The same flight on a mainstream airline, she said, would have been at least double that amount. She recently paid $226 total for round-trip flights on Tiger Airways from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for herself her husband, Will Karlin and their 1-year-old-daughter, Lena. “They have ridiculously low fares,” said Stephanie Trzaska, an American expatriate who has been living in Asia for the last four years, including in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Once in Asia, use budget airlines like AirAsia or Tiger Airways to jet around. For example, American Airlines does not fly to Hong Kong, but Cathay Pacific, a OneWorld alliance member, which has a code-share agreement with American Airlines, does and accepts American miles.
If you have a stockpile of frequent flier miles on an airline that doesn’t fly to your Asian destination, you still may be able to use those miles, thanks to airline alliances. (One exception is Vietnam - where United States travelers are getting about 12 percent more for the dollar than a year ago.) But it’s still possible to save on your Asian vacation if you plan carefully. And stronger Asian currencies, from the Taiwan dollar (up about 8 percent against the dollar compared with a year ago, according to Travelex, a currency exchange company) to the Malaysian ringgit (up roughly 11 percent), means Americans have less buying power. Rising jet fuel costs aren’t helping matters. That means bargains will be harder to come by for travelers who are only now planning vacations. “Our most popular 14-day tour of China already has more passengers booked to travel in 2011 than the entire 2010 season,” Marty Seslow, vice president for sales and marketing at Gate 1 Travel, based in Fort Washington, Pa., said a few weeks ago.
And tour operators that cater to United States travelers say bookings this year are already well ahead of last year. International tourist arrivals to the region increased 11 percent in 2010, according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association. PLANNING a trip to Asia this year? Better get booking.
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