Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - help! need quick info on CX/Dragonair

Just two segments remain unplanned in a OneWorld, 2 week criss-crossing of Asia -- trip begins TOMORROW:

Motivated by earning some AA miles, am holding Beijing to HKG at ~$350 r/t on CX on 24SEP. Still need to arrange Hong Kong to Shanghai for either 20 or 21 SEP -- travelocity shows this segment at $232 one-way.

Must I grab these stateside fares, which seem costly, or do better deals abound once I arrive in HKG this weekend? The CX flight only had 9 seats out of Beijing as of ystd.

Dragonair? Or another option? Pass travel, of some sort? I'm down to the wire and hope someone can help. At this point, earning AA miles may not be the best option.

Well, there's one more segment: SIN to Phuket. Silk Air is totally irrelevant to this forum -- but I'll take any scraps of advice you'll throw my way on this one, too! :rolleyes: Is $135 one-way the best rate?

As always, and in advance, my sincere thanks to you all.

Asia Novice

Must I grab these stateside fares, which seem costly, or do better deals abound once I arrive in HKG this weekend? The CX flight only had 9 seats out of Beijing as of ystd.


you'll probably do better in asia and will certainly do no worse. ime the best discounts between hk and china are for RT travel. you can usually add some decent hotels for next to nothing as well. other points:

-if you really want to save money, depart from shenzhen (especially if you're flying one way). a quick glance at your 9-21 (shenzhen-shanghai) shows several flights for Y700 and one for Y620.

-MU is usually cheaper than CX or KA

-travel agents: in hk, i like wing-on travel. in china, i usually use ctrip to get a feel for what's out there and then call around to learn about specials/discounts

Well, there's one more segment: SIN to Phuket. Silk Air is totally irrelevant to this forum -- but I'll take any scraps of advice you'll throw my way on this one, too! :rolleyes: Is $135 one-way the best rate?

As always, and in advance, my sincere thanks to you all.

Asia Novice

If you are looking at SIN-Phuket on Silkair, there is a current promo of S$60 (one way) if you book 45 days in advance or S$80 (if you book 30 days in advance). More details can be found on SilkAir Website (http://www.silkair.com) under Fare Promotions. You can book online using your Credit Card.

Its been my experience (and confirmed by countless others) that the best fares in Asia are bought from travel agents. Buying the same tixs from the airlines costs more than it does buying from the agents.

Hi,

I know that you mention ctrip but where did you find these fares (I can't find them on that site)



-if you really want to save money, depart from shenzhen (especially if you're flying one way). a quick glance at your 9-21 (shenzhen-shanghai) shows several flights for Y700 and one for Y620.

I know that you mention ctrip but where did you find these fares (I can't find them on that site)

as long as your chinese is good enough to use the chinese site, the search process is pretty straightforward (i.e. start by clicking on the small airplane). if not, i posted instructions for non-chinese speakers about 4 months ago on ft; just do a search for "ctrip".