Cathay Pacific's All Asia Pass 2005 back again - C$1499

[titleeboy]

Hi Folks:

Great deal for $ 1499 - more destinations added this time.

Click link for more info.

Cathy Pacific 2005 aLL aSiA pAsS - Link (http://www.cathay.ca/offers/aap/destinations.asp)

cheers

titlee

[willy]

http://www.cathay.ca/offers/aap/images/map_1.gifhttp://www.cathay.ca/offers/aap/images/map_2.gif

[gmark2000]

Great discussion about this deal from the last time it was offered:
http://forums.redflagdeals.com/showthread.php?t=63530

I went in 2002 and visited Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and China in a three week trip.

[Master]

Great discussion about this deal from the last time it was offered:
http://forums.redflagdeals.com/showthread.php?t=63530

I went in 2002 and visited Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and China in a three week trip.

I'm interested in doing this as well. I wonder if you can share some of your experience with us.

Did you have to pay extra for all the airport that you landed in? Was it hard to get tickets to where you want to go? Once you bought the deal, can you just go to the airport and go or do you have to plan your trip before hand?

[davecanada]

From site:

# The All Asia Pass fare does NOT include applicable government taxes and any passenger facility charges or security charges. Also, airport departure taxes or fees in the USA, Canada and Asia are not included in the price of your All Asia Pass tickets. Each time you depart one of the All Asia Pass destinations, each traveler will be required to pay the airport departure tax shown as well as the insurance surcharge. Please note that these taxes are subject to change without notice and they may vary slightly from what is shown due to currency fluctuations.


# The following are the required taxes for U.S. residents. Prices are per person and are in U.S. dollars.
(Note: taxes are subject to change without notice):

1. U.S. government taxes are comprised of the following: $28.20 International Departure/Arrival Tax, $7.00 Immigration (INS) Fee, $5.00 Customs User Fee, $2.50 September 11th Security Fee, $4.95 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Fee, $3.00 JFK or $4.50 SFO/LAX Passenger Facility Charge.
2. Foreign airport departure taxes that must be paid in advance (taxes must be calculated on your Ticket Purchase Form and included in the payment to Cathay Pacific) for each departure from the airport specified are:
- Hong Kong $16.00 (please note that this tax is paid for departure only from the Hong Kong Airport), the Hong Kong Security Service charge of USD $4.50 (Q) must also be collected for every departure and transit via the Hong Kong Airport,
- Adelaide $59.00, $29.00 for children,
- Beijing $11.00
- Brisbane $53.50, $26.50 for children,
- Cairns $60.00, $30.00 for children,
- Delhi $5.00,
- Fukuoka $10.00, $5.00 for children,
- Karachi $7.00,
- Kuala Lumpur $12.00,
- Melbourne $51.00, $21.00 for children,
- Mumbai (Bombay) $5.00,
- Nagoya $8.00, $4.00 for children,
- Osaka $26.00, $13.00 for children,
- Penang $12.00,
- Perth $49.00, $19.00 for children,
- Seoul $24.00,
- Shanghai $11.00,
- Singapore $12.00,
- Sydney $63.00, $33.00 for children,
- Taipei $10.00,
- Tokyo $20.00, $10.00 for children.
- Domestic departure tax for flights between Kuala Lumpur and Penang $2.00.
3. Foreign airport departure taxes that must be paid direct to the airport authority or to the Cathay Pacific check-in agent each time you depart the airport specified are:
- Auckland $15.00,
- Bangkok $13.00,
- Cebu $11.00,
- Colombo $12.00,
- Denpasar (Bali) $12.00,
- Hanoi $14.00,
- Ho Chi Minh City $12.00,
- Jakarta $12.00,
- Manila $11.00,
- Surabaya $9.00.

# The following are the required taxes for Canadian residents. Prices are per person and are in Canadian dollars.
(Note: taxes are subject to change without notice):

