of RTW Highlights Tickets PRICES LOWEST PRICES BY DEPARTURE CITY: New York - The DIY (do it yourself) option was the lowest price available, and it was 37% lower than World Traveler s Club and 39% lower than AirTreks (though AirTreks added in two free stopovers). London - The DIY (do it yourself) option was the lowest price available, and it was 12% lower than Round the World Flights, 23% lower than Travel Nation, and 25% lower than Round the World Experts. Sydney - The DIY (do it yourself) option was the lowest price available, and it was 16% lower than Student Flights, 30% lower than Flight Centre, and 137% lower than STA Travel. Note: For the Sydney departure, we also sent in an inquiry using Escape Travel. With all the submissions we made, there was a bit of confusion as we ended up with two completely different quotes from Flight Centre. It turned out that Escape Travel is owned by Flight Centre, and sometimes s come back from Flight Centre, not Escape, which was confusing. It was even more confusing when the prices varied (by about $1000USD). We used the lower price for purposes of this report, but since they varied drastically, customers may want to search with both Escape and Flight Centre.

14 Route 2: Do-It-All RTW 11-STOP + OVERLAND Example #1: NEW YORK» GUATEMALA CITY» LA PAZ» overland» BUENOS AIRES» USHUAIA» AUCKLAND» overland» CHRISTCHURCH» SYDNEY» CAIRNS» SIBU (MALAYSIA)» SHANGHAI» overland» BEIJING» ULAN BATOR» ISTANBUL» NEW YORK Price Breakdown: DIY option using Kayak - $6789 Air Treks - $7683 World Traveler s Club - $7961 STA Travel - no quote received Example #2: LONDON» ISTANBUL» ULAN BATOR» BEIJING» overland» SHANGHAI» SIBU» CAIRNS» SYDNEY» CHRISTCHURCH» overland» AUCKLAND» USHUAIA» BUENOS AIRES» overland» LA PAZ» NEW YORK» LONDON Price Breakdown: Round the World Experts - $6467 Travel Nation - $6470 DIY using Kayak - $6758 Round the World Flights - $6763 STA Travel - $6956 Example #3: SYDNEY» CHRISTCHURCH» overland» AUCKLAND» LA PAZ» overland» BUENOS AIRES» USHUAIA» GUATEMALA CITY» NEW YORK» ISTANBUL» ULAN BATOR» BEIJING» overland» SHANGHAI» SIBU» CAIRNS» SYDNEY Price Breakdown: Round About Travel - $6310* DIY using Kayak - $6619 Escape Travel/Flight Centre - $10,134 STA Travel - no quote received Student Flights - no quote received As stated, we shopped each route departing from three different cities around the world - New York, London, and Sydney. Here are the pricing results for each (the lowest price for each option is in green; the highest in red). *Not full itinerary - see notes.

