AA777 From United States, joined May 1999, 2380 posts, RR: 25 Posted (2 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 hours ago) and read 1061 times:
Ok, so I am graduating this spring, in May from College. As a present to myself, I am thinking of taking an around the world trip. My questions are as follows:
-Has anyone been around the world in 30 days or less?
-Is it impossible to enjoy all the destinations with all the jet-lag etc?
-Approx. how many destinations is the maximum you would try to go to in 30 days?
Here are my routing Ideas: (Originating and Ending at IAD/WAS)
IAD-HKG-BKK-SIN-DXB-LHR-IAD
IAD-CDG-BKK-SIN-NRT or SYD-IAD
IAD-EZE-FCO-SIN-BKK-?-IAD
IAD-CPT-DXB-SIN-BKK-HKG-IAD
Really I've traveled all over Europe, so I am really looking to go to other places. (Sorry, I DO LOVE Europe though). Singapore an Bangkok are musts . I would go to South Africa as well, but it, like Buenos Aires, is very far out of the way from Asia... anyhoo.... any of your guys' experiences/ advice would be lovely.
-AA777
When the government fears the people, there is liberty; when the people fear the government, there is tyranny.
TUNisia From Tunisia, joined Aug 2004, 1491 posts, RR: 5 Reply 1, posted (2 years 10 months 3 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 1013 times:
I think an around the world trip should include destinations that a typical RTW ticket traveler would not experience. Major cities get boring after a while, if you must fly into one at least take the time to trave far away from them. Spend time outside cities if you really want to "see the world" is basically what i'm trying to say :] I'm sure in the end you'd find the trip much more rewarding and worth the money.
[Edited 2005-10-05 17:59:26]
"Someday the sun is going to shine down on me in some faraway place." - Mahalia Jackson
Kiwiandrew From Belgium, joined Jun 2005, 3912 posts, RR: 12 Reply 2, posted (2 years 10 months 3 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 1002 times:
Hi AA777
Congratulations on your upcoming graduation. As a former TA , I used to ask my pax to be sure that they knew what they were letting themselves in for with itineraries like this ( usually not a problem in New Zealand / Australia where I worked because pretty much everyone there flies longhaul itineraries) I assume that you are travelling in economy class ( apologies if that is an unfair assumption)
I am also assuming from your post that the only "longhaul" travel you have done has been transatlantic where you are dealing with only 7-8 hour flights and time zone changes of only a few hours .
If you only have thirty days dont forget that you will be losing cumulatively at least 3 days in all the flying - it also usually takes most people a couple of days to recover from a true longhaul flight ( having said that I had a client who flew three times are year AKL-LAX-LHR-SIN-AKL in economy for 10 day trips and always came back seeming as fresh as if he had had a months vacation - but he was a very unusual person ) so I would suggest you limit yourself to 2 or 3 stopovers if you want to do them properly .
In my experience the biggest "mistakes" people on an itinerary such as this are as follows
* going straight to sleep after an early morning arrival somewhere - I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to keep going until local night time if you want to get over the jet lag as quickly as possible
* overdoing the booze ( particularly if it is free ) drink plenty of non-alcoholic drinks in flight
* deciding that since it is a "once-in-a-lifetime" trip that they have to try
to see everything - they usually end up running themselves into the ground
It is hard to advise you where to go because obviously I am not you , I don't know your interests other than what you have listed in your profile - I think that you are doing the right thing by starting to plan your trip now - take some time and jot down a few notes of what you think will be the highlights of your trip - put it away for a couple of weeks then take it out and look at it again to see if those still seem to be the most important things for you - this has often helped my clients work out what the "must do" things are so that they can focus on them .
I also have to say that if you are not good at sleeping on planes ( I am terrible ) then try to get airlines with AVOD PTVs ( I just know that I am going to get flamed by people who say that they dont care about IFE )
Good luck with your planning - I look forward to reading an interesting trip report next year
PS I see from your profile that you are 16-20 - I guess therefore like most guys your age you think that you are indestructable - sorry to tell you - but you are not - so don't forget travel insurance
"You are only young once ..... but you can be immature forever!"
