Trip around Asia - help needed!!!!

[davidevans]

Hi guys!

I am from Portugal and I am trying to plan my summer trip around Asia. Actually, the countries I want to visit are: Japan, China, Thailand, Hong Kong and perhaps Indonesia. I've looked for the best alternatives (actually, the cheapest!!!) and I've only found packages from One World and Star Alliance. But I'm sure there are more companies doing it.

One World seems cheaper than Star Alliance, but the problem is the trip from my country to the first country of the Circle Asia must be booked on the same airline that will sell me the Circle Asia ticket.

I've checked with Brittish Airways and they're charging about eur2000 for a round trip to Hong Kong or Japan. This is too much for me. Can anyone point out the cheapest alternative for me to visit the countries I've mentioned?

Thanks for your help!

David Evans

[steveadmin]

Hello David,

to the forum. I've moved your post to the Japan forum as your first destination is Tokyo.

My first thought is that you might actually be able to do that trip as a combination of overland legs and budget airline hops, but it all depends how much time you have for your trip. Certainly SE Asia is well covered by budget airlines (check out Air Asia for some sample routes). You could cross from Japan to China by sea (or try to get a cheap flight), then travel by train through China to Hong Kong, fly on Air Asia to Bangkok. Just a thought for a hell of a trip if you have bags of time (unlikely I know).

I am surprised at the prices you have been quoted on BA. London to Hong Kong is a competitive route and I've seen fares for around £300-350, although that's presumably dependent on season. What are your approximate dates? London-Tokyo is a more pricey hop - I am planning to go in April and I was getting figures at around £550. I have some AirMiles saved up so I can use them as part payment on a BA flight, knocking £200 off it bringing it down to about £350 return to Tokyo.

Is the Circle Asia pass the same as this one? One World Asia Pass A recent post suggested this pass was decent value, although it was advertised as starting from the US. Perhaps a similar option might be available from Europe?

Hope that gives you some ideas...

cheers
Steve

[davidevans]

Originally Posted by steveadmin

Hello David,

to the forum. I've moved your post to the Japan forum as your first destination is Tokyo.

My first thought is that you might actually be able to do that trip as a combination of overland legs and budget airline hops, but it all depends how much time you have for your trip. Certainly SE Asia is well covered by budget airlines (check out Air Asia for some sample routes). You could cross from Japan to China by sea (or try to get a cheap flight), then travel by train through China to Hong Kong, fly on Air Asia to Bangkok. Just a thought for a hell of a trip if you have bags of time (unlikely I know).

I am surprised at the prices you have been quoted on BA. London to Hong Kong is a competitive route and I've seen fares for around £300-350, although that's presumably dependent on season. What are your approximate dates? London-Tokyo is a more pricey hop - I am planning to go in April and I was getting figures at around £550. I have some AirMiles saved up so I can use them as part payment on a BA flight, knocking £200 off it bringing it down to about £350 return to Tokyo.

Is the Circle Asia pass the same as this one? One World Asia Pass A recent post suggested this pass was decent value, although it was advertised as starting from the US. Perhaps a similar option might be available from Europe?

Hope that gives you some ideas...

cheers
Steve

Hello! Thanks for your help :)

That Asia pass looks very good, and since it's a fixed price, it's perfect! Problem is: the trip from my country to Asia and then back again at the end. That's the trip I'm finding hard to get a cheap deal. I want to travel during August. Just saw at British Aiways (they're part of One World), that a trip from London to Hong kong (two way) is about eur1000!! This is not cheap, right? And that's during July...

[steveadmin]

How long is your trip? One month?

I would seriously consider making a choice between EITHER Japan, China, Hong Kong [North East Asia] OR Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong [South East Asia]. Doing all of that in August would be too much travelling I feel - too many airports - you need some time to savour a place!

The latter trip would be the cheaper one. You could pick up an indirect London-Hong Kong return flight in August with one of the other airlines (not the big players like BA or Cathay) for a bit cheaper - maybe as low as 600 euro (shop around) - then get a Bangkok-Hong Kong AirAsia return for about 100 euro or maybe less (book early as poss and be flexible with dates!), then any internal flights in Thailand, and perhaps flights out to Indonesia also with AirAsia. If you book early, you could build up a decent itinerary covering South East Asia for less than 1000 euro in flights.

Worth considering

[davidevans]

Thanks! I really want to visit Japan, as much as I want to visit the paradisiac islands of Indonesia and the beaches of Thailand. I know it would be too many flights, but of course, if I had to choose, Japan is my first choice.

So, your advice would be to get a low cost airpass from my country to Hong Kong, and then get local flights in those countries, instead of buying an Asia Airpass from One World, right? Would it be better to buy them in my country, or call the airlines in their countries and book? I really want to get the cheapest flights, but with so many flights it gets a bit confusing...

[davidevans]

Originally Posted by steveadmin

How long is your trip? One month?

I would seriously consider making a choice between EITHER Japan, China, Hong Kong [North East Asia] OR Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong [South East Asia]. Doing all of that in August would be too much travelling I feel - too many airports - you need some time to savour a place!

The latter trip would be the cheaper one. You could pick up an indirect London-Hong Kong return flight in August with one of the other airlines (not the big players like BA or Cathay) for a bit cheaper - maybe as low as 600 euro (shop around) - then get a Bangkok-Hong Kong AirAsia return for about 100 euro or maybe less (book early as poss and be flexible with dates!), then any internal flights in Thailand, and perhaps flights out to Indonesia also with AirAsia. If you book early, you could build up a decent itinerary covering South East Asia for less than 1000 euro in flights.

Worth considering

Hi again!

I've been planning my trip and I've managed to find some decent values. I just don't know how to go from Beijing to Tokyo, I only know I'll have to go by plane, cause ferry just takes too long... At Japan Air Lines website I can't find any fares...

So here's what I got:

2 Aug: Lisbon - Hong Kong : 315€
6 Aug: Hong Kong - Bangkok: 77€
9 Aug: Bangkok - Indonesia (Bali): 100€
13 Aug: Bali - Malaysia: 35€
15 Aug: Malaysia - Beijing: 55€
19 Aug: Beijing - Tokyo: ???€
25 Aug: Tokyo - Beijing: (???)
...　
27 Aug: Hong Kong - Lisbon: 315€

I think these are too much destinations and for a month trip, I'll probably cut Indonesia and/or Malaysia. Also, the trip I found from Lisbon to Hong Kong is relatively cheap, but with a lot of stops overnight (I'll reach Hong Kong two days later...) Any advices?

Thanks!!

[steveadmin]

That's shaping up nicely, David. I don't know about Tokyo-Beijing but I will have a look later and see what I can find. China Airlines or something similar would probably be cheapest.

Re: getting to Hong Kong, it's worth looking for flights to Shenzhen as well. Shenzhen is just inside the Chinese border and is connected to Hong Kong via the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR). So you might find it cheaper to fly to Shenzhen and then take the railway rather than flying into Hong Kong itself. This used to be the case a few years back (apparently it was due to the lower taxes on flights to Shenzhen as opposed to busy Hong Kong airport) but I am not sure if it still applies. Worth a look though.

[steveadmin]

Originally Posted by davidevans

15 Aug: Malaysia - Beijing: 55€

!!! That's obscenely cheap! Where did you get that quote? Doesn't look possible to me

[davidevans]

Originally Posted by steveadmin

!!! That's obscenely cheap! Where did you get that quote? Doesn't look possible to me

All those quotes inside Asia were taken from Air Asia. They are obscenely cheap :)