Fares HKG-East Coast USA
Apr 26, 2001 | 10:19 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: HKG
Posts: 566
Fares HKG-East Coast USA
For anyone who's interested - was checking to see if was going to be cheaper to do USA-HKG-USA or vice versa during the summer.
All these from Nan Hwa Travel in HKG (anyone wants contact details, drop me a line)
HKG-East Coast USA:
6960 HKD 30 Days V class - until end June (Mon-Thur depart)
8460 HKD 45 days V class - until end June (Mon-Thur depart)
High Season: 13 July - 9 sept: 10,370 HKD (30 day V class)
The 30 days fares seem good if you want an upgradeable fare...
All these from Nan Hwa Travel in HKG (anyone wants contact details, drop me a line)
HKG-East Coast USA:
6960 HKD 30 Days V class - until end June (Mon-Thur depart)
8460 HKD 45 days V class - until end June (Mon-Thur depart)
High Season: 13 July - 9 sept: 10,370 HKD (30 day V class)
The 30 days fares seem good if you want an upgradeable fare...
Apr 30, 2001 | 7:22 pm
#2
formerly ssw207
Join Date: Apr 2000
Programs: BAGld, JLJGC, TK*G, EK-G, HH Dia,IHG Amb-PE, Bonvoy Gd, Shangrila DM
Posts: 657
NYC-HKG-NYC RT High Season Fares found at discounted Chinatown agents:
L Class US$710
Q Class US$810
V Class US$1000-1100 (will check on this)
Weekday Departure (Fri, Sat, Sun extra)
Valid 365 Days, Return date can be OPEN.
Add US$30 for One Stopover.
Routing JFK-YVR-HKG or LGA-YYZ-HKG via AC Only.
Caveat: "Canadian Citizens not Eligible"
unless you have a Green Card or F1/H1-B/TN Visa.
[This message has been edited by ssw207 (edited 04-30-2001).]
L Class US$710
Q Class US$810
V Class US$1000-1100 (will check on this)
Weekday Departure (Fri, Sat, Sun extra)
Valid 365 Days, Return date can be OPEN.
Add US$30 for One Stopover.
Routing JFK-YVR-HKG or LGA-YYZ-HKG via AC Only.
Caveat: "Canadian Citizens not Eligible"
unless you have a Green Card or F1/H1-B/TN Visa.
[This message has been edited by ssw207 (edited 04-30-2001).]
Apr 30, 2001 | 11:24 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: YVR
Posts: 9,998
Introducing... (drum roll please)... The "Chinese Fire Drill."
Intrigued in no small part by the "Non-Canadians only rule" as well as the Q-mileage potential of a run to HKG, I checked up on these fares. I discovered several interesting facts, which might be of interest to those in the east.
The first is that there are several very low fares from NYC to HKG. In fact, there is a V class fare of USD$821 that was valid until April 10th. The V fare is significant of course because SEs can upgrade, and even Es can upgrade the North American segments (although the trans-Pacific would sure suck.)
Until the end of may there is a fare of USD$1083, and in June it only rises to USD$1188, with further small incremental increases through the summer.
Of particular interest is there is no purchaser restriciton -- i.e. the "Canadian Citizens not Eligible" rule appears to be a TA thing. Otherwise, restrictions are minimal but vary depending on whether you depart from JFK, LGA, or EWR. Changes and cancels are USD$75, 1 free stopover, 2 additional stopovers can be purchased for USD$100, no min stay, max 6 month stay. No advance purchase requirement apparently, just ticket within either 14 or 3 days of reservation, depending when you reserve.
I thought about doing one of these in May after the 10th, but as others have already discovered, the only HKG-YVR flight in May that still has C space is on May 16th, but there are no V fares left on that date. What to do, what to do...
Well, it turns out that as long as you take the first segment before June 1st, you can use the stopover to delay the rest of the flight up to several months. So here's my plan:
Get to EWR, fly EWR-YYZ-YVR, and stopover at home until I feel like continuing, making sure there are plenty of C seats available. People in Toronto might simply bus, train, fly, or swim to NYC, then fly right back to YYZ and likewise hang around. (Note: at each stop you are required to jump out of the plane, and run around it several times.)