15 Route 2: Do-It-All RTW DO-IT-ALL RTW PROVIDER SCORECARD This route was a 14-segment RTW trip which included 11 flights and 3 overland segments. Several of the destinations were out of the way locales that aren t typically on the normal tourist trail (like Ushuaia, Argentina, Ulan Bator, Mongolia, and Sibu, Malaysia), making it challenging for many of the companies.» Jump to United States Scorecard» Jump to United Kingdom Scorecard» Jump to Australia Scorecard SCORECARD: DEPARTING FROM THE US The DIY method using Kayak was the cheapest option leaving from the US, and the other two options were nearly $1000 more. Each option provided easy methods of searching, with AirTreks having the most sophisticated (and easy to use) online trip planner. The World Traveler s Club provides a simple online form to fill out. AirTreks replied with a quote six days after initial contact, and the World Traveler s Club responded with a quote within 24 hours, though two of the stops were not initially included. The mix-up was fixed within a day. SEARCH OPTIONS AirTreks online trip planner is easy to use and has a nice, interactive map to go along with it, making it easy to search. Once you enter your trip, you must fill out and submit a form with your address and phone number to receive a quote. STA Travel has an online form to fill out, which we did. We then corresponded via . After not hearing from them for nearly two weeks, we tried the chat function but couldn t get 11-STOP + OVERLAND through to anyone. The World Traveler s Club has an online form to fill out. It is simple, but effective. They have an office in the Bay area, so if you live nearby, you can stop, or you can call their toll free number. When using Kayak for one-way flights, we searched all flights at one time. Because Kayak uses airlines and flight consolidators to book their flights, we clicked through until we had a confirmed price. Keep in mind that if you do decide to buy one-way tickets as you go, you most likely won t be booking them all at once up front in the same manner we searched. Flights change constantly, so that same ticket could be more expensive or cheaper - you never know. CUSTOMER SERVICE As far as flexibility goes (in terms of changing dates and/or route), the DIY method is always going to be best, but keep in mind that prices are always changing, and most people who choose DIY don t book all their flights at one time before departure. Changing dates is always going to be easier with any company than changing the actual route. It can cost extra with both AirTreks and World Traveler s Club, but if you are charged and how much you are charged depends on a wide variety of factors (see Date Flexibility section). Overall grade weighted by price over all other criteria. Traveled with one of these providers? Share your experience.

16 With AirTreks, after our initial request, a rep contacted us a day later asking several questions about our trip so they could better assist us. We received a firm quote back six days after we submitted our trip details. With STA Travel, we received an back six days after our initial online request asking for the exact dates and itinerary (even though we sent that in initially). After responding the next day, we sent another nearly two weeks later asking if they could get us a quote. Here was the response: I did receive this, and do have it on my list. We are in our peak season right now, and this will actually take me quite some time to put together (probably the better part of an entire day). I will try to get to this within the next day or two. We never heard back from their rep. We received a quote back on the same day from the World Traveler s Club, but we noticed that the itinerary didn t include the two stops in China - Beijing and Shanghai. We ed back asking the reason, and we received a response within a day. The rep claimed that those stops were in the initial quote (though they missing from the itinerary she sent). She re-sent with an updated (and higher) price. DATE FLEXIBILITY According to an AirTreks rep, AirTreks allows date changes. Fees are applied according to the airlines rules for each individual ticket, plus any additional fare increase and tax. Some airlines do not charge a fee to make changes, others do. For AirTreks, exact fees are advised when tickets are purchased an additional $100 reissue fee is applied if AirTreks is involved in making a change after tickets are issued. Some tickets can be changed directly with the airlines, thereby avoiding this additional fee. Many of STA Travel s Student Exclusive tickets offer special date change and refund rules just for students and youth. Ticket changes start at just $50, but you may be charged a fare difference if there is one. Each customer will have their own travel expert to work with, who can help with any changes you may need to make after booking your ticket. With World Traveler s Club, their website states, Changes to your tickets are best made prior to their being issued - that is when they are easiest and least expensive to modify. All changes are completely free of charge prior to your trip being confirmed. Once it is confirmed and prior to tickets being issued, changes can be made for a nominal fee of $50; please note that your fare may also go up or down depending on the change (i.e. new flight dates, routing etc.). Once tickets have been issued, any change in the flight routing would result in a penalty. The old ticket has to be refunded and exchanged with a new ticket for the revised routing; there is usually a significant cost for doing this. Changes in flight dates (without changing the routing) are much easier and often free of charge, except the first flight (from your departure city to your first international destination) which can be changed only by paying a penalty. After the first flight, changes to flight dates are either free of charge or incur a fee, depending upon the type of ticket, fare paid, etc. An around-the-world or circle-pacific trip usually consists of multiple tickets, and each ticket may have different rules for flight changes. If in doubt, please ask your travel consultant who will be happy to clarify the rules associated with each ticket on your itinerary. ROUTE FLEXIBILITY AirTreks was able to easily accommodate our itinerary. World Traveler s Club sent us a quote back immediately, but they left off the cities in China with no explanation. We were able

