I am planning an RTW this summer. My flight will be nyc-tlv-mnl-nyc. can someone tell me which type of RTW ticket works best for me? also when it comes to pricing does each airline price it differently or is it all the same? thnks

Looks like a very simple xONE3 routing (US-EUR-Asia-US). Please study the sticky for details, you can add many more stopovers for your ITN at the same price...

xONEx base pricing is same throughout OW, only difference being fuel surcharges which do differ from issueing airline to another.

Each of the major alliances (Oneworld, Star Alliance and Skyteam) all have RTW products that have similar rules. Most are mileage-based with a minimum of 29,000 (sometimes 26,000) allowed miles, and with your route you would fit easily under those limits. Oneworld also has a RTW program, the Oneworld Explorer, that is not based on miles, but on the number of continents visited. In your case it would be 3 continents, N. America, Europe (Israel is counted as Europe for RTW purposes) and Asia. None of the major alliances' members offer direct Israel-Far East trips, so you will need to "double back" to Europe to go from Israel to Manila. The same thing will go for Manila-NYC; you will have to go from Manila to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Korea or Japan in order to cross the Pacific.

The price of the ticket is based on (a) class - economy, business, first, and (b) in which country the RTW begins and ends. Any airline in the alliance can sell you a ticket, and the price will be the same regardless of airline, provided the route and start-end points are the same. Some airlines are more experienced at doing this than others.

There are also individual and small groups of airlines that sell RTWs on their own. United and Emirates, for instance, or Singapore/Virgin/Air New Zealand for another.

In almost all cases, beginning and ending travel in North America is the most expensive option for RTWs. Beginning in Europe or places like Sri Lanka is cheaper, but obviously one needs to get to Europe or Sri Lanka in the first place, and get back when done, so that adds cost. In many cases the additional cost of those tickets is less than the savings you make by starting the RTW abroad, but it's more hassle.

There are also travel agencies that put together one-off RTW itineraries, and I think you ought to start there. Especially if you're under 26 years of age, STA Travel, a global network of student-oriented travel agencies, puts these custom RTWs together all the time. They have offices pretty much everywhere.

A second place to look is Airtreks - www.airtreks.com - which also specializes in economy-class RTWs.

Have a look at those places and see what might work for you, then come back to the FT alliance boards if you need further help.

thnks for the help. appreaciet it