DIY (Do It Yourself) RTW Ticket Review
We shopped prices for RTW plane tickets from eight different companies and rated each company based on five criteria – price, search options, customer service, date flexibility, and route flexibility.
Below are the three routes and dates that we shopped:
- Shopping for RTW Plane Tickets – Route 1 Dates and Itineraries
- Shopping for RTW Plane Tickets – Route 2 Dates and Itineraries
- Shopping for RTW Plane Tickets – Route 3 Dates and Itineraries
For the DIY option, though, some of these ratings criteria don’t apply. Since we were doing it all ourselves, we didn’t deal with any customer service reps. We used Kayak exclusively for searching these one-way flights, and because you can’t book directly through Kayak, we did click through to the site necessary to book to make sure the price was accurate and there were still seats left.
Note: Keep in mind that we searched these flights all at once. In a typical Round the World scenario, the traveler would be booking flights as he or she went, and we all know how prices fluctuate, so use this only as a guide. We also only searched Kayak, so there could be better deals to be had on smaller, regional airlines that Kayak doesn’t cover.
Price
Pricing for doing it all yourself and buying one way tickets as you go was very competitive to other options. For the simplest route that only had 4 flights to major hub cities, the DIY option was cheapest leaving from New York and London. It came in 7.2% higher than the lowest price leaving from Sydney. For the second, more complicated route, DIY was on average 9.13% higher than the lowest options. For the most complicated route, DIY offered the lowest price from London and was an average of 9.03% higher than the lowest price from New York and Sydney.
Search Options
We stuck to online searches using Kayak, which we’ve all most likely done before. Because you can’t book directly through Kayak, we did click through to the site offering the lowest price to make sure the price was accurate and the flight was still available.
Customer Service
Not applicable.
Date Flexibility
This option obviously provides the most flexibility in terms of dates because the traveler ultimately decides when he or she wants to book. The main downfall is that if you wait too long, the price could go up dramatically. But on the flip side, you can also find last minute deals.
Route Flexibility
Again, choosing this method gives you the ultimate flexibility in routes. But it pays to do some research before leaving. For example, getting from South America to Southeast Asia or Australasia can be complicated and expensive even when you do it on your own, so it pays to know ahead of time which routes/destinations may be pricey.
If you have used the Do It Yourself method for your round the world trip, we want to hear from you. Comment below to share your experience, and click on the stars below the comment box to rate.
| Ratings | |
| Overall |  |
| Price |  |
| Date Flexibility |  |
| Route Flexibility | |
| Search Options |  |
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3 Responses to “DIY (Do It Yourself) RTW Ticket Review”
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We used DIY for your RTW trip, and while it was cheaper than expected (this was during 2008-2009 when airfare was plummeting), we still largely stuck to the same itinerary that we had mapped out before we left. We did add in New Zealand, which was not a definite before taking off, so that was nice to have the flexibility. But since we were on such a tight budget, we were constantly on the lookout for the best deals, which meant we spent A LOT of time searching for airfare while we were traveling. On our next RTW trip, we will definitely look more seriously into a RTW ticket. We may still go with the same DIY option, but it would be nice not to have to spend so much time searching for airfare.
On your next RTW trip, I am sure you’ll use again the DIY, it’s much cheaper in reality and once you get past Kayak and use good search engines available in other countries, it really gets much cheaper. On our trip we fly a lot and I only bought the first 25 legs on our trip. So far it is for less then $4000. Airtreks quoted me a double price for much less mileage. so if you have the guts to use a credit card online and the price matters, there is no real competition.
I made my own RTW itinerary on my year-long adventure. In my opinion DIY is the only way to go. You have complete flexibility on timing and destinations. When I left on my trip I only had a one-way ticket from Los Angeles to Bangkok. From there the world was open to me and I ended up going to many destinations I hadn’t considered (or had never even heard of!) before I left home. In the end I spent a little over $3k on 12 flights and saw four continents.