Asia airfare

[cruzqueen]

We are going on the Nov. 24 Diamond Princess cruise to Asia. There is an open jaw LAX-Beijing-Singapore-LAX for under $900. Not bad compared to the cruise line, even with transfers.

 

However, I did find a one-way LAX-Beijing ticket for only $358. The problem is that I am having trouble finding a one-way from Singapore to LAX for under $750.

 

Any advice on where to look for the best pricing on a flight originating from Asia? Also, am I looking too far in advance for this trip?

 

Any insight will help.

[Globaliser]

Any advice on where to look for the best pricing on a flight originating from Asia? Also, am I looking too far in advance for this trip?

Two suggestions:-

 

First, identify the airlines that fly from Singapore to Los Angeles, and go to the parts of their websites that are aimed at Singapore. (In the case of Singapore Airlines, that will of course be their main site.) Then see if you can price these one-way trips.

 

Remember that some of the airlines you're looking for will hail from places in between Singapore and Los Angeles. So don't forget airlines like Cathay Pacific, EVA Air, Japan Air Lines and All Nippon Airways.

 

If you need a handy currency converter, try this link: http://www.xe.net/pca/ - it opens a small popup window with a currency converter, and then returns your main page back to where you were before. You can leave the popup to float and then access it whenever you want to do a currency conversion.

 

The second suggestion is to go to the Singapore side of http://www.zuji.com, which you should get to directly through this link. Zuji is the Asia-Pacific's version of Orbitz or Opodo - ie it's owned by a consortium of airlines from the region - and if you run it you will immediately see that their IT is supported by Travelocity.

[cruisead]

Be careful of some intra-Asia airlines. Personally, I would not fly China Air or anything like that. They just don't have that good a safety record. Singapore, JAL, All Nippon, and Cathay Pacific are great.

[JJPNYC]

I concur, avoid Air China. I have not heard anything positive about them besides their prices (maybe that's why they have to keep their prices low). As an aside, be careful if you're booking with United as the code-share with Air China and you might actually by on an Air China operated flight rather than a United operated flight.

[Globaliser]

I concur, avoid Air China.

Actually, please be careful about which airlines you're referring to. The previous poster said:-

I would not fly China Air or anything like that. They just don't have that good a safety record.

It's China Airlines that is known to have a very poor safety record.

 

Air China's safety record is actually very good.

 

These two effectively come from different countries, BTW.

[cruzqueen]

Thank you all for the information. The cheap flight was in fact on Air China or China Air (don't recall), so I will not want to go that route.

 

The open jaw that I will most likely use is with Korean Air. Are they considered to be OK in comparison?

 

Thanks again!

[Globaliser]

The open jaw that I will most likely use is with Korean Air. Are they considered to be OK in comparison?

This is purely personal opinion, but frankly I'd rather walk. Or swim, depending on the route.

 

Personally, I would have no problems flying on Air China - at least on safety grounds.

 

But I would take the same view of China Airlines as of Korean Air.

[cruzqueen]

Ahh, crap....

[cruzqueen]

Is there a best timeframe for purchasing my Asia Airfare? The cruise is 9 months away, so I don't know if I should even be trying to get the best deal now. Also, does anyone know if $850 (the going rate) is considered a good deal for my LAX-Beijing and Singapore-LAX?

[ijkh]

They have this wonderful Asia Air pass thing that is usually around 999$ and they are a great airline.