Round the World Fares Comparison Shopping Matrix

	Oneworld Explorer	Star	Skyteam	Virgin Atlantic	Emirates
Comment	Oneworld offer an excellent website that tells you everything you need to know to understand their pass.	Star offer a dreadful website that hides as much information as possible. A trip calculator function is nice and clever, but takes a long time to work through and requires you to give personal details and email address before it will cost out the fare.	Unhelpful website	Due to the limited number of participating airlines, these fares are not as flexible with many fewer options. But the pricing is considerably lower, too, and if you're just thinking of going to a few different places, this might be a good option.	The multiple airline fare is flexible and comparably priced to the Star product.
Seasonality	Mainly year round, some high/low season rates for coach class if travel commences in UK or Australia	None	None	Prices vary by season (details not known), by a few hundred dollars.	No
Minimum Stay	10 days	10 days	10 days	Saturday night	10 days for the UA product No minimum for the multiple airline product
Maximum Stay	12 months	12 months	12 months	12 months	12 months
Open sectors	Yes but not first flight	Probably yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
How far in advance to book flights	Must book first flight at least seven days in advance. It seems no minimum advance booking time applies, 'local service fees may apply'	Must book first flight seven days in advance if on the 26,000 mile fare, otherwise no advance booking on first flight No advance booking requirement on other flights for business and first class fares, at least a day for coach class fares.	First flight and ticket issuance at least seven days prior to departure No charge to confirm open sectors, but $100 charge to change flight details	Seven days advance purchase, or 14 days with the Eva Air combination	Both products require 7 days advance for reservations/ticketing
Change itinerary	Yes, doesn't say how much notice, and 'a charge may be payable' - typically $125	Yes, but details not known	$100 per change	$100 to change prior to departure, no charge for changes subsequently	Yes, $125 fee applies
Earns miles	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Participating airlines	10 member airlines plus their regional affiliates	19 airlines	11 airlines and 3 associate airlines	Has several different RTW fare types, variously in association with : Air New Zealand (NZ) and Singapore Airlines (SQ) All Nippon Airlines (NH); or Eva Airways (BR); or Malaysian Airlines (MH); or Singapore Airlines (SQ); or Thai Airways (TG)	One RTW fare with UA only One other RTW fare with multiple other carriers : Jet Airways (9W) Alaska Airlines (AS) Continental (CO) Air Pacific (FJ) KLM (KL) Kenya Airways (KQ) Malev (MA) Malaysian Airlines (MH) Northwest Airlines (NW) South African Airways (SA) Air Caledonie (SB) Air Tahiti Nui (TN) Sri Lankan Airlines (UL) Copa Airlines (CM)
Method of charging	You pay so much per continent you visit, and can have up to four flights in each continent (and six in the US). Two extra flights per continent can be purchased. The world is divided into seven continents, and the fare allows for travel to up to six of them.	Mileage based, with choices between 26,000 (coach class only), 29,000, 34,000 or 39,000 miles. Even though the earth has a circumference of a maximum 25,000 miles, it is surprisingly difficult to have a varied itinerary fit within 26,000 miles, and more detailed itineraries can readily go over 34,000 miles.	Mileage based, with four different mileage levels : 26,000, 29,000, 34,000 and 39,000 miles. Presumably if you exceed 39,000 miles, you then need to buy some separate tickets for part of the journey to keep the distance on the RTW ticket within 39,000 miles.	The fare with both NZ and SQ is mileage based, all the others are restricted to specific and fairly limited route options	Fare with UA = anywhere the two airlines fly, but with some limits on backtracking Fare with multiple airlines is mileage based, with pricing for 30,000, 35,000 and 40,000 miles of travel.
Max number of flights	A maximum of 20 flights per ticket.	Maximum of 15 stops, except for the 26,000 mile fare which has a maximum of 5 stops.	15 stops maximum	Mileage based restrictions, and can buy some extra miles if needed.	No limit on UA fare 10 stops maximum and 24 tickets maximum for combo fare.
Open jaws	Yes, but it is counted as if it were a flight for calculating max flights.	Don't know			Yes
Backtracking	Allowed within each continent, but not allowed between continents	Don't know		Backtracking is allowed when moving to a new location. However passengers can not re-visit a location unless just traveling through to a new location.	Some backtracking allowed
Lowest season coach fare and dates for travel from US	$3900 all year for three continents $4100 for four continents $4900 for five continents $5300 for six continents Extra flights are $150 each Book in L class	$4069 for presumably 26,000 miles $5511 for 39,000 miles	€2099 for 26,000 miles (ie about $3150 @ 1.5) €3049 for 34,000 miles (ie about $4600 @ 1.5) $5511 for 39,000 miles	$3149 with NZ/SQ $3800 with NH $2570 with BR $3089 with MH $3600 with SQ $2647 with TG	$4119 with UA $4069 for 30,000 mile fare $4687 for 35,000 mile fare $5511 for 40,000 mile fare
Highest season coach fare and dates	No seasonal rates, same price all year	No seasonal rates, same price all year		$2609 high season 10 - 23 Dec	No seasonal rates, same price all year
Premium economy	Yes - applies to BA World Traveler Plus only, $300 extra per flight, or $450 if flying between LON and MEL or SYD	No	No	sometimes, extra cost per flight	No
Business	$7500 all year for three continents $8300 for four continents $9500 for five continents $11100 for six continents Extra flights are $400 each Book in D class except for JL domestic in Y and AA flights 3000-5599 in Y and sometimes US domestic upgraded to A	$7880 for 29,000 miles $10,558 for 39,000 miles	€6562 for 34,000 miles (ie about $9850 @ 1.5) $10,558 for 39,000 miles	$6800 with NZ/SQ $7400 with NH $3618 with BR $4850 with MH $6660 with SQ $3727 with TG	$7930 with UA $7880 for 30,000 mile fare $9013 for 35,000 mile fare $10558 for 40,000 mile fare
First Class	$10600 all year for three continents $11400 for four continents $13100 for five continents $15400 for six continents Extra flights are $550 each Book in A or D class, sometimes Y, depending on airline	$11,440 for 29,000 miles $15,400 for 39,000 miles	€12,127 for 34,000 miles (ie about $18,200 @ 1.5)	Note - VS doesn't have first class on its planes $5170 with TG	$11490 with UA Not offered on multiple airline fare
Child and Infant Fares	Children are 75% of adult fare, infants are 10%	Discounts apply, but details not provided.		Children are 75% of adult fare, infants are 10%	75% of adult fare for children, 10% for infants
Notes	Taxes are extra Travel - even with no stops - between Australia and Europe is counted as going through three continents (Australia, Asia and Europe).	Taxes are extra		Single crossing of the Atlantic and Pacific.	Taxes are extra
General information	link	link	link	link	Nothing published online
Detailed fare sheet	link

Note : The information above is incomplete and may not be fully accurate, due to the limited sources of information available and the summary nature by which a lot of this material is presented. Use the information above with caution and double check everything with the airlines involved before making any important decisions.