Round The World

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 2,750 mi: 17,500 Y / 35,000 J

**North America ↔ Atlantic:**
- ≤4,000 mi: 32,500 Y / 60,000 J / 90,000 F
- ≤6,000 mi: 42,500 Y / 70,000 J / 100,000 F
- ≤8,000 mi: 55,000 Y / 80,000 J / 120,000 F
- >8,000 mi: 70,000 Y / 90,000 J / 130,000 F

**North America ↔ Pacific:**
- ≤6,000 mi: 32,500 Y / 65,000 J / 90,000 F
- ≤8,000 mi: 45,000 Y / 80,000 J / 110,000 F
- ≤10,000 mi: 50,000 Y / 95,000 J / 130,000 F
- >10,000 mi: 70,000 Y / 110,000 J / 150,000 F

Online bookable at aircanada.com. Best for short-haul NA: 6k Y starting under 500mi.

### Iberia Plus Avios (Club Iberia Plus) — `iberia.com/us/iberiaplus/purchase-flights-avios/`

**Distance-based on TOTAL TRIP miles** (not per-segment). Two charts: Iberia metal vs partner unified.

**Iberia Metal Off-Peak:**
| Max mi | Y      | W      | J      |
|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| 650    | 3,500  | -      | 9,750  |
| 1,150  | 7,000  | -      | 16,500 |
| 2,000  | 11,000 | -      | 23,250 |
| 4,000  | 18,000 | 35,000 | 51,750 |
| 7,000  | 27,000 | 51,000 | 84,750 |
| >7,000 | 41,000 | 71,000 | 97,000 |

**Partner Unified (oneworld + non-alliance):**
| Max mi  | Y       | W       | J       | F       |
|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
| 650     | 6,000   | 9,000   | 12,500  | 24,000  |
| 1,150   | 9,000   | 13,500  | 18,000  | 36,000  |
| 4,000   | 22,500  | 33,750  | 45,000  | 90,000  |
| 7,000   | 41,000  | 61,500  | 82,000  | 164,000 |
| 11,770  | 51,500  | 77,250  | 103,000 | 206,000 |

**Sweet spots:**
- US East Coast → MAD off-peak J: **40,500 Avios** + ~$100
- BCN ↔ MAD air bridge year-round: **9,000 Avios round-trip** economy
- AA Flagship First SFO/LAX-JFK: **103,000 Avios** + $20 RT

**Transfers from:** Amex MR (1:1), Chase UR (1:1), Bilt (1:1), Wells Fargo (1:1), Citi TYP (1:0.7, no fee).
**Avios pool combines with:** BA, Aer Lingus, Finnair, Qatar.
**Caveat:** Partner awards are **non-refundable**. Iberia metal awards have a EUR 25 change fee but are refundable.

### Aeromexico Club Premier RTW (LIKELY — RARELY ACTUALLY BOOKABLE)

| Cabin    | Kilometers (NOT miles) |
|----------|------------------------|
| Economy  | 244,000                |
| Business | 352,000                |

Phone only (US: 800-237-6639). **Practical reality: this is rarely bookable.** Agents frequently can't pull up the option in the system, may not be trained on the product, and many community attempts in 2024-2026 ended without confirmation. The km figures come from Upgraded Points secondary reporting, not Aeromexico's own published terms. Amex MR transfers at 1:1.6.

**Recommendation:** Do not confidently quote these km figures to a user. Note that Aeromexico Club Premier RTW exists on paper as the only RTW survivor for SkyTeam-aligned travelers since SkyTeam Go Round was killed, but plan an alternative — booking it requires significant phone effort with uncertain outcome. Most users will be better served by Star Alliance via Lufthansa M&M or oneworld Explorer.

## Discontinued Products (reference)

The agent should NOT recommend any of these. They're preserved so stale blog posts about them don't get accepted.

- **ANA Star Alliance RTW** — discontinued 2025-06-23. Two replacement paths depending on what you want: (a) for the **paid Star Alliance RTW** cash fare, book directly at staralliance.com/en/book-fly (it's a cash booking, not a mileage award); (b) for a **miles-priced** Star Alliance RTW award, Lufthansa Miles & More is the only major survivor (United/Aeroplan/ANA mileage RTW programs are all discontinued).
- **Singapore KrisFlyer Star Alliance RTW** — discontinued 2024-05-01.
- **Singapore KrisFlyer Pacific Circle** — likely discontinued ~2024-05-01.
- **SkyTeam Go Round** — retired 2024-2025.

