Is my dream RTW trip impossible?
 

Hi everyone, sorry if this has been answered before but I couldn't see anything in the archive.

Basically my dream trip is to go from London to the USA then to Japan and go down to Australia (possibly via Hong Kong), before flying on from Oz to South Africa then back to the UK.

I know most RTW trips do Asia before Australia, but for personal reasons I need to do Asia first before Australia, even though I'm going RTW westbound.

Can anyone tell me whether there are any One World tickets that would allow me to do this, and if not, could any of the other alliances offer something similar?

Thanks in advance for all help!
Jon.

Yes, that is perfectly ok. You can go from USA to either SW Pacific (Australia and NZ) or Asia, then to the other before heading to Africa and back to Europe. You will need a OneWorld Explorer 5 continent fare, known as a xONE5, where x=A for First Class, D for business class and L for economy.

Note that London is a very expensive starting point in Europe, and will limit your flexibility for any Europe sectors you wish to fly, as you cannot transit back through the starting port. There are plenty of threads here describing how to start in other places in Europe.

Really? Wow thanks NM, you're a star! For some reason I've been led to believe it would be very difficult. I think I love this website!

Does anyone have a recommendation of which travel agent, UK or otherwise, I should book with? I've enquired with a couple but they didn't seem to know much about RTW, more concerned with their own package holidays.

Or is it better to just phone British Airways direct?

Thanks,
Jon.

Personally I would try to develop my itinerary with the aid of the OneWorld timetable ( http://www.oneworldtimetable.com/oneworld.exe ) and the assorted experts here.

Then go to the Cathay Pacific ticketing desk in London (assuming you will be using them for some of the long haul segments).

London Ticket Desk
Tel: 44(20) 8834-8888
Fax: 44(20) 8741-5477

CX London gets consistently good reports on RTW tickets - and did an excellent job for me on the one occasion I used them.

CX's ticket office is at London Heathrow Terminal 3. You may of course go to BA in Picadilly but they will charge you an issue fee.

You could of course book through a reputable agency that specialises in RTW tickets like Trailfinders.

Thanks for all your help.
NM suggested I start somewhere other than London. If I did this, would I then be able to visit one or two places in Europe at the end of my RTW before landing again in Poland?

That idea quite appeals - I've looked at the pricing sticky thread and it says it would be cheapest to start in Poland. What I want to know is, to get the cheaper price do I just have to start in Poland (but can still book in the UK) or do I have to go to a Polish travel agent? Don't relish the thought of struggling with a phrasebook!

Thanks,
Jon.

You're going to have to buy the ticket in Poland. You might try the local BA office, who should speak English. Besides, Polish really isn't that hard. :D