1. Canadian government taxes are comprised of the following: $20.00 Air Travellers Security Charge and the NAVCAN surcharge $30.00. Departures from Toronto must pay $16.05 or from Vancouver B.C. $16.05 airport improvement fees.
2. Foreign airport departure taxes that must be paid in advance (taxes must be calculated on your Ticket Purchase Form and included in the payment to Cathay Pacific) for each departure from the airport specified are:
- Hong Kong $19.00 (Please note that this tax is paid for departure only from the Hong Kong Airport), the Hong Kong Security Service charge of $6.00(Q) must also be collected for every departure and transit via the Hong Kong Airport,
- Adelaide $72.00, $36.00 for children,
- Beijing $14.00,
- Brisbane $64.00, $28.00 for children,
- Cairns $72.00, $36.00 for children,
- Delhi $6.00,
- Fukuoka $11.00, $6.00 for children,
- Singapore $16.00,
- Karachi $9.00,
- Kuala Lumpur $15.00,
- Melbourne $61.00, $25.00 for children,
- Mumbai (Bombay) $6.00,
- Nagoya $9.00, $5.00 for children,
- Osaka $31.00, $16.00 for children,
- Penang $15.00,
- Perth $59.00, $23.00 for children,
- Seoul $31.00,
- Shanghai $14.00,
- Singapore $16.00,
- Sydney $76.00, $40.00 for children,
- Taipei $12.00,
- Tokyo $24.00, $12 for children.
- Domestic departure tax for flights between Kuala Lumpur and Penang $2.00.
3. Foreign airport departure taxes that must be paid direct to the airport authority or to the Cathay Pacific check-in agent each time you depart the airport specified are:
- Auckland $20.00,
- Bangkok $18.00,
- Cebu $17.00,
- Colombo $18.00,
- Denpasar (Bali) $18.00,
- Hanoi $22.00,
- Ho Chi Minh City $16.00,
- Jakarta $18.00,
- Manila $17.00,
- Surabaya $12.00.
4. Cathay Pacific Airways insurance surcharge must be paid at the time of ticket purchase. A $2.00 airline insurance surcharge applies for each sector operated by Cathay Pacific Airways except for destinations to/from Hong Kong.

[Platypus]

Why not buy it in US dollars? Cheaper. ;)

[clarke1866]

Skip the all asia pass. Find yourself the cheapest flight to Asia. Once you get there, flights are so cheap that you can plan where you want to go as you do it. No limitations on travel time, no extra fee's or anything stupid. Stay someplace longer or shorter as you go. Combined cost of: flight from Toronto to Bangkok, bangkok to phuket, bangkok to siam reap, siam reap to luang prabang, vientiane to hanoi... all under 1600. Can get cheap flights to from china as well. The more expensive ones are HK and Japan.

My 2 cents.

[edmondt]

Skip the all asia pass. Find yourself the cheapest flight to Asia. Once you get there, flights are so cheap that you can plan where you want to go as you do it. No limitations on travel time, no extra fee's or anything stupid. Stay someplace longer or shorter as you go. Combined cost of: flight from Toronto to Bangkok, bangkok to phuket, bangkok to siam reap, siam reap to luang prabang, vientiane to hanoi... all under 1600. Can get cheap flights to from china as well. The more expensive ones are HK and Japan.

My 2 cents.

Agree. But all you can eat buffet is always attractive to some :) Same applies to all you can fly.

[Viz79]

Agree. But all you can eat buffet is always attractive to some :) Same applies to all you can fly.

What? So you're saying this All Asia Pass is like an all you can fly type deal? That's pretty awesome! I thought there was a limit or something. Cool-cool!!!

~V79~

[657120]

also don't forget that you can't accumulate AA points flying the all asia pass. That's worth of about 10-15% of the ticket value.

[Toni]

Adults 55 and over, students and children are eligible for a USD $100 / CAD $200 discount.

It looks like students can get it for $1299CAD plus applicable taxes :)

[canox]

It looks like students can get it for $1299CAD plus applicable taxes :)

Um...perhaps you can only be entitiled to either the Student Discounted or the CyberTraveller. Eirther one...I'm not sure though.

[pluto]

looks interesting to me, maybe I'll be able to afford to go (money/time) in 2007 if they still offer it :(

[WalnutCrunch]

Skip the all asia pass. Find yourself the cheapest flight to Asia. Once you get there, flights are so cheap that you can plan where you want to go as you do it. No limitations on travel time, no extra fee's or anything stupid. Stay someplace longer or shorter as you go. Combined cost of: flight from Toronto to Bangkok, bangkok to phuket, bangkok to siam reap, siam reap to luang prabang, vientiane to hanoi... all under 1600. Can get cheap flights to from china as well. The more expensive ones are HK and Japan.

It's good advice to shop around to see if you can get a cheaper deal somewhere else. But if you want to go to HK or Japan as part of the trip, this deal is hard to beat. Also Cathay is one of the best airlines around.

[sorjue]

I totally think flying Cathay is worth the extra $ vs. the cheaper airlines that may make you stopover like United. The service and food, and your own tv in economy on Cathay is just so much better than AC or UA or AA that there's no comparison, especially on a long haul flight. Yes, for students etc., probably saving as much $ as possible is wiser but if you are good at planning, have a limited amount of time for travel anyway, got a steady job and can afford to splurge a little, this is way better. Makes sense trip experience wise.

Plus, all those little airlines in Asia have a LOT more problems you don't want to deal with. It's not like flying easyjet in Europe.

