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

Price

Round About Travel is an Australian based company who we used to shop prices on all three routes leaving from Sydney. They were extremely competitive compared to the other options, offering a price that was only 3.65% higher than the lowest price for the first route, which was a simple, 4-leg hub RTW trip. For the second, more complicated route, they had the lowest price. But they did fall a bit behind for the third route, which was a massive 18-leg trip. The quoted price for the final itinerary was 18.64% higher than the lowest price.

Search options

The online booking form can get a bit complicated if your trip doesn’t fit into its parameters, and for some with a more complicated route or one that goes through regions that Round About Travel doesn’t cover, it is easier to call or send an enquiry through one of their many forms. We liked having many options available for booking, but their online search tool just isn’t up to par with most other companies we looked at. There is no map, and the process just isn’t as user friendly. That being said, it does get the job done. They do have phone numbers to call as well, for both people living in Australia and internationally.

Customer Service

We ended up sending queries through their basic enquiry form and received responses back within a day for all three routes we searched. There were a few issues trying to get prices on the exact itineraries we wanted, but the customer service reps were great and worked with us to meet the needs of the trip we were searching. They always responded immediately, answered all our questions, and suggested changes to the itinerary that would be cheaper and easier.

Date Flexibility

Round About Travel acts as more of a travel agent rather than having their own product to sell. They work with other companies, airlines, and alliances selling tickets. Because of this, making changes once you have already purchased your ticket will depend on a variety of factors. For two of the routes, Round About Travel actually used oneworld Alliance to book the fare, so the same change rules would apply, meaning that it was necessary to book the first international flight, but all subsequent dates could be left open and changed for free. But they may not always use one of the alliances, so making changes will vary based on each individual’s trip.

Route Flexibility

As mentioned above, Round About Travel acts as more of a travel agent than selling their own round the world ticket. So overall, this gives them the advantage of having a variety of options that should be able to accommodate any itinerary. In the two more complicated itineraries we shopped, they actually used oneworld Alliance to get a price for our trip, which was interesting considering when we contacted oneworld directly, they were unable to accommodate such complicated itineraries.

Round About Travel rated on the high side when it comes to route flexibility because it seems like they don’t have many limitations when trying to accommodate each customer. We did have to change our itinerary around a bit to fit into the parameters of the ticket, but we never had to cut out any destinations to make it work. It was only necessary to change the order of the route at their suggestion. One of the main problem we had with the alliance tickets was getting from Australia/New Zealand to South America, but this was no problem with Round About Travel (perhaps because they are based in Australia?). Regardless, they were able to accommodate all our itineraries and obtain pricing in a quick and efficient manner.

If you have used Round About Travel for your round the world trip, we want to hear from you. Comment below to share your experience, and click on the stars to rate.

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