Round the world (RTW) airfares are a thing of beauty; literally circumnavigating the world on your way to and from the other side of the globe. Many people think that these fares mean travelling to Asia on the way and travelling via America on the way back, but what if I told you that there's a good chance you're actually wanting a mini-round the world fare instead and we could save you thousands of dollars in the process? Sounds good, right...?
I'll be the first to admit, getting to Europe is a feat. It will literally take you over a day to travel there so it makes sense to break the flights up along the way. If you're only looking at a stop in each direction, then you're most likely better off with a mini RTW which will allow you to stop once along the way normally free of surcharges. This means that you won't have additional charges to stop, but you will have extra taxes to pay.
Probably the most well-known of these carriers out of New Zealand is Lufthansa. The reason it's the most well-known is because prices start from about $1,900 (excluding taxes which are about $250- $500) and when a sale is on it can start from as little as $1,399 (again excluding taxes). The other reason is because of the expansive Lufthansa Group network in Europe/middle east/Africa and the airlines they use out of New Zealand. As they are part of the Star Alliance, the airlines they partner with out of New Zealand include Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, United Airlines, and more making the options attainable and varied.
With the airlines they use, it means you can do the following route on a single fare: Wellington to Auckland, Auckland to Tokyo, Tokyo to Zurich, Zurich to Mallorca, London to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Rio, Rio to Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires to Auckland, Auckland to Wellington. The benefits of booking all of the above on one fare far outweigh separate tickets for plenty of reasons; varying from it's normally cheaper than one-way tickets, to saving you money/hassle if you have to change the tickets down the road. Think of everywhere that Air New Zealand fly direct from Auckland to as well - Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Chicago, Houston, Buenos Aires, Honolulu, San Francisco, etc., etc. All of these are potential stopover options for you to consider.
If everything that I've just described doesn't sound quite like what you want, then you may actually be after a round the world fare. These can get downright pricey. Normally with true RTW fares, you'll associate the alliance partners to a fare (meaning, Star Alliance or One World) so that you stick strictly to the alliances' partners flights: ie., United, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines are all on the Star Alliance network, whereas Qantas, British Airways, Malaysia Airlines are part of the One World alliance. Prices start from about $4,500 excluding taxes in economy class, but it also has a minimum of 2 stopovers required and a maximum of 15.
When booking your flights to Europe, there are a lot of questions to be asked. We're here to ask you those questions and help you to find what you need. Contact us for more information and expert advice.
Comments