Monthly Archives: November 2006

Tickets – One World Explorer

Posted on by

We’ve researched a lot of different options on Round the World tickets. It’s a great way to control your costs on getting there and back, because after you pay a flat fee you can use as many or as few flights as you want too.

Most of the major airline alliances offer some sort of RTW ticket, and most are based on the number of miles flown. For example: Star Alliance has RTW ticket that allows you to fly up to 39,000 miles, which sounds like a lot, until you try to go from North America, Australia, Asia, Africa, and Europe all in those 39,000 miles and you end up with a number like 41,000 or 43,000.

Because we are trying to hit both Australia and Africa (via Asia) the milage capped programs just aren’t going to work for us. Enter the One World Alliance Explorer ticket. Rather than miles your are capped by zones. We will use 5 zones (N. America, Australia, Asia, Africa & Europe). The price is 4,900 USD plus taxes, etc. and you get up to 20 flights. So it looks like a pretty sweet deal.

We are still learning a lot about it, but this FAQ has been invauable.

One World Explorer FAQ:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=338667

Travel Insurance

Posted on by

Going hand-in-hand with vaccinations is Travel Insurance. I’ve been out and about in the world before, but have never even considered getting it. But, this is a big trip and we are grown up now, so it seems like a good time to look at it.

At the moment we are looking at a few providerers, but our friends Jim & Dara have recommeded IMG Global. It’s pretty comprehensive coverage. The deductables are scaleable, and it provides up to two months of coverage after your trip ends and you’re back in the states. That’s pretty sweet.

Maybe we will use: IMG Global

IMG Global, Inc.
Web – http://www.imglobal.com/
Phone – 1.800.628.4664 or
Fax – 1.317.655.4500

Bicycle Hire in New Zealand

Posted on by

For a couple of months we have been considering trying to work in some Bicycle touring as part of our travel. It didn’t take too long to identfy New Zealand as the place we wanted to do it in. It’s suppose to be one of the best places in the world for touring and camping.

The decision that did cause a lot of gnashing of teeth is: should we take our own bikes and ship them back when we’re done in New Zealand, or should we rent?

The best case senario would be to take our own bikes and ship them home on a slow boat. But we have had some trouble figuring out how much that would cost and how long it would take. Plus, it’s always a bit of a hassle to get the bikes boxed and on the plans. So, we have decided to rent. It will probably cost less and save wear-and-tear on our own equipment. It helps that we found a bike co-op in Auckland (called Adventure Cycles) that seem very friendly and knowledgeable about things. Their contact details are below.

Adventure Cycles
Web – http://www.adventure-auckland.co.nz/adventurecycles/
Email – adventurecycles@woosh.co.nz
Phone – 0800 33 55 66

1 Laurie Avenue, Parnell 1052
Auckland
New Zealand