flying beijing to/from south east asia

[onebir]

does anyone know any relatively cheap ways to do this? i checked out beijing to KL flights online and they were around GBP300 - almost as much as my flight from london to beijing...

i know there are a few low cost SE asian airlines, but none seem to fly to northern china...

[HashiriKata]

I was told that the airports taxes between the two countries add a big chunk into the cost of the flight, have you considered flying within China and then cross the border by train?

[Long Zhiren]

Have you checked the listings in this website?

http://www.airtimetable.com/lowfare_airline_locator.asp

Besides these, I'd recommend Vietnam Airlines. I find them reasonable. You might wind up with an overnight in Vietnam though.

[smalltownfart]

I was told that the airports taxes between the two countries add a big chunk into the cost of the flight, have you considered flying within China and then cross the border by train?

Malaysia doesn't have a common border with China. There are plans to build a "bullet train" from BJ to S'pore, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

However, there is a train route from Bangkok-KL-Singapore. Have a look at this map to see what the train routes look like, you will notice that Laos doesn't have any train tracks at all. You can try taking the coastal route - train + bus from China to Kuala Lumpur via Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam but you are looking at a loooooooong trip.

[onebir]

Thanks guys - esp for the airtimetable link, which seems pretty comprehensive and mentions a few airlines i'd never heard of before!

[onebir]

I've done a bit of researching after being quoted USD375 for a direct flight, which seems a bit steep.

Here are the alternatives i've found, using

www.chinahighlights.com for trains inside china

www.seat61.com for trains in SE asia

www.whichbudget.com for china SE asia flights

and

www.elong.net for flights within china

I costed the airfares for late november.

It seems that chinese internal flights are also quite pricey, and the way to make the biggest savings is to use the train where possible within china.

That said, elong was offering big discounts on beijing-xiamen, which made flying beijing-xiamen-bangkok-kl quite affordable.

Just wondering if anyone's tried similar routes, and also if i've missed any significant costs (airport tax, getting from rail terminuses to airports?)

Beijing-Xiamen (train 55-87)

Xiamen-Bangkok (Airasia, USD46)

Bangkok-KL (Airasia, USD 16)

Total USD117-149

Beijing - Shenzhen (Train USD 55-87) (trains to zhuhai would be more convenient but i'm not sure there's a direct one)

Shenzhen - Macau (Ferry USD 13, see www.macauzhuhai.com)

Macau-KL (Airasia, USD 53)

USD 121-153

Beijing-Shenzhen (Train, USD56-89)

Shenzhen-Singapore (Jetstar USD80)

Singapore-KL (train USD11)

Total USD 147-180

Beijing - Guangzhou (Train USD 55-87)

Guangzhou-Singapore (Tiger USD95)

Singapore-KL (train USD11)

USD 161-193

Beijing-Shenzhen (Train, USD56-89)

Shenzhen-Hongkong (USD 25 see www.turbojet.com.hk)

Hongkong - Singapore (Jetstar USD75)

Singapore-KL (train USD11)

USD 167-200

Beijing-Xiamen(flight, elong.net USD 113)

Xiamen-Bangkok (Airasia, USD46)

Bangkok-KL (Airasia, USD 16)

Total USD 175

Beijing-Shenzhen (flight, elong.net, USD155)

Shenzhen-Singapore (Jetstar USD80)

Singapore-KL (train USD11)

Total USD241

Beijing - Guangzhou (flight, elong.net USD 150)

Hong Kong-Singapore (Tiger USD95)

Singapore-KL (train USD11)

USD 256