

You can either kick off your trip in one of these cities, or look to then catch a budget carrier out to where you really want to go. Look online at the carrier's sites, check sites such as Skyscanner and also give a travel agent a buzz-you never know where you're going to score the best deal.Ĭonsider flying with a legacy carrier into a hub such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok. Research prices for your long-haul flight from home to one of Southeast Asia's main hubs. So don't make the mistake of assuming your only option is to fly into the capital. Obviously international flights primarily come into the capital cities, but in many cases secondary international airports are available in other cities, such as Phuket, Hat Yai and Chiang Mai in Thailand, Luang Prabang in Laos, Siem Reap in Cambodia and Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

Draft an itineraryįirst up, research carefully where you want to go and draft an itinerary that still allows you some flexibility. If you’re considering an “open jaw ticket” where you fly long haul into one airport and back home from another, compare the cost with a return to just one destination with a low cost airline ticket to bring you back to your starting point. If you’re doing a regional trip, it pays to compare flights into some of the different cities to see where you are best to start the trip. Today, that approach still holds some water, but you’ll often find very competitive flights direct to your destination-especially as most trips will have you starting in a capital city.

Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Siem Reap (Cambodia), Vientiane (Laos) and Yangon (Burma) are reasonably well connected regionally, but not so much as far as long haul is concerned.Ĭonventional wisdom used to hold that the best approach was to fly into one of the big hubs like Singapore or Bangkok and then get a connecting flight with a low cost carrier to your actual destination. Other cities that receive a fair number of long-haul international flights include Hanoi (Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon, Vietnam), Jakarta (Indonesia) and Bali (Indonesia). Southeast Asia’s primary long-haul international airport hubs are Bangkok (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Singapore (Singapore). Before you start to research your flights, here are a couple of general points to keep in mind. You can easily overpay by hundreds of dollars-throwing much of your hard saving out the window with a mouse click.
