RTW in J for Sep/Oct: YVR/YYC/YQB/YYZ + Europe/Asia return to SYD – worth it?

[daichisuba]

Hi all,


I’m planning a ~4 week business class holiday in Sep/Oct for myself and my partner and I'm trying to work out whether a RTW ticket is worth it therse days, or if I should just book point-to-point fares.


Rough itinerary so far:

• SYD–YVR (Spend a bit of time in Vancouver before driving up to Banff/Rockies)
• YYC–YQB (2-3 nights in Quebec City)
• YQB–YYZ (3-5 nights in Toronto visiting friends)

The ordering of Quebec City and Toronto is not so important, but I believe flights and connections are better from YYZ.

After this first part we were originally thinking of flying down to Mexico (maybe PVR) for a beach/rest leg, but October looks like it could be pretty wet, so I’m considering swapping that for Europe (visiting family in FRA/MUC) and possibly turning the whole thing into a RTW with an another Europ stopover before/after MUC/FRA or alternatively an Asian destination before flyign back to SYD(e.g. HND/NRT or KIX/ITM).

I’ve been reading up on RTW fares and tried the online planners, but I keep getting stuck (especially with the OneWorld RTW tool), so I’m not sure whether my routing is problematic or the tool is just painful. I realise that not all flights might be available e.g. YQB–YYZ, but the ones I've tried error out with dates not available, but don't provide any meaninful valid dates.

Some additional considerations / questions:

• We originally were planning to visit the US, but given the current climate, we wish to limit or avoid entering the US if possible. I imagine flying out of NYC would provide more options.
• We are pretty flexible with dates, so depart early or late Sep or even Oct. Dunno how much pricing might be impacted when it comes to RTW during school holidays etc.
• I don’t have status and only insignificant miles with QF/EK, so this will likely be cash.
• I might be flying SYD-DBX in April (maybe J) but haven't booked this yet and I doubt this will make any meanigful contribution for status or points. But who knows? Was considering Emirates, Thai or Singapore Airlines.
• We would prefer more premium J airlines/seats on the longer flights.

Keen to hear from anyone who’s done RTW:

• Is RTW still good value / flexibility vs separate tickets?
• Any suggested routings for the YYZ → Europe → SYD part (maybe via LIS/MAD/AMS/IST)?
• Better to book direct, or use a TA? (I’ve seen a few agent recommendations such @madrooster , roundabouttravel, airfaregeeks)

I’ve never used a TA before but I can see it being really helpful for something like this (work backwards, find valid routings, etc.), but I’m also aware I would be at the mercy of the agent if disruptions happen and airlines push you back to the TA.

 

[Mwenenzi]

A lot of destinations in 4 weeks. A lot of hours in aircraft and airports.

A trip where a good TA will add value. For multi city - multi country trip an experied TA will give more value/ flight & hotel savings than their fee.

The OW RTW tool is buggy.
You need to check first that a oneworld flight exists. Then that D class (business) is available. D class can be limited.
BA fly from Canada to UK. IB to MAD restarting from Toronto Jun 2026

And need to understand the rules (click FAQ - what are the rules)
OW RTW ex AU is expensive compared to ex Japan. Get to Japan by an award or cash ticket.
You have 16 segments, over 12 months. Use them all wisely.

If you do start in SYD, fly back into BNE or MEL if have not used all 16 segments. Separate ticket to home. Then sometime in the next 10~11 months go an expensive AU destination DRW, Broome, PER. or whatever. Alternatively if you live in SYD, start the OW RTW in BNE or MEL. Fly back into SYD for up to a 10~11 month stopover (at home) before going to DRW etc. An almost free trip to somewhere in AU for the price of a cheap BNE/MEL-SYD commuter flight.

RTW Flights: Round The World Airline Tickets - RTW

Book Round The World airline tickets. Search multi-city flights to hundreds of destinations worldwide from oneworld Alliance member airlines.

www.oneworld.com

OW Explorer https://assets.ctfassets.net/m9ph4q...7ae8a919351/oneworld_Explorer_15_DEC_2025.pdf
Global Explorer https://assets.ctfassets.net/m9ph4q...6f8aac19819b538/Global_Explorer_15_DEC_25.pdf
Circle Pacific https://assets.ctfassets.net/m9ph4q...world_Circle_Pacific_Explorer_15_DEC_2025.pdf

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=c:blue,+SYD-YVR,+YYC-YQB-yyz-mad-cdg-sin-syd&MS=bm&PW=3&DU=mi

 

[markis10]

A OneWorld ex Japan is pretty hard to beat at approx $12k for J ie Guide to Oneworld Explorer Round-The-World Tickets

Quite a few trip reports this year show maximum value being obtained

 

[Mwenenzi]

A OneWorld ex Japan is pretty hard to beat at approx $12k for J ie Guide to Oneworld Explorer Round-The-World Tickets

Quite a few trip reports this year show maximum value being obtained

If daichisuba books ex Japan the 2nd trip after a stopover at home can be to anywhere in the oneworld definition of South Pacific region, Fiji, NZ etc. Need to pay real taxes, including the Au govt $70 departure tax.

QF link from 2018, but assume still current, as regions do not change --

https://www.qantas.com/content/dam/qac/oneworld-clue-cards/ow-rtw-continents.pdf

QF link from 2018, so well out of date, But a guide--

https://www.qantas.com/content/dam/qac/oneworld-clue-cards/oneworld-quick-reference-guide.pdf

 

[RooFlyer]

I’ve been reading up on RTW fares and tried the online planners, but I keep getting stuck (especially with the OneWorld RTW tool), so I’m not sure whether my routing is problematic or the tool is just painful.

The planning tool is buggy. And if you use it to book, you have to pay there and then.

Better to book direct, or use a TA? (I’ve seen a few agent recommendations such @madrooster , roundabouttravel, airfaregeeks)

People here know I am a fan of TAs, but in this case I think its a slam dunk. BTW, are you looking at both OW and Star Alliance RTWs? a Star Alliance one will get you to Canada, and avoid the USA, which you want, and also Germany, of course. You'd save a number of 'positioning' sectors Vs OW. There are also the Finnair (OW) and Lufthansa (SA) 'RTWs', which are tricky but can be excellent value in certain circumstances.

Don't do roundabout, airfaregeeks types of TAs. I can give you a solid, 'bricks and mortar' one to try out, if you want to DM me. They've done OW, *A, AY and LH-style RTWs for me!

I’ve never used a TA before but I can see it being really helpful for something like this (work backwards, find valid routings, etc.), but I’m also aware I would be at the mercy of the agent if disruptions happen and airlines push you back to the TA.

If disruptions happen, a TA is your best friend. You don't want to be in a German hotel room calling Qantas or someone trying to get a disruption fixed. With my TA, they have 24/7 service, so its a call or e-mail, then they get to work fixing it. Can also have direct lines to airlines to get work-arounds you'd never get with a call centre agent.

But if you really want, once you have commenced your journey, you can deal with the ticket direct - you don't have to get the TA to do it.

TAs also can do other nifty things, such as beginning a RTW in another country (like @Mwenenzi said - OW ex Japan is very good) and/or writing the ticket on another airline's 'paper' - Qantas for instance will charge full range of everyone's extra charges; some airlines wont. You can save a lot this way.

Also book seats for you, look at pricing of various departure times, etc etc. There is a fee, but its very small in comparison to the cost of the ticket and it saves so much of your time in the nitty-gritty.