Round-the-world fare

A single ticket circling the globe in one direction, priced by the alliances as a package — oneworld and Star both file them — and constructed by segment count or mileage bands. In business class, a well-built round-the-world often undercuts the sum of two long-haul round trips while adding cities the traveller wanted anyway. The craft is in the routing rules: direction, ocean crossings and surface sectors all have limits, which is why these tickets are built by hand.