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Travel from San Francisco, San Jose, and New York City to Seoul, Hong Kong, and Tokyo for $399 in Air China economy. The travel availability for these deals is between October 2016 and March 2017. The fare sale only lasts today through July 24.
Contents:
- When are the cheap fares and how do I find them?
- Why Seoul, Hong Kong, or Tokyo?
- Mileage Earning
- Baggage Allowance
- Best Credit Card to Buy the Ticket
$399 Roundtrip from the US to Seoul/Hong Kong/Tokyo
The $399 roundtrips are from San Francisco (SFO), San Jose (SJC), and New York City (JFK) to Seoul, Hong Kong, and Tokyo for travel October 16, 2016 through March 31, 2017. This sale price only lasts through the weekend.
The blackout dates are as follows:
- Departure: December 10th – 24th and February 1st, 2017 – February 11th, 2017
- Return: January 1st, 2017 – January 13th and January 20th, 2017 – January 29th, 2017
You can find these incredibly cheap fares right on airchina.com— that link will take you to the sale page, where you can search from. Bubble in “Flexible travel days” to search with a 7×7 day calendar and see more availability at once:
San Francisco to Tokyo for $399 Roundtrip
This itinerary doesn’t have one, but a lot of itineraries do have long layovers in Beijing (one of Air China’s Hubs). American passport holders can transit without a visa in Beijing for up to 72 hours, so you don’t have to worry about that aspect. I’d schedule myself a long layover on purpose and EAT.
Why Seoul?
Seoul is a thriving metropolis surrounded by beautiful mountains and rivers. You can enjoy the culture of the city and also go skiing and hiking all in the same trip. Plus you can go to one of those weird cat cafes people are always talking about.
Why Hong Kong?
I’ve yet to spend any time there myself, but I’ve flown through before. From a bird’s eye view I could tell it was a destination I had to return to. It’s a massive city set amongst mountainous subtropical islands.
Why Tokyo?
Catch the end of the Cherry Blossom explosion and head there right when the sale fares start (mid October). And sushi…duh.
Check out How to Book a RTW Trip in 2016 Using These Underpriced Awards to see how to hop around Asia with miles while you’re there.
Mileage Earning
Air China is a member of Star Alliance, so you’d normally be able to credit the miles to any program also a part of Star Alliance (like United). But the fare (N) is so discounted, it won’t earn mileage with anyone. I used wheretocredit.com and all results came up as 0%:
Baggage Allowance
You can carry on 11 pounds of luggage and check two bags up to 50 pounds each.
Best Way to Buy the Ticket
Your top choice should be the Citi Prestige® Card, since it comes with a $250 Air Travel Credit every calendar year that will cover a large portion of this ticket. If you haven’t used the credit yet, buy this fare with your Prestige, and you will receive an offsetting credit on your next statement: a $149 roundtrip to Seoul, Hong Kong, or Tokyo!
Even if you’ve already used your $250 credit for this year, the card offers 3x on all airfare purchases. Don’t have a Prestige? Use an American Express Gold card or the Citi ThankYou Premier if you have one of those. They also earn 3x on airfare. Or if you have Arrival miles, you could purchase the airfare with your Barclaycard Arrival Plus and redeem them retroactively on the charge to make it completely free! The sign-up bonus is worth over $450 towards airfare.
Whatever card you use, pick one without foreign transaction fees (all of those mentioned above do not charge them), as the purchase will be from Air China which is a foreign airline.
Been thinking about a trip to Asia? Then check out the cheap fares to Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong now as prices this sale ends on July 24!
Hat tip The Flight Deal
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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thrown flew HKG… funny enough to make me laugh 🙂
😉
is a stopover in HK allowed if destination is Seoul?
To maintain the $399 roundtrip price tag I’m pretty sure the only routing option is through Beijing (PEK).
There is also a sale is going on from Chicago to most of the cities in China including Hong Kong price rage from $525 to $650 the sale fare is even available during November/December 2016