# Travel Talk > Round the World Travel >  RTW Airfare Itinerary Insight Requested

## travelworld

I am thinking of doing a RTW trip in 2010 and am currently looking at possible places to go starting from the USA.  Ideally I would like to do 10 months in cheaper countries in the world (I'd like to get by for under $25,000) like Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Easter Island, and most of Asia: Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macao, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Nepal, and India.   I would like to do overland from China to Indonesia and possibly Rio to Buenos Aires and from Nepal to India.  

I was looking up RTW airfare tickets and found two issues.  The first being if I want to do South America and Asia it looks like I would have to purchase a 4 continent itinerary on OneWorld as there are no direct flights from South America to Asia.  Since I would like to do Easter Island and South America / Asia any of the mileage based ones would put me in the highest mileage count.  The second issue is if I have a new continent area to go to, I would want to explore more places in that region (I mean if you're there...).  I am leaning to the RTW tickets for the convenience of being able to change the date but having something tentatively booked ahead of time.

So my questions just for my initial planning:

1) The 4 country One World Explorer is $4400 + taxes and fees.  Does anyone know exactly how much these taxes and fees are?  Are they the same as flights that you book individually because some I have seen are up to 75% taxes and the regular ticket is really cheap.  With the 3 continent itinerary at $3900 plus tax I was going to budget up to $6000 for tickets just in case and would not like to go over much.  (I have a separate budget ready for inflation of about $750 but would prefer it not consumed on airfare).  Also, does anyone know how much these typically go up each year due to inflation?

2) If I do have to go in the South Pacific (wouldnt be too upset) I would have to cut back on some things in South America and potentially in Asia.  I am trying to get by on under $50/day for hostels, food, sight seeing, and city-city transportation after airfare, souvenirs, large purchases (like major shows, scuba diving, etc) are factored in.  Is this doable in the larger countries like New Zealand and Australia?  I would not be upset on missing them now - I know I'd go back.  I was thinking of the idea of layovers in Tahetee and Fiji... and maybe Vanuatu instead.  

3) Are there any other options that would be cheaper for such long flights?  I tried looking at individual tickets however doing South America AND Asia on individual tickets would be very, very expensive.  Especially if I do Easter Island

I was thinking $15/night avg hostels, $10/day avg food, $15/day sight seeing, and $5/day for city-city transport used once every 4 or 5 days.  On hostelworld it seems that most hostels are well under $15/night except in Japan so that should not be an issue.

Upon further inspection I found that I could possibly get a series of one way tickets for about the same price as a 3 continent around the world before taxes.  Does anyone have any input on doing a series of one way tickets purchased only a few weeks in advance?  It seems the more risky route with airline prices fluctuating all the time.

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