Hey all. I am a new member but have been reading forumosa for a while now. I am going to be moving to Taipei in AUgust (I am getting a scholarship to study). I have been looking at the prices of airfare and they are all very expensive. Most are at least US$1100 round trip. Others are $600-700 one way. Do any of you recommend a particular airline? I will be flying out of JFK. Also, is it cheaper to fly out in the middle of the week as opposed to on the weekends?
Thanks for your help in advance; I know I will have plenty of questions in the coming year.
Try to search for flights from other locations! A example from the Netherlands…
If you book you KLM flight in Holland, you’ve got to pay 1250 euro for a round trip. When booked on the belgian website of KLM the round-trip will cost you 800… From the German website you have to pay 750 euro for the roundtrip.
All these flights have the same flightnumber!
So my advise, try the canadian website or try to leave from another airport. Searching is really worth the trouble!
oh, in general EVA-air offers low and stable prices.
I think you should look at itineraries from EWR. NJ Transit now has a station for Newark Airport, so public transportation there should be pretty easy. They charge an extra fee for the EWR station. Don’t think you can save money by buying a cheaper ticket to the next station and getting off at EWR. You will need the EWR ticket to get into the terminal from the railroad station.
You should check the travel section of your local paper and/or the travel agents in Chinatown. Those are where the deals are. Last August I paid ~$700US for a round trip ticket for Boston-NY-Taipei with the return portion open on China Airlines.
That’s a tough one to book. You said August which is still peak season. That means you’re not going to do better than $1000 without some luck and a good travel agent to help you. I booked an EVA ticket for $1125 from their website: EWR->KUL->EWR (stop over in Seattle, WA).
China Airlines is the cheapest most of the time. I fly EVA unless I have no choice.
Your best bet for cheap tickets are to take a walk through Chinatown and stop in to ask for the cheapest ticket to Taipei. I have done this in the past and came up with $500 tickets - of course it wasn’t peak season but still, it was a lot cheaper than anywhere else. There are 2 airlines I’d recommend you check out individually or ask about and that’s Malaysia Airlines and Korean Airlines. I’m not sure if Korean still flies the NY-Anchorage-Seoul-Taipei route but that was one of the cheapest tickets I’ve ever purchased. If you’re looking through a newspaper - look through Chinese newspapers with the help of a friend.
Korean Airlines was still available as late as a month ago but going fast. Malaysian Airlines only flies the Eastern Route stopping in Dubai from JFK. Say hello the the GI’s there when you fly over the war zone
If you want cheaper tickets, the best advice is don’t come in August. You can easily find $500-700 round trip deals to/from the US all over the place from October to May (except Christmas and Chinese New Year), but June-September you will be very very lucky to get round trips to/from the US for less than $1000. If you do find deals, it’ll be through Chinese speaking travel agencies and probably only at the last minute. Taiwanese like to travel during the summer months, so the airlines can charge twice as much and still sell every seat. Good luck, and if you do find something better, let us know. As for which airlines, “anyone but China Airlines”.
I just purchased tickets yesterday at a Chinese travel agent here in Atlanta. Fare should be similar to NY - it was $1150 each on EVA Air economy deluxe. Regular economy was about $950, so I gladly paid the extra $200 to get deluxe. Still seems high - last time we went to Taiwan it was $700.