Just my opinion :cheesygri

[seefuthead]

is this only including the flight? any deals on places to stay? do u guys recommend staying in hostels in asia? are they dirty?

[clarke1866]

Ball park guide to GuestHouse prices from my experiance in SE Asia 2004. Two of us went so cost was divided by 2, numbers below are price for the room. We usually stayed where we had our own shower/ bathroom. You can do better or worse, selection is incredible. Our mistake was not bargaining enough, the best method is silence, ask to see the room, then don't talk for a bit and look dejected. "OK for you, 8 dollars."

Thailaind - 10-20 CDN
Laos - 5 - 10 CDN
Vietnam - 10 - 20 CDN
Cambodia - 10 - 20 CDN

PS There are some hostels, but why? You can get your own room for so cheap.

[dico]

What are some of the better discount carriers if you were to fly down on airmiles and wanted to do short hops while down there?

Anyone have any experience with these discount carriers as far as being ontime, etc?

[Marc]

Thanks, and posted!

[gmark2000]

As mentioned, I went in 2002. I had my travel agent make all the plans here in Canada, but I believe you can make up your itinerary on the fly if you use Hong Kong as the base for all the flights to and from.

I didn't do the hostel thing but I used www.asiahotels.com (http://www.asiahotels.com/) to find the best deals for hotels.

Thailand was a bargain in everyway. It was hot as hell there though.

[gillianchung]

cx used to be good, but i go on it many times a year....and it's done so many cut backs that it's not good now. and for the huge price increases on their ticket.....it's no wonder ppl are going back to air canada for their non-stop flight to hk without a stop at alaska. the best airlines....2 actually that i've been on and will recommend are singapore and all nippon. unfortunately, they do not consider toronto a good enough city to build a hub in, which is very understandable.

[AL3X]

Damn no japan/taiwan only :( and only 3 weeks

[carwfloc]

If anybody's interested in this pass, I highly recommend downloading the standalone timetable program from the Cathay site and playing around with the flight times. YOu'll save alot of time (and bank alot of zzzzzzs) by good planning of routes!

[WalnutCrunch]

If anybody's interested in this pass, I highly recommend downloading the standalone timetable program from the Cathay site and playing around with the flight times. YOu'll save alot of time (and bank alot of zzzzzzs) by good planning of routes!

Thanks for the tip. It works great!

The rules say you have to originate from HK for all travel but it also talks about being able to stopover in a city on your way to another. I'm confused. Does it mean I can go from HK to Tokyo to Taipei to Seoul to HK?

[bodobodo]

Thanks for the tip. It works great!

The rules say you have to originate from HK for all travel but it also talks about being able to stopover in a city on your way to another. I'm confused. Does it mean I can go from HK to Tokyo to Taipei to Seoul to HK?

When I took it in 2004 I took the following flights without problems.

Toronto-Hong Kong-Kuala Lumpur (connection same day)
Singapore-Bangkok (few days later)
Bangkok-Hong Kong (few days later)
Hong Kong-Osaka (few days later)
Tokyo-Hong Kong (few days later)
Hong Kong-Seoul (few days later)
Seoul-Hong Kong (few days later)
Hong Kong-Toronto (few days later)

You are allowed open jaws meaning you fly into one city but your next flight is from another city as long as you make your own arrangements to go between those cities.

[bodobodo]

Damn no japan/taiwan only :( and only 3 weeks

You can extend it for more than 3 weeks for an extra fee which is really quite reasonable.

[oceans_end]

hmm do you get the miles on every flight?? meanign if i fly YOW-PEK then decide to goto japan or something, do i get miles for all the sections or only the first two?

i would rather stick with AC since i can upgrade to business

[old_old_7]

The price in US is 1099, in Cdn$ is 1499,
If we pay in US$ , convert rate today is 1.2326~1.2319, about
Cdn$1353.86~1354.6274.
Is it the way it go?

[bodobodo]

The price in US is 1099, in Cdn$ is 1499,
If we pay in US$ , convert rate today is 1.2326~1.2319, about
Cdn$1353.86~1354.6274.
Is it the way it go?

AFAIK you can only do this if you're willing to fly out of one of the U.S. airports that Cathay Pacific serves. If you want to fly out of either Toronto or Vancouver I believe you need to pay the Canadian prices

[WalnutCrunch]

It looks like they removed Beijing from the list, just like they apparently did last year. :(

[wheeldeals]

Man, that sucks. We were planning to go to HK, Bejiing, Fukuoka, and KL in the fall with a couple of friends. Now, it will be too expensive.

[Mint]

on the site it says:
Don't forget to register as a Cathay Pacific CyberTraveler click here, to take advantage of the exclusive CyberTraveler discount of USD $200 / CAD $500 for you and up to three guests.


