We are planning a round-the-world trip for 2007, and ideally, would like to
visit Penang, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. But we don’t want to
transit the USA, as it was too much hassle last time we visited. Are there
any options? Alistair Wallace, by e-mail
A Sunday Times travel expert responds: Most round–the-world
tickets use one or other of the big airline alliances — such as Star
Alliance (www.staralliance.com), oneworld (www.oneworld.com), or Skyteam
(www.skyteam.com). Using their combined route networks does open up a vast
number of possible routes, but the USA is a global hub for flights, and
avoiding it isn’t easy.
In fact, it’s not possible to fly to Canada from Australia, New Zealand, or
the South Pacific without routing via the USA. Air Canada’s flight from
Sydney to Vancouver touches down in Honolulu, as does Air Pacific’s flight
from Fiji to Vancouver. And even through passengers have to clear US customs
and immigration once they have landed on US territory, which can spell
hassle.
The second difficulty is that round-the-world fares don’t let you backtrack to
a continent you’ve already visited — even if you merely touched down for
re-fuelling. So you couldn’t fly to from the UK to Australasia, and then
backtrack to Asia to get a direct flight from there to Canada, from where
there are several nonstop flights.
However, you can visit the countries you want, without touching US soil if you
fly via South Africa. The Star Alliance ticket would route you from London
to Johannesburg, then
Perth-Sydney-Auckland-Penang-Singapore-Tokyo-Vancouver-London, using South
African Airways, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines & Air Canada, with
fares from £2,087pp (£1,739 airfare plus £348 tax).
If you could bare having to clear customs in Hawaii, you could fly with Star
Alliance,
London-Penang-Singapore-Melbourne-Auckland-Hawaii-Vancouver-London. Using
Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand & Air Canada, with fares from £1,669
(£1409 + £260 tax).
And if Canada isn’t essential to your plans, you could also try
London-Muscat-Kuala Lumpur-HongKong-Sydney-Auckland-Santiago-Sao
Paulo-London, using Gulf Air, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, LAN & British
Airways, with fares from £1,635 (£1389 + £264 tax).
You are best of tackling these complex plans with a round-the-world specialist
like Trailfinders (0845 058 5858, www.trailfinders.com). Other good
companies include STA Travel (0870 163 0026), Travelbag (0800 082 5000,
www.travelbag.co.uk), Flight Centre (0870 499 040, www.flightcentre.co.uk),
and Travelmood (0870 990 9998, www.travelmood.com).
