How to organize ticketing around Asia as cheaply as possible?
 

I will be studying abroad in Hong Kong next semester with two of my good friends. For both of them, a top priority is travelling around Asia on a budget as they may not get a chance again. (The means no J awards, no SWUs and MFUs for me :p) To show you that I am not kidding, my friend recommended taking a boat from HKG to ICN. As in a cargo boat.

Does anyone know the *cheapest* (there is NO other condition) way to do this. Options I had considered:

CX All Asia Pass
Visit Asia Pass (either OW or *A)
RTW
Low Cost Carriers
Driving / Bus / Train

Destinations that we want to visit in decreasing order of importance

PEK
PVG
SIN
NRT/KIX
KUL
CGK
BKK
MNL
PNH

Most of these will be for 2 - 3 days but we can do one of the cities for a week. I am pushing doing KUL/SIN/CGK for 2-3 days each over the week period. Time is of the essence and we will often only have a weekend to do a city. That is why my friend's idea to go 1500 miles in a boat may not work out.

Thanks!
Cheers,

There is always Air Asia, Cebu Pacific, JetStar, Tiger and to a lesser extend Bangkok Airways, and Viva Macau.

http://www.attitudetravel.com/hongkong/lowcostairlines/
http://www.skyscanner.net

For flights to PVG/PEK you may want to depart from Shenzhen

Check out flights, add up the cost, and then consider whether its a better option than an Airpass.

I would check the ASEAN pass (though it doesn't innclude HKG).
http://www.thaiair.com/Promotions/Sp...ns/aseanhh.htm

Local travel agents can always get you a good deal. Just a quick tip, for China destinations try to fly out of Shenzen as it will be cheaper then from Hong Kong.

You will quickly realize that "Study Abroad" translates to "Travel for a semester because you realize that your grades transfer back to your university only as a Pass or a Fail, and everyone Pass's, therefore your "weekend trips" turn into essentially 4 months of travel while showing your face in school the odd day."

Enjoy!

Please continue to follow this thread in the FT Asia Forum.
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

That is true for everyone else, but sadly not for me - I hope to be applying to medical school and, as confirmed by my top choice - John's Hopkins - they will request for a transcript from my abroad university (HKU)

Cheers,

I think the asia pass (when its offered for sale) will not be worth it considering the surcharge to go to 60 or 90 days. It would be limited to 4 destinations and be upwards of $2k - but this includes your ticket from NYC to JFK. If you are traveling during summer (departing before Aug 15 IIRC) it will be especially not worth it.

IME NRT/KIX will be the expensive cities, and probably not worth it for a weekend.

Air Asia is like $200 a/i to BKK or KUL/ Jet* to SIN/Jakarta around the same --that is pretty cheap.

Getting from Kowloon-Shenzhen Airport is a lot easier now with direct busses - and you can get fares as low as $160 r/t ai to shanghai and ~$200 to beijing.