Does that mean only one person has to register, and both of us will get $500 off?

[15-20_God]

I'd like to know as well.

[lithiumli]

i hope they come out with this next year because i'm going to go travel all of asia next year for 4 months during summer vaction. cathay has one of the best airlines services in the world.

[Ride-On]

Just got back from using my All-Asia pass. Cathay service on all levels was great - very friendly and accomodating. Plus, there was some actual leg room in the plane and the food was pretty good too. I'll definitely fly with them again given the opportunity.

[Mint]

Hi Ride-On, any tips on futures all-asia-pass customers :D

[B0000rt]

Hi Ride-On, any tips on futures all-asia-pass customers :D

Remember to apply for all the Visas :D

[ft19ft19]

Where do you guys see the $1499 CDN? Isn't only for student or seniors?

[flaming homer]

on the site it says:
Don't forget to register as a Cathay Pacific CyberTraveler click here, to take advantage of the exclusive CyberTraveler discount of USD $200 / CAD $500 for you and up to three guests.


Does that mean only one person has to register, and both of us will get $500 off?

Does not cost anything to register, you'll get promotional e-mail about once every quarter.

[purple_rabbit]

# Weekend transpacific travel surcharge for U.S. (Thur. – Sun.) USD $100.00 each way. For Canadian (Fri. – Sat.) CAD $150.00 each way*.
# Summer travel surcharge between May 14, 2005 and August 16, 2005 for USD $350.00 or CAD $525.00 (summer travel surcharge).


Wow that just kills it especially the summer travel surcharge!!!

[shocknawe]

How about putting together an RFD Asian Amazing Race.

[jerryhussain]

How about putting together an RFD Asian Amazing Race.
Great Idea, any volunteers ? :cheesygri

[jozero]

This sounds fantastic.

One question though, on the first page map what is Delhi doing in China ? :)

So does this deal include any cities in China ?

Jot

[conan]

This sounds fantastic.

One question though, on the first page map what is Delhi doing in China ? :)

So does this deal include any cities in China ?

Jot

It goes to Taipei, Republic of China and Hongkong, People's Republic of China.
;) ;) ;) ;)

[AMD'd]

Although it is cheaper to buy the US pass and convert than to buy the Cdn pass, they won't let you. I checked last year.

At least that was for flying out of Canada. As someone mentioned it may be different if you actually fly out of the US.

[flaming homer]

Those of you interested in flying out of the US to save a few bucks should look at Malaysia Airlines AccessAsia Pass (http://www.malaysiaairlinesusa.com/frame5c.html)
http://www.malaysiaairlinesusa.com/images/AA_899.jpg

KUL is a wicked airport to fly into, planes don't use breaks, just glide right up to the terminal, helps when you have runways all-ways.

This pass is better for people whom are interested in SE Asia (Male, Maldives !)

[Mystix]

if you depart from toronto to hong kong

my dad will be cooking your meal :cheesygri

you can request any meal you want at your ticket agent, but my dad will not be amused with the extra work :lol:

[Martian]

i bought the all asia pass in 2002. Here are some of my thoughts about it.

You don't have to worry about signing up to be a cyber traveller. I bought it though a travel agent and she handled all of the details about the purchase. You can only get either the cyber traveller discount or the student discount (not both).

I upgraded the 3 weeks to 90 days (3 months). I think this is really the best way to get value out of this pass. I flew to almost every country within that 3 months. I went to Japan twice, (tokyo and osaka), Bangkok, Bali, Hong Kong (of course), much of China (via train) and Malaysia (KL and Penang).

If you are planning to stay in just southeast asia, it may be cheaper to just buy individual tickets when you get there considering bus travel in southeast asia is really cheap. The pass becomes a good deal if you include japan/taiwan in your itinerary.

There is very little flexibility in date changes. I had to make some changes while I was in Hong Kong and I had to pay for every change I made. In contrast, I was travelling for a while with somebody on the Malaysian airlines all asia pass and she was able to make an unlimited number of changes at no cost. The only drawback to the malaysian airlines pass is that you have to leave from LAX.

I have many travellers stories. If you are going and need some advice on where to stay and what to expect, let me know and I can help you out.

Also, I loved Thailand so much that I just came back from another vacation there 3 weeks ago!

Happy Travelling!

[Mint]

Hi Martian,

When you make your iteniary, do they have all the flight times set up for you already, before you leave Toronto?

And when travelling to different cities, is the wait time at the airports long?

[webdoctors]

Lately I looked into flights from Toronto to Taipei, and cheapest I got was $1570, so these prices seem awesome for several countries....

