How I Flew Around the World for Less than $220

Last Update (2/6/15):

Also check out my FAQ on the best frequent flyer credit card. It’s a quick read and will give the main points + show you where you can get one of these cards today.

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This year I flew around the world and visited 11 countries over a period of 6 months. The cost of my ’round-the-world’ ticket? Less than the price of a domestic flight in the US.

Can you do the same thing? Absolutely, read on:

Budapest, Hungary—It’s a question I got more than once: “So, are you rich?” And, more specifically: “How can you afford to travel so much?”

These questions are upsetting because they highlight the dominant perception that travel is a luxury restricted to the wealthy. And I don’t like people thinking I can only afford to do this because I’m rich (far from it).

In fact, for the last 15 months I’ve been living on a stipend that most people would associate with the poverty line in the United States, or about $1200 a month (see 20 things I Learned While Traveling around the World).

But international flights are expensive, no matter how cheaply you decide to live once you get to your destination. I thought trans-oceanic flights would be the death of my RTW travel budget.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

My Round-the-World (RTW) Flight Itinerary

• April 3rd, 2012 –  San Francisco (SFO) to Brussels (BRU). Cost: $7.50
• August 1st, 2012 – Istanbul, Turkey to Bali, Indonesia. Cost: $0.00*
• September 29th, 2012 – Bali to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Cost: $140.00
• October 2nd, 2012 – Kuala Lumpur to Los Angeles (LAX) via Tokyo. Cost: $72.00
• On the same day I flew from LAX to SFO for $0.00.

Grand Total: $219.50

And here’s the punchline: the only reason these flights cost me anything at all is that I opted to pay for the really cheap ones. That’s correct, I decided to pay actual money for them. You’ll understand why below.Continue reading >>