#CATHAY PACIFIC ASIA AIRPASS PLUS#
#CATHAY PACIFIC ASIA AIRPASS FREE#

The pass costs an extra $300 if you're departing from the East Coast, and $50 to $260 more if you're flying from the Midwest or elsewhere on the West Coast. For a base price starting at $999, you can fly from Los Angeles, San Francisco (starting March 29) or Honolulu to Australia and take three additional flights within the country. (The Web site has a tool that lets you look up which carriers fly between whichever two cities you enter choose Airport & Airline Guides and then Airlines by Route to gain access to this handy feature.)Īnother attractive deal is the Aussie Air Pass offered by Qantas. She also pointed out another quirk of Cathay Pacific's pass: in most instances, you have to return to Hong Kong each time you want to fly to a different city, so if you're pressed for time, you may be better off buying a ticket on a regional carrier that connects the cities you want to visit. 'Of course, the more places you visit, the better deal it is,' she said, adding that just flying between Tokyo and Hong Kong can cost $800 round trip.

'Generally speaking, if you go to six or more cities, you probably save at least five or six hundred dollars,' Ms.

Yee said that most people pick about six cities to visit during a 21-day trip. Marianne Lai Yee, sales manager for Tulips Travel, an agency in Great Neck, N.Y., said she had a client who wanted to book a Cathay Pacific pass to all 17 places offered as options, but Ms. (Given the complications involved in booking these tickets, the passes are generally not available for purchase online.) But even when you can buy a pass directly from the airline - as is the case with the passes available from Aerolíneas Argentinas, Japan Airlines, Qantas and Varig - an agent who is familiar with these deals, and your destination, can help you plan an itinerary that won't make you feel like a rock star on a city-a-day tour. Some air passes - like Cathay Pacific's All Asia Pass - must be bought through a travel agent. SAS and Iberia also offer air passes for travel within Europe, as does a company called Europebyair, though its pass involves flying on mostly obscure airlines for travel within Europe you can often get better deals through Europe's many low-cost carriers. Other airlines that offer similar passes include Qantas (for travel to and around Australia), Aerolíneas Argentinas (for travel within Argentina), Varig (for travel within Brazil), and Japan Airlines (for travel within Japan).

#CATHAY PACIFIC ASIA AIRPASS FREE#

You can save $200 off that price by signing up for Cathay Pacific's free Cyber Traveler program on its Web site, but as with most air passes, there are some extra fees that can add a few hundred dollars to the final total you'll pay.Īlthough most air passes involve similar surcharges and restrictions, the airlines are generally good about outlining these terms on their Web sites, so you can crunch the numbers on your own or with the help of a travel agent to determine if an air pass is a good deal for your trip.

#CATHAY PACIFIC ASIA AIRPASS PLUS#

Take Cathay Pacific, which offers an All Asia Pass for $1,499, plus taxes, that includes round-trip economy class travel to Hong Kong from Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Toronto or Vancouver, British Columbia plus 21 days of travel to any of 17 destinations in Asia, including Bali, Bangkok, Singapore and Tokyo. And in some cases, you have to fly to your original destination on the foreign carrier that sells the air pass - or one of its partners - rather than using, say, a United States airline. But consumers should be aware that the passes usually have to be used within 21 days or a month, and they often involve some booking quirks and restrictions.įor instance, unlike some Eurailpasses, which allow unlimited travel within a given time period, air passes are generally priced based on the number of segments you plan to fly, and you often have to book your flights in advance (rather than deciding on a rainy day in midtrip that it's time to move on to a sunnier city). The passes are sold by about a dozen airlines around the world, and typically allow you to fly to multiple cities within a country or region - sometimes for hundreds of dollars less than you'd pay if you bought individual tickets. For travelers venturing to parts of the globe where there may not be an extensive rail network, air passes offer another way to cover large distances. IF you've ever traveled through Europe with a backpack and some time on your hands, you've probably ridden the rails using a Eurailpass, still one of the best ways to visit multiple countries in Europe in one trip.

Cathay pacific asia airpass