Getting cheap flights

[Greg]

Came across this article on Bootsnall.com tonight and thought I would share it:
http://www.roundtheworldticket.com/cheapest-airports-in-asia.shtml

The list of airports for Asia is spot-on. It may seem obvious, but many people forget that instead of flying straight into Bangkok, many times its cheaper to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and then take a $30 AirAsia hop to Bangkok, etc.

This year in April I wanted to get to Indonesia for cheap....this is how I managed to do it, just by doing a little extra research:

1) Bummed a 1 hour ride from my hometown to Louisville, KY (the largest city near me)
2) Southwest flight from Louisville -> Los Angeles  for US $100
3) Slept in LA airport and flew next day with China Air to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for $415
4) Took an AirAsia budget flight from KL to Bali, Indonesia for $15

So total was US $530 - not bad considering that when I checked a flight just from my hometown to Bali it was around $800.

Cheers!

[zhinnn]

oh sorry, just saw this after making a post asking about getting cheap flights! So if you get to a major hub on the east coast you can get to the west coast for THAT low of a price?! Awesome! Thanks Greg.

[Greg]

Yeah, Southwest is probably my favorite airline in the US....they do a pretty good job.

Just checked their site again and you can get from NYC to LAX for $139 in April or from Chicago for only $119 - not bad for
crossing the entire country!

Once in LAX, you've got lots of options for getting across the Pacific....the cheapest port of entry toggles frequently, so I check China Air (or any other airline)
to KUL  (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), SIN (Singapore), and BKK (Bangkok) and grab the cheapest one.  Once in Asia, you can take an
AirAsia hop anywhere for bloody cheap!

You can tell I've done this too many times before.   

Oh yeah, and I occasionally find some great deals on a not-so-popular site:  www.bt-store.com   I've used it twice now to get to Bangkok.
If you find a better price at one of the popular sites (like Kayak) use the links on the site here, I get a couple of bucks to buy Pad Thai:
http://www.startbackpacking.com/travel/how-to-find-cheap-flights/

[zhinnn]

Thanks for the info! I'm trying to plan a short month long trip to New Zealand this summer (Yeah Lord of the Rings!) and I've been attempting to create a budget plan. Now knowing that I can get there from L.A. to save several hundreds makes life that much easier.