/round-the-world

name: round-the-world
description: Round-the-world, Circle Pacific, and distance-based award products across alliances. Covers Star Alliance RTW, oneworld Explorer, Lufthansa M&M, Qantas, Cathay, JAL, Aeroplan, and Iberia charts.
category: reference
summary: RTW + Pacific Circle + Asia-Pacific Circle + regional distance-award reference. 13 active programs, 4 discontinued.

Round the World, Circle Pacific, and Distance-Based Awards

The RTW universe is collapsing. Four programs ended in the last 18 months: ANA Star RTW (June 2025), Singapore KrisFlyer Star RTW (May 2024), SkyTeam Go Round (2024-25), Singapore KrisFlyer Pacific Circle (likely 2024-25). What's left is concentrated in Star Alliance, oneworld, and a few regional distance-based programs.

This skill provides:

• Comprehensive coverage of every active RTW and Circle product
• Historical charts for discontinued programs (so the agent doesn't get fooled by stale blog posts)
• Distance-based regional alternatives that often beat RTW pricing for shorter trips
• Decision rules for picking the right product

**Data file:** `data/rtw-awards.json`. Contains 17 programs with confidence markers (VERIFIED / LIKELY) and primary-source citations. **Distance helper:** `scripts/calc_distance.py` (haversine, supports cumulative multi-segment routes, with built-in distance-band lookups for Star Alliance / Qantas / oneworld Global Explorer).

Quick Decision Tree

Want to actually circle the globe?
  └→ Want to pay cash? → oneworld Explorer (3-6 continents, online bookable; LIKELY ~$3.6K-$6.9K economy per Upgraded Points 2026; verify on rtw.oneworld.com)
  └→ Want to use miles?
       ├→ Star Alliance RTW (online bookable; Special Business 26k-mile distance band, USD price varies by routing/origin, historically a strong J value)
       ├→ Lufthansa M&M (fixed 195k Y / 400k J / 540k F miles, phone only)
       └→ Qantas oneworld Classic Reward RTW (35k mi cap, 132,400/318,000 Y/J pts)

Want to circle the Pacific Rim only?
  ├→ Star Alliance Circle Pacific (online via member; 22k or 26k mi)
  └→ oneworld Circle Pacific (travel agent only)

Want a multi-carrier oneworld trip but not full RTW?
  ├→ Cathay Asia Miles oneworld multi-carrier (13 distance bands; cheapest J at 60k mi <1000mi)
  ├→ JAL Mileage Bank multi-carrier (10 bands; sweet spot 25k Y / 48k J <4000mi)
  └→ Qantas oneworld Classic (separate from its RTW config)

Just want regional flights cheap?
  ├→ Aeroplan distance-based (NA: 6k Y starting <500mi; Atlantic: 32.5k Y starting <4000mi)
  └→ Iberia Plus Avios (intra-Europe: 3,500 Y under 650mi off-peak)

Active Products

Star Alliance RTW — `staralliance.com/tnc-rtw`

The most flexible RTW still on the market. Three fare types:

| Fare type | Distance bands (mi) | Cabins | Stopovers | Notes | |------------------|----------------------------|---------------------|-----------|-------| | Normal RTW | 29k / 34k / 39k | Y / W / J / F | 2-15 | Globally available | | Special Economy | 26k / 29k / 34k / 39k | Y | 3-12 | NOT from Japan | | Special Business | 26k | J | 5 | NOT from Japan; pricing varies by origin/routing — historically a strong J value (LIKELY) |

**Rules:**

• Origin/destination same country
• Single direction (E or W)
• Each Traffic Conference crossed once
• Up to 16 segments, 5 surface sectors
• Min stay 10 days, max 1 year
• Reroute fee $125, cancel fee $150
• Purchase ≥72 hrs before first departure

**Two separate products live under the "Star Alliance RTW" umbrella, do not conflate:**

1. **Star Alliance RTW paid fare** — a cash USD/local currency fare bookable directly at staralliance.com/en/book-fly, priced by distance band and cabin (Normal vs Special). Not a points redemption. 2. **Member-program mileage RTW awards** — each Star Alliance member program (Aeroplan up to its 2020 discontinuation, ANA up to its 2025 discontinuation, Lufthansa Miles & More, Avianca LifeMiles, etc.) historically had its own RTW or multi-stop award chart with its own mileage cost and rules. Most have been killed or restricted. See the per-program entries below for current state.

For the Star Alliance paid RTW fare specifically, the Normal/Special distance bands cap how far you can fly, but the actual USD price varies by origin country, routing, and currency conversion. Always verify current pricing at staralliance.com/en/book-fly.

Star Alliance Circle Pacific — `staralliance.com/tnc-cp`

Same product family as RTW but constrained to Pacific Rim:

• 22,000 or 26,000 mi distance bands
• Must touch Asia, North America, **and** South West Pacific
• 3-15 stopovers
• 7 days min, 6 months max
• Reroute $75, cancel 10% of fare
• Customer Service or member airline only (not online self-service)

oneworld Explorer — `rtw.oneworld.com`

Continent-based (not distance-based). Online bookable. Cabin pricing scales with continent count.

| Continents | Economy USD (LIKELY, per Upgraded Points 2026) | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------| | 3 | ~$3,599 | | 4 | ~$4,999 | | 5 | ~$5,699 | | 6 | ~$6,899 |

**Source:** primary `rtw.oneworld.com` for the structure; secondary [Upgraded Points 2026 RTW guide](https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/airlines/best-round-the-world-tickets/) for the specific economy rates above. Business and First class rates exist but are not surfaced in the public booking flow without a search; verify on rtw.oneworld.com for current cabin pricing.

**Rules:** 16 max segments, 2-15 stopovers. Premium economy upgrades available.

oneworld Global Explorer — `rtw.oneworld.com`

Distance-based alternative to Explorer. 39,000-mile cap. **Travel agent only** (not bookable on rtw.oneworld.com self-service).

oneworld Circle Pacific — `rtw.oneworld.com`

Pacific-bordering circle product. 4 regions: Asia (incl. Indian sub