It has been nine months since we last presented you with a round-the-world trip using individually pieced-together cheap tickets. Time for a new attempt. Instead of the XL version with various routings, we’ve settled for a sample route this time. You can, of course, customize your own trip with additional stops based on this example.
For exactly €1,000, our sample includes stops in Paris, Calgary, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, Melbourne, Sydney, and Seoul. Altogether, you’ll visit 5 countries on four continents. In Asia, you can add more destinations for little cost.
In theory, a trip following our scheme should be doable from November 2024 to March 2025. After that, it becomes at least €100 more expensive, as prices from Seoul to Paris rise afterwards. Accommodations, airport transfers, possible visa fees, etc., are not included in the price.
Make sure to check entry requirements for each country in advance. As Europeans, the following travel authorizations are typically sufficient:
- Canada: eTA for about €5
- USA: ESTA for US$21 (~€18)
- Australia: eVisitor visa (free)
- Korea: K-ETA for ₩10,000 (~€6)
Sample Route
The following article refers to the sample route totalling exactly €1,000:
- February 14, 2025: Paris – Calgary for €183 with Westjet
- February 19, 2025: Calgary – Los Angeles for €114 with Air Canada
- February 25, 2025: Los Angeles – San Francisco for €56 with Amtrak
- March 2, 2025: San Francisco – Honolulu for €77 with Hawaiian
- March 5, 2025: Honolulu – Melbourne for €116 with Jetstar
- March 11, 2025: Melbourne – Sydney for €48 with Jetstar
- March 15, 2025: Sydney – Bangkok – Seoul for €177 with AirAsia
- March 21, 2025: Seoul – Paris for €229 with T’way
The Segments
As mentioned at the beginning, this is not a continuous flight ticket. Instead, you’ll have to book the individual segments separately. So, make sure to allow enough buffer time in case a flight is delayed or cancelled. This way, you have flexibility in planning and can adjust individual legs as desired. Below are more details on the individual components of this trip.
Paris – Calgary for €183
Charles de Gaulle is currently one of the cheapest airports to fly to North America. Budget airline Westjet currently offers one-way tickets to Calgary for €183. According to Google Flights, availability runs from November 2024 to March 2025.
If you have frequent flyer status with Delta SkyMiles, you can check in at least one bag for free. Everyone else is limited to 8 kg of hand luggage + a personal item. A 23-kg checked bag can be added for €50.
Calgary – Los Angeles for €114
There’s not much to do in Calgary itself. A detour to Banff National Park, less than a two-hour drive away, is worth it—it’s also very scenic in winter. Once you’ve done that, you can fly on to Los Angeles.
Westjet offers nonstop flights for €114 but only includes a personal item. Air Canada and United require a layover for the same price, but large hand luggage is included. Prices are quite steady year-round, and Google Flights can help with your search.
A 23 kg checked bag costs CA$35 (~€22) extra, except for Star Alliance frequent flyers flying with Air Canada or Delta frequent flyers flying with WestJet.
Alternatively, you could skip the California stops and fly directly to Honolulu for €183. However, the round-the-world trip would then be considerably shorter.
Los Angeles – San Francisco for €56
The first draft of this article had a direct flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii. But if you’ve made it to California—why not take a cable car ride? So, it’s off to San Francisco.
Alaska, Delta, American, and others sell corresponding tickets for €54. In this case, we opted for another solution: Amtrak costs €2 more and takes ten times as long for the route. But in the Coast Starlight observation car, you can better enjoy the coastal route—and luggage is included too.
San Francisco – Honolulu for €77
In San Francisco, we can ride the cable car up and down for a week with the Muni Passport for US$41 (~€35). After that, it’s time to head back to the airport. Budget-conscious travellers will take the SamTrans bus for just $2.25 instead of paying $10.55 for BART.
Then, it’s on to Honolulu, Hawaii, with Hawaiian Airlines for €77. The cheapest tickets include a layover in Maui. Some may see this as an obstacle and prefer to pay €20 more for a nonstop flight. Others will be happy to see another island from above—and tick off the Boeing 717.