Planesarecool From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2001, 3333 posts, RR: 11 Reply 3, posted (2 years 10 months 3 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 969 times:
If you're going to Bangkok, you should treat yourself to a few days in Phuket. The flights are relatively cheap, and you should get a "heavy" (Mostly 777's and A300's i think - the odd B744 and MD11 also) if you fly Thai, which is quite nice for a relatively short flight. Also the approach is relatively SXM style, and if you want to spot aircraft you can just lie on the beach and they fly in, just like SXM (though not AS low) but busier. Also Phuket is considered one of the best paradise places in the world, although it was hit by the tsunami in December 2004, so i'm not sure what its like now. Also New Zealand is supposed to be very nice, as is Australia. It really depends what "your kind of scene" is.
Tundra767 From United States, joined Jan 2005, 409 posts, RR: 3 Reply 6, posted (2 years 10 months 3 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 915 times:
I've done it in 4 days. LAX-CDG-ICN-KIX-SEA-LAX The longest it took me was 7 days LAX-LHR-DXB-BKK-HKG-NRT-SJC-LAX. I have flown around 5 times. And did it twice in January.
L410Turbolet From Czech Republic, joined May 2004, 4019 posts, RR: 14 Reply 7, posted (2 years 10 months 3 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 873 times:
Quoting AA777 (Thread starter): Has anyone been around the world in 30 days or less?
No, I have not and IMHO it's just a waste of time and money if you do it unless you have to. Spending time just gentting to/from airport and being stuck in a pressurized tupe for endless hours is a best way to ruin your holidays and start to hate flying.
Around the world in 6-12 months... well, that's a completely different story.
Quoting AA777 (Thread starter): Is it impossible to enjoy all the destinations with all the jet-lag etc?
I think that you'd only experience a severe jet lag and be sick of airports after a while.
Quoting AA777 (Thread starter): Approx. how many destinations is the maximum you would try to go to in 30 days?
ONE. Pick one country and try to get out of it something more than a superficial experience of the capital city and notorious tourist destinations EVERYONE goes to.
With countries the size of India or Brazil it will be still impossible.
TonyB From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2000, 105 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (2 years 10 months 3 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 811 times:
Congratulations from me as well.
The RTW routes I've done have each taken around 15-18 days in total, allowing for a few days sightseeing/chilling out at various places.
1. LHR-SIN-Perth-SYD-Nadi-LAX-LHR (Qantas/Air Pacific/BA). This included stopovers of 2/3 days in Perth/Sydney and Fiji and 1 night each in Singapore and LA.
2. LHR-SIN-HKG-MEL-AKL-Papeete-LAX-LHR (Singapore/Air New Zealand) - 2/3 nights in Hong Kong/Melbourne/Auckland and Tahiti and 1 night in Singapore and LA.
3. LHR-LAX-Rarotonga-AKL-SYD-DXB-LHR (Air New Zealand/Emirates) - 3 nights in Rarotonga and Sydney, 2 nights in Auckland and Dubai. Only changed aircraft at LAX on the way from London to the Cook Islands.
A999 From Norway, joined Mar 2004, 210 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (2 years 10 months 3 weeks ago) and read 641 times:
Have done it once way back in 1980.
PanAm was the airline of choice then as they had an offer which said: RTW in 80 days(or less) after the Phileas Fogg story. Y class was 998 pounds LHR-LHR while P(Premium First with sleeper seats) was 1998 I think. They also offered Standby First which we opted for(you could always downgrade if it was full, but we made it all around on P/F). We spent 21 days with 2 days stopover in HKG,one week in Japan (in to Tokyo and out of Osaka) with surface transport by Shinkansen (the express bullet train-also first class), 9 lovely days in HNL,and one day stopovers in LAX,MSY and MCO before returning via JFK.
I could do it again anytime so if anybody out there having a spare ticket, just let me know!
Btw have a real nice trip!
AA777 From United States, joined May 1999, 2380 posts, RR: 25 Reply 10, posted (2 years 10 months 2 weeks 6 days 23 hours ago) and read 608 times:
Quoting Kiwiandrew (Reply 2): PS I see from your profile that you are 16-20 - I guess therefore like most guys your age you think that you are indestructable - sorry to tell you - but you are not - so don't forget travel insurance
Thanks for the advice! ... lol, I will actually be moving into the 21-25 category this weekend.
Someone mentioned going to ONE place. We'll whenever I travel, thats what I tend to do....the problem is that most places tend to get boring after a while; especially if you are travelling as a tourist. I want to go to several places, and be very busy. I know BKK is a must see, and SIN, I want to go to just because I've heard nothing but good things about it. I was also thinking about DEL / BOM... The other option instead of the typical "around the world" trip would just be to fly to one point in Asia, (say, SIN) and do the rest of my flying from there....(though it would be soo cool to be able to say, "Yeah, I've flown all the away around the world") hahaha....
