How to Save Up to 42% on Round-the-World Business Class Fares

June 2011
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The deals are not as abundant as they were when we surveyed this subject 2½ years ago. But the discrepancies are so great—on one airline Round-the-World (RTW) Business Class fares have increased 32%, while on another carrier they haven’t changed at all—so we decided it was high time for another look. The upshot: You can still travel around the world for less than the cost of a Business Class ticket from the U.S. to Singapore, if you know which carrier to book.

Key Concepts

The lowest RTW Business Class fares are from the U.S. That’s completely counterintuitive, given this for decades has not been the case.

The best RTW deal is on Singapore Airlines at $5,300 (plus taxes and fees), which is about $1,800 less than the carrier’s New York-Singapore Business Class ticket. The major restrictions: You are limited to five stops and must travel on Singapore Airlines. (Most RTW tickets allow you to combine carriers.) Singapore Airlines offers other routes from the U.S., among them Houston-Moscow and New York-Frankfurt. Getting to cities not serviced by Singapore requires a separate ticket.

Best Price by Alliance

SkyTeam at $8,880—unchanged since early 2009. Oneworld charges $10,199 and Star Alliance $11,849.

For Advanced Players

If you need an RTW that is more flexible than the Singapore deal, but balk at the $9,000 to $12,000 it will cost from the U.S, booking a ticket that starts overseas can save up to $4,252.

[aside headline="Premium Economy RTW" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Star Alliance carriers Air New Zealand and Scandinavian Airlines, and oneworld carriers British Airways, Japan Airlines, and Qantas offer a cash upgrade to Premium Economy on RTW economy fares. For example, an upgrade from LAX to Auckland is $350 one-way.[/aside]

The best RTW overseas fare originates from Seoul, on SkyTeam airline Alitalia, and starts at $5,257. (Other SkyTeam members offer the ticket from Seoul for $7,813.) The ticket is valid for travel on any SkyTeam airline for up to 34,000 flight miles. Fine print: three-stop minimum, 15-stop maximum.

For oneworld members, the Middle East (Riyadh, not Dubai) is the departure point. American and its partners offer a $5,947 RTW Business Class fare from there, $4,252 less than the same ticket from the U.S.

For Star Alliance members, departures from Asia offer the best deal. United and other partners offer a $7,361 RTW Business Class fare from Tokyo, $4,488 less than the ticket from the U.S.

Round-the-World Business Class Fare Comparison

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Restrictions for Round-the-World Fares

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[["<strong>Alliance or Airline<\/strong>","<strong>Departure City \/ Country<\/strong>","<strong>USD Equivalent Fare<\/strong>","<strong>U.S. Departure Fare<\/strong>","<strong>Savings<\/strong>"],["Alitalia","Seoul \/ Korea","$5,257 ","$8,880 ","$3,623 \/ 41%"],["oneworld","Riyadh \/ Saudi Arabia","$5,947 ","$10,199 ","$4,252 \/ 42%"],["#rowspan#","Kiev \/ Ukraine","$7,570 ","$10,199 ","$2,629 \/ 26%"],["#rowspan#","Seoul \/ Korea","$7,886 ","$10,199 ","$2,313 \/ 23%"],["#rowspan#","Copenhagen \/ Denmark","$8,166 ","$10,199 ","$2,033 \/ 20%"],["#rowspan#","London \/ UK","$8,182 ","$10,199 ","$2,017 \/ 20%"],["Singapore","London \/ UK","$4,470 ","$5,299 ","$829 \/ 16%"],["#rowspan#","New York \/ U.S.","$5,299 ","n\/a","n\/a"],["SkyTeam","Manila \/ Philippines, Denpasar \/ Indonesia","$6,679 ","$8,880 ","$2,201 \/ 25%"],["#rowspan#","Delhi \/ India","$6,765 ","$8,880 ","$2,115 \/ 24%"],["#rowspan#","Colombo \/ Sri Lanka","$7,022 ","$8,880 ","$1,858 \/ 21%"],["#rowspan#","London \/ UK","$7,610 ","$8,880 ","$1,270 \/ 14%"],["Star Alliance","Tokyo \/ Japan","$7,361 ","$11,849 ","$4,488 \/ 38%"],["#rowspan#","Dubai \/ UAE","$7,836 ","$11,849 ","$4,013 \/ 34%"],["#rowspan#","Delhi \/ India","$8,076 ","$11,849 ","$3,773 \/ 32%"],["#rowspan#","Buenos Aires \/ Argentina, Caracas \/ Venezuela, Lima \/ Peru, Quito \/ Ecuador, Santiago \/ Chile","$9,256 ","$11,849 ","$2,593 \/ 22%"],["Virgin Atlantic","Delhi \/ India","$5,908 ","$8,200 ","$2,292 \/ 28%"],["#rowspan#","New York \/ U.S.","$8,200 ","n\/a","n\/a"]]
<small><em>*Taxes and fess not included.</em></small>
[["<strong>Alliance or Airline<\/strong>","<strong>Departure Country<\/strong>","<strong>Advance Purchase<\/strong>","<strong>Minimum Trip Duration<\/strong>","<strong>Maximum Trip Duration<\/strong>","<strong>Stops, Segments, or Miles Allowed<\/strong>","<strong>Other Key Points<\/strong>"],["Alitalia","Korea","7 Days","10 Days","12 Months","3 to 15 stops","Valid on all SkyTeam airlines"],["oneworld","U.S.","7 Days","10 Days","12 Months","3 to 16 segments","Valid on all oneworld airlines; and at least three continents"],["Singapore","U.S.","7 Days","None","3 Months","5 stops","Valid only on Singapore; surcharge on B777ER, A345, A380"],["SkyTeam","U.S.","7 Days","10 Days","12 Months","3 to 15 stops, 29,000 miles","Valid on all SkyTeam airlines"],["Star Alliance","U.S.","1 Day","10 Days","12 Months","3 to 15 stops, 29,000 miles","Valid on all Star Alliance airlines"],["Virgin Atlantic","U.S.","7 Days","None","12 Months","Unlimited, only 3 each in Australia and New Zealand","Valid on Air New Zealand, Singapore, and Virgin Atlantic; surcharges on some Singapore aircraft"]]
<small>*Only one transPacfic and transAtlantic crossing allowed. Travel must be continuous in one direction (no backtracking).</small>