Getting There:
Cheap Asia Flights

"How to find cheap Asia flights
and when you should book your ticket"

"Cheap Asia Flights" was last updated on Dec 08, 2011

This article covers tips on how to find cheap Asia flights and Asia travel deals. Other issues I will talk about is:

If the airlines/travel agencies go out of business, how can you protect yourself from losing money? Read on to find out!

Note: And since this website is about Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines and India, I've focused on these countries. And this theme is comprehensive, so I divided it into five parts. This page is part 1.

Here are the other pages:

Part 2: Where to buy tickets -- Should I buy my ticket online or at a travel agency?

Part 3: What to consider when looking for cheap Asia flights

Part 4: The credit card rule, and the issues regarding airlines/travel agencies going bankrupt

Part 5: Travel overland, or fly? What to do when you`ve bought a ticket!

Your options for cheap airfares Asia and personal reviews of airlines I've tried -- search for cheap flight to Asia right here

First, let's start with the big (and difficult) question...

Cheap Asia Flight:
How much is a cheap ticket?

Getting there is not a problem! The best way to travel to Asia is by airplane. It's your biggest expense, so it's not cheap. But it's faster.

How much you have to pay for your ticket depends highly on

  • When you want to travel

    Traveling during the high/peak season is more expensive than the low season.

    Because that's when everyone's traveling... Most backpackers don't want to travel when it's pouring rain during their entire trip! They want the sun to shine on their face. And there's usually more sun, and less rain during the high/peak season.

  • Where you want to travel

    Traveling to hub cities is normally cheaper. Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Delhi and Mumbai are such hub cities.

    For instance: you want to travel from Sydney and directly to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. To save money, you should book a ticket from Sydney to Bangkok, and not Sydney to Phnom Penh.

  • ...and when you buy the ticket

    Usually the tickets are cheaper when you buy them like, 6 months before the date you're planning on leaving.

    So, if you buy your ticket like 3 weeks before planned departure, you can't really expect to pay rock-bottom price (in the high season)!

When is the high/peak/low season in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and India?

The high season in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and India runs from November to February. The low season is from May to October.

While the high season in Malaysia is from June to August (applies to east coast of Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo).

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Cheap Asia Flight:
When should I book a ticket?



cheap asia flights time backpacking-tips-asia.com
For flights to Asia during the high season, you should book a ticket at least 6 months ahead, if not one year.

There's only a certain number of cheap tickets, and when these are sold out, you're usually stuck with the expensive ones.

Airlines start to sell cheap tickets early to 'lure' potential customers. They have to do this because of the tough competition.

My mom runs a travel agency (called Villarey Travel) and has told me:

"Amanda, if you want to get cheap fares to Asia, book them one year before if possible. If not one year, then book 6 months before."

She has successfully run her business for over 10 years now, so I can't say anything against this. She knows the deal.

Just to clear up a couple of things, in case you're thinking that I have an ulterior motive:

I'm not mentioning my mom's business to promote her. Her business runs well, with or without promotion. I honestly know little of the travel business. So, to get the real tips I interviewed my mom. And that's why I'm mentioning her business.

On the other hand, because of the unstable oil prices, the flight taxes keep rising and dropping.

For example: I bought tickets to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia for $1000 three months before departure in 2009 ($1000 is the cheapest ticket I've ever bought for Asia from Norway, in such a short time)

But you never know.

So, all in all, it's better to be early when buying a ticket.

Remember that there are NO obvious answers to when you should a book/buy a ticket, to get cheap flights.

It's all about timing to get cheap international flights. So, my intention in this section is just to tell you the basic rules.

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Next stop is...

  • Should I buy my ticket online or at a travel agency?
Click onto the next page!

| Next Page |

Where do you want to go next?

Considering round the world travel?

11 tips on how to find around the world airline tickets

How to find the best and cheap backpackers travel insurance

Return to Backpacking Tips Asia Homepage.

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