Sometime in June I'll fly YVR-HKG, spend a night or 4, then return. Using the 24-hour layover rule, I'll sleep in my own bed for 1 night, then continue on to YYZ and EWR, possibly stopping in YYZ for 23 hours as well.
So if you live in Toronto and expect to be going to HKG in the next 6 months, get the first part over and done with now by going to NYC and coming back. Then later use up the rest of the ticket. Even if you have to change the dates, it's only USD$75.
The total fare ('til May 31, taxes in) is CAD$1753, in the realm of MHD fares from Toronto. In terms of miles however, presuming you can upgrade and get the 35% COS bonus, the total Q-miles should be about 24,240. Given that the MPM is 9808 the theoretical maximum is 26,480. Creative routing might let you hit over 25K, but I haven't checked it out.
Perhaps not as promising as the MHD, but it appears the CFD has some potential applications.
I may use an MHD to get to NYC to begin my CFD. However, I'm not sure if the overall package would be a Mexican Fire Drill or a Chinese Hat Dance.
Intrigued in no small part by the "Non-Canadians only rule" as well as the Q-mileage potential of a run to HKG, I checked up on these fares. I discovered several interesting facts, which might be of interest to those in the east.
The first is that there are several very low fares from NYC to HKG. In fact, there is a V class fare of USD$821 that was valid until April 10th. The V fare is significant of course because SEs can upgrade, and even Es can upgrade the North American segments (although the trans-Pacific would sure suck.)
Until the end of may there is a fare of USD$1083, and in June it only rises to USD$1188, with further small incremental increases through the summer.
Of particular interest is there is no purchaser restriciton -- i.e. the "Canadian Citizens not Eligible" rule appears to be a TA thing. Otherwise, restrictions are minimal but vary depending on whether you depart from JFK, LGA, or EWR. Changes and cancels are USD$75, 1 free stopover, 2 additional stopovers can be purchased for USD$100, no min stay, max 6 month stay. No advance purchase requirement apparently, just ticket within either 14 or 3 days of reservation, depending when you reserve.
I thought about doing one of these in May after the 10th, but as others have already discovered, the only HKG-YVR flight in May that still has C space is on May 16th, but there are no V fares left on that date. What to do, what to do...
Well, it turns out that as long as you take the first segment before June 1st, you can use the stopover to delay the rest of the flight up to several months. So here's my plan:
Get to EWR, fly EWR-YYZ-YVR, and stopover at home until I feel like continuing, making sure there are plenty of C seats available. People in Toronto might simply bus, train, fly, or swim to NYC, then fly right back to YYZ and likewise hang around. (Note: at each stop you are required to jump out of the plane, and run around it several times.)
Sometime in June I'll fly YVR-HKG, spend a night or 4, then return. Using the 24-hour layover rule, I'll sleep in my own bed for 1 night, then continue on to YYZ and EWR, possibly stopping in YYZ for 23 hours as well.
So if you live in Toronto and expect to be going to HKG in the next 6 months, get the first part over and done with now by going to NYC and coming back. Then later use up the rest of the ticket. Even if you have to change the dates, it's only USD$75.
The total fare ('til May 31, taxes in) is CAD$1753, in the realm of MHD fares from Toronto. In terms of miles however, presuming you can upgrade and get the 35% COS bonus, the total Q-miles should be about 24,240. Given that the MPM is 9808 the theoretical maximum is 26,480. Creative routing might let you hit over 25K, but I haven't checked it out.
Perhaps not as promising as the MHD, but it appears the CFD has some potential applications.
I may use an MHD to get to NYC to begin my CFD. However, I'm not sure if the overall package would be a Mexican Fire Drill or a Chinese Hat Dance.
Apr 30, 2001 | 11:28 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: HKG
Posts: 566
www.flychina.com has the same sort of visa restrictions.
Anyone have any experience of this ? Do they *really* check when you check in for the flight??
ssw207 If you have a moment, could you double check that V class fare & either post here (or just e mail me directly) with the travel agents info ? Would appreciate it..
