A Round-the-World Ticket for Travel to Australia and France

Imagine if you had a 2.5-month period next summer to travel to Australia and then France. That's the enviable situation reader Rhondda Patton is in. And she gets to take her two kids! I'm a jealous wreck. Here's her query:

Hi Wendy. You always have such great information, so I am hoping you can help me now. I need to visit my mom in Sydney and also my sister in Provence in summer of 2010. I work in education so have from June 8 thru August 25 to travel. I realize it is winter in Australia, but it is her birthday so have to make the trip. We depart out of Cleveland, Ohio, and would like to go to Sydney first, then back to France before returning home to the USA. Is there any way we can get a deal through one airline, so as to collect frequent-flier miles as well as save money? Would it be a good idea to look for a "round-the-world ticket"? Any suggestions for our family of 4 would be appreciated. Kids are ages 11 and 14.

I think you're on target with your round-the-world-ticket idea, especially since it would allow for cool stopovers between Australia and France! If I were you, I'd research the round-the-world fares on offer from the Star Alliance as well as Skyteam international airline partnerships and see which provides the best routing for the best price for your travel dates. I'd also love to hear from any airfare wonks reading this. Would you advise Rhondda differently? Please let me know via "Comments" below.

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Comments

One possible option is Air Trek. I booked a round the world trip with them last year with quite a few stops, and it cost me less than US$3000 (all economy flights). My itinerary was: Montreal-Bangkok-Singapore-Jakarta-Munich-Prague-Montreal
One caveat, you have to go on one direction only.
Hope this helps.

Posted by: delacour | November 06, 2009 at 10:44 PM

I've done two complete loops of the globe and discovered that the airlines have "Around the World" desks with very knowledgeable agents. I used Northwest one time and American for another. They were able to put together an itinerary involving a number of airlines (in their alliance) and it turned out to be a remarkable deal. The last one was Chicago, LA, Auckland, Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Cape Town, Madrid, Chicago. Have a great time.

Posted by: NeilJaeh | November 09, 2009 at 01:47 PM

It sounds like you're being torn to travel in 2 opposite directions, with little that you want to see inbetween. So if you're willing to give up saying you went around the world, what would you think about flying to Australia and also flying your sister in for your mother's birthday? That would be quite a present for your Mom. The price may even be less because you and your two kids would only have a round trip to Australia. You could save a trip to France for another summer.

Blunderbus

Posted by: Blunderbus | November 10, 2009 at 01:59 AM

It seems like you're going a long way for two primary stops: Australia and France. What would you think of only going to Australia with your kids and flying your sister in from France? Now that would be a present for your Mom! It may even be cheaper than an around the world trip for 3 (although I admit it doesn't quite have the same cache'). Perhaps you can plan a trip to France for the following summer.

Posted by: Blunderbus | November 10, 2009 at 02:04 AM