AsiaShoppingTreks

Penang, Malaysia

As we discussed before, booking connecting flights on low cost carriers (LCC) can be tedious because these airlines don’t necessarily build their schedules for that purpose. It’s usually a point to point offering, without convenient, connecting flights.

Also keep in mind, there really are no round trip fares. That’s the bad news. You can book your outbound and inbound segments together, but they are priced separately. Therefore, there is no penalty for purchasing a series of one-way tickets. That’s the good news. This makes it interesting because it gives you the flexibility to come and go — on different routes — without sacrificing any round trip cost advantages.

This is probably a different deal, compared to the airline you booked your round trip flight to/from Southeast Asia. One-way segments on most long-haul airlines can be pricey……unless you can find a good consolidator fare, which is a completely different topic.

Bottom line:

Segment pricing opens up some fascinating possibilities when it comes time to book connecting or ongoing flights. Why not come back to your base from a different city, after an enjoyable train ride down the coast from Hanoi to Saigon? Or, if you can’t find a suitable flight from Saigon, take a boat and bus to Phenom Penh, and fly out of there. The options are endless.

Anchor, Siem Reap, Cambodia

This blog is about flying around Southeast Asia (on the cheap), and discovering and enjoying the sights, smells, and bargains of the many open-air markets in the region.

But, first you have to think about getting to Southeast Asia — and getting home again. You can start by going on-line to look for the cheapest flights on dates you can live with.

To get the lowest fares on long-haul carriers, it’s best to start looking early, and remain flexible with your travel dates. Set a price you don’t want to exceed. Find something that works for you, and then book it. Having done that, you will have reduced a good chunk of the variables. Now, you can fill in the blanks between your arrival/departure dates in Asia. This is the fun part.

In future postings, we’ll talk about booking the low-cost flights you will need to get around the region. It really gets interesting when you find a few airfares that are cheaper than train fares. Stay with us.

Phi Phi Island, Thailand

Cash is king. Right? If it wasn’t for price, I doubt if we would spend so much time searching for flights on low cost carrier web sites. Therefore, once we are on an airline’s web site, what should we look for (or lookout for) to get the best possible price?

What’s the real price?

Be careful during the booking process. Keep clicking until you are quoted the total cost of the ticket, and not just the airfare. In many cases, the total administative charges, fuel surcharges, and taxes are more than the quoted airfare. Sneaky, eh? Also, be aware there might be extra taxes, payable at the airport.

Don’t forget the departure tax.

For example, Indonesia requires a departure tax to be paid at the airport, prior to boarding your outbound flight. Keep this in mind when you schedule a connecting flight through a country you only intend to visit for a few hours. Also, make sure you have enough local currency to pay the departure tax. It might be worth paying a little more for a direct flight to your final destination. Maybe yes. Maybe no.

Enjoy yourself.

Juggling connections is fun. All things are possible. But, as a rule, I won’t even think about booking more than one connecting flight per day. Two connections usually invoke Murphy’s law: “if anything can go wrong, it will.”

Always allow some flexibility in your itinerary. Don’t overschedule yourself. Relax and enjoy. Check for schedule changes. Go online and review your bookings, from time to time.

Don’t worry about the low-fare hype the airlines sell. After you add up all the charges, you just might still be pleasantly surprised how cheap it is to jet-set around Southeast Asia. I know I am.center

Halong Bay, Vietnam

….or inexpensive airline tickets. Hello, and welcome to our new blog.

It’s a lot easier (and cheaper) to get around Southeast Asia these days, now that the national carriers no longer dominate the regional skyways.

The low cost carriers to watch (from their respective hubs) are:

* Bangkok………….Thai AirAsia, NokAir
* Kuala Lumpur….AirAsia
* Singapore………..TigerAirways, JetStar

If you are traveling to this part of the world, you probably will land in one of these hub cities at some point in your journey. So, for now, we’ll concentrate on low cost flights from them to other adventure destinations.

Fortunately, AirAsia set the standard for low cost carriers in Southeast Asia and the newer carriers (also mentioned above) have followed the lead. Generally, the service is quite reliable and the planes are well maintained. The name of our game is to chase price and forget about being pampered. However, the in-flight service is usually much friendlier than many full-service airlines in the western world.

We will be looking for “Cheap & Good” in all areas of our travel. This common sense, Asian, value concept will be applied to the purchase of everything….. meals, lodging, side trips, airfares, in our quest for the perfect shopping adventure. But, if it’s a view from the Hilton you are looking for, this ain’t the place.

So, if you are ready for some adventure without breaking the budget, please trek along with us by subscribing to our blog. We’ll get back to you you shortly with a new posting. Also, please use the comments feature to let us know what topics are of interest to you. We hope to use your comments as a basis for future postings and our now empty FAQ page. Thanks.center