[8kobe]

great deal!!! :)

[Martian]

Hi Martian,

When you make your iteniary, do they have all the flight times set up for you already, before you leave Toronto?


All of the flights will be booked and confirmed before you leave Canada. It is up to you to choose which flight times you want to take. When you go to the travel agent, you should go armed with which cities you would like to visit and on what day. Note that you may need to change your dates if flights you want are already full.

While travelling, you can change your flight dates but it will be subject to a charge.



And when travelling to different cities, is the wait time at the airports long?

I'm not sure what you mean by this? You have to be at the airport 2.5 hours before any scheduled flight. Exactly the same as in Canada.

[MoMoney]

Hey Martian,

I've been reading your posts on the All-Asia pass and it looks like I might be doing a similar 90 day trip like yours. I was wondering approximately how much the entire trip cost you from start to finish. I assume that you were backpacking and not staying in lavish hotels? This would help a great deal in my planning.

Thanks!

[Martian]

In total, I spent about $4000 CDN ($2000 was just the pass). However, I was fortunate enough to be able to stay with family and friends in Hong Kong and Japan. Japan is so much more expensive that all other southeast asian countries. I probably spent as much in 1 week in Japan than I did in a month in southeast asia.

If you are on a tight budget, you should consider staying in southeast asia longer (eg. Thailand, Malaysia etc...) You can easily get a room for $10 CDN /night with a private bathroom, hot water, airconditioning, refrigerator and satellite tv! Plus, southeast asia was definitely the most fun for me.

[Mint]

Note that you may need to change your dates if flights you want are already full.
.
Thanks for the info. So if the flight is full, you get bumped? Is that only for the initial flight from Toronto-> HK, or is that the rule for any flights between cities?

[oldsnail]

Departure dates from North America:
* February 15 through May 13, 2005 or
* August 17 through December 1, 2005

[Master]

i bought the all asia pass in 2002. Here are some of my thoughts about it.

You don't have to worry about signing up to be a cyber traveller. I bought it though a travel agent and she handled all of the details about the purchase. You can only get either the cyber traveller discount or the student discount (not both).

I upgraded the 3 weeks to 90 days (3 months). I think this is really the best way to get value out of this pass. I flew to almost every country within that 3 months. I went to Japan twice, (tokyo and osaka), Bangkok, Bali, Hong Kong (of course), much of China (via train) and Malaysia (KL and Penang).

If you are planning to stay in just southeast asia, it may be cheaper to just buy individual tickets when you get there considering bus travel in southeast asia is really cheap. The pass becomes a good deal if you include japan/taiwan in your itinerary.

There is very little flexibility in date changes. I had to make some changes while I was in Hong Kong and I had to pay for every change I made. In contrast, I was travelling for a while with somebody on the Malaysian airlines all asia pass and she was able to make an unlimited number of changes at no cost. The only drawback to the malaysian airlines pass is that you have to leave from LAX.

I have many travellers stories. If you are going and need some advice on where to stay and what to expect, let me know and I can help you out.

Also, I loved Thailand so much that I just came back from another vacation there 3 weeks ago!

Happy Travelling!

Thank you for your advise. I have a few questions. I'm planning to go to China as well...ie stop in HK and then fly my own way to China. I wonder if it is still worth it.

If you were to book all these flights yourself individually, can it be cheaper then the all asia pass?

[Martian]

Thanks for the info. So if the flight is full, you get bumped? Is that only for the initial flight from Toronto-> HK, or is that the rule for any flights between cities?

No, you won't get bumped. Once all of you flights are confirmed here (in Canada), you are guaranteed a seat. The trouble is you won't always be able to find space on all the flights you want here (eg. they could already be sold out on some flights). But once you leave, all flights are confirmed.

[Martian]

Thank you for your advise. I have a few questions. I'm planning to go to China as well...ie stop in HK and then fly my own way to China. I wonder if it is still worth it.

If you were to book all these flights yourself individually, can it be cheaper then the all asia pass?

That depends on how many cities you visit. I travelled exclusively by train when in China so I couldn't tell you how much domestic flights are there. A simple google search could give you some rough estimates though.

[tksh]

I also did this last year at the end of August for three weeks (TO->HK->SG->HK->Tokyo->HK->Bangkok->HK->TO). Yeah our schedule was a bit messed up due to certain time/location restrictions we had so we ended up going through HK everytime but we had a decent deal at a decent hotel so we were able to leave most of our stuff at the hotel concierge and packed lightly going to SG, TKY and BGK.

If you're doing a route like us that goes through HK a lot, I heavily recommend you to get an Octopus card in HK ASAP. The Octo card is pretty much a electronic cash card for use with buses, subway, trains and 7-Eleven. The benefit of getting an Octo card as soon as you land is that you can travel via the airport express subway back into HK proper. $120HKD per person but cheaper and faster than taxi or bus.

