Mid-2002 I'm planning to do a bit of a trip. I'm based in London and I'd like to visit Ayers Rock and figure if I go all that way, I might as well pop by (SIN) and maybe (KUL) or (HKG) and (NAR) on the way. I would also like to visit friends/family in the US in order of (SFO,IAH,JAX,MIA,EWR) + anyplace else airlines choose to dump me along the way. This is mainly a liesure trip.

I'm planning to take about 4 weeks off to do this and it seems sensible with all of the stops to explore a Round The World ticket. Time is a factor and I'm a thrifty person by nature (okay I'm just plain cheap!) I'm heading from West to East and I'm considering doing this Business Class to try and ward of as much jet lag as I can and avoid DVT, but it costs in the neighborhood of $6K(USD) versus $1.5K(USD).

My questions:

1) I'm in good health, but is four weeks enough time to do this much West to East traveling and not die? I've been to all of these places before with the exception of ASP/NAR and I'm not planning on spending more than a couple days in each. Are there any side effects from such a trip?

2) Is Business Class worth the difference? I'm hoping to recoup some of the difference by sleeping on the plane and showering in lounges to cut down on the hotel bill. Or would I be better off spending the $4K difference on better hotels,etc...

3) Would I be better off looking at buying tickets from KUL or HKG or SYD to take advantage depressed the currency? I remember that HKG/KUL had some pretty good prices a few years ago, but I don't know if this applies to RTW tix.

4) I plan to take quite a bit of film (120 roll) mainly for use in ASP. Any tips on protecting film in the current security environment?

I'm sure a number of you good folks have done similar trips...any tips/tricks/regrets you'd care to share? Anything you wish you'd bought/brought with you or wish you hadn't?

Any comments would be much appreciated.

Welcome to Flyertalk!

Are you a OneWorld or Star Alliance flyer? Also consider to start the trip somewhere else then UK to get a lower price, for instance Scandinavia.

More info about One World RTW tickets can be found in the OneWorld forum.

More info about the Star Alliance RTW tickets can bee found in the Star forum.

1) Travelling around the World in four weeks and not die? Dont worry. I believe alot of FT members has travelled round the world in much less time and they are still alive and happy

2) You can get a RTW business ticket for much less then 6000$ if you start in the right country.

3) Sure you can always buy your RTW ticket in Asia but then you also must start your trip there. If you start in Scandinavia for instance you can reach Scandinavia in just around 2 hours from London.

Is there a reason why you need to fly west-east? Although the other way takes a few hours longer overall, I have found that a 14 hour flight is a lot easier travelling westward, especially if it's overnight.

The scandinavia idea is a good one. Also, Singapore airlines used to offer much cheaper routing with delta and swissair... not sure if it's still around, but SQ is terrific, and DL's BizElite has a terrific amount of space. SR is fantastic as long a they are flying...

Have a great trip!

Regarding film--when I travel for leisure, I plan on one-and-a-half rolls of 36 a day, and I've always got a roll or two left when I get home. I use a lead bag I bought at a photo shop, and have never had a problem.

I would consider carrying the lead bags in your carry-on. If you go through an airport that x-rays your checked luggage, it could conceivably hold up your luggage.

For that much film, it's a bigger challenge. You might see if a photo shop can help you buy a bulk reel and roll off more per roll--I used to do this in high school, but can't remember how many I could get on one roll. This could help you cut down on bulk. At any rate, a good photo shop can help you plan.

Also--take extra camera batteries. It's no fun trying to find them in an exotic locale!

Consider buying a good digital camera with plenty of storage cards. They're getting better and better, and would take up a fraction of the space. If you carry a laptop, you could download them each evening.
I beleive that there may even be one that uses a small cd-rw that would have loads of capacity.

I'm looking at a RTW in a couple of years, but by cashing in miles and using up my hilton points at hotels. Let us know what you learn!

JP