17 to get in touch with them and the rep sent out a new price including the stops in China. STA Travel never responded with a price even after being in contact with them for a few weeks. SCORECARD: DEPARTING FROM THE UK Both Round the World Experts and Travel Nation had the lowest prices for this route, coming in only $3USD apart. The three other companies we searched were all competitive with their prices. Searching was relatively easy with each company as we sent enquiries through online methods, using online forms and ing with customer service reps. Response time was favorable with each company for a route of this size and the out-of-the-way locations. It took Round the World Flights and Travel Nation five days to respond with a quote, STA Travel seven days, and Round the World Experts twelve days. As far as flexibility goes (in terms of changing dates and/or route), the DIY method is always going to be best, but keep in mind that prices are always changing, and most people who choose DIY don t book all their flights at one time before departure. Changing dates is always going to be easier with any company than changing the actual route. It can cost extra with Round the World Flights, but if you are charged and how much you are charged depends on a wide variety of factors. With Travel Nation and Round the World Experts, they don t charge customers for date changes themselves, but you are still subject to airline fees if they apply (for more in depth information, read the Date Flexibility section below). We had very few issues finding prices for this route with any of the companies we searched, so each company scored relatively high on route flexibility. STA Travel was able to accommodate all cities we wanted to visit on this trip, but they had to alter the order and add it a few extra flights to make it work. Though Travel Nation was able to ultimately accommodate our itinerary, the dates had to be changed around a bit, and if we wanted to use them, we would have had to book almost immediately to lock in the flights we wanted. SEARCH OPTIONS We sent an to one of Round the World Flight s customer service reps asking for a quote. There is also a phone number to call. After using their enquiries form to send in the request to STA Travel UK, we received a response asking to clarify a few things. We answered those questions via . STA Travel UK also has chat and phone options for searching. We used the online quote form with Travel Nation. It is a simple form to fill out manually with dates and destinations. They also have a phone number to call. For Round the World Experts, we used their online trip planner to obtain a quote. It was a simple, no frills form to fill out manually. They also have a phone number to call from both England and Ireland. They asked us to call to discuss, but since we were in the US, we asked to communicate via , Overall grade weighted by price over all other criteria. Traveled with one of these providers? Share your experience.

18 which they did with no problem. When using Kayak for one-way flights, we searched all flights at one time. Because Kayak uses airlines and flight consolidators to book their flights, we clicked through until we had a confirmed price. Keep in mind that if you do decide to buy one-way tickets as you go, you most likely won t be booking them all at once up front in the same manner we searched. Flights change constantly, so that same ticket could be more expensive or cheaper - you never know. CUSTOMER SERVICE We received a response within five days with a quote from Round the World Flights. The rep was extremely helpful and offered a few methods for obtaining a cheaper ticket. STA Travel UK responded immediately via asking a few questions. They replied again five days later with a quote. They had to change the route around a bit, but they ultimately were able to hit all our desired destinations. After our initial contact with Travel Nation, we received a price back five days later. They were helpful and offered several alternate options to make the trip cheaper. They also offered to help with any tours that we may want to take, particularly in Antarctica since we were flying into Ushuaia. With Round the World Experts, we received a response back two days later asking for more information. We had to wait about eight more days (and two s) for a price, and the rep also asked me to forward any other companies quotes so he could try to match them. We did that, and the rep replied back a week later with more of an estimate than an actual firm quote, Apologies, we ve had a bank holiday weekend here. It looks like this is going to cost close to 4000 than DATE FLEXIBILITY If using Round the World Flights, you may be able to change your dates for free, but it depends on who you end up booking with (they act more like a travel agent, so you may end up with an alliance ticket - if so, you would abide by all their terms and conditions, one of which is free date changes). Many of STA Travel s Student Exclusive tickets offer special date change and refund rules just for students and youth. Ticket changes start at just $50, but you may be charged a fare difference if there is one. Each customer will have their own travel expert to work with, who can help with any changes you may need to make after booking your ticket. According to their website, Travel Nation provides a free date change service once you re travelling (subject to seat availability in the same booking class). The only fees payable by you will be those passed on from the airline or other third parties if they apply... The new route you choose has to fit in with the conditions of your original ticket and charges do apply. If your ticket is re-routable, we will advise and also indicate the likely costs on your Travel Nation booking form. The exact cost will vary depending on what your new plan is and is calculated on a case by case basis. With Round the World Experts, changes are going to depend on what kind of ticket you get. Some use the alliances, so changes could be free depending on that alliance s rules. But they don t restrict travelers to the alliances, and according to their website, you can also tear up the round the world flights rule book. Forget having to travel one direction, with so many stops over so many miles. You simply tell us what you want and we ll pull it together for you. We were never able to get a firm answer for change fees regarding this particular route, so that is the reason for this grade.

