pharmawalk

Want to fly to OKA from west coast USA on Delta in Mar 2018, but having trouble finding any decent flights.

Any suggestions/tricks of the trade?

flyerCO

Award or revenue? Either will most lokely require calling, AFAIK DL doesnt serve OKA, and would need to fly OAL from NRT/HND/PVG to OKA.

jrkmsp

I would probably fly to Incheon on Delta and then switch to Korean.

pharmawalk

I'm openminded.

Yes, that's what I was figuring out. Delta.com wants to put me on China Airlines through Shanghai.

3Cforme

Delta has award ticket partnerships with China Airlines (with a hub in Taipei, Taiwan), China Eastern, and China Southern (among other Asian Carriers). You will want to keep them straight.

With an onward ticket beyond Shanghai you (presuming you're a U.S. citizen) would be eligible for transit without visa through Shanghai.

mnbp

+1

Connection in Korea - easy. Connection in mainland China - might be easy, might be difficult. I think the suggestion to connect in Korea is an excellent one.

RealHJ

Best and easiest way to get to OKA is via MU from PVG and via CI from TPE. (To go via Japan will take longer, but you can certainly fly DL to NRT/HND/KIX/NGO/FUK and then take a Japan Transocean Air (JL subsidiary) or NH or an LCC like Peach flight from there to OKA..but that will generally take longer than the easier PVG and TPE connections.)

So, within SkyTeam, you will need to fly on MU or CI here, transiting PVG or TPE.

Edit: as others have said, KE may also fly to OKA from ICN (earlier I am pretty sure they didn't, but may be now they do). CI via TPE is the quickest and easiest route, though, and the most pleasant as well, if the schedule works well for your incoming flight.

pharmawalk

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

hockeyinsider

Delta still flies to KIX, NGO and FUK? From where?

rufflesinc

NGO from DTW

hockeyinsider

I wonder what the clearance rate for global upgrade certificates in and out of NGO is like. I might consider flying there and then a Japanese train to Narita for any intra-Asia Delta flights.

RealHJ

The frequencies and the aircraft sizes are down as DL keeps shrinking, but yes, it still does.
HNL-KIX only 1x daily, and now on 767 vs earlier 2x daily 747 and A330.
HNL-NGO and HNO-FUK now only 5x weekly, but at some times still daily.

hockeyinsider

Interesting. I'm seeing YYZ-DTW-ICN-FUK (the last segment being on Korean) and FUK-HNL-MSP-DTW-YYZ (all on Delta) in business-class/domestic first-class for as low as $2504.

You might be able to play with the fare rules and fly to FUK, spend a day or two there and then do a 5-day stopover in HNL.

RealHJ

I am pretty sure the moment you add a stopover it'll price to a lot more, as DL and all major US airlines abolished stopovers in most revenue fares back about a year ago. You used to get a stopover, or even two, in most fare rules. Now you no longer do, so if you add in a stopover it'll price it as three individual segments vs. an RT as it is pricing out now.

Check the fare rules and try it...but I think it probably won't work, not at the same price at least.

hockeyinsider

Thu, Dec 28

6:15 AM – 7:28 AM
Toronto (YYZ) – Detroit (DTW)
Delta 3949 · First Class

Layover in Detroit DTW 5h 03m

12:31 PM – 4:30 PM+1
Detroit (DTW) – Seoul (ICN)
Delta 159 · Business Class

Layover in Seoul ICN 2h 15m

6:45 PM+1 – 8:00 PM+1
Seoul (ICN) – Fukuoka (FUK)
Korean Air 781 · Business Class

7:35 PM – 8:02 AM
Fukuoka (FUK) – Honolulu (HNL)
Delta 598 · Business Class

Layover in Honolulu HNL 9h 53m

5:55 PM – 5:41 AM+1
Honolulu (HNL) – Minneapolis (MSP)
Delta 1492 · First Class

Layover in Minneapolis MSP 3h 39m

9:20 AM+1 – 12:21 PM+1
Minneapolis (MSP) – Toronto (YYZ)
Delta 6194 · First Class

$2,501 US$.

I don't have time to play with it, but I recently flew home from Asia and did a stopover of four nights in HNL cheaper than a direct flight from NRT.