christinetlu

Hi there!

My husband and I are looking to take a trip to South East Asia for the first time in February 2016. We would be flying from San Francisco and looking to hit up a few cities over a few weeks.

Proposed itinerary:
- February 7 - 13 - Hong Kong (to celebrate Chinese New Year)
- Feb 13 - 19 - Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh and hoping to see Nha Trang or a nearby beach town while we are there)
- Feb 19 - 24 - Thailand (hoping to do Bangkok and a nearby beach town as well, celebrating our one year wedding anniversary on Feb 22)

Questions:
- Does this itinerary seem realistic in terms of timing? We haven't booked anything yet so are completely flexible.
- Are we better off booking a round trip flight for Hong Kong (flights are only showing up as $685 USD right now) and traveling one way in between, or doing multi city flights (total is around $1600 USD according to kayak).
- We are looking for a travel agent to help us book our flights - any good recommendations?

Thanks for your help in advance!

simpsonc510

I like your schedule. It seems to be a nice relaxing pace rather than trying to do too much in a short amount of time. In my opinion, SE Asia needs to be done at a slower pace than, say, Europe.

I'm in Bangkok right now (just arrived yesterday morning) and the weather is absolutely delightful! I hope it can hang on at this humidity/temp level for your February trip! It can get beastly hot here, but December thru February are usually the best months, weatherwise, to visit Thailand.

There are folks here who know a lot more about booking those airline tickets that hop from city to city, so I won't suggest routing, but just know that you can fly into one city and out of another on a round trip ticket. You could fly into Hong Kong and out of Bangkok for example, (it is a "multi-city" booking when you do this) and then squeeze your Vietnam trip in between, with separate tickets. This should price out better than a booking with a number of one-way tickets.

For your Thailand beach, I might suggest Hua Hin, which is about a 3-hour taxi ride from Bangkok. Phuket or Koh Samui would also be nice as well, but flying would be your best and quickest way to get there, not driving. We will drive to Phuket from Bangkok for the New Year this year, on December 29, and it will be about an 8 hour drive, depending on traffic (which will be heavy). We want to stop along the route, overnight, about halfway there. We have always flown to Phuket in the past, but want to do something different this year, thus the rental car and hopefully a scenic drive!

Have fun planning your trip. You can do it without a travel agent. It really isn't difficult. If you have questions, just ask the experts here!

Guenmai

Just put your dates/destinations on a travel plan and then go online and check out the individual airfares, from Hong Kong, if that's your selected base. then compare those airfares to the all-destinations-on-one-ticket airfares. You can then compare prices. I personally use Expedia as it works very well for me, but there are many different online travel sites.

I plan my overseas trips regularly, but to Southeast Asia I haven't routed through Hong Kong. On my 2016/2017 trip planning, I've added Hong Kong and started researching approximate cost for flights. I always start my rough draft plan long in advance to work out a budget.

I'm leaving soon back to S.E. Asia, but I usually route myself to Bangkok through Singapore and then when I leave Bangkok, I have one-way tickets, on Malaysia Air (inexpensive) all the way back down to Singapore, with stops in Malaysia, before getting back to Singapore and usually spending up to a week before heading back to L.A. I like the flexibility of this type of planning.

My best friend will meet me in Bangkok, on this upcoming trip, and just last week booked L.A.-Bangkok, via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific for a little over $1200 and in Premium Economy Class. She'll meet me in Bangkok next month. I'll get there weeks before her. Then, she will fly to Penang with me, from Bangkok. She had her flights done on one ticket through AmExp.

It might be cheapest to book S.F.-Bangkok, via Hong Kong with a stopover, for a few days, in Hong Kong. And then maybe book Bangkok to Vietnam on a round trip separately out of Bangkok and back into Bangkok before returning to S.F. via Hong Kong. Bangkok is a really good hub for inexpensive plane tickets. I'm flying one way from Bangkok to Penang,Malaysia and it's inexpensive. Round-trip was pricing out at less than $100.

Remember that if you book a budget airline, to really watch your amount of baggage as they are usually very strict about it. So read the fine lines. However, flying to Asia is great in that one gets two, check-in bags for free, unlike flying to Europe.

