Round-the-world trip: advice & tips by AVI International

Going on a round-the-world trip? this requires a bit of organization. Here are some questions you might need to answer before you begin your trip.

Not long ago, round the world tours were reserved for fortunate people, but today, the pleasure to travel the world is accessible to everyone. Of course, this requires a bit of organization. Here are some questions you might need to answer before you begin your trip.

Which route will you choose for your travel?

The world is big, rich, and complex. Even if you want to see everything, hear everything, feel everything, you will have to deal with your time constraints. First, define what destinations you wish to visit and how long you want to stay.
The longer your trip, the more important it is to plan rest periods. Do not hesitate to spend a week in big cities.
If you want to take a round the world ticket" (see next section), you will have to adapt to the proposed itinerary.
This list of destinations will make you aware of the limits of your travel, and the destinations most important to you will come off naturally.

How to find cheap air tickets?

Transportation is probably one of the most important budgets in your world tour. To benefit from the best rates, you must be flexible on dates (few days), book in advance (an airline ticket can be purchased up to a year ahead), compare fares on different search engines and sites and check also directly on the company's website without using any fare comparator.
You will find bellow other tricks to travel at the lowest cost.

The round the world tickets:

For many years, the agency "Les Connaisseurs du voyage" offers this kind of tickets, with unbeatable prices. For example, you'll pay € 3,000 (including taxes) for a series of flights valid one year that will take you from Paris to Cairo (Egypt) and to Amman (Jordan). Then from Bangkok (Thailand) to Sydney (Australia) and Christchurch (New Zealand). You will then leave from Auckland (New Zealand) to Santiago (Chile) and from Rio (Brazil) back to Paris.
Many options are available. To discover them, take a look at “Les Connaisseurs du voyage" website (link at bottom of page).

They buy your ticket at your price:

Air fares evolve every month and even every day. The start-up Option Way has set up a system allowing you to prepay the price you're ready to pay for a ticket. Their robots will watch the prices and automatically buy a ticket when it reaches the goal you have set. Of course, if the ticket isn't found, you are refunded.

Before buying, try to connect from another computer, and another network:

A few months ago, the journalist Rafaële Rivais from Le Monde wrote that some companies identify your IP address in order to increase the price of the ticket you're interested in. After investigation, the DGCCRF stated that it was unable to prove the existence of such practices. However, it noted that prices could vary according to the site previously visited by the user", a user coming from a price comparator can sometimes be offered more attractive prices, but with higher costs, the total price not being affected significantly, " wrote the journalist." Although this information hasn't been proven, we can only advise you to check the fare for your tickets from another computer.

Check the foreign sites of the airlines:

A same flight ticket can be sold at different prices to Spanish, Italian or French customers.

Use a monitoring tool:

AlgoFly is a website which lists different prices for your destination and allows you to create a warning system to be informed when the prices become particularly interesting.

Join a loyalty system:

All airlines are grouped together in different alliances and allow you to earn miles for future free trips. For example, in the alliance which includes Air France (SkyTeam), a ticket to North America is available from 25,000 miles. As an example a flight from Paris to Bangkok earns you 5,860 miles.

Which round-the world travel insurance should I buy?

Even in Europe, Social Security does not support all your health expenses. First, your file has to be processed before a possible refunding is considered. If this is the case, the refund is calculated according to the social security prices (the Cpam in France), regardless of what you paid. The amount refunded will be the same for a doctor's visit,whether you visit in France, Cameroon or the United States.

Marco Polo travel insurance, the round the world tour travel insurance

The round the world repatriation travel insurance Marco Polo was designed for people going on long journeys. It allows you to get refunded for all medical expenses worldwide up to € 300,000. You also get baggage insurance (very useful because you will travel a lot during your round the world tour), third party civil liability (if you cause an accident), coverage for optical expenses, emergency dental expenses, disability and disfigurement compensation, etc.
Similarly, if you are hospitalized for more than five days, AVI International pays for the transportation and accommodation of a family member to come to your bedside. Your repatriation is covered in case of medical problem or serious accident or illness a close family member.
If you plan to dive or practice risky sports during your trip, an optional coverage is available. It is not necessary to buy it for the whole duration of the trip: it is possible to subscribe just for a month for example.

Should I change my bank?

Choosing your bank can help you achieve significant savings. Here is a simulation for a one year world tour. We imagined using the following credit card: withdrawal of € 500 per month for 12 months and € 500 of other monthly payments. The total budget is € 12,000.