Anyone have any experience of this ? Do they *really* check when you check in for the flight??
ssw207 If you have a moment, could you double check that V class fare & either post here (or just e mail me directly) with the travel agents info ? Would appreciate it..
Apr 30, 2001 | 11:45 pm
#7
Company Representative - Air Canada
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Canada
Posts: 24,224
Ken... I have been trying to think of the cheapest way to HKG yet upgradable on AC. (I call it the Chinese Dragon Dance 
)
Earlier in the year, the best deal I figured out was MIA-YYZ-YVR-HKG {It was only $1475 for V class}. Just got to add another trip to MIA though (by MHD?). If this did work, 3 of these would get you more than 100K Q miles easily.
However, since one could get a H class YYZ-HKG from a TA here in YYZ for $1600, one would not waste the time to get to EWR. However, I always have to go through the process of explaining to the TA why I want my ticket to be booked in H/V class when they have a Q class available for $500 less. They always think I am another Travel Agency trying to get prices off them. If I could get a similar price from AC, it would certainly save me time.
Well, it turns out that as long as you take the first segment before June 1st, you can use the stopover to delay the rest of the flight up to several months. So here's my plan:
Ken: It's the transpacific leg that must be started before June 1 {which mean YVR-HKG}.
However, I am still awaiting for the day which we can find the equivalent of MHD for HKG!
[This message has been edited by Empress (edited 04-30-2001).]
)Earlier in the year, the best deal I figured out was MIA-YYZ-YVR-HKG {It was only $1475 for V class}. Just got to add another trip to MIA though (by MHD?). If this did work, 3 of these would get you more than 100K Q miles easily.
However, since one could get a H class YYZ-HKG from a TA here in YYZ for $1600, one would not waste the time to get to EWR. However, I always have to go through the process of explaining to the TA why I want my ticket to be booked in H/V class when they have a Q class available for $500 less. They always think I am another Travel Agency trying to get prices off them. If I could get a similar price from AC, it would certainly save me time.
Well, it turns out that as long as you take the first segment before June 1st, you can use the stopover to delay the rest of the flight up to several months. So here's my plan:
Ken: It's the transpacific leg that must be started before June 1 {which mean YVR-HKG}.
However, I am still awaiting for the day which we can find the equivalent of MHD for HKG!
[This message has been edited by Empress (edited 04-30-2001).]
May 1, 2001 | 12:02 am
#8
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: YVR
Posts: 9,998
Ken: It's the transpacific leg that must be started before June 1 {which mean YVR-HKG}.
After accidentally miskeying something I discovered that the trans-Pacific leg could be booked much later without affecting the original fare. (This is actually what we mean when we say we are tweaking -- we are looking at our mistakes.)
I even closed PTO and restarted it to make sure that I wasn't looking at a ghost of a fare from the pre-modified itinerary. It kept coming up with the same fare -- $1753.
I may ask you to introduce me to your TA one of these days.
May 1, 2001 | 12:33 am
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: HKG
Posts: 566
Ken (& others),
The fares out of NYC do seem to be the cheapest from anywhere on the E Coast.
Fares running from 1000~1241 (inc tax) are from now up to June 20, but the higher fares move to H class and are different seasons and completely non-changeable.
There's a high season H class (fare HHS) valid for the summer for 1972 USD, but again no changes.
Ken Chinese Fire Drill...er...where did that come from ??
[This message has been edited by Eric the half a bee (edited 05-01-2001).]
The fares out of NYC do seem to be the cheapest from anywhere on the E Coast.
Fares running from 1000~1241 (inc tax) are from now up to June 20, but the higher fares move to H class and are different seasons and completely non-changeable.
There's a high season H class (fare HHS) valid for the summer for 1972 USD, but again no changes.
Ken Chinese Fire Drill...er...where did that come from ??
[This message has been edited by Eric the half a bee (edited 05-01-2001).]
