We are planning a round-the-world trip for 2007, and ideally, would like to visit Penang, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. But we don’t want to transit the USA, as it was too much hassle last time we visited. Are there any options? Alistair Wallace, by e-mail

A Sunday Times travel expert responds: Most round–the-world tickets use one or other of the big airline alliances — such as Star Alliance (www.staralliance.com), oneworld (www.oneworld.com), or Skyteam (www.skyteam.com). Using their combined route networks does open up a vast number of possible routes, but the USA is a global hub for flights, and avoiding it isn’t easy.

In fact, it’s not possible to fly to Canada from Australia, New Zealand, or the South Pacific without routing via the USA. Air Canada’s flight from Sydney to Vancouver touches down in Honolulu, as does Air Pacific’s flight from Fiji to Vancouver. And even through passengers have to clear US customs and immigration once they have landed on US territory, which can spell hassle.

The second difficulty is that round-the-world fares don’t let you backtrack to a continent you’ve already visited — even if you merely touched down for re-fuelling. So you couldn’t fly to from the UK to Australasia, and then backtrack to Asia to get a direct flight from there to Canada, from where there are several nonstop flights.

However, you can visit the countries you want, without touching US soil if you fly via South Africa. The Star Alliance ticket would route you from London to Johannesburg, then Perth-Sydney-Auckland-Penang-Singapore-Tokyo-Vancouver-London, using South African Airways, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines & Air Canada, with fares from £2,087pp (£1,739 airfare plus £348 tax).

If you could bare having to clear customs in Hawaii, you could fly with Star Alliance, London-Penang-Singapore-Melbourne-Auckland-Hawaii-Vancouver-London. Using Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand & Air Canada, with fares from £1,669 (£1409 + £260 tax).

And if Canada isn’t essential to your plans, you could also try London-Muscat-Kuala Lumpur-HongKong-Sydney-Auckland-Santiago-Sao Paulo-London, using Gulf Air, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, LAN & British Airways, with fares from £1,635 (£1389 + £264 tax).

You are best of tackling these complex plans with a round-the-world specialist like Trailfinders (0845 058 5858, www.trailfinders.com). Other good companies include STA Travel (0870 163 0026), Travelbag (0800 082 5000, www.travelbag.co.uk), Flight Centre (0870 499 040, www.flightcentre.co.uk), and Travelmood (0870 990 9998, www.travelmood.com).

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