The Star Alliance is the largest consortium of airlines offering Around the World fares. This group offers several mileage fares, based on three levels of travel; 29,000, 34,000, and 39,000 miles.

The Star Alliance consists of the following airlines: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Asiana, Austrian Airlines, British Midland, LOT Polish, Lufthansa, SAS Scandanavian, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SpanAir, Swiss International, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, United Airlines, and US Airways. Travel benefits are also available on regional airlines Adria Airways, Blue 1, and Croatia Airlines.

This partnership presently claims to offer service to over eight hundred destinations in one hundred and ten countries worldwide. All the airlines in this alliance participate in each others frequent flyer program, and have integrated lounge access, and baggage handling to make the journey more convenient

Below you will find a review of the various routing options as well as some pros and cons of the program to consider.  We hope this helps in your decision making process.

European coverage is outstanding! All the airlines in this alliance have some service to the continent and several major European carriers are members of this alliance With the recent additions of Swiss International, and South African Airways this alliance has even more destinations than ever to offer.

One major advantage of this alliance is the number of stops you may make in Europe which is not limited.  While other alliances severely limit travel in Europe this group encourages extensive travel.

Thai Airlines has its primary hub located in the heart of South East Asia in Bangkok. Singapore airlines adds its' extensive route network in the region. ANA All Nippon has routings throughout Japan and the rest of Asia. Asiana services a vast network of destinations in the region from its' hub in Seoul, South Korea.

Other airline hubs are located in Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Delhi  This is not a list of destinations.  These cities are where you can make connections to other Star Alliance airlines, to an incredible number of Asian cities. No limitation is made on number of stops in this region. 

This fare is most easily booked by contacting one of the Star Alliance airline members.  Usually the airline handling the first international segment is responsible for ticketing and may be the best carrier to contact.

The main features of the Round-the-World Fare are:

• You can travel with any Star Alliance member airline subject to some flight exceptions. Start and end of your journey have to be located in the same country and one Atlantic and one Pacific crossing have to be included in your itinerary. 

• Star Alliance Round-the-World Fare is available for travel in First, Business or Economy Class. 

• There are 3 fare levels, allowing you to travel up to 29,000, 34,000 or 39,000 miles. The exact fares will depend on the origin and the class of service of your journey. 

• There is no high season surcharge, so it does not matter when you depart. You simply need to determine the class of service and the total mileage you need. 

• If your journey originates in Canada, USA or Mexico, you can buy your ticket up to seven days before departure. In all other cases, you can buy your ticket at any time before you depart. 

• Your journey may last any time between 10 days and a year. You can change the dates of most of your flights at any time, except for those flights up to and including your first international or intercontinental journey. For a small fee, you will be permitted to change destinations.

• You can take as few as three, or as many as 15 stopovers in different cities (within the permitted mileage). The maximum number of stopovers within certain regions may be limited.

• The fares and more specific conditions for a Round the World ticket will depend on where you start your journey. In order to find out specific information, please be advised that you can either contact your travel agent or your nearest Star Alliance member airline's reservation department.