Basically, this means that if you don't adhere to the rules of service for Star Alliance, it's not p

We shopped prices for RTW plane tickets from eight different companies and rated each company based on five criteria price , search hotels in myrtle beach south carolina options/ease of search , customer hotels in myrtle beach south carolina service , date flexibility , and route flexibility .
We tried searching three different routes when pricing RTW plane tickets. Because of the terms and conditions involved with Star Alliance s round the world fare, we were unable to obtain pricing for two of the routes we searched. The one route we were able to obtain pricing for was not very competitive with other companies. On average, Star Alliance s price was 54.23% hotels in myrtle beach south carolina higher than the cheapest option. As a traveler, if you want to offset the high cost of their RTW fares, the only way to do is if you have miles built up from an airline hotels in myrtle beach south carolina in their alliance.
When searching hotels in myrtle beach south carolina online for a simple round the world route, it was quick, easy, and painless. If the route is not complicated, the entire process can be done online, and their Book and Fly tool is simple hotels in myrtle beach south carolina to navigate. As long as your route fits within their rules and regulations, you can get a price online. If you try to search a more complicated route; however, finding a price becomes more difficult. When trying hotels in myrtle beach south carolina to search a 13 leg trip (9 flights and 4 overland segments), it quickly swelled to 19 because of the connections. All connections are counted hotels in myrtle beach south carolina against hotels in myrtle beach south carolina their 16 segment limit. Because of this, Star Alliance was not able to provide us with a price for the two more complicated itineraries. If you don t want to search using their online tool, the only other way of obtaining a price is to contact the reservation center hotels in myrtle beach south carolina of any of Star Alliance s member airlines.
Even though we couldn t obtain a price online for the two more complicated routes, we figured that inquiring further would be a good idea, so we sent a message hotels in myrtle beach south carolina via their online enquiry form . They informed us that if we needed further assistance to call one of their member airlines and gave us the number hotels in myrtle beach south carolina for Lufthansa. We pushed for more information from the Star customer service rep, asking hotels in myrtle beach south carolina if there’s any way to book a trip with more than 16 segments.
“If you would like to purchase additional flights you have to book them separately. 16 segments are the maximum permitted amount within a Round the World ticket. Any additional flight you have to book through hotels in myrtle beach south carolina the operating hotels in myrtle beach south carolina carrier directly.”
Basically, this means that if you don’t adhere to the rules of service for Star Alliance, it’s not possible to book a trip with them. You would have to adjust the itinerary to fit within the rules. The rep was nice and responded in a timely manner, but didn t seem interested in working with us directly and was quick to pass us off, despite the fact we were searching hotels in myrtle beach south carolina fares that cost upwards of $6000US.
Like other alliances, Star Alliance rates high for changing dates, which are generally free (it could be more difficult if you wait until the very last minute). If you book a Star Alliance RTW ticket, you have to book your first international flight, date and all, but after that it s possible to leave the dates open.
The problem with route flexibility comes with its terms, rules, and regulations, which makes it difficult if you are looking to book a longer, more complicated RTW trip. On the plus side, Star Alliance hotels in myrtle beach south carolina does have the widest coverage compared to other alliances, particularly in Europe and Asia. As mentioned above, customers have a 16 segment limit, meaning you can only have 16 legs to your trip. Each flight or overland journey counts against that limit, connections included. For example, if flying from Los Angeles to Sydney you have to connect hotels in myrtle beach south carolina in Fiji, that will count as two segments. We had three separate routes we tried pricing from an ultra simple, hotels in myrtle beach south carolina 4 leg hub city RTW trip to a long 18-segment trip. Because of the rules and regulations, when trying to go through Star, we were only able to price the first trip as the other s didn t fit into their rules.
It was difficult to use their online trip planner to obtain a price for a longer RTW trip, and Star Alliance couldn t accommodate some legs of the proposed trips. Adding in a destination like Easter Island from Australia was really difficult as many of the flights go through the US, making for long flight times and adding more segments to their 16-segment limit.
If you really want to use Star Alliance for your RTW airfare, we would advise going through a travel agent as they can maneuver around many of the rules. If your RTW trip is a short, simple one, then doing it yourself is quite easy, though much more expensive than the cheapest option.
Star Alliance RTW tickets are based on distance. If you are going to include lots of overland segments, you re paying for distance that you aren t flying. Paying for something and not using it is, quite frankly, a stupid use of a product.
You re expecting the product to be flexible, but not showing any flexibility yourself. If you want to go SFO-overland-LA, hotels in myrtle beach south carolina just buy a separate LAX-SFO one-way to get you back to SFO and continue from there. Not only does it remove the stupidity of paying hotels in myrtle beach south carolina for distance you re not using, but it reduces the number of segments on the RTW.
Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser.