Asia - Cheap Airfare to Japan/Taiwan

Hi,

Over the last couple months I have been researching airfare my trip to Japan and Taiwan. I wanted to either go to Taiwan or Japan first depending what was cheaper (for airfare). I am planning on the whole trip to be from (around dates) May 7th to May 30th. A couple months earlier I got airfare for about $890, but now I am getting extreme airfare(very high prices). I will be travelling out of Portland, OR. I was just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences with planning a trip like this. If anyone could help me with cheaper airfare, then that would be great (or any tips). Do I need to wait later or just wait for the deal? Thanks.

Adam Russell

it's too early. united is still doing a promo on winter trips to asia

Flights to NRT/TPE can vary in price quite a bit. $890 all-in is a standard economy fare from PDX to many cities in Asia on Northwest Airlines, but you can wait for sales. A few weeks ago, I bought PDX-NRT for $339+ for a March departure. Prices for your trip dates will be higher than that, but it pays to wait. There can be crazy sale prices from PDX to Asia due to NW-UA competition. If you'd prefer TPE, consider flying Eva Air out of Seattle, they have a very decent Economy Plus product.

Welcome to FT!

I would keep looking for special offers at least through January. Keep checking United, NW, and also AA and Continental websites for deals. Fares from Portland should certainly be well under $1000.

What is the latest I should wait to buy my plane ticket? I don't want to wait to late and get a real bad deal. (leaving around May 7th)

You should be able to catch a sale fare from PDX to Japan (NRT) for $319+ each way. NW has been running these pretty consistently throughout the year. You could then buy a seperate ticket NRT-TPE for your trip to Taiwan. These tickets cost about $350+, possibly cheaper through a consolidator.

Your best bet, however, if you want to visit both Japan and Taiwan, might be to book a flight to Taiwan and add a stopover in Japan. This prices out at about $1,100+ for your dates on United. Again, a consolidator might have lower fares.

don't forget that UA also has an SFO-NGO-TPE route as well...

china airlines to Taiwan will be open soon for summer fares, also cost in taiwan much lower than Japan and if you get down to the middle and southern sections loads to see and do

Another idea that someone else has noted is possibly taking a short flight to either SEA/SFO/LAX and taking a flight outbound on an asian carrier. From SFO/LAX there are routinely fares to Taiwan/Japan for about ~500-600 (600-750 all in). You can either drive to Seattle or find decent fares for about 150 all in from PDX to SFO/LAX. I'd personally wait until either mid Jan to Mid Feb for most of these fares. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time for delays etc on the domestic portion.

If I remember correctly, China Airlines also flies to Seatac...at least I remember seeing an airplane there before.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the help. I'll continue to look for prices using your hints/suggestions and hopefully I'll find a low airfare.

Adam

I usually fly SEA-NRT-TPE and last year have had fares ranging from $800 to $1600.

EVA also has a direct flight SEA-TPE, and I have found reasonable fares on it as well.

You should be able to catch a sale fare from PDX to Japan (NRT) for $319+ each way. NW has been running these pretty consistently throughout the year. You could then buy a seperate ticket NRT-TPE for your trip to Taiwan. These tickets cost about $350+, possibly cheaper through a consolidator.

Your best bet, however, if you want to visit both Japan and Taiwan, might be to book a flight to Taiwan and add a stopover in Japan. This prices out at about $1,100+ for your dates on United. Again, a consolidator might have lower fares.

If you do a stopover is there a restriction on the number of days you can stay?