Plane tickets to China

[PJ]

Hi All,

 

Well, as you all know, I'm scoping for decently-priced tickets to China.

 

I saw this on MSNBC:

 

"Astounding Asian airfares"

http://www.msnbc.com/news/925152.asp?0dm=C12TR

 

It said like $249 round trip from NYC or SF to Hong Kong.

 

However, when I went there http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/app/saa

 

and filled in the web form, the airfare was astounding... I entered in Aug 7 to Aug 18 for San Francisco to HK, and it was over a grand.

 

Ummm, am I doing something wrong here? Has anyone else seen this article?

 

By the way, Continential Airlines has $710, RT from Orlando to Hong Kong. Flying out of Tampa or Orlando would be ideal for me.

 

Anyone know if this is a good deal? If I wait until my actual itinerary is more finalized, it would be better, but if I wait, anyone know how much I might end up paying? I would really like to get tix under $800.

 

Thoughts, suggestions, advice?!

 

Thanks,

 

P.J.

[owenkrout]

check out several sites and see where you get the best price. Often in big cities there is a local travel agency that caters primarily to Chinese. In fact they often have trouble communicating in English. Those places usually can find the best fares.

 

Travelocity.com is a site that give decent bargains and where you can set up an agent to keep you informed on the current prices for the cities your interested in. I used them coming here and used them this time for a barometer on what was a good price.

[PJ]

Hmm, thanks Don and Owen. I tried Travelocity and it pulled back a number of flights in the $700-800 range. So it should not be a problem to get something in that range. I will probably hold off until closer to my date of travel, or at least when I have finalized an itinerary.

 

P.J.

[tonyuab]

I think it's better to call the travel agency. their price is cheaper than ones i found online

[owenkrout]

One thing to watch out for if you intend to teach anywhere is that they don't recognize an e-ticket here. I've known of several people that arrived on e-tickets and had great difficulty getting reimbursed, including me. Credit card receipt means nothing to them either.

[wolf]

PJ,

Now the tickets are cheap because there is still a sars problem with the airlines booking flights. 700 to 800 from Fl. is a good price, JAL is charging 625 from Honolulu. If you want to get the best price, get it now, in Sept. the price will probably go up again. You can get flight insurance which is a small price to change your tickets at no cost to yourself.

[robhon]

I just bought my tickets SF to HK and paid $548 directly on the United website. You kind of have to poke around on the days, though. Some days of the week seem to be cheaper than others. I'm leaving on a Wed. and returning on a Monday.

[Guest Yan]

PJ:

 

Here is the web site for the promotion. The $299 tickets have been sold out completely(the lowest price ever) and there are still $499 tickets available.

 

http://www.smarterliving.com/air/deal.php?id=5126

 

http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/app/saa;JS...tSales¤tSite=us

 

I personally love smarterliving.com as it has tons of information for promotion and weekly last minute air tickets from major airlines.

 

Good luck

[Guest blsqueaky]

Hello PJ, while I was over in GZ, I saw lots of commercials for price line doing tickets for china now from the US. Maybe this is a thought

[youmolide]

http://www.flychina.com

 

 

(and they are in florida)