Trying to understand RTW from AMS > Australia > North America > AMS
Aug 27, 2023 | 7:58 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2023
Posts: 2
Trying to understand RTW from AMS > Australia > North America > AMS
I'm seeing a potentially interesting RTW tickets in October Starting in Amsterdam via Beijing, Melbourne and San Francisco.
AMS–PEK PEK–MEL MEL–SFO SFO–AMS priced at around €1800!
- I am based out of Berlin (BER) so would obviously like to start closer to home instead of going to AMS. But when I change this the price skyrockets.
- I'm the MEL-SFO leg also goes via Vancouver. I'd rather see vancouver and skip SFO. But changing this also causes the price to skyrocket.
I'm rather new to RTW ticketing rules. But I'm curious, how to manipulate this or where one goes to find out the rules for such a route. The current price seems very specific to this route. What am I missing?
AMS–PEK PEK–MEL MEL–SFO SFO–AMS priced at around €1800!
- I am based out of Berlin (BER) so would obviously like to start closer to home instead of going to AMS. But when I change this the price skyrockets.
- I'm the MEL-SFO leg also goes via Vancouver. I'd rather see vancouver and skip SFO. But changing this also causes the price to skyrocket.
I'm rather new to RTW ticketing rules. But I'm curious, how to manipulate this or where one goes to find out the rules for such a route. The current price seems very specific to this route. What am I missing?
Aug 27, 2023 | 10:11 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: Kerry
Posts: 534
Generally with RTW tickets, you will get a lower price if the alliance you are booking with does not have a carrier based in the market so yes, BER will be more expensive just as LHR would be if you were looking at OW. AMS is often a good place to start unless you are with ST of course. Each stop you choose affects the price, I guess you are looking at MEL-YVR on AC? It's a peak time for travel to Australia from YVR so fares are high. SFO is much less seasonal. Unless you have a really good travel agent, it's often just trial and error to find a good fare, even changing the day can save you money but it's also like looking for a needle in a haystack!
Good luck.
Good luck.
Aug 27, 2023 | 10:21 am
#3
Moderator, OneWorld
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: SEA
Programs: RAA RIP; AA ExEXP
Posts: 11,941
Where are you seeing this advertised?
Alliance-based RTWs (like those issued by Star Alliance or Oneworld airlines) have very different prices depending on where the travel begins and ends (supply and demand factors mainly.) For example, the cheapest Star Alliance RTW with travel beginning and ending in Germany - one that would allow a route like the one you described - has a base price of €2133, on top of which you'd need to add the taxes (airport taxes, departure taxes, etc.) and any operator-imposed fees, so probably totaling upwards of €2400 - €2500 all in. The price starting and ending in Holland is very similar, but if you start and end in Norway the base price is €1888.
By comparison, the cheapest RTW sold by Oneworld airlines (that would allow basically the same route) would have a base price ex-Germany of €2110 but from Norway the base price is €1483. You can fly from Berlin to Oslo for something like €60 one way, so the potential savings are obvious.
One of the main benefits of these products (both the Star and Oneworld ones - Skyteam's RTWs apparently didn't survive Covid) is that you have great flexibility in designing a route, as long as it fits the rules of the specific product. All RTWs require you to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans going in the same direction, but the specific routing rules are somewhat looser. With the Star Alliance tickets, you're limited by a maximum flown mileage (in various tiers, with the price going up as you fly farther.) Oneworld has both a mileage-based RTW ticket and one that is priced according to how many continents you touch in the course of the trip, from 3 to 6. In most cases you're allowed up to 16 flights, and the tickets are good for a year. So these can be very effective ways to see a lot of the world.
You might want to look at both the Star Alliance and Oneworld websites, where these products are explained in more detail. Making the most of an RTW ticket can require you to do a fair amount of homework, but the benefits can make it very worthwhile. The Oneworld board here on FT has a great many threads on the subject, which might serve as a starting point. (Obviously I'm biased, but many of the rules are transferrable.) https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/oneworld-411/
Alliance-based RTWs (like those issued by Star Alliance or Oneworld airlines) have very different prices depending on where the travel begins and ends (supply and demand factors mainly.) For example, the cheapest Star Alliance RTW with travel beginning and ending in Germany - one that would allow a route like the one you described - has a base price of €2133, on top of which you'd need to add the taxes (airport taxes, departure taxes, etc.) and any operator-imposed fees, so probably totaling upwards of €2400 - €2500 all in. The price starting and ending in Holland is very similar, but if you start and end in Norway the base price is €1888.
By comparison, the cheapest RTW sold by Oneworld airlines (that would allow basically the same route) would have a base price ex-Germany of €2110 but from Norway the base price is €1483. You can fly from Berlin to Oslo for something like €60 one way, so the potential savings are obvious.
One of the main benefits of these products (both the Star and Oneworld ones - Skyteam's RTWs apparently didn't survive Covid) is that you have great flexibility in designing a route, as long as it fits the rules of the specific product. All RTWs require you to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans going in the same direction, but the specific routing rules are somewhat looser. With the Star Alliance tickets, you're limited by a maximum flown mileage (in various tiers, with the price going up as you fly farther.) Oneworld has both a mileage-based RTW ticket and one that is priced according to how many continents you touch in the course of the trip, from 3 to 6. In most cases you're allowed up to 16 flights, and the tickets are good for a year. So these can be very effective ways to see a lot of the world.
You might want to look at both the Star Alliance and Oneworld websites, where these products are explained in more detail. Making the most of an RTW ticket can require you to do a fair amount of homework, but the benefits can make it very worthwhile. The Oneworld board here on FT has a great many threads on the subject, which might serve as a starting point. (Obviously I'm biased, but many of the rules are transferrable.) https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/oneworld-411/
Aug 27, 2023 | 10:56 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2023
Posts: 2
I can't post URLs yet since I've not posted enough on here but it was travel-dealz on the .de domain and a path of /deal/economy-round-the-world-ab-amsterdam/#h-beispielverbindungen
Thanks for the hints on the origin impacting the price. Norway and Switzerland are next on my list to check. But I guess the key takeaway from this is that one simply needs to adjust start/end points and then also look at the flight avalibility on a tool like ExpertFlier.
With that in mind, I'll report back on what I find.
Thanks for the hints on the origin impacting the price. Norway and Switzerland are next on my list to check. But I guess the key takeaway from this is that one simply needs to adjust start/end points and then also look at the flight avalibility on a tool like ExpertFlier.
With that in mind, I'll report back on what I find.
Aug 27, 2023 | 12:04 pm
#5
Moderator, OneWorld
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: SEA
Programs: RAA RIP; AA ExEXP
Posts: 11,941
Thanks for the hints on the origin impacting the price. Norway and Switzerland are next on my list to check. But I guess the key takeaway from this is that one simply needs to adjust start/end points and then also look at the flight avalibility on a tool like ExpertFlier.
