I am planning a RTW trip.
Route is planned to go like this:
Helsinki-(Hong Kong)-Bali-(Darwin)-Cairns-Melbourne // by bus on the ground // Sydney-Auckland-(Santiago de Chile)-Lima // by bus on the ground // La Paz-(Lima-Madrid)-Helsinki
I got an offer: 3400EUR pp.
How you fellow travelers see this. Is it too expensive?? Is it on line what you have paid??
(because I think it is quite expensive..)
If I understand this correctly, the flights are:
Helsinki--Bali
Bali-Cairns
Cairns-Melbourne
Sydney-Auckland
Auckland-Lima
La Paz-Helsinki
if the places in brackets are just short stopovers.
Some of those routes can be flown quite cheaply (eg. Bali to Cairns, Sydney to Auckland). Others are relatively expensive for the distance (typically any flight to/from S America).
An hour or so on the internet checking individual prices for the flights you want to do on a site such as skyscanner would tell you whether the price you've been quoted is good value or not.
Sounds very expensive. Where is the offer from?
Compare with individual flights, here are some good sites: itasoftware, momondo, kayak, hipmunk, skyscanner.
Why do you want a RTW ticket? What is the difference between a tour you plan yourself and a tour a travel agent puts together for you? What is the difference between a tour and an adventure?
Try answering those questions shadowlord (particularly the last one) and see if they give you food for thought.
I have read from many sources that rtw-ticket becomes cheaper than buying those tickets one by one. Of course then there is more freedom and more adventure.
That is why I need few more examples, if you think this is over priced? There must be fellow travelers, who have done trip with rtw-ticket =)
I like adventure, but I have limited time; three months. That is why I think it is good to have some framework about the trip. It still can be an adventure, I believe. I think adventure is something that you do not know what is coming, but I believe it does not kill adventure, if I book flights beforehand.
Plan with rtw-ticket makes also some things easier. Easier is not always better, but in this it gives more time to the travelling adventure, when you have frames.
And travel agent have not put any tour for me. I have decided all places by myself. But yes they are going to help me with buying tickets.
Does this answer satisfy you, travelistyle46?
That is why I need few more examples, if you think this is over priced?
Yes, we are telling you that it sounds very expensive. We are also telling you that if you put a little bit of effort (10-60 minutes depending on your experience searching for tickets and your intelligence), you can get an idea of how much it would cost to buy the tickets yourself, using the websites I mentioned in post #2.
Even if you prefer to buy all tickets in advance, you can still book it yourself and likely save a good chunk of money. Booking yourself doesn't mean booking as you go.
There are plenty of people who have bought RTW tickets.
There is no-one who has bought exactly the same route as you,for the same flights on the same days.
So...only you can work out whether this is a 'good price' or not.....
Of course there is not exactly same route and dates, but If people are willing to discuss about this topic and maybe share their routes and prices....so having few examples, it would much easier to compare is this reasonable price.
Yes your answer satisfies me shadowlord. It seems you have given it some thought. You would be surprised how few do.
If having a framework works for you that's fine by me. I don't need one but we are all different. I don't put cost above maximum flexibility. That is the main trade of between pre-booking and winging everything. In regards to whether a given RTW ticket price is a good price or not, as noted above the only way to know is for YOU to put together flight prices if you book each flight separately. No one can tell you if a given price is a good deal or not. The fact is that prices change daily. Trying to chase the lowest price is like chasing a stock on the stock market to buy on the lowest day. If anyone could figure that out they would be the world's richest person.
What I suggest is you decide what the maximum time and money you will have is. Then decide what part of the money you are willing to spend on transportation. Then look at what you can do with that amount of money. In other words, what will fit in your budget. If you can find a RTW price or collection of individual prices that will get you where you are interested in going and fits that budget then book it.
Simply put, rather than looking for the cheapest, just look for what you can afford. If you can afford it, buy it and forget about chasing the cheapest. You'll never find it anyway.