## Distance Calculation

Use `scripts/calc_distance.py` to estimate great-circle distances:

```bash
# Single segment
python3 scripts/calc_distance.py SFO LAX

# Multi-segment cumulative (RTW or Circle Pacific)
python3 scripts/calc_distance.py JFK LHR FRA NRT HKG SYD LAX JFK --json

The helper handles 6,072 IATA airport codes (OpenFlights data) and computes haversine distances.

Caveats:

• TPM vs great-circle: JAL, Star Alliance, oneworld use IATA TPM (Ticketed Point Mileage). Aeroplan uses actual flown distance. TPM can differ from gcmap.com great-circle by a few percent and affects which distance band you fall into. Use calc_distance.py for an estimate, but verify with the airline before committing.
• gcmap.com (great-circle map service) is the authoritative external check.
• MileCalc.com offers TPM lookups but is client-side JS-rendered and not scrapable. Bookmark for manual checks.

Key Decision Rules

(also encoded in data/rtw-awards.json decision_rules)

1. Cheap business class RTW: Star Alliance RTW Special Business 26k-mile distance band paid fare (cash, not miles). USD price varies by origin/routing — historically reported in the $6.5K-$10K range for 5-stop J across recent years. Verify current pricing at staralliance.com/en/book-fly. At the low end of that range, the per-segment cost compares favorably to many one-off intercontinental J fares, but always verify the user's specific cash alternatives before recommending — a single one-off direct J ticket on a discounted route can sometimes match the per-segment rate.

1. For pure around-the-world goals: Star Alliance RTW (most flexible, online bookable) or oneworld Explorer (continent-based, online via rtw.oneworld.com).

1. For miles-only RTW: Lufthansa M&M (fixed 400k J / 540k F) is most accessible. Qantas (35k mi cap, 318k for J) is cheaper for shorter band trips.

1. For Pacific-Rim multi-stop: Star Alliance Circle Pacific OR oneworld Circle Pacific (travel agent only) OR JAL multi-carrier (cheapest at 25k Y / 48k J under 4,000mi).

1. For regional NA: Aeroplan distance-based (6k Y starting <500mi) or Iberia partner chart for AA short hops (12k Y for under 650mi RT).

1. For intra-Europe: Iberia Plus on Iberia metal off-peak (3,500 Avios under 650mi). Cheapest intra-EU after BA Avios.

1. Avoid: Aeromexico Premier (kilometers, phone only, painful agents); Iberia partner awards (non-refundable, hassle); SkyTeam (no RTW product anymore).

1. Stopover definition: 24+ hour layover per most programs. Shorter is a connection.

1. Purchase deadline: Star Alliance RTW requires purchase ≥72 hours before first departure. oneworld Explorer similar. Plan ahead.

1. Child pricing: Star Alliance RTW: 75% for ages 2-11, 10% for infants without seat. Other programs vary.

Cross-References

• stopovers skill: per-program stopover rules, including programs that DON'T allow stopovers (BA, AA, Delta, JetBlue, Iberia partner-style).
• partner-awards skill: who can ticket whom across alliances and bilateral partnerships.
• alliances skill: alliance membership and recent shifts.
• transfer-partners skill: which credit card points reach which RTW programs.
• transfer-bonuses skill: current promotional bonuses to apply when transferring to an RTW program. RTW awards take large transfers, so a 30% bonus saves real points.
• points-valuations skill: CPP rules to evaluate whether an RTW makes sense.
• booking-guidance skill: hold-before-transfer rules and phone-booking phone numbers.
• award-holds skill: per-program hold rules. Lufthansa M&M (the main miles-priced RTW survivor) requires phone booking and the hold-before-transfer pattern; their normal 5-day hold may not apply to multi-segment RTW awards. The paid Star Alliance RTW cash fare is purchased online, not held. Critical to verify per-product before transferring large balances.

Source Hierarchy

When sources disagree, use this priority:

1. Airline's own award rules / chart PDF (primary source)
2. Frequent Miler (most respected secondary; dives deep into devaluations)
3. One Mile at a Time (good for sweet spots and recent changes)
4. Upgraded Points (mainstream summary)
5. The Points Guy (often stale on charts; use for valuation only)

If primary is unavailable and secondaries disagree, mark the entry confidence: LIKELY and note the discrepancy in notes.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: borski
• Source: borski/travel-hacking-toolkit
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.