Canny tourists fly around the world to save a fortune
SAVVY travellers have turned to “around the world” fares to avoid paying through the nose for international flights, saving thousands of dollars in the process – even for business class.
Instead of $20,000 for return business class seats from Sydney to New York, travellers who tack on a trip to Europe and a stop in Asia are spending as little as $9000, and doing the whole trip at the pointy end of the plane.
Economy fares are also much cheaper, as Newcastle’s Amanda Burgess discovered by spending $14,000 to fly around the world with her husband and three children last November.
Flight Centre around-theworld expert Alex Zoranada said there were significant savings to be had by doing a multistop global trip.
“When you’re doing return airfares with a specific airline it’s based on their availability, so if you do Singapore Airlines or Qantas return, you’re looking just at those options,” Ms Zoranada said.
“With round-the-world, there’s a lot more airlines to work with and you can basically have a look and find the best availability.”
Round About Travel managing director Mark Trim said airlines based in North America and Europe had added much more capacity since the Covid-19 pandemic than those in the Asia-Pacific region, which meant seats were more readily available at good prices.
He said the difference in price to go around the world as opposed to simply back and forth was so substantial that even corporate travellers were taking the plunge.
“I had a client who wanted to go to Dallas for a conference who was looking at $19,000 return in business class,” Mr Trim said.
“By doing a round-theworld trip via Dallas, the (business class) fare came down to under $8000. It’s ideal for someone who can return home via Europe.”
Currently Lufthansa is promoting a $6681 “global airfare” in business class and $1968 in economy using carriers such as Qantas, Singapore Airlines, United and Air Canada.