RTW-ticket or self buying on a world trip?

Question

We're planning a 2-person, 10-month world trip. We want to visit at least two continents; South-America (Peru, Ecuador) and Asia (Jordan, Israël but also the southeast, say Laos, Vietnam) The exact locations are not clear yet, which could make answering this question a bit harder.

We got two possible options:

• Buy a RTW-ticket for the long -and intercontinental trips, while getting small flights on location;
• No RTW ticket at all, and try to find the cheapest tickets available at that moment, for any flight.

Of course, the second option means more more work, although we have more freedom (no time / place restriction due to the RTW ticket.

Has anyone experience with this particular issue?

Answer 1

We took a trip around the world in 2010, spanning N. America, Asia, Australia/New Zealand and Tahiti.

Anecdotal Experience: For our itinerary, it was impossible to pick an airline covering all our destinations. Even though RTW tickets are sold through alliances (OneWorld, Star, etc.), unfortunately, there is no one alliance that covers it all. Also it was less expensive for us to book tickets individually, across and within continents. For flights within, check if there are low cost carriers. The big caveat, though, is luggage allowance, which may be an issue for you if you are packing for 10 months ;)

Bottom Line: It all DEPENDS on your choice of destinations.

Conversely, if you are travelling in a higher class (Business/First), RTW ticketing offers good pricing.

Answer 2

There's a similar question on this right here.

I did some research a while back, when I was also looking into the possibility of taking a RTW trip, which showed that, unless you're going to seriously out of the way places, you're most likely best off getting your own tickets, in stead of relying on a, typically, rather expensive RTW deal from any of the major airline partners.

So, rs79 is right in saying that it depends on your choice of destination, but if you're willing to put in a little bit of time and effort in finding good deals, you'll save money while getting more flexibility.