BKK routing and options
 

Contemplating an August or September visit to Bangkok this year; there are quite decent R/T fares from SFO via TPE to BKK, on EVA Air, being advertised for September in the $560 range.

But I've got three things to keep in mind here: one, I'm budgeting strictly right now; two, I have time on my hands; and three, I wouldn't be averse to spending a bit more to make this into an RTW instead of there-and-back.

Several comments on FT and elsewhere have led me to understand that many backpacker types (I'm slightly more upscale than that, just frugal) arrive in BKK on one-way tickets, and simply price their onward flights there, in baht.

I've dug a bit and the fares I see from Bangkok agencies appear to be attractive ones. Some friends of mine will be in Europe at the end of August -- the idea of surprising them on the spot there is amusing to contemplate!

Do any FT'ers have any comment regarding cheap/efficient onward routing? Any thoughts about (dis)reputable agencies in BKK would also be welcome.

Although it just occurred to me that if I can't find a low-priced O/W to Asia, this scheme is going to fall through instantly.

I don't mind convoluted routings as long as the connections are not either exhaustingly long or riskily short, and I am one of those rare souls who is okay sitting in economy on a transpacific haul (I sleep virtually the whole way).

Any words of wisdom would be very gratefully welcomed. Thanks!

AB

The full blown OneWorld 3-continent (Asia-Europe-N America-Asia) RTW ticket out of BKK is priced at THB100,965 which is USD 2462 +tax at today's rate. This probably isn't the best way to do a simple "one place in each continent" RTW but it is reasonable value if you want to use it to its full capacity, which would give you 4 segments (but only two stopovers) within Asia, 4 segments in Europe and 6 segments in N America. There is lots of discussion on these tickets in teh OW Forum here.

By the way, the tickets are a bit cheaper out of Colombo (LKR 223,400 = USD2176). CX flies to CMB so you might be able to pick up a cheapish R/T ticket SFO-CMB on CX.

Whether from BKK or CMB you might as well get a R/T and keep the return portion for when you go back to CMB at the end of the trip.

So overall your routing might look something like this:

SFO-(transit)HKG-CMB: on the R/T ticket; stopover and see Sri Lanka if you have time - it's a beautiful country.
CMB-(stopover)BKK-LHR: on the RTW ticket
LHR-<Europe1>: to catch up with your friends
<Europe1> - LHR - <Europe2: to see somewhere else in Europe (I show routing through LHR for simplicity but there are many ways you could use the 4 segments in Euope on BA, EI, AY, IB)
<Europe2>-LHR-SFO: to return home
The 6 segments for domestic travel from home
Then either:
SJC-NRT on AA: stopover to see Tokyo
NRT-(transit)HKG-CMB: to finish the RTW
CMB-(stopover)HKG-SFO: on the R/T ticket

So you get to see Sri Lanka, Bangkok, at least 3 places in Europe, Tokyo & Hong Kong, and get three domestic trips with N America all for less than US$3000 in airfares.