Ideally, I wanted to be able to head over from SE Asia and see where the wind took me. If I liked a place I would stay there until I felt like moving on, or if a great opportunity took me someplace else I could pack up and go. Two things didn’t allow this to happen, my budget and volunteering. For flights I budgeted $6,000 with the hopes of it being closer to $4,000.
When shopping for airline tickets to SE Asia and S America I because super confused, did I want and around the world ticket, a circle pass, a bunch of one way tickets or something else? How much would each one cost? How much would it cost to change a flight? Basically what was the best option for me? After numerous calls and searching websites, I decided to ask for help. I called a travel agent. Diane at Around the World Travel would be the lucky person trying to fit my needs with my budget.
She told me I had two options, since RTW tickets didn’t fit my needs at all. I could do one way tickets the whole way, which would give me the most flexibility, but they tend to be expensive. When she ran the numbers they were almost double my flight budget. The only option that was available for my budget was an airline broker, the downfall being all my flight would have to be picked ahead of time. In the end I planned my SE Asia flights and timetable in two weeks. The flights now fit my budget; I just hope the accommodations, fun, and food to do. If not, and I have to leave any place early it will cost around $200 per segment to change.
Here is my finally itinerary:
SERVICE DATE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE
AIRTRAN AIRWAYS 23JUL MILWAUKEE WI SEATTLE WA
SATURDAY GEN MITCHELL SEATTLE TACOMA
Y ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 737-700
UNITED AIRLINES 27JUL SEATTLE WA TOKYO
WEDNESDAY SEATTLE TACOMA NARITA 28JUL
Y ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 777-200/300
ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS 03SEP TOKYO BANGKOK
SATURDAY HANEDA SUVARNABHUMI I
Y ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 767-300/300ER
NACIL AIR INDIA 03SEP BANGKOK DELHI
SATURDAY SUVARNABHUMI I INDIRA GANDHI
Y ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A321
NACIL AIR INDIA 03SEP DELHI KATHMANDU
SATURDAY INDIRA GANDHI TRIBHUVAN
Y ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A320-100/200
NACIL AIR INDIA 06OCT KATHMANDU DELHI
THURSDAY TRIBHUVAN INDIRA GANDHI
Y ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A320-100/200
NACIL AIR INDIA 06OCT DELHI BANGKOK
THURSDAY INDIRA GANDHI SUVARNABHUMI I
Y ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A321
THAI AIRASIA 08NOV BANGKOK DENPASAR BALI
TUESDAY SUVARNABHUMI I NGURAH RAI
Y ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A320-100/200
CATHAY PACIFIC 22NOV DENPASAR BALI HONG KONG
TUESDAY NGURAH RAI HONG KONG INTL
Y ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 777-300
CATHAY PACIFIC 23NOV HONG KONG SAN FRANCIS CA
WEDNESDAY HONG KONG INTL INTL 22NOV
Y ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 747-400
UNITED AIRLINES 23NOV SAN FRANCIS CA SAN DIEGO CA
WEDNESDAY INTL LINDBERG FLD
Y ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A319
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TOTAL AIRTICKET PRICE INCLUDING INSURANCE 4122.00
As some of you may have noticed this itinerary is only for the SE Asia portion of my trip, the reason being I could not travel straight from SE Asia to S America, and therefore I would have to purchase separate tickets for the S America portion. I have decided to wait on the 2nd portion to see where my budget and heart is in at October.
Lessons learned:
-If you are planning your first big trip a travel agent is great, but ask her what she did so you can do it on your own next time.
-If your budget is tight, planned dates can be the cheapest way to go to the places you want.
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