RTW tickets

My husband and I and our 2 kids are just planning to go travel for 8 months. Our kids are 1.5 and 3.5 right now. I'm wonder about people's opinions on around the world tickets vs just buying airline tickets as we go. I realize that it does depend on where and when we plan to travel. It seems that the RTW tickets are expensive but they do provide some flexibility with dates.

We are planning to leave just before my youngest turns 2 so it is possible that he could sit on my lap (though this might be pure hell). Does anyone know if he will need to pay for his own seat once he turns 2 with an RTW ticket? I would be willing to put up with him on my lap if it meant that we could get away with three tickets instead of four.

General opinions on the RTW tickets are welcome.
Audrey

I can only speak for the OneWorld alliance RTW tickets (we have just purchased Global Explorer tickets for our family) but the rules say:

"If an infant reaches two years of age after travel has commenced but before travel is complete, a full child fare ticket must be purchased for the entire journey."

Infants under 2 are charged 10% of the full adult fare, while children from 2-11 pay 75%. So it looks like you'd have to pay the higher rate for your youngest... (Exactly the same rules apply for Star Alliance, I have just found.)

We looked into buying separate tickets versus RTW fares, and it worked out about 4 times more expensive to buy separate tickets - although this may be because we are including South America and Easter Island in our itinerary. We also like the flexibility of being able to change dates for free if necessary (with a RTW ticket).

Anyway, good luck with your planning, and might see you out there next year...

I've also read that you must pay for a seat after the child turns 2 even if he or she was under 2 for the first leg of the trip.

Another thing I've read in a Rough Guide somewhere recently is that in many places, the rules have changed since 9/11 so that you can't enter a country without an onward or return ticket. I suppose each country has its own policies on this, but I would be worried about showing up with my whole family and no onward ticket and then being given a hard time by immigration officials.

As for prices...I've been looking into this a bit lately myself and my impression is that it's significantly cheaper to buy a RTW ticket (or some variation of one, such as an existing pass/circuit sold by one of the alliances) than to try to string your own route together independently. Our plan now is to buy a RTW pass "off the shelf" and then add 1-2 flights to it as needed so we can get where we need to go.

Thanks. That is a really good idea. I get the impression that you have to shop around to get a good deal. I've also read that the price depends on what country you purchase the ticket from and where you start/finish. Many of our local travel agents know very little about rtw flights as they seldomly book them so I think buying online might work best for us. I went to travel cuts (in Edmonton) and they charge $100 just to quote a price! Can anyone recommend a company and/or website? I have sent a message to Airtreks and am waiting to hear back.

Getting an RTW ticket doesn't always work out cheaper - it seems that it does in most cases that involve travel to South America, and especially those want to travel from South America to Australia/NZ (or vice versa).

But equally, trips that focus on North America, Europe & Asia can work out cheaper buying individual tickets, and often do.

If you are travelling from the UK, rtw tickets are usually a really good deal, particularly if you are making lots of stops. A rtw ticket can be only slightly more expensive than a return to Australia. rtw tickets are usually quite a bit more expensive if you are buying them in the US.

Yes, one strategy we've used before (coming from North America) was to fly into the UK and then book a RTW ticket (I highly recommend Trailfinders). It seems that nearly everywhere in the world is reasonable to get to from London! Well, at least compared to departing from most N.A. destinations. I guess the catch is that staying in London while you sort yourself out can really eat into your budget. When we did this last time, we had friends to stay with. Otherwise I'm not sure if would have been worth the trouble. One strategy I'm considering this time is buying a RTW ticket that originates in and returns to London, and then looking for a seat sale on a return flight from home to London to buy separately. Still, timing may be difficult....can't afford to hang around in London for longer than a day or two on our budget!

If you look around on www.whichbudget.com , you can find loads of cheap tickets. I've planned many imaginary rtw trips like this South America and Africa seem to be a problem though, but maybe one or two tickets on a regular airline in addition to the budget airlines are still cheaper than a rtw ticket. If you want to do something like North America - Europe - Middle East - Asia - North America, I'm pretty sure seperate tickets would be cheaper. But maybe less convenient.

Okay, having done all the research I am now ready to chip in some more substantial feedback on this question. I got quotes from several Canadian travel agents/agencies (1 local, one big consolidator, and Flight Centre) as well as U.S.-based Air Brokers. And I was able to beat all of their quotes by at least $3,000 by finding the tickets myself at Orbitz.com. I haven't bought them yet (plan to do that within the next day or two) but am amazed at what's possible out there. I think this is the way to go!