The baggage allowance can be tricky if flying within Asia. I had to pay for overweight luggage in Jan 2015 while flying within S.E. Asia although my luggage was fine between L.A. and S.E. Asia. For example, on Malaysia Air, the charge was 85MYR (Malaysian Ringitt) per 5-kilo block over their allowed baggage maximum weight and I wasn't on a budget airline and budget airlines can be even more restrictive.

Since you'll be gone for a short period of time, you might not have to worry about the luggage weight so much, but I was gone from Dec-Feb and had more luggage.

Happy Travels!

Guenmai

I forgot to add that my best friend's total airfare, including Penang, Malaysia was a little over $1,200. out of L.A. So, maybe you should check with Cathay Pacific for your routing.

Happy Travels!

Kathie

What is it you want to see/do/experience on this trip? Right now you have a nice, long stay in Hong Kong (one of the most expensive cities in Asia), but very chopped up time in VN and Thailand. You want to visit two beaches, one in VN and one in Thailand, plus HCMC and Bangkok. Lay out your plan on a calendar, remembering that you will lose at least half a day each time you change locations. So while you sat you will be in HKG Feb 7-13 and HCMC Feb 13-19, you will actually have little or no time to see/do experience on Feb 13 as that is your transit day (figure from checking out of one hotel until you are checked into the next).

I have a few recommendations:

1. Choose one beach location so you can have some time to relax and enjoy the beach.

2. If you want time to experience HCMC and Bangkok, you'll need to schedule three full days in the city which means 4 nights. That is just enough for a taste of either city.

3. Consider cutting one country - either VN or Thailand - or add time to your trip so you have some time to explore the country you choose.

Pull out your guidebooks and see what places call to you the most.

mareeS55

You seem to have cities as your main destinations.

If that is your plan, they are all good cities for food and shopping.

We get out a bit more on the rough roads and waters, but if you have done your homework, yours seems like a reasonable plan.

gyronikeleg

Good picks, I think it is just a little short in all the places. I would definitely stay longer in Vietnam. You could skip Thailand and just doing Hong Kong and Vietnam.

But if you decide to keep these dates, my recommendation would be to not use an agent, just do your research. Use skyscanner.com they usually have good flight prices.

Kathie

For booking plane tickets, I always advise to book directly with the airline. If you can currently find a roundtrip from SFO to HKG for $685 pp, that's a great price. What airline is that on?

Skyscanner is fine for finding budget airlines, but I wouldn't book on the site.

flyingboxx

For the time duration at Vietnam I think you got a fair itinerary !

Southam

Chinese New Year celebrations tend to be family affairs. While in Bangkok once, much of the city shut down, including the freight traffic on the river. Some Hong Kong institutions also shuttered, I was told by a resident, because employees went inland to ancestral homes to see relatives. Now, this is years ago and times may have changed; Honk Kong is certainly more international than ever and no doubt some restaurants will be open, if only for tourists.

NoraC

I think 6 days in Vietnam is pretty short but if you only want to enjoy the beach air then it's okay. Besides the Nha Trang beach, you can consider the Phan Thiet beach, also is a worth place to enjoy. But if you are flexible you should stay more days and you should not miss the Halong bay in the north. I recommend the travel agent Best Price Vietnam, they offer all kind of services (visa, cruise, hotel, guide, etc.). Very convenient!

When in Thailand, you should make a visit to Pataya, only 2 hours on bus to reach the town. It's a great place to walk around and enjoy everything. 2 days 1 night in Pataya is enough.

Hope you would have a great anniversary!

julies

Tet in Vietnam coincides with Chinese New Year in Hong Kong and is 2/7 to 2/13. I've read that the entire two week period around it is very busy with transportation often booked up way ahead of time, so you may want to check and see if this is the case.

Unless you really, really are beach people and that is a main impetus for your trip, I'm going to join in with those who say limit yourself to just one beach destination.

MmePerdu

As Southam has mentioned, Chinese New Year in Hong Kong, in general, isn't the best time to be there because so much is closed. However, if you're crazy for fireworks, I suspect there are none better than those they do from barges in the harbor. My first visit to HK I inadvertently arrived during New Year and realized it was a mistake. But if you still want to do it then, be sure to book a harbor view room, mine was on a high floor at the Salisbury, which I recommend unless you prefer a 5 star experience. I'm not all that crazy for fireworks but it was indeed memorable. Find out which night the fireworks will be and book then. Or, if fireworks aren't big on your list, postpone HK until your way home.