Booking your round the world flight

Congratulations, if you have got this far you have already done the hardest bit .You have decided that you want to do a round the world flight and you have found us, the real specialists, to help you. Booking a round the world trip can be daunting, but this is exactly what we do, every day, for the last twelve years. That's why we are still number 1 on Google and mentioned in over 40 guidebooks

Research

Use this site to provide you with an idea of possible destinations and how to fit them into a viable itinerary. View some of our most popular routes for inspiration, check out the pre-departure FAQs (on the left) and plot your journey using our unique route planner (on the home page). Narrow down the choices from the suggestions and options that this generates until you have a few favorites for further consideration. When you think that you are almost there and have a provisional outline it's time to take the next step.

What's the best way to book flights?

Before you do anything download and print off your own personal travel planner, map and calendar here

Step 1

It sounds a bit simple but note down where you fancy going. If you can work out when you would like to leave (the Ex UK date) then it's a lot easier to work out costing's - also if you can work out how long you'd like to stop in each destination then you will be getting closer to working out your perfect RTW!

Step 2

Put your destinations into a rough geographic order ie keep them going in the same direction e.g. London - India - Thailand and Vietnam and Cambodia - Australia - New Zealand - Pacific - the States - UK is great but UK - Africa- South America - Europe really doesn't work without spending a fortune! Also don't assume that you have to 'Round the World' i.e. you can go out and back via the same part of the world. Though most RTW trips take in Australia and or New Zealand and the States, we have been finding that certain passengers don't really fancy the States (because of the extra security precautions) or Oz and NZ (time restraints/have been there before) - so you don't have to go via these countries - ask us for other options.

Step 3

Work out in your head what your budget us and call us for advice and a quote on on 020 7704 5700. When you call, it would be handy if you have a map and a calendar near you (print off your own personal travel planner here) - it'll enable to visualize your trip better (or print off a calendar for future years here or design your own RTW online here)

Step 4

Once you've worked out where you want to go, that's half the battle - then you need to speak to an expert - Visit us in Islington, or call us on 020 7704 5700 - it really can be that simple (although not always!) If I don’t live in the UK can I still make a booking with you? Yes you can - but it is usually cheaper to organise flights that commence in the UK and get a low cost carrier over from Europe - also if you would like this site translated into your own language then please click here. Please feel free to ask us.

Talk to a Specialist

Contact us and run your ideas past one of our highly experienced and knowledgeable specialists. Having listened to you, we will be able to find the most suitable ticket to get you to all of your chosen highlights. Having dealt with so many different routes, something that may seem overly complicated or obscure to you, shouldn't faze our consultants in the slightest.

Whilst no route is impossible and we will gladly quote you for your exact dream ticket, in our experience doing everything you want can prove expensive. Our specialist round the world consultants are trained to suggest tweaks to save you money. Whether it is substituting one city for another, changing the order of the destinations or just moving a departure date by a couple of days you can be sure we will be using our skill to get you the best deal; and often we can add extra stops for no additional cost and we pride ourselves on making sure that you always get the most value from your ticket.

Provisional reservation

When you have decided on the right ticket for you, we can then start to firm things up. We need from you three main pieces of information.

1. Your name as it appears in your passport - Full first name and surname, but no need for any middle names. It is essential that these appear correct on your ticket.
2. Your dates of intended travel. The most important one is that of the first flight, all the others can be very approximate and will be changeable later on and normally act as a guide only.
3. Your route. Although this is often able to be tinkered with later on it will result in the airline charging you fees to reissue your ticket .so best to get it right from the start.

With the above details we are able to set up a booking and hold some seats for you with the relevant airlines. We can also now give you much more detail on your itinerary with flight times, durations, any transits that there may be and the terms and conditions of the ticket too.

How to Book

By phone : roundtheworldflights.com is celebrating its 12th year, and has booked tens of thousands of customers by phone. However it is better if you don't attempt to do this on your mobile whilst you are on the bus, or doing your weekly shop in Sainsburys - even if you are a busy person! For us to do this properly, we will need you to have your full attention for about half an hour or so - a world map and a calendar would also be handy.

Come and see us : We're open till 8am-7pm Monday to Friday, during the summer and from 10 till 5 on Saturdays and online or on the phone on Sundays from 12 till 4 and we've based next to Angel tube station (102 Islington High Street) - see map

Commitment

We appreciate that some people need a short time to assimilate this information but to continue to hold these seats and to confirm this reservation we do need to take a deposit.

Payment Stage

A non-refundable deposit of £75 per person or 30% of your booking, is payable for airline bookings, with the balance usually due within 10 days (although sometimes you do get longer). A non refundable deposit of around 10% is normally required for hotels or tours or car hire. We will then email you a booking confirmation that give details of each flight, airline, departure and arrival times and any hotel or tour arrangements you may have. This will also contain the complete costing's of your booking and terms and conditions, (Please make sure you read it thoroughly when it arrives!).

Final Payment Stage

The date of this depends on the ticket that you have chosen but most airlines still allow you to delay payment until seventy days prior to departure. However there is an increase in tickets that need to be issued within ten days of the original reservation being made. Your consultant will make sure that you are aware of when your arrangements need to be finalised by. Once final payment has been taken and your tickets issued changes are not so easy and will normally incur a fee before you start travelling so make sure all amendments are made by this stage. Before the final amount is collected the ticket price will be rechecked and your taxes will be recalculated.

Tickets

Tickets are issued (ie printed) when final payment has been received. Tickets will be ready for collection or can be posted for a small fee, as soon as all of your travel documents have been issued. If you receive e tickets (which 99% of RTW tickets now are), then we'll simply email over your Booking Confirmation with Airline Booking Reference.

Please don't forget!

Insurance

Now you are about to embark on your amazing journey, however travel insurance is probably the most important purchase you'll make for your trip. Every year we a have heart breaking phone call from some distant corner of the globe, don't let it be you! Having insurance when you travel, is as essential as remembering your passport. Anyway we thing we've got an honestly priced and decent insurance policy. Our cover is designed for people on specifically long-stay or multi-stop trips, is underwritten by insurance giant AXA, and cover starts from £135 for 6 months. So if you require Round The World travel insurance please check out all the details of our cover - here

Accommodation

Have you thought about where your going to spend your first nights abroad? Most of our guys in the office book the first few nights in a hotel when they take off. There's over 15,000 different hotels and prices start from £15 per night. - see more

That's it. Nothing left to do now but arrange your farewell party and pack!