When leaving HK, know that you don't have to check in at the airport. You can check in at Central too (in the middle of HK proper as opposed to the airport which is 45 minutes away). So say you have an 8a flight like we did, wake up at 6, check out of your hotel, subway to Central (IFC building to be exact), check in and confirm your seating. Then eat breakfast or do whatever, just make sure you get to your gate twenty minutes before departure.

Singapore and Tokyo were the mostly cities to be honest, only lodging in HK was 'costly' but everything else was cheap. If you're hardcore, you can pack only one change of clothes and just buy all your summer wear in HK. If you're leaving in Toronto, you'll have to pay the $1500 price but only one person for every four people needs to be the Cybertraveller thing.

No AsiaMile points for any of the flights under AAP but it was definitely fun and worth it for us.

[shuffle]

In total, I spent about $4000 CDN ($2000 was just the pass). However, I was fortunate enough to be able to stay with family and friends in Hong Kong and Japan. Japan is so much more expensive that all other southeast asian countries. I probably spent as much in 1 week in Japan than I did in a month in southeast asia.

If you are on a tight budget, you should consider staying in southeast asia longer (eg. Thailand, Malaysia etc...) You can easily get a room for $10 CDN /night with a private bathroom, hot water, airconditioning, refrigerator and satellite tv! Plus, southeast asia was definitely the most fun for me.

This sounds like so much fun.

Anything online where I can see lodging deals like this ($10 per night)? The wife isn't big on an Asian trip, but I'd LOVE to go. Maybe I can convince her on the price...

[IceMan77]

cx used to be good, but i go on it many times a year....and it's done so many cut backs that it's not good now. and for the huge price increases on their ticket.....it's no wonder ppl are going back to air canada for their non-stop flight to hk without a stop at alaska. the best airlines....2 actually that i've been on and will recommend are singapore and all nippon. unfortunately, they do not consider toronto a good enough city to build a hub in, which is very understandable.

I've have only been on business class All Nippon Airways (ANA) once, it's ok, but I wouldn't recommend it for the price. Their Business Lounge in Narita sucks, even the Maple Leaf Lounge is better.

[flaming homer]

As Cathay is a Hong Kong based airline, all flights do have to go through HKG. It is important to note that CX does have some local (5th freedom ?) flights that you may take advantage of (this list does not imply these flights are available to you as part of the All Asia Pass, read restrictions/upgrades rules about them):

Tapei - Tokyo (NRT)
Taipei - Nagoya
Taipei - Osaka (KIX)
Taipei - Seoul
Bangkok - Mumbai (Bombay)
Bangkok - Columbo
Bangkok - Singapore
Singapore - Jakarta
Kuala Lumpur - Penang (Edit: Oops, no 5th freedom)

By far the most useful flights to avoid HKG transit is the Japan - Taipei - Seoul triangle and the Singapore - Bangkok flight (1x daily). As you're restricted to visit any city only once (except HKG), you can save a few bucks by travelling within Japan via Taipei. Sure, it's 4.5 hours each way, but you do want to save that $100 Shinkansen fare between Tokyo and Kyoto, don't you ?!?!

Edit: For those of you whom:

1. Are vising Japan and want to do China
2. Has either 20,000 Air Canada Aeroplan, American AAdvantage, Continental Onepass, Delta Skymiles, or Northwest (can't recember their program name) points, you can get a intra-asia reward ticket from Tokyo into various points in China via United/ANA (Star Alliance), Japan Airlines (Oneworld), or Northwest Airlines (Skyteam). Similiar award flights can be had from Seoul.

[flaming homer]

I've have only been on business class All Nippon Airways (ANA) once, it's ok, but I wouldn't recommend it for the price. Their Business Lounge in Narita sucks, even the Maple Leaf Lounge is better.
ANA Narita Lounge ? Isn't that the one with the automated draft beer dispenser ? FFers @ Flyertalk raves about it...

Edit: Some hints for those of you whom are REALLY going to do this:

1. As you buzz around Asia with this pass, you'll find that you will at sometime be forced to stop-over in Hong Kong. Unless you have family there or like to pay for the expensive airport express to nowhere, try to make it just once.
2. The inbound flight from North America are the first flights to arrive into HKG airport (6:30 AM - opening time of the airport). You can connect to just about any Asian destination at that time. So you shouldn't stop-over then.
3. Outbound flights to North America tends to leave in late afternoon, you can easily connect from several cities. Taipei and Eastern cities is definetly possible, and I believe the some Western cities such as Bangkok, Singapore, and Denpensar are also possible
4. Avoid "first flights" in the morning. Just because you think a 8 AM flight is a good idea doesn't mean the airport is easy to get to: traffic and distance are a major pain.
5. If you're a shopper, you should do your shopping at the "last" stop. This affects which cities to do last.