May 2, 2001 | 10:27 pm
#10
formerly ssw207
Join Date: Apr 2000
Programs: BAGld, JLJGC, TK*G, EK-G, HH Dia,IHG Amb-PE, Bonvoy Gd, Shangrila DM
Posts: 657
Ken>
Please refer to my last post. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum.../002217-2.html
AC DOES have a restriction on TAs on who they can sell the tickets to. This is because of PRICE DISCRIMINATION policies that AC implement, they want to avoid people living in Canada from buying East Coast-YVR/YYZ-HKG tickets, and then discarding the US-Canada portion and fly cheap to HKG. My TA clearly states that they have it on the contract they signed with AC.
Eric> The V fare I quoted is for shoulder season (my bad
) The L & Q are for high season though. The agency is Jade Tours, NYC Office. Pls. look up the contact info from there. http://www.jadetours.com
They're owned by Jardine Matheson (big British Conglomerate) so I really take their word that AC doesn't allow Canadians to buy tickets.
Edited for speeling & Wrong URL!!
[This message has been edited by ssw207 (edited 05-02-2001).]
Please refer to my last post. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum.../002217-2.html
AC DOES have a restriction on TAs on who they can sell the tickets to. This is because of PRICE DISCRIMINATION policies that AC implement, they want to avoid people living in Canada from buying East Coast-YVR/YYZ-HKG tickets, and then discarding the US-Canada portion and fly cheap to HKG. My TA clearly states that they have it on the contract they signed with AC.
Eric> The V fare I quoted is for shoulder season (my bad
) The L & Q are for high season though. The agency is Jade Tours, NYC Office. Pls. look up the contact info from there. http://www.jadetours.com They're owned by Jardine Matheson (big British Conglomerate) so I really take their word that AC doesn't allow Canadians to buy tickets.
Edited for speeling & Wrong URL!!
[This message has been edited by ssw207 (edited 05-02-2001).]
May 2, 2001 | 10:38 pm
#12
formerly ssw207
Join Date: Apr 2000
Programs: BAGld, JLJGC, TK*G, EK-G, HH Dia,IHG Amb-PE, Bonvoy Gd, Shangrila DM
Posts: 657
One more thing, I switched over to Jade Tours from my old one because they're the ones who wholesale all the netfares = cheaper prices!
Keep in mind I don't endorse anything from them or their service. I just find them reliable & cheap thats all.
Keep in mind I don't endorse anything from them or their service. I just find them reliable & cheap thats all.
May 2, 2001 | 11:37 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: HKG
Posts: 566
SSW207, thanks for that. Sounds about right (on the Q & L fares) alas, not upgradeable.
I guess with a little bit of work wouldn't be too hard to find an agent that would ticket these and not worry too much about the US resident part. (I'm checking with the Consolidator I generally use, will post as/when I get a reply).
So we're all still searching for someone who can do the V class fares for less than published.
Seems for the height of Summer either best to buy HKG-NYC-HKG or use Ken's ploy to delay the Pacific leg....
I guess with a little bit of work wouldn't be too hard to find an agent that would ticket these and not worry too much about the US resident part. (I'm checking with the Consolidator I generally use, will post as/when I get a reply).
So we're all still searching for someone who can do the V class fares for less than published.
Seems for the height of Summer either best to buy HKG-NYC-HKG or use Ken's ploy to delay the Pacific leg....
May 4, 2001 | 9:12 pm
#14
formerly ssw207
Join Date: Apr 2000
Programs: BAGld, JLJGC, TK*G, EK-G, HH Dia,IHG Amb-PE, Bonvoy Gd, Shangrila DM
Posts: 657
Eric> The V fare should be around USD$1100-1200 max for High Season (June-Aug). Just checked with another consolidator agent. It's 180 Days validity and return segment can be changed. Stopover for extra $$$, and No "Canadian Citizen" exclusion clauses and Upgradeable
and Upgradeable
May 4, 2001 | 10:29 pm
#15
Company Representative - Air Canada
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Canada
Posts: 24,224
Getting a high season NYC-HKG fare direct from AC would be near $3000CAD (H class) and this compare to a low season fare of $1272CAD!! (V class). Another example of AC grabbing $$ at its best.