Thanks for the suggestion. I've actually looked extensively at both options and have gone back and forth about which way to take the trip and weighed out the pros/cons of each way. Cost is definitely a "pro" of the RTW ticket (and probably the fiscally smart thing to do), but I'm really turned off by the fact that you have to pick all of your destinations ahead of time, and in general your dates as well (yes, I know you can usually change these, but I know I'll want to do that and the fees will add up a good bit and eat into the cost savings of buying this type of ticket). I'm going to be backpacking alone, but I really want to travel with other people I meet along the way for parts of the trip. I love the flexibility of buying tickets as I go because then I won't miss any cool oportunities that may come up along the way, that you can't account for ahead of time. It will make it possible to add in places I'd never thought to go that I hear are amazing, or cut out places that don't really apeal to me when I would actually be going (in theory I think I want to go all over SE Asia. But who knows, I may be Asia'd out after a couple of countries. I've never been so I can't predict something like that). And one of the bummers with a RTW ticket is that if you skip a leg, the rest of your flights are cancelled. I just really don't want to be tied to that. So after a LOT of evaluating, I've realized that for this trip I'd rather spend more money (and not go quite as long) but go with the flexibility and freedom.


Free tickets are definitely a priority over upgrades I think (I don't actually know much about how upgrades work though). It would also be awesome to be able to use the FF miles to buy nights at hotels on the road along the way when I need a night in a nicer place than a hostel. Do any of them offer something like that? For free flights would you recommend AA or United more? Thanks!

Thanks for your reply. Sounds like your thoughts are what I was leaning towards