[fl4wless]

so once you've arrived to HK...

if you haev a flight from HK to KL, do u pay both airport taxes (HK's and KL's)for the flight, or just hte place you departure from.

Im going travelling for 4 months in sept across asia, and am considering this. Although, i do have enough aeroplan points to get me their, i was just gonna bus/buy cheap flights while down there. Whats the better option? This seems like it would be good, i could see it being a complete waste too. Especially ifi have to waste my time flying back to HK between each destination.

[Mousepotato]

I just travelled to Japan and HK myself and found that organizing your own trip is much cheaper. I also looked into using the All Asia Pass since flights from HK to Japan are expensive.

Flew from Toronto->Tokyo->Hong Kong->Toronto with stop overs in Chicago on the way there and back.....all for $1190 (incl. all taxes) on United Airlines. It was a limited time sale but I'm sure prices like this come and go.

Flights from HK to China or Thailand are really cheap and you aren't required to come back to HK each time you fly out.

Just a thought.

I booked my flight through TourEast. http://www.toureast.ca

[Martian]

so once you've arrived to HK...

if you haev a flight from HK to KL, do u pay both airport taxes (HK's and KL's)for the flight, or just hte place you departure from.



There are only departure taxes. I don't think there is such a thing as an arrival tax.

[jerryhussain]

Departure dates from North America:
* February 15 through May 13, 2005 or
* August 17 through December 1, 2005
Can these dates be changed by paying extra ?

[Mint]

As Cathay is a Hong Kong based airline, all flights do have to go through HKG. It is important to note that CX does have some local (5th freedom ?) flights that you may take advantage of (this list does not imply these flights are available to you as part of the All Asia Pass, read restrictions/upgrades rules about them):

Tapei - Tokyo (NRT)
Taipei - Nagoya
Taipei - Osaka (KIX)
Taipei - Seoul
Bangkok - Mumbai (Bombay)
Bangkok - Columbo
Bangkok - Singapore
Singapore - Jakarta
Kuala Lumpur - Penang (Edit: Oops, no 5th freedom)

By far the most useful flights to avoid HKG transit is the Japan - Taipei - Seoul triangle and the Singapore - Bangkok flight (1x daily). As you're restricted to visit any city only once (except HKG), you can save a few bucks by travelling within Japan via Taipei. Sure, it's 4.5 hours each way, but you do want to save that $100 Shinkansen fare between Tokyo and Kyoto, don't you ?!?!

Edit: For those of you whom:

1. Are vising Japan and want to do China
2. Has either 20,000 Air Canada Aeroplan, American AAdvantage, Continental Onepass, Delta Skymiles, or Northwest (can't recember their program name) points, you can get a intra-asia reward ticket from Tokyo into various points in China via United/ANA (Star Alliance), Japan Airlines (Oneworld), or Northwest Airlines (Skyteam). Similiar award flights can be had from Seoul.
Hey Flaming homer, thanks for the tips.
Just some quick questions: what do you mean by 'CX' and '5th freedom'?

Oh, and that list you have, is it for flights between cities that don't require a HK stopover? where did you get the list?

[Mint]

Can these dates be changed by paying extra ?
yep. you can go during the time inbetween, but it'll cost another $500/person.

[flaming homer]

Hey Flaming homer, thanks for the tips.
Just some quick questions: what do you mean by 'CX' and '5th freedom'?

Oh, and that list you have, is it for flights between cities that don't require a HK stopover? where did you get the list?

CX = Cathay Pacific
5th freedom = rights to carry paying passengers between 2 foreign destinations. This is like American Airlines carrying paying passengers between Toronto and Vancouver non-stop.
I know about these flights because I've used the Taipei-Japan segments before (not for the AAP, but Oneworld Explorer Round-The-World) and recently excersized some points for the Singapore-Bangkok segment. Rest of them you can derive from their route map and downloaded (PC Application) schedule.

[jerryhussain]

yep. you can go during the time inbetween, but it'll cost another $500/person.
extra $500 per person totally kills the deal. :o

Thanks !

[whiteGSR]

i actually just came back from this deal. I left in Sep 04 and came back right before May 05. What I did was extend this trip to 90 days and then I basically just skipped my return flight home and stayed in Asia. Flight from Shanghai to Vancouver 1 way was 450cdn incl taxes or less. I tried to be adventurous and went to about 12 cities out of the 18 that was available.

