I returned from my world tour after 680 days of travel without a return ticket or date. In this article, I will show you how to do a world tour by paying as little as possible for plane tickets while traveling well.
Plane tickets for a world tour for less than 2000 euros
This article is a supplement to the article on return plane tickets without a date for a world tour. In that previous article, I covered my first 10 world tour destinations: Turkey, South Africa, Dubai, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, The Philippines, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand for 1500 euros in plane tickets starting from the four corners of the globe.
Traveling around the world with return plane tickets without a date
During my 680-day world tour, I visited the African continent, Asia, Oceania, the North American continent, Central America, Cuba, and South America, but it was for a 2-year world tour; I could have easily traveled for several more years.
The major segments of a trip around the world are:
Example 1:
- Europe – Asia,
- Asia – Oceania,
- Oceania – South America,
- South America – Europe.
or Example 2:
- Europe – Asia,
- Asia – North America,
- North America – South America,
- South America – Europe.
Most world travelers do these two routes, sometimes in reverse order (America first) and do not go to Africa.
I will propose a choice of world tickets at less than 2000 euros by buying my plane ticket as I go along.
I will take the two previous examples:
- Europe – Asia – Oceania – South America – Europe
- or Europe – Asia – North America – South America – Europe.
Each world tour is different, but most world travelers will take this route. For the examples I will give you, you can also do the reverse route Europe – South America in the counterclockwise direction.
Distribution of the world tour ticket prices
The world tour consists of 4 major stages or segments; the Asia – Oceania or North America – South America segments represent a less costly segment than the others. We will give a symbolic distribution.
Choice 1 :
- Europe – Asia and Asia – Oceania: plane tickets under 700 euros
- Oceania – South America and South America – Europe: plane tickets under 1300 euros
Choice 2 :
- Europe – Asia and Asia – North America: plane tickets under 1000 euros
- North America – South America and South America – Europe: plane tickets under 1000 euros
Mandatory route
Segment Europe – Asia: plane tickets at 250 – 350 euros max
Segment South America – Europe: plane tickets at 350 – 450 euros max.
choice 1
Segment Asia – Oceania: plane tickets at 200 – 250 euros max
Segment Oceania – South America: plane tickets at 750 – 850 euros.
choice 2
Segment Asia – North America: 500 – 650 euros max
Segment North America – South America: 200 – 350 euros max
Simulation of the world tour plane ticket
The simulation of the cost of plane tickets was done with the flight comparison tool on the easyvols.fr website, which provided me with reasonable prices without wasting too much time. Flight costs are subject to seasons.
-> Europe – Asia
I know that to go to Asia, tickets are not expensive to go to India or Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore from Europe.
- Choose to arrive in Singapore to go up Asia towards Korea or Japan if you want to go through North America.
- Arrive in Bangkok if you want to go south towards Oceania. You can check the option of arriving in Vietnam then traveling to Singapore.
There are many possibilities; you just have to depart from the main airports of Asia.
For Bombay:
For Bangkok:
For Kuala Lumpur:
For Singapore: 
For Bangkok in May:
If you avoid the high season, you will always have a one-way ticket without a return date between 250 and 350 euros, even up to 400 euros max.
For the return ticket from the South American continent to Europe, mandatory route for both options.
The best way is to return to Europe from Brazil or Argentina (at worst) or if you are in Central America from Mexico.
For Rio de Janeiro in Brazil :
For Salvador de Bahia in Brazil : 
For Mexico in Cancun :
For Buenos Aires in Argentina:
For Lima, it is much more expensive : on average 600-800 euros.
For Bogota : similarly 600 euros.
Choice 1: Depart towards Oceania from Asia.
Depending on your budget and also your choices, it is better to arrive in Melbourne than in Sydney in Australia for example or in Perth from Bali or even in Christchurch in New Zealand then go up New Zealand to take a plane from Auckland to the American continent.
For Melbourne from Bangkok,
For Christchurch, it is better to go through Australia before going there directly.
Little tip:
If you combine Bangkok – Melbourne then Sydney – Christchurch, it costs 260 euros (Bkk Melbourne + Sydney Christchurch), which is 200 euros less than the direct ticket, allowing you to pay for a few hostel nights and go to Sydney comfortably. So you have seen more for the same price.
Now, you have to head towards South America and there is only one option: Auckland – Santiago de Chile (Personally, I took a much more expensive option by passing through Hawaii).
Calculation option choice 1:
Paris – Bangkok: 271 euros. You can do a Southeast Asia tour and return to Bangkok.
