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Zapp Brannigan
Joined: 07 Apr 2008
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 Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:21 am Post subject: cheapest destinations in Asia |
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| My contract ends at the end of April, and unfortunately, I can only afford a cheap vacation. However, I would like to visit 1 more country in Asia before I leave. Can anyone recommend a cheap destination (flight & other expenditures) for a 5-7 day vacation? |
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Otherside
Joined: 06 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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Question..
Where are you from? and where are you heading to at the end of your contract. Depending where you are going, you may be able to take a flight that "stops" over in another country on its way back home, thus saving you money on airfare.
Some potential places:
If you are from US/Can: Japan,
South Africa: Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Dubai,
UK/Ireland: Same as above,
Aus: Philipines, Taiwan, Indonesia.
NZ. Same as above + Aus. |
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Zapp Brannigan
Joined: 07 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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| I am from the US. I would go to Japan, but while getting there would be cheap, the daily expenses would be very high. |
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Otherside
Joined: 06 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Zapp Brannigan wrote: |
| I am from the US. I would go to Japan, but while getting there would be cheap, the daily expenses would be very high. |
Fair enough, but what's your budget for this trip? You pretty much can't get a flight anywhere for less than 300K, so over 6 days the flight works out to 60K a day, vs the free flight to Japan might balance things up quite a bit.
NB: Check out www.cathaypacific.com for some great deals on airfaire.
Just a couple I looked at:
Cebu - 314,000
HK - 313,500
Bangkok - 238,000
Manila - 295,000
Singapore - 323,000
Taipei - 219,000.
NOTE: These are all special fares, which will probably come with a ton of terms and conditions. These fares are also for departures up to 31 March, so you'll need to wait a bit for them to update the April fares.
Good luck. |
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Tobias
Joined: 02 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 9:54 pm Post subject: |
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I usually recommend Thailand, but not this time. I'm actually in Thailand now. It's very hot for mid-March and there are too many white tourists crowding up the place. Everybody taking a vacation in SE Asia at the moment had the same idea I did back in the planning stage.
The silver lining: air fares are cheap. Must be all the surplus oil sitting around in ships waiting to be offloaded. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:31 pm Post subject: |
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| 5-7 days? Philippines then maybe. Laos and Cambodia are dirt cheap but less convenient. |
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muffintop
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Location: SK
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 12:27 am Post subject: Taiwan |
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I just went to Taiwan and it was 217+70,000 won so 289,000 r/t
186 USD on Cathay Pacific...2 1/2 hr flight..food was great both ways...excellent full meals...the works...It was my first time on Cathay..and would go that route any time |
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Zapp Brannigan
Joined: 07 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the advice. I need to do some number crunching. I expect to have a budget of about 3.5 million won, but I would rather not use it all on my vacation. |
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Tobias
Joined: 02 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:38 am Post subject: |
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| Zapp Brannigan wrote: |
| Thanks for the advice. I need to do some number crunching. I expect to have a budget of about 3.5 million won, but I would rather not use it all on my vacation. |
While you're crunching numbers......
Are you going home next, or are you going elsewhere to teach?
I'll say that if you were returning to Korea or going to a place like Japan, you should take an empty suitcase with you on this break. When you get to your place of relaxation, stock up on all things essential. I did this last year and saved enough on bathroom items alone to pay for the ticket. I went to Thailand, a place where such things as roll-on, mouthwash, shampoo, and lotion are significantly cheaper than in Korea.
One example: I brought back about 14 of those little blue bottles of Nivea roll on. Those run about 60 baht in Thailand, which is about 1.75 USD, but about 8500 won (maybe 6.00-8.00 USD) in Korea. My savings over my second year on these alone paid for 25% of my ticket. Then there are the other things I bought, which bumped my savings up to around 80-90% of the ticket cost. It was definitely worth it to do this.
Too bad I couldn't bring back watermelon. In Thailand a melon the size of a grapefruit runs about 30 baht, while in Korea you'll pay upwards of 15,000 won for one the same size.
Using this strategy can save you your fare, but your time horizon has to be great enough for you to realize the savings. If you're going back to the USA, I doubt this strategy would help you much. If you're going on to a new place to teach that has a reputation of being expensive, definitely do it up. |
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Zapp Brannigan
Joined: 07 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:28 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the advice Tobias, but I am going back to the US to see for myself how bad things have gotten. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 7:58 pm Post subject: Re: Taiwan |
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| muffintop wrote: |
I just went to Taiwan and it was 217+70,000 won so 289,000 r/t
186 USD on Cathay Pacific...2 1/2 hr flight..food was great both ways...excellent full meals...the works...It was my first time on Cathay..and would go that route any time |
Skip Taiwan, it's just a warmer version of Seoul with too many Japanese restaurants. |
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Tobias
Joined: 02 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Zapp Brannigan wrote: |
| Thanks for the advice Tobias, but I am going back to the US to see for myself how bad things have gotten. |
Sounds good, Zapp. See you back here in May. |
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