What I would do differently:

*Make sure all your flights connect when travelling to the next city, do NOT waste your time sleeping at the HK Airport (I had to do this 2 or 3 times). I guess that's my fault for doing this all last minute and finding out flights were full while I were booking them.

*The destinations that are standard on this deal are major cities. What I would recommened or do next time is to go the smaller town/cities to enjoy the culture/scenery more. I wish I went around Thailand/China more :( Oh yeah, I'd probably visit Vietnam on my next trip to Asia. I've heard nothing but praise about visiting there

Also, if you would like to travel to other South East cities in Asia, check out:
www.airasia.com
They flight out of Malaysia (or other SE Asian cities) for dirt cheap. And when I mean dirt cheap, I mean that my cousins got a deal for $3cdn + taxes. So if you do this deal, what I did was fly out of Kuala Lumpur, or go to Singapore and take the bus to Johor Baru. I took a domestic flight from AirAsia within Malaysia and altho I didn't get any crazy deals (I bought my ticket 3 days b4 my flight, thank god for etickets!), it was still way cheaper than if I were to fly with something like Malaysia Airlines. So if you have time, definitely check them out. Oh yeah one thing though, they DO charge for refreshments, and there's no seat assignment, so you just line up and pick whatever seat you want when you get on the plane) Yeah, i know, ghetto. But it works.

Another side note is that I visited both Tokyo and Osaka for about 3 weeks total and spent 90% of my spending budget there. Yes, thats right, spent 90% in 3 weeks on a 90 day trip. The kicker? I spent virtually $0 on accomadation since I was staying over with friends teaching English over there. Food and transportation WILL kill you. Yoshinoya is your best friend there. Look for it =)

Oh one more thing, for those of you thinking about doing this trip on the later part of the year like I did. Contrarary to popular belief that Asia is warm all year round, it is f#@!$kin' freezing in Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai in the winter time. So bring some warm clothes if you plan on going there from November and onwards. HK was a nice 22c (perfect actually) and I hear that Japan doesn't get too cold (altho I see japanese girls wear turtle neck sweaters while I'm out there w/ a tshirt on).

[st7860]

if you like going to asia , cathay pacific charges about $1500 for a pass that allows you to fly to 12 countries in asia. it includes the roundtrip airfare from either toronto or vancouver to hongkong,and when you get to hk, you can fly to 12 countries without an extra charge, except airport taxes etc.

[canabiz]

Is there any catch or restrictions ?

say if i fly from Tdot to HK and stay there for 2 weeks then go on to some other countries is that OK or is there a time limit how long i could stay in HK ?

Also is this offer only good for the summer ?

Will be doing some further research now

[Keigotw]

Is there any catch or restrictions ?

say if i fly from Tdot to HK and stay there for 2 weeks then go on to some other countries is that OK or is there a time limit how long i could stay in HK ?

Also is this offer only good for the summer ?

Will be doing some further research now

yeah more info is needed
if you find more pls post here
thanks

[eh^]

http://www.cathay.ca/offers/aap/offer.asp


The All Asia Pass includes roundtrip Economy Class air transportation between New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, B.C. or Toronto and Hong Kong, plus 21† consecutive days of Economy Class travel to any or all of the other 17 qualifying Asian cities.

Departure dates from North America:

* February 15 through May 13, 2005 or
* August 17 through December 1, 2005

But if you prefer to depart during the summer period (May 14, 2005 through August 16, 2005) travel is still a great deal for an additional USD $350 / CAD $525.

[st7860]

yeah more info is needed
if you find more pls post here
thanks


you may choose from any or all of these cities

Bali, Bangkok, Cebu, Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Nagoya, Osaka, Penang, Sapporo, Seoul, Singapore, Surabaya, Taipei, Tokyo.

the basic pass is $1499. it includes a round trip flight departing from either Vancouver or Toronto or New York or Los Angeles TO Hong Kong. from HK , you may fly to any or all of the 17 countries listed.

- travel during the peak season, there is a $525 surcharge.
- extend the period from 21 to 45 days, $300 surcharge
- extend the period from 21 to 60 days, $450 surcharge
- extend the period from 21 to 90 days, $500 surcharge
- upgrade to business class one-way for the North America to HK flight $1799
- you can add some 'expensive' cities such as Beijing, Sidney, Hanoi, for $600 each.
- airport taxes are extra



basic
http://www.cathaypacific.ca/offers/aap/offer.asp

add ons
http://www.cathaypacific.ca/offers/aap/pricing.asp

[lonelydriver]

you have to sign up as a cyber traveller as well (it's free) to get the discount other wise it's like $500 more.

the only thing i don't like about the all asia pass is the number of restrictions. you have to pre plan all your destinations and you can't change any of them once you take off.