Originally Posted by
jpatokal
Beware of Australian prices as well. The pound is weak right now, and the dollar is very strong: 20 quid/night is about A$30, which will barely suffice for a dorm bed. Realistically, you'll need to budget at least A$100/day on bed, food, sights and local transport, with long-distance transport on top of that.
Covering both China and Korea in ten days seems a little ambitious, and flights up there aren't cheap either. You could save a fair amount of cash by spending that same time in SE Asia instead.
I agree. I think the OP would be better off dropping some of their destinations and flying, especially the expensive ones (Japan, S Korea and Australia), swapping in ones like Vietnam that are more reasonable for the budget. Limited budget does not work well with spending over a month in some of the most expensive cities in the world, unless
you don't mind going on the Rick Steves peanut butter, jam and Fanta diet.
Right now, you can get the US Airways miles necessary to fly LHR-PEK(stop)-BKK(dest)-LHR in Y for ~£800, plus another £100 for fees for a ticket- so I think the OP is also paying too much money for his flights...