Traveling in the world Get prepared

Get the right credit card
Having the best travel credit card for your trip can not only prevent foreign transaction fees, but also help you reap rewards and perks during your trip.
A few cards with travel benefits include the Chase Sapphire Reserve ($450 annual fee), which offers $300 toward travel costs, $100 toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, access to thousands of airport lounges, zero foreign transaction fees, and a 1:1 point transfer program towards top airline and hotel loyalty programs. The Bank of America Travel Rewards no-fee card lets you easily cash points to use toward airline tickets, baggage, hotel stays, car rentals and cruise packages. The card offers unlimited points, with up to 1.5 points for every $1 spent and 20,000 bonus points if you make at least $1,000 in purchases the first three months of opening your account.
When it comes to savings on hotels, the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card lets you earn five points for every dollar you spend at one of the company’s hotels, and two points at participating Marriott Rewards hotels.
2. Book travel far in advance
After all that preparation, you’re ready to book your trip around the world, which will likely be a round-the-world plane ticket, a journey by sea, or a combination of flights and ground transportation.
Below is a breakdown of how different travel options work:
Consider a round-the-world ticket
Round-the-world tickets allow you to buy a ticket and fly with various airlines under one alliance. But there are some regulations to keep in mind. Tickets are usually valid for up to one year, though flyers are required to start and end their trip in the same country through the following major alliances:

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  Star Alliance (including Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Austrian, United, and Lufthansa) bases its round-the-world tickets on the number of miles, with levels of passes you can choose from based on mile increments. You can take up to 15 stopovers, but you’ll need to keep moving in the same direction as how you started your trip.
  
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  OneWorld (including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas) has two different round-the-world ticket options. Its Global Explorer ticket is a mile-based option with four different mile increments to choose from, while the One World Explorer is based on the number of continents you visit, with up to four segments (flights) you can take in each of the six continents the alliance flies into.
  
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  Skyteam’s (including Delta, Air France, Korean Air, AeroMexico) round-the-world option requires a minimum of two stops and runs for a year, with the alliance even offering theme-based trips, like beach or history, to make planning your ticket a little easier.
  

Round-The-World tickets can cost around $2,000, and Dave Grossman, author or MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points, recommends checking whether it’s cheaper to book a round-the-world trip or individual legs by entering itinerary into Google Flights and comparing the overall price to those offered when building an itinerary out on the alliance websites.
You can also book round-the-world tickets through a travel agent or third-party sites like AirTreks of Flight Centre. These sites can be cheaper because they often pull together individual airline tickets based on the lowest fares to create a round-the-world itinerary.
However, round-the-world ticket travelers should note: missing one leg of your ticket could cancel the rest of your trip, making it best for travelers who feel comfortable planning out a lengthy trip well in advance.
Take a world cruise
If you’re looking to travel the world by sea, a world cruise can provide the flexibility to explore multiple continents, traveling from the U.S. to Europe for example, or to hone in on one continent. Itineraries vary by cruise, and world cruises can be great for families, retirees or those who can be at sea for around three months.
Sometimes, cruise lines will offer the option to book only a segment of world cruise, which can range from two weeks to a month. To book a segment, prospective travelers will also have to add a one-way trip to or from the start or end of their journey.