A RTW doesn't have to be horrifically expensive. My guy and I did 5 months in 2005. Bus/First on the long hauls (I spent weeks online hunting down the sweet fares). Hoarded points and signed up for promotions for Hilton and Starwood for expensive hotels in places where we didn't know people. Otherwise looked for deals ("only" 70 euros for a 6th-floor walk-up with two single beds in Hamburg? Sweet!). Asia and Central America were completely manageable, price-wise.

We didn't go with one airline's RTW program, because we wanted to be able to double back as we wished, and because by searching like a maniac I could always find us cheaper fares.

We're planning on doing it again when we have old-enough offspring to bring along. (No kids at all yet, so of course that daydream could change.)

When I'm in Sydney, if I want to go to Europe or the US, it's usually around AU$2000. I usually take 3-4 weeks off work when I go on vacation so a RTW flight for about $2800 is a really good deal. I take a LH deal codeshared with SQ, UA, JL etc. It gives me two stops in Europe, one in the US, one in Asia. Perfect for my needs.

You may not be aware that, in the States, 2-3 weeks is about the max, and many, many people don't/can't even take that.

A lot of people outside the US are astonished at how little leisure time we have over here. I think a lot has to do with our money-oriented culture and basic insecurity nowadays because of the rather poor safety net.

That's one of the reasons I like hanging around Europe and Europeans -- never been to Oceania so I can't comment on them.

For myself, I often take as much as a month off, sometimes unplanned (I'm "between assignments" ), but I usually have other things to do and, unless I'm mistaken, I can't just get a RTW ticket with a week's notice.

Actually, I just found some good explanations of the alliance's different RTW options. Slightly out of date, but still good info. Here's the *A page.

http://www.airtimetable.com/star_all...orld_fares.htm

I see that stated all the time but all the Americans I know have 4 weeks off, or more. Perhaps because most I know work government/public jobs?

Why not? It's booked as a regular fare. Pricing is usually based just on the season when you depart.

There are 7-day advance purchase requirements when starting in some continents or countries, depending on the product.

Seasonal pricing is only used in some countries and generally only for economy class tickets.

<generalization>

I'm a Canadian, living in Canada, but I have lots of friends and colleagues in the USA. The majority of them seem to have around 2 weeks (10 working days) of vacation per year.

They also seem to have fewer stat holidays, so they 'use up' a lot of their vacation days creating long weekends so they can visit friends and families.

As a result, what I see is this:

10 days vacation:

5 days used up here and there.
5 days used up at a 'week in Cancun' or on a cruise.

</generalization>

I have 15 days vacation.

Is that thing about 2 weeks holiday totally rigid, or does it just apply to paid holidays? If I only had two weeks' paid holiday, I'd happily forego 3% of my annual salary in exchange for a 100% increase in my holiday!

It all depends on who you work for and sometimes what department in your company.
My example.

Fortune 50 company, I've been here 20 years.

4 weeks paid vacation
1 bought week of vacation
2 weeks of personal time plus federal holidays.

My department does not have holidays so if I choose to work on xmas or 4th of July I can and save my days for a longer holiday.

After 25 years I will get 1 more week of vacation.

It does depend on where you work..

But in general, the American Protestant Work Ethic combined with a go-go-go / win-win-win and goal setting/achieving culture means the majority of Americans get 2 weeks / 10 days. The younger generations scoff at this more and policies slowly change to reflect that but even so many companies simply don't start anyone with more than 3 weeks / 15 days. This is separate from the usual 1 or 2 weeks of paid sick leave.

I work for a large bank. Sick leave and vacation/holiday time is pooled as one, and I've got 5 weeks a year to use as I see fit. And I find it's still not enough for my wanderlust.

When I worked elsewhere, my boss would allow me to take additional time off without pay. As mentioned above, a 3% pay cut for 100% increase in time off. 2 weeks unpaid out of 52 weeks a year amounts to about 4% income loss and it's fine by me.

It's far less than 4%, maybe even less than 3%, because you avoid the tax on the marginal rate and you (normally) get no reduction in the fringe benefits such as healthcare and whatnot.

Ive done 3 now, all leisure, with my 4th one coming up in 3 weeks.
The first 2 were for 15 days and the third for 9 weeks.
I used the first 2 as a taster tour where i stayed in each location for a couple of days to see if i liked the place and on the 9 week tour spent more time at the places i really liked.

I always think its better to spend too little time at a place than too much.

Careful planning of the airline timetables can ensure you get time to see places.

I just love RTW's

Back on topic to the round the world thing . . . does anyone know if you earn miles on these fares? For example, if I buy a business class RTW on SkyTeam and travel 39,000 miles, do I get the full load of 39,000 * 150% elite miles?

Absolutely.

generally with one (well optimised) business class RTW I will get enough points for another round trip between europe and australasia in business class