A checked bag with Hawaiian costs an additional US$40 (~€34). Alternatively, you could swap the stops in Los Angeles and San Francisco. There are cheap tickets from LAX with Southwest that include 2x 22 kg of luggage. Otherwise, check Google Flights for options.
Honolulu – Melbourne for €117
Hawaii is expensive, and Honolulu isn’t necessarily the natural paradise. If you have more time, plan a trip to Maui, Kauai, or the Big Island… or at least take a bus around O’ahu. The east coast is much more scenic than the urban jungle.
We then thank budget airline Jetstar for making cheap round-the-world trips possible in the first place. Flights from Honolulu to Australia from around €100 are a staple of these round-the-world articles. In this example, we chose a ticket to Melbourne for €117.
Jetstar seems to be a fairly respectable budget airline. Checked luggage on the 11-hour flight costs just US$40 (~€34) extra, and comfort is acceptable: you get a 79 cm seat pitch and adjustable headrests. You can find dates via Google Flights.
Melbourne – Sydney for €48
Once you arrive in Australia, all options are open: a detour to the penguin colonies on Phillip Island, a shopping tour to find all varieties of Tim Tams (guilty), or maybe even a hop over to Tasmania.
We wanted to keep the flight price in this article at max. €1,000. So, it’s directly onward to Sydney. A train ride would cost €52 including luggage, but the reviews are less favourable. So, we opted for the plane: tickets start from €48 with Jetstar. The airline is known for weighing hand luggage, so Virgin Australia for €60 might be the better choice.
With Jetstar, the flight including a 20-kg suitcase would cost A$110 (~€62), while Virgin offers the fare with 23 kg of luggage and seat selection for A$119 (~€67). If you search Google Flights, you can also find flights from AVV Airport for €30. We advise against it—the savings are eaten up by the expensive airport bus.
Sydney – Seoul for €177
There’s a train directly from Sydney Airport into the city. Unfortunately, it costs A$17 (~€10) Access Fee in addition to the train ticket. Budget-conscious travellers can walk 20 minutes to Mascot Station or take the bus there. The same applies on the return trip before heading to Korea.
The AirAsia flight to Korea includes a layover in Bangkok but does not allow for additional stops. So, Seoul remains our only destination in Asia in this example. With 20 kg of checked luggage, it costs A$418 (~€234).
You can find more available dates on Google Flights. If you want a stopover in Bangkok, expect to pay about €100 more. Another alternative would be Sydney – Xiamen – Seoul with Xiamen Air and a stopover in China, costing around €280 including checked luggage. Or how about Sydney – Hanoi (stopover) – Tokyo for €350 including luggage?
Seoul – Paris for €229
Fortunately, the budget airline T’way now flies directly to Europe, offering cheap one-way tickets. This way, we fly nonstop from Korea back to France for €229. Additionally, there’s a surprisingly generous 81 cm seat pitch in a 2-4-2 configuration.
15 kg of checked luggage is included. That should be enough, as with 20 instead of 15 kg, the price rises by €54. Time to finish off the last Tim Tams from Australia. You can also return to Europe even cheaper by flying to Frankfurt for around €160.
Checked Luggage Surcharge
If you were to take this trip with just hand luggage, you’d have to stick to the smallest common denominator for hand luggage: a modest 53 x 36 x 20 cm with a total weight of 7 kg, including a personal item.
It’s unlikely that this would be enough for a month-and-a-half-long trip—especially since at least one of the airlines (Jetstar) is known for weighing hand luggage.
If you were to take at least 20 kg of checked luggage on each flight, the following surcharges would apply:
- €50 for Paris – Calgary
- €24 for Calgary – Los Angeles
- €37 for Los Angeles – Honolulu
- €37 for Honolulu – Melbourne
- €19 for Melbourne – Sydney
- €86 for Sydney – Bangkok – Seoul
- €54 for Seoul – Paris (for a 5 kg higher allowance)
Overall, the total price would be €1,307 including luggage. Those with frequent flyer status will pay accordingly less.
Translated and edited by Ditmar
Cover Picture: Photo by Lucas George Wendt on Unsplash