Book
You have read The Knowledge, planned your itinerary, checked airline schedules and you know whether a Oneworld, Star Alliance, Build Your Own or Agency Boutique fare is the best option for you.
If a Build Your Own itinerary is the one for you then we recommend trip.com and direct airline websites to find your flights.
If you have found an Agency Boutique fare then that agency is the one for you.
If you have decided on a Oneworld or Star Alliance Round The World fare then you have a decision to make; use a Travel Agency or book direct online.
If you decide to use a Travel Agency then you need to be aware that they will earn no commission from this ticket and so will charge a service/booking fee. These fares are complicated and not all Travel Agencies or Agents will know how to work with them. However if you find one that is then they will be working within a live PNR when they make your booking and will be able to search live seat availability quickly and efficiently. A good agent will know how to maximise or minimise mileage, depending on whether you are looking for lots of airline points or the shortest flight time. A good agent will know which carriers are best to use to issue your ticket in order to minimise YQ/YR charges. Find a good Travel Agent and they will save you time and money despite the fees.
If you decide to book online these are Franky’s tips.
Oneworld
Go to rtw.oneworld.com/rtw/
Or perhaps don’t!
Setting up your itinerary in the Oneworld booking engine is very user friendly. Changing dates and destinations is intuitive and easy.
Unfortunately it is extremely buggy when it comes to delivering flight results and finding available seats.
Known issues are:
You cannot book Qatar Airways for your first flight sector.
Sometimes despite you wanting a Oneworld Explorer fare it will bug out due to mileage limits.
It can ignore direct routings in favour of indirect ones which will increase your number of sectors and your mileage.
If you are succesful in completing an itinerary online this is usually sent to Qantas for confirmation.
Star Alliance
Go to staralliance.com/en/round-the-world
Setting up your itinerary in the Star Alliance booking engine is quite a long winded process. Changing dates and destinations is possible, but fiddly.
It is reasonably reliable at delivering flight results and finding available seats, but it is no totally without issues.
Known issues are:
Turkish Airlines options often do not appear.
If you are succesful in completing an itinerary online this is usually sent to Lufthansa who will then contact you to confirm and take payment.