19 ROUTE FLEXIBILITY Round the World Flights, STA Travel, Travel Nation, and Round the World Experts were all able to accommodate our itinerary. STA Travel had to re-do our itinerary just a bit, and Round the World Flights offered an alternative to make it cheaper, but it would involve a round trip flight to Istanbul to start the trip, then a flight from London to Ulan Bator. Either option was available though. SCORECARD: DEPARTING FROM AUSTRALIA We had issues with nearly every company when searching this trip leaving from Sydney. We contacted four different companies who sell RTW plane tickets (the same four from route 1), and only one was able to accommodate the full itinerary. Flight Centre was able to get us a price nearly a month after initial contact, but it was about $4000 more expensive than the DIY method. Round About Travel sent us a final quote, though the quote did not include 3 of the stops on the itinerary. Despite having to take off 3 stops, the DIY price was still only $300 more. We did not receive pricing from the other two companies. The response time was good with Round About Travel, as they were prompt in communicating with us and explaining why they weren t able to accommodate our entire trip. STA Travel was prompt initially, but once the route proved too complicated, they stopped replying to s. The rep at Student Flights was great initially, and he even told us he had a quote worked out but sent it the wrong address. After a bit of back and forth, he claimed he was going to send a full quote, but we never heard back. We were in contact with two separate reps from Flight Centre/Escape Travel (Escape is owned by Flight Centre, unbeknownst to us at the start of this project). They were finally able to get a price nearly a month after initial contact. As far as flexibility goes (in terms of changing dates and/or route), the DIY method is always going to be best, but keep in mind that prices are always changing, and most people who choose DIY don t book all their flights at one time before departure. Changing dates is always going to be easier with any company than changing the actual route. Round About Travel acts as a travel agent, so changes will vary depending on which alliance they use to book your ticket. No other companies sent us quotes, so changes are a moot point. Route flexibility was an issue with nearly every company we searched leaving from Sydney. Only Flight Centre was able to send us a price on our full itinerary, and Round About Travel sent us a price, but they had to omit Ushuaia, Ulan Bator, and swap out Hong Kong for Shanghai. STA Travel had issues adding in Ulan Bator as well, and they also informed us that they were having issues because the last flight on proposed trip was more than 10 months out, which they could not obtain pricing on (though we have heard 11 months from every other company). Student Flights was also having trouble with Ulan Bator and getting from New Zealand to South America. SEARCH OPTIONS When searching with Round About Travel, we used their online form to submit a request. We communicated via Overall grade weighted by price over all other criteria. Traveled with one of these providers? Share your experience.

