Around the World in 80 Days begins at the Reform Club with Phileas Fogg, Thomas Flanagan, Samuel Fallentin, and John Sullivan sitting by a fireplace reading newspapers. Passepartout, who is seeking employment, enters and Fogg begins to interview him for the position of servant. Passepartout is hired and is expected to begin work immediately.
At the Reform Club, Fogg, Flanagan, Fallentin, and Sullivan are talking about a recent bank robbery. This conversation leads to a wager. Fogg is quite sure he can travel around the world in eighty days, while Sullivan doesn’t believe it can be done. Sullivan, Flanagan, and Fallentin think Fogg is not considering the unexpected; all of the men accept the wager for twenty-thousand pounds. Fogg is to get on the train and start his expedition at 8:45 p.m. that evening.
Passepartout (unaware of the bet) is polishing shoes and wondering where Fogg got his money. Fogg surprises Passepartout; tells him to get ready for they are leaving to go around the world. Fogg tells Passepartout to pack only a few things; everything else will be bought on the trip. Fogg gives Passepartout a carpet bag filled with twenty-thousand pounds.
Fogg and Passepartout arrive at the Charing Cross Station to get on the train, Passepartout is responsible for reserving a compartment. Fogg gives a short speech about being charitable, and then he gives a beggar twenty guineas.
Within a few days all of London knows about Fogg’s adventure. The public talks about the voyage, and the press prints stories about an Englishman attempting to travel around the world in eighty days.
The first stop is the Suez Harbor. Detective Fix and Consul are waiting for the arrival of Mongolia (the name of the ship). Fix is looking for the bank robber who took twenty-thousand pounds from the Bank of England. The ship docks, and Passepartout disembarks and talks to Fix. Fix begins to ask Passepartout about his master, Fogg. Passepartout tells Fix that Fogg is wealthy, and they are going around the world on a bet. Fix decides that Fogg is the bank robber and he sends a telegram to the police commissioner. In the meantime, Fix is trying to convince the Consul not to stamp their passports because he believes that Fogg is a criminal. Fogg rents an elephant and gets his passport stamped; Fogg and Passepartout are on their way to Bombay.
The elephant stops in the middle of the jungle, but Fogg and Passepartout still manage to arrive in Bombay two days earlier than expected. Passepartout wants to use the time to rest. Fogg insists they continue going; the two extra days should be saved.
On the train to Calcutta, a conductor enters and tells Fogg that the tracks have ended. Fogg must continue on foot to the Allahabad station. Fogg meets the elephant owner again, and offers to purchase the elephant. Fogg discovers that he has twelve extra hours, and he dedicates those hours to rescuing a widow, Mrs. Aouda. Everyone hops on the elephant; and they ride to the Allahabad station where they catch the train to Calcutta.
Fix is waiting at the Calcutta train station; he calls a policeman to arrest Fogg. During the trial Passepartout is found guilty of desecrating the pagoda of Malebar Hill and sentenced to fifteen days imprisonment; the judge thinks Fogg should be sentenced for being Passepartout’s master. Fogg offers to pay bail, and they leave.
Due to a storm, the ship to Hong Kong is anticipated to arrive twenty hours late. On deck of the ship Mrs. Aouda questions Passepartout about Fogg. They get to Hong Kong twenty-four hours late, and Fix is there waiting. While on his way to tell Fogg that the steamer to San Francisco has been delayed (so they don’t have to wait a week for the next one), Passepartout meets a Chinese man who gives him opium.
Passepartout is carried on to the S.S. General Grant by two police officers, and Fogg is never told about the steamer. The steamer leaves without Fogg.
John Bunsby agrees (for a large sum of money) to take Fogg and Mrs. Aouda to San Francisco via Yokohama. Fogg offers Fix two hundred pounds to assist on the boat. Meanwhile, Passepartout wakes up on the S.S. General Grant and realizes that he left without Fogg and Mrs. Aouda. A few miles from Yokohama the S.S. General Grant lowers a ladder for Fogg, Mrs. Aouda, and Fix.
Passepartout attacks Fix for setting him up and making Fogg miss the boat to San Francisco. Fix explains to Passepartout that he is a detective and he believes that Fogg is a criminal. Passepartout agrees not to tell Fogg about the detective.
On the way to New York, the train is attacked by Indians. Fogg, Mrs. Aouda, Fix, and Passepartout arrive in New York in the handcar. Fogg notices a ship getting ready to leave; he goes over to the captain and asks him to take them to Liverpool. Captain Andrew Speedy says that the S.S. Henrietta is going to Bordeaux, and Fogg offers to pay him to take them.
Fogg bribes the ship’s crew with three hundred pounds to take him to Liverpool; the captain still refuses, so his crew locks him in his cabin. They arrive in Liverpool, and Fix arrests Fogg.
Fogg misses his train to London, but a hot air balloon takes Fogg, Passepartout, and Mrs. Aouda to London twenty-four hours ahead of schedule. Fogg wins his wager and gains a wife, Mrs. Aouda.