Bangkok – Australia – New Zealand: 260 euros. You can then do part of Australia (minimum from Melbourne to Sydney) and then you can do the South Island since you arrive via Christchurch and depart via the North Island in New Zealand (Auckland).
New Zealand – Chile: 756 euros. You can travel from Chile to Brazil passing through Northern Chile then visit Peru if you wish or go directly to Brazil via Argentina. Many choices are possible.
Rio – Paris: 398 euros. Leaving from Brazil, you will have seen another side of Latin America.
Total: 1685 euros in plane tickets for a world tour.
You can find slightly cheaper prices (-10%) if you search a little longer. You can also pay up to 30% more if you do not pay attention to seasons and periods.
Choice 2: Depart towards North America from Asia.
The best way to go from Asia to America is to go through Manila, Korea, or Japan; China may be a possible solution but the visa to visit China costs more than 100 euros.
From Manila to Los Angeles:
From Seoul to Los Angeles : (assuming you take the plane to arrive in Seoul after finishing Southeast Asia).
From Japan to Los Angeles :
You can go from Asia to North America for 450 to 650 euros; you can even find it at 360 euros, which is a great price.
Several screenshots to go to South America : You can also fly to Mexico then go to South America, but it is a more expensive solution.
From Los Angeles to Bogota:
From Los Angeles to Lima:
Calculation option choice 2 :
Paris – Bangkok: 271 euros. You can do a Southeast Asia tour.
Bangkok – Hanoi – Seoul: 89 euros, you can travel from Bangkok to Vietnam by bus then take a flight to Seoul.
Seoul – Los Angeles: 261 euros: You can visit the American West, make a loop San Francisco, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas.
LA – Bogota: 294 euros. You travel to Colombia then you can go down to Brazil passing through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and/or Argentina if you wish.
Rio – Paris: 398 euros.
Total: 1313 euros.
In this example, we had a very cheap flight for North America; you can count up to +30% variation. The price is one of the lowest prices on the market for a world tour ticket without return or date.
Do not think it is impossible to get this price for your plane tickets; if you read the first article (link at the top) and this one, it is quite possible to have this price range by following the advice.
Some additional tips for a return plane ticket without a date
- Travel during the week,
- Check the seasons and travel in the shoulder season,
- Think about your route from the start in relation to plane tickets and seasons.
- If you want to be in a country at the best time, arrive a little early on the continent; you benefit from the best at a low price. Example: arrive one or two weeks before Christmas week, flights are affordable.
- Consider staying on the same continent during the high season to avoid high season prices for plane tickets. Example: in the southern hemisphere, prices soar in January, February. Consider leaving in March and arriving mid-December.
You almost always need to have an exit ticket from the territory. In South America, I use Copa Air which allows having proof of an exit plane ticket without paying (with a mention of ticket in pre-order). Once you are on the continent, they no longer ask for additional tickets.
In most Western countries, I plan plane tickets for the next country or a refundable bus ticket if you do not go.
In Asia, there are several solutions, and it is rare that they ask you for an exit ticket upon arrival; they usually ask before boarding the plane to Asia. Take a low-cost ticket to another nearby country if you do not want to take the risk, which is your next destination. Once on the Asian continent, they will rarely ask for a return ticket.
I left Australia for Thailand in 2011 and another time from Dubai to Thailand in 2015; I was never asked for an exit ticket at the departure airport, but it is different when leaving from France.
Conclusion:
It is easier to have a world tour ticket for less than 2000 euros with choice No. 2, and you can even get it for less than 1500 euros.
For choice No. 2, there is less margin because the crossing to the American continent can be very expensive (around 1000 euros) because there are fewer airlines and therefore fewer choices.
The 2 choices are simulations to get the cost of plane tickets, and it is quite possible to have these price ranges by ordering tickets 1 month in advance; you may have to count +20% more.
I proceeded this way by choosing my plane tickets, and I almost never paid full price.
Here is my route:
It is a mix between choice 1 and 2.
The plane tickets cost me between 2500 and 3000 euros, but I made several special choices, notably to go through Africa and also to stay in Hawaii and go through Canada.
The downside was arriving on the American continent from New Zealand; prices were at 1000 euros, so I decided to go through Hawaii to treat myself (1200 euros with 3 domestic flights in the Hawaiian archipelago, including 2 flights booked locally, 2 days before).
Getting a return plane ticket without a date is not as difficult as it seems if you pay attention.
And you? Do you plan to do a world tour by buying tickets as you go?