Anyway, I am going to start doing lots of research on SE Asia, checking out which places appeal to me the most.... I do want to check out Phuket, but who knows what state its in after the Tsunami. I imagine though that Thailand considers it a very important area, and they probably have allocated a lot of resources to getting it fixed up...
-AA777
When the government fears the people, there is liberty; when the people fear the government, there is tyranny.
Trolley Dolley From , joined today!, posts, RR: Reply 11, posted (2 years 10 months 2 weeks 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 591 times:
Hi there. I regularly go around the world in less than 30 days as mum lives in the UK and I live in New Zealand. It's tough on the body. While you can get yourself sort of on to local time quite quickly, it does take the body a day or so to catch up for each time zone you cross. Expect at least 2 or 3 days to be written off when all you want to do is sleep or blob out by the pool. In 30 days, you'll also have about 4-5 days of travel, which means you only really have about 20 or so days to enjoy yourself at a destination.
My advice- fly westward. It always seemes easier to adjust to flights that way than flying towards the east. ie go to Asia first, rather than Europe.
I'd think about what you'd like to do and see. Are you the sort of traveller who likes to breeze in and breeze out, or do you like to get a lot more into a destination and explore? You could easily spend 30 days in South Africa alone. Are you just interested in cities, or what about visiting the country side in places like Thailand- beautiful islands etc?
My recommendation is that I'd limit the stops to 3 places (4 max if one is a city stop like SIN or DXB which can be given justice if you go hard for a couple of days.) I'd make sure I had at least 10 days in one place so that the body can just rest and catch up and relieve you of the stress of jet-lag inducing travel.
I'd also consider asing if this is going to be a "once in a life time" trip or not. I'm happy to go blasting around the world in a short time, as I use the sopovers as chances to scope out destinations for future, longer, holidays. I would not recommend this style of travel to anyone who isn't as lucky as me.
HT From Germany, joined May 2005, 4206 posts, RR: 19 Reply 12, posted (2 years 10 months 2 weeks 6 days 9 hours ago) and read 485 times:
I copy my reply from another (very short thread): Star Alliance has a planning tool for RTW-trips downloadable from their website www.staralliance.com - Can´t say if such a tool is also available from One World.
Apart from this: What I´ve learned from other A.netter is the saying: "West is best, East is least" which has become also my opinion (not experience) for RTW´s. This is, unless you travel in C-Class
-HT
Carpe diem ! Life is too short to waste your time ...
HT From Germany, joined May 2005, 4206 posts, RR: 19 Reply 14, posted (2 years 10 months 2 weeks 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 431 times:
Quoting Pr1268 (Reply 13): LAX-SIN-LHR-LAX Three legs only.
Only 2 stops may violate fare rules set for RTW-tariff´s, but will count as a RTW in personal logs.
Personally I think in order to make a RTW a "valid RTW", one not only should have to cross all meridians but also has to touch both hemispheres. This is in contrast to a fictive route from Greenland to Longyearbyen (Spitsbergen, Norway) to Peninsula "Kola" in Russia and further around the north pole to Greenland.
-HT
Carpe diem ! Life is too short to waste your time ...
RAMPRAT980 From United States, joined Mar 2005, 600 posts, RR: 13 Reply 16, posted (2 years 10 months 2 weeks 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 392 times:
Good luck to you on your adventure. One day I hope to do exactly that with one or all of my children. I would probably add a stop in Dubai or somewhere in the middle east. Start from EWR. Definately more stops since I would be flying non-rev. Any suggestions ?
With gun control there can be no democracy.. With gun control there can be no Freedom
EurofleetLHR From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2005, 101 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (2 years 10 months 2 weeks 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 391 times:
Star Alliance RTW deal is excellent - I've done 2 trips so far.
Both trips were done in under 4 weeks; I find that flying westbound helped with the jetlag !
I chose the Business Class option, and the lowest mileage limit (29,000 miles) - which meant it was impossible to visit Australia, South America and South Africa in one itinerary.
The Star Alliance RTW website is excellent in calculating mileage.
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From United States, joined May 1999, 2380 posts, 
from College. As a present to myself, I am thinking of taking an around the world trip. My questions are as follows:
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