Taipei, Bangkok, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia from $387 rt on major airlines
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
The cheap flights just keep coming. This time, it's round trip flights from $387 to southeast Asia destinations, all on alliance airlines.
These are some of the lowest cash price tickets you'll see for getting to the other side of the world, even amidst the many great sales kicking off the year. Even better, many of these flights are operated on alliance airlines, meaning that you can fly on an Asian airline but still earn valuable miles toward travel on American, United and other U.S. carriers.
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Some of these fares may book into basic economy, which means different things on different airlines, but often means you may not have free use of the overhead bins for a carry-on bag. You probably also won't be able to select your seat, get an upgrade, or earn PQM/PQS/PQDs. However, it’s possible to defeat many of basic economy’s negative aspects by having elite status or a cobranded credit card.
To find a deal, head to Google Flights and enter your origin and destination cities. Scroll through the calendar function to find dates and prices that work for you. Finally, click through to book directly with the airline or an OTA like Orbitz or Expedia.
Here's what you need to know:
Airline: China Eastern, Xiamen, Air China,
Routes: LAX/SFO and more to TSA/SGN/SIN/KUL/BKK
Cost: from $387 round trip
Dates: January — May 2020
Pay With: The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on airfare booked directly with the airline), Citi Prestige® Card (5x on airfare), Citi Premier® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on airfare), American Express® Gold Card (3x on airfare when booked directly with the airline) or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel)
The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Here are some examples of specific flights that are available:
Los Angeles (LAX) to Taipei (TSA) for $384 round trip on Xiamen Air via Vayama:
San Francisco (SFO) to Singapore (SIN) for $436 round trip on Air China via Gotogate:
San Francisco (SFO) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) for $437 round trip on China Eastern via Expedia:
Los Angeles (LAX) to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KUL) for $438 round trip on Xiamen Air via Gotogate:
Los Angeles (LAX) to Bangkok (BKK) for $443 round trip on Xiamen Air via Vayama:
Los Angeles (LAX) to Singapore (SIN) for $453 round trip on Xiamen Air via Vayama:
Maximize your purchase
Don’t forget to use a credit card that earns additional points on airfare purchases, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on flights booked directly with airlines or American Express Travel), Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express® Gold Card, Citi Premier® Card, Citi Prestige Card (5x on airfare) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on all travel purchases). Check out this guide for more on maximizing airfare purchases.