Airfare advice.. LA to Vietnam/Thailand

[Dash]

Does anyone have advice for good airfares to Vietnam and Thailand? I believe I will be traveling in February next year and just started some light research.

Outside of the usual big internet travel sites, anyone know any good travel agencies they can recommend?

The trip will be from LA to Vietnam to Thailand and back to LA.

 

[red_barbarian]

Go to a Vietnamese travel agency for a ticket to Vietnam get them to do your visa for you as part of the ticket; unless your Viet Khieu it's $100 for single entry. To keep the cost down fly into either SGN and depart BKK or vice versa. Most Asian airlines charge nothing extra for this, they still consider it a round-trip ticket. Go after Chinese New Year, early Feb is peak season. You may also want to consider the airline you fly with. My preference is to fly EVA through Taiwan and buy their class between biz and economy. It's usually $300 more than economy but very nice. Thai economy is pretty comfortable and non-stop, Singapore, Cathay Pacific are good but require changes. I've paid as little as $600 for a really bad econo seat and as much as $3200 for biz class over the years. Normal prices in Feb for me have run around $900-1100 w/ oil as high as it is who knows. I've been going at least once a year for the last ten so PM me if you have any other questions.

 

[Dash]

Thanks Red. A quick itinerary through one of the travel sites gave me a ~$1460 fare for LAX-SGN-BKK-LAX. That was economy and it included stops. Travel time seemed lengthy due to the stops, which Id like to avoid.

I think you are right about finding a Vietnamese travel agency, I am hoping they will know ways to get me there in shorter time.

 

[60feet]

Dash, "Red" is right - go to a Vietnamese travel agency for the best deals. I recommend "Little Saigon Ticket Center", 7300 Bolsa Ave., Westminster, CA 92683; phone: 714-373-3888; ask for "Yvonne" and she'll take care of you. We got LAX-SGN-LAX round-trip tickets from them for late Dec '06 to early Jan '07 for $1,080 each, which included the cost for single visa entry to Vietnam (not sure if Thailand requires an entry visa). This was considerably less than what we could find online at the time. They also take your photo there in their office and do the paperwork for the visa for you.

They specialize in EVA flights, which use Boeing 777 for the LAX-Taiwan trip, and we found that plane to have considerably more leg room than Cathay Pacific flights for the same trip. Also, Yvonne offered an upgrade from economy to business class for the Taiwan-SGN leg for an additional $50, but we declined because it was only a couple hours of flight time, and we were a group of 10. Also check with other Vietnamese travel agencies in Little Saigon - do a search on Yahoo's Yellow Pages.

Are you planning to do some diving in Nha Trang, Vietnam or Phuket / Similian Is in Thailand?

 

[Dash]

60feet, thanks for the reference, thats great info, Ill be sure to look them up when the time comes to buy tickets.

As for the diving, yes to both. We will be attending a wedding in Vietnam and will definitely get some diving in, most likely in the Nha Trang area as I have heard that that is one of the better spots.

From Vietnam, we will then travel to Thailand for more diving. Im sure we will also do alot of land activities as well, tourist stuff, Id love to see some of both countries as I am sure they are beautiful.

Now I just hope the soon-to-be newlyweds dont break up!

 

[hutterw]

Try this URL:

http://www.bookingbuddy.com/

 

[Dash]

Try this URL:

http://www.bookingbuddy.com/

I got to Asia.com through your link and found a fare for just under $1200. Not bad, getting better....

Thanks for the tip

 

[thien]

Dash, some suggestions for diving plan. February & March are the best diving months in West Coast of Thailand. Phuket is your best place to get some world class diving in, and very convenient to get to from Bangkok (20 flights daily). Consider putting aside 5 days and do a 4d/4n liveaboard to our Similans Nat'l Park when you are in Thailand; price range is from 150.00 per day per diver inclusive of meals, accommodation on boat, upto 4 dives daily, and cruising through some of the best islands SE Asia has to offer. PM me if you like some suggestions on local activities or any Thailand diving questions.

 

[Dash]

Dash, some suggestions for diving plan. February & March are the best diving months in West Coast of Thailand. Phuket is your best place to get some world class diving in, and very convenient to get to from Bangkok (20 flights daily). Consider putting aside 5 days and do a 4d/4n liveaboard to our Similans Nat'l Park when you are in Thailand; price range is from 150.00 per day per diver inclusive of meals, accommodation on boat, upto 4 dives daily, and cruising through some of the best islands SE Asia has to offer. PM me if you like some suggestions on local activities or any Thailand diving questions.

Thanks Thien, much appreciated. Our trip is going to be in February so the timing looks good. I will need some advice on where to go and what to see as the trip gets closer so Ill probably post then.

 

[hutterw]

I got to Asia.com through your link and found a fare for just under $1200. Not bad, getting better....

Thanks for the tip

My wife did some extensive fare searching and did not find anything under $1100. You may have bottomed out.

She also suggested trying these URLs:

http://consolidatorwebfares.com/

[FONT=&quot]http://bt-store.com/

I think this font has a mind of its own!!!!
[/FONT]