At first sight “Round The World Tickets” seem to be much cheaper than a string of “One Way Tickets”. But a closer look shows that Round The World Tickets are only cheap if you stick to a very basic route (i.e. London – Bangkok – Auckland – Rarotonga – Los Angeles – London). Each change, especially adding an extra continent, increases the price dramatically. Moreover, those tickets are extremely inflexible. And flexibility is what you will want most! Plans do change while traveling – believe us! On top of that, our route was organized around specific travel hubs – from there we were able to get “One Way Tickets” at a very reasonable price.
The best hubs are, at the time of writing (This of course can change over time, as well as being influenced by seasonality):
- East Africa – Nairobi & Addis Ababa
- West Africa – Dakar & Yaoundé
- Southern Africa – Johannesburg
- Middle East – Istanbul, Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Qatar
- Asia – New Delhi
- Southeast Asia – Bangkok, Hong Kong & Singapore
- South America – Depending on the season: Bogota, Rio de Janeiro & Buenos Aires
- Crossing the Pacific turned into a quite expensive undertaking in the last years. We were able to do the trip Santiago – Easter Island – French Polynesia – Cook Islands – New Zealand – Hong Kong for 1.960 €. Today, the same route seems be much more pricey!
And yes, a string of one way tickets was a bit more expensive (all in all about 1.000 Euros per person), but has served us much better considering our complex route and the wish to remain absolutely flexible.
On a last note, what worried us when preparing our trip was that most countries officially require proof of onward journey or a return ticket! We even contacted some embassies here in Vienna, but they were very evasive when we asked if this is really enforced. Of course, what else could these officials have said?
Only New Zealand was serious about it, but this we knew for sure…
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