20 with their customer service reps. There is also a phone number to call from Australia. We used STA Travel Australia s enquiries page and communicated via with a customer service rep. There is a phone number available for customers to call as well, and they also have offices around Australia. We searched Student Flights by sending them an . There is also a phone number to call if preferred. We used Flight Centre s online trip form, which is a simple form where you fill out destinations and dates. There is also a number to call if you prefer the phone over correspondence. They also have offices around Australia. When using Kayak for one-way flights, we searched all flights at one time. Because Kayak uses airlines and flight consolidators to book their flights, we clicked through until we had a confirmed price. Keep in mind that if you do decide to buy one-way tickets as you go, you most likely won t be booking them all at once up front in the same manner we searched. Flights change constantly, so that same ticket could be more expensive or cheaper - you never know. CUSTOMER SERVICE We heard back immediately from Round About Travel, but after some back and forth with a rep via , we were told they were not able to fully accommodate our itinerary because they use the alliances, and this particular trip went above the specified sectors. The service was good, and they went out of their way to assist us with a comparable itinerary, but they ultimately couldn t accommodate the full itinerary. We had some back and forth s with STA Travel regarding the complexity of this route. The rep gave us a rough estimate but put a full itinerary together for us because schedules are usually released 10 months in advanced. After informing the rep that I had received full itineraries from other companies, we never heard back. The customer service reps at Student Flights asked for more details after the initial request, which we provided them with immediately. We didn t hear back for a week, then a rep sent an saying that he sent the quote to the wrong address. He got back in touch two days later saying that he almost had our itinerary worked out, but had a few more questions. We answered them but never received a quote back. When using Flight Centre, we had correspondence with two separate customer service reps because we contacted both Flight Centre and Escape Travel (who is owned by Flight Centre). We worked with two different reps, and after nearly a month, we received a quote back from one. Even though it was a bit confusing, the mix-up was on our end, so we are not going to penalize Flight Centre for that. We were told that our itinerary was extremely complicated and she was having trouble finding anything under $10,000. One of the reps did keep me updated throughout the process and ultimately did send a final price to us. DATE FLEXIBILITY When using Round About Travel, changes are typically free. They partner with the alliances to offer many of the RTW fares, so the rules will be based on which alliance customers ultimately book with. Many of STA Travel s Student Exclusive tickets offer special date change and refund rules just for students and youth. Ticket changes start at just $50, but you may be charged a fare difference if there is one. Each customer will have their own travel expert to work with, who can help with any changes you may need to make after booking your ticket.

21 According to the websites, both Student Flights and Flight Centre both charge $38.50AUD to change the date of an already booked flight. You may be charged a fare difference from the airlines as well. If you have to change a flight using their after hours emergency assistance tool, then you may incur another fee. ROUTE FLEXIBILITY Only Flight Centre was able to accommodate our full itinerary for this route leaving Sydney. Round About Travel tried but ultimately had to leave off three of the stops in order to get us a price. STA Travel and Student Flights both stopped replying to s after the route proved too complicated, and thus never sent a price to us. The Best and the Worst of the Do-It-All 11-stop + overland RTW Ticket PRICES LOWEST PRICES BY DEPARTURE CITY: New York - The DIY (do it yourself) option was the lowest price available, and it was 13% lower than AirTreks and 17% lower than World Traveler s Club. London - Round the World Experts and Travel Nation had the lowest price available; 4.4% lower than DIY using Kayak, 4.5% lower than Round the World Flights, and 7.5% lower than STA Travel. Sydney - Round About Travel quoted a price of $6310, but they had to eliminate three of the stops in order to give us a price. DIY using Kayak was only $6619 for the full itinerary. Flight Centre offered a price that was 53% higher than the DIY model using Kayak. Note: For the Sydney departure, we also sent an enquiry in using Escape Travel. With all the submissions we made, there was a bit of confusion as we ended up with two completely different quotes from Flight Centre. It turned out that Escape Travel is owned by Flight Centre, and sometimes s come back from Flight Centre, not Escape, which was confusing.

22 THANKS This report was researched and produced by the BootsnAll Travel Network. BootsnAll has been serving Indie Travelers since Over 3 million unique visitors come to the BootsnAll Travel Network Properties per month to be inspired, dream and figure out How To via our Around the World Travel Guide. For more information please contact BootsnAll at or sean@bootsnall.com