This week the Deal Dispatch brings cheap flights from San Francisco to Asia, a 40% off sale at Accor for hotels around the world in the heat of summer and assorted savings from around the interwebs.
Flights: I have brought to you quite a few cheap flights courtesy of TheFlightDeal, which I follow on Twitter. Another favorite of mine to stay on top of cheap flight opportunities is the airfarewatchdog: Similar to TheFlightDeal, they publish all the best fares. You can search for fares from a specific airport, focus on domestic or international flights or look for weekends only. Today, below is a selection of cheap flights to Asia from my old home town of San Francisco, all roundtrip:
- $721 Bangkok, Thailand: China Eastern
- $742 Cebu, Philippines: Cathay Pacific
- $694 Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam: China Southern
- $794 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Singapore Airlines
- $684 Manila, Philippines: China Southern
- $700 Seoul, Korea: Singapore Airlines
I especially like the fare to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) on Singapore Airlines (SQ): SQ is one of my favorite airlines, making this fare a steal and KUL is the main hub of Air Asia, giving you access to all of South East Asia at very low fares. You can just book your flight to Kuala Lumpur now and sort out your detailed travel plans later, using the frequent sales on Air Asia.
Similar is true for Bangkok (AirAsia hub) and Manila (Cebu Pacific hub), even though neither China Eastern nor China Southern will be quite as nice as Singapore airlines…
So, check out these sales and set your own alert for the flights you want to take this year on airfarewatchdog!
Hotels: Accor is moving up in my list of preferred hotel chains – less for the meager benefits for frequent guests, but more for their frequent sales and promotions. Their latest “Super Sale” (compared to their weekly “Private Sales”) covers hundreds of hotels around the world (rather than dozens in certain regions or % off. The sale is going on for bookings through June 26th and for stays from July 10th, to August 29th, 2015. A few countries have slightly different end dates, so check the details before booking on the sales site!
Other ways to save: A tablet is one of the best travel accessories: You can leave a stack of books (including travel guides) at home, load some music and movies for the trip and have a screen to find the best restaurant or bar, once you hit your destination. If you are traveling to the developing world, having one that is not worth 2-3 months salary of many of the people around you AND a known status symbol, like Apple’s iPad, gives you peace of mind. Cowboom has a used, first-generation Nexus 7 tablet for only $50. The Nexus 7 is an pure Google Android tablet, has a 7in screen and 16GB of memory for all your stuff. It will do most of the things your iPad can do and at that price, you don’t have to worry about it getting stolen. It’s the “deal of the day”, so you have to be quick about it! If you miss it, don’t worry – the Nexus 7 and similar Android tablets are frequently on sale for under $100!