Yeah TWD!!

Indeed, they announced a sale on J class about a week ago for departure before end-August.

I noticed that TPE-BKK is only NT$12,000+ (not including taxes). TPE-LAX/SFO is nearly NT$74,000 (not including taxes), which is over NT$13,000 less than what they were offering previously.

Excellent fares for August, a month that is not known for attractive fares.

Even thereafter the flights seem like they are pretty cheap. Looked at SFO in december and is still TWD79k. Great stuff!

sorry - how do ex-TPE tickets work and why are they a steal?

Go to CX web page and select Taiwan as the site. Go the "Manage Your Trip" -> "Online Booking" -> "Flight Booking". You can get very reasonable busniess class fares. TPE-SFO round trip for about TWD80K (~USD2500).

One minor question: stopover at HKG is allowed for an additional TWD1,500. Previously, the online booking system had an option which allows us to enter the number of days we want to stopover in HKG. But this time round, the option is no longer available. Must we call in to CX Taipei office to request for the stopover? Or we can do so after the ticket is issued and pay the additional TWD1,500 after ticket issuance?

Another real perk to the ex-TPE fares are the low fares that CX charges to extend one’s flights domestically in the US on AA. For instance, I frequently fly to STL, connecting via SFO or LAX. CX charges TWD2,500 each leg (to STL and then back to the West Coast is a total of TWD5,000) in Economy Class or TWD5,000 each leg in First Class (a total of TWD10,000). That First Class price for SFO/LAX-STL-SFO/LAX is cheaper than buying a separate ticket from AA for that route in Economy Class!

I don't know whether those fares charged for the AA legs by CX vary depending on the city pairs.

Just use the multi-city option and evrything will be ok.

Thanks :) I tried it just now and it does work. I-class tix ex-TPE to destinations in INA even cheaper than buying V-class fares from HKG.

so if TPE-SFO is cheap, but i'm in HKG i basically need to buy my own HKG-TPE leg on a separate itinerary?

do ex-TPE flights basically all need to originate from TPE?

thanks

:confused: ex-TPE means originate from TPE. :confused:

Do originate from TPE tickets need to originate from TPE? Yes. :p

CX offers lower fares from TPE as CX service requires a connection in HKG, it is not as convenient as nonstops offered by CI/BR.

Yes. You can't skip the first sector if that's what you are asking. You can forfeit the last sector (HKG-TPE) if you wish but many would save it for their next ex-TPE flight.

It's really down to how much you value 5 hours of time because that's what it takes to do the turn-around trip.

You have summarized it well :)
I have done 2 ex-TPE trips and enjoying the cheaper tix thus far. I will embark on at least 2 ex-TPE I fares to INA destinations to make sure I requalify for GOLD again.

Interesting...how do you book these? Looking at some random dates in August, seeing 73,000NTD TPE-LAX R/T, but about 119,000 TPE-STL R/T (in business) Do you have to multi-city and book them as separate legs? I'm using Cathayusa.com

If price was something like 83,000NTD TPE-STL, that would be just a little more than using a combination of Eva/AA in economy deluxe/AA Y from Taipeim which would be a no brainer.

socalterp,

I don't think you can book those AA segments via CX's Internet booking engine. I've always called a CX ticketing agent in TPE, who will make the booking and provide the quote based on the city pair involved.

I was recently quoted about TWD88,000 (including about TWD5,000 in taxes) for a TPE-SFO-STL-LAX-TPE itinerary.

It is also my understanding that if your CX flight is in Economy Class, the extended domestic legs on AA can only be booked in Economy, while if your CX flight is in Business Class, the domestic legs on AA can only be booked in First Class (if it is a only a two-class aircraft).