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Booking Your Flight To Asia

The first step to any vacation is finding out how you’re going to get where you want to go. Naturally, this depends greatly on where you are to start, and if you are anywhere in the Americas you are probably going to be taking a plane, especially if you plan on going to Asia. Today I’m going to show you the typical process of booking a flight to Asia and how to find the best deals (which is remarkably easy) while doing so. This will make your life easier in the long run and ensure that no surprises pop up when you’re on your way.

Airlines

There are many airlines that fly to Asia from the Americas and every single one of them has a website & books tickets online. If we say for example that we wanted to go to Taiwan on a non-stop direct flight, we have two options: fly on an airline we know & trust or find the cheapest deal.

EVA Air, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines & China Airlines are some of the most popular airlines that fly to Taiwan. Choosing EVA, here is how simple it is to book a flight via the airline’s website:

The first thing to notice is that not all Asian airline’s websites will immediately be in English, however they will all have an English version of their website. The language notification is typically located in the upper right-hand corner of their website like on EVA Air’s website:

After switching the website into English, choose your departing city & date and your return date (for round-trip flights). Personally, I want a one-way ticket so I have selected the one-way radio button.

Click the search button and EVA will search its database for open flights in the timeframe you selected. If the search finds any flights they’ll appear on the next page. I was hoping for a one-way non-stop flight and luckily that’s all that they have for this date! The arrival time is a bit early at 5:20am; however most flights into Taiwan will have early morning arrival times, so it is to be expected.

Once you’ve decided on the flight you want to take, click the radio button next to the flight and then hit the button underneath the list of available flights that says “confirm.” They’ll ask for your name, address & billing information and afterward you’ll receive an e-mail confirmation with the details of your flight….

Finding The Cheapest Flights

For people one tight budgets, the internet is a great resource for finding very cheap flights. It doesn’t take long to find out that buying directly from the airline you want to fly on might be more expensive than it should be. Websites like Expedia, Travelocity & Priceline offer a free search of open plane seats at reduced prices. These seats become available when someone cancels a reservation and the airlines want to fill it fast.

A quick search on Expedia shows us that perhaps it might have been better to go there and buy a ticket to Taiwan instead of going directly to the airline, whoops! But there is more to the story…

..the old saying, "you get what you pay for," may become painfully true when you are on an international flight. Sure, there are some flights that are $50, $100 or even $150 cheaper than the EVA flight, but a closer look at these airlines might make you change your mind about using them. Double check your airline’s safety record, provided meals, seating space & in-flight entertainment. The extra $100 might just be worth the extra stretching space on your 12 hour flight!