Peter Greenberg: Round-the-World Tickets

By: Peter Greenberg | Source: AARP.org | 2008-08-13

Q: What do you recommend for a flight to Beijing, then Kashgar [China], and return from Tashkent [Uzbekistan]? Going on a Peregrine Lake tour into Kyrgyzstan.
-Diane, Monterey, Calif.

A: Sounds like an interesting adventure, Diane. When flying to small remote cities, such as Kashgar, China, you have limited choices. Airports in these areas might have a flight out to your destinations once a day or every other day, so you might find yourself stuck overnight in an airport if you miss a flight. Also, small cities don’t necessarily even have direct flights to major cities, so you’ll probably find you’ll need to add time for a few more stops during your trip in order to make it to your destination. In the area you're headed to, the only city of any significant size is Urumchi (or Ürümqi), China, making it likely you'll fly through it en route to Kashgar.

You might want to look into purchasing round-the-world tickets. Normally for a cheaper price, round-the-world tickets enable you to create your own flight itinerary (usually with three to 10 cities) over the course of a set period of time. A leader in arranging such tickets is Airtreks.com, which suggested that the following itinerary if you would like to visit all the cities you mentioned:
San Francisco, Calif.–Beijing–Urumchi/Ürümqi, China–Kashgar, China–Urumchi/ Ürümqi, China––Tashkent, Uzbekistan–Istanbul, Turkey–Doha, Qatar–Paris–San Francisco, Calif.

If you plan to travel during the summer, June through August (June through September if you want to stop in a European city)—peak travel season—it is recommended that you book as much in advance as possible. This way you can get from one destination to the other without having to make unnecessary stops along the way.