In the latest version of the Around the World Airfare Report, we shopped prices for RTW plane tickets from nine different companies and rated each company based on three criteria:

• Price: How much does it cost?
• Service speed: How long does it take to get a bookable price?
• Frustration factor: How frustrating is the process of building and pricing a multi-stop route?

Price

Here is how the cost of searching these routes on SkyTeam Alliance compared to other companies for each of the three routes we searched:

• Route 1: 7th lowest price out of 9 options
• Route 2:Unable to price this route
• Route 3: Unable to price this route

Service speed

Here is how the speed of searches compared to other companies we searched.

• Route 1: 4th fastest out of 9
• Route 2: Unable to price this route
• Route 3: Unable to price this route

Frustration Factor

As long as your route fits within their rules and regulations, you can get a price online, but we were unable to price 2 of the 3 routes we searched. There are a lot of rules and regulations when it comes to any airline alliance round the world ticket, so we recommend only using the alliances if you have a simpler route, or you are looking to cash in or build miles with a particular airline alliance.

Like other alliances, SkyTeam Alliance is easier and cheaper when it comes to changing dates. Date changes are free, and if you book a SkyTeam RTW ticket, you have to book your first international flight, date and all, but after that it’s possible to leave the dates open. Be aware; however, that date changes are subject to availability on the flight a customer wants to change to, so by waiting too long, it’s possible to be shut out.

If you have used SkyTeam Alliance for your round the world trip, we want to hear from you. Leave a review below in the comments.