Rules, Routes and Logic for Round the World Airfares
Learn how RTW tickets, alliance fares, mileage limits, stopovers, surface sectors and pricing logic actually work — before you build the trip.
Popular Guides
RTW Product Status
oneworld positions oneworld Explorer as a continent-based round-the-world fare product.
Read product notesTravel generally starts and ends in the same country, uses Star carriers, crosses Atlantic and Pacific once, and is limited by mileage and stop rules.
Read product notesoneworld positions Global Explorer as a distance-based round-the-world fare product.
Read product notesoneworld positions Circle Pacific as an inter-continental journey around continents bordering the Pacific Ocean.
Read product notesEducational product placeholder for Star Alliance RTW-style planning. Verify current selling rules before quoting.
Read product notesA mileage-based RTW/open-jaw product using specified carriers and bands.
Read product notesPacific circle product between Area 1 and Area 3, not a full global RTW fare.
Read product notesA constructed itinerary using published fares instead of a formal RTW product.
Read product notesLegacy reference area for discontinued or changed SkyTeam-style RTW logic.
Read product notesA multi-stop itinerary built from published fares, alliances, interline options or supplier combinations.
Read product notesA multi-ticket strategy used where price, route, cabin or availability is stronger than one formal RTW fare.
Read product notesEducational concept for journeys around a region or set of regions without full circumnavigation.
Read product notesKey Rule Concepts
Travel generally proceeds east or west. Limited zigzagging may be allowed within a continent, but advisors must validate the current rule.
Start with why the traveller is going, which places are fixed, what is flexible, and how much servicing risk they will accept.
Formal RTW products commonly require one Atlantic and one Pacific crossing. Extra crossings may invalidate the fare.
Fixed points are non-negotiable dates or destinations. Wishlist points can be moved, removed or repriced.
Star Alliance material refers to mileage levels such as 29,000, 34,000 and 39,000 miles in formal rule extracts; public background also references broader mileage bands.
Identify whether the route is broadly eastbound, westbound, regional circle or mixed.
Formal rule extracts may limit total coupons/segments. Count rerouted and surface handling according to the product.
Repeated reversals can increase mileage, break fare rules, raise taxes and make servicing harder.
Advisor tools coming next
Route validator, mileage calculator, segment counter, fare ladder builder, route worksheet and client qualifier. These are structured as database-backed modules so the content, rule notes and labels can be updated without editing page files.