Scout12

I have tons of United miles I would like to apply towards a trip to Southeast Asia. I have to plan as if I will travel solo, but a friend may join me for part of the trip. I'm looking for suggestions on where to go for about 2 or 3 weeks for a single 43 year-old female. One idea is to begin and end my travel in either Hong Kong or Bangkok (where United flies) and head over to Cambodia and/or Laos. In terms of interests I love history and culture and am willing to do smaller hikes. Just looking for some brainstorming ideas for now. Thanks.

Guenmai

In 1998, I did a solo three week, single female adventure of S.E. Asia and have been doing it almost annually ever since. I was on United out of L.A. I paid for the ticket though. I did L.A.-Singapore-Bali-Singapore-Chiangmai-Bangkok-L.A. Happy Travels!

sf7307

We haven't been yet (going to Vietnam and Cambodia in March 2011), but I just wanted to say you can fly almost anywhere on Star Alliance. We are flying SFO-Seattle (United coach), Seattle-Seoul (Asiana business), Seoul-Hanoi (Asiana coach, although we might still get business), and returning Hong Kong-Tokyo and Tokyo to SFO on All Nippon (business). These were all United miles.

rhkkmk

united also flies to vietnam...

for a real special trip use one of united's asia partners...

given 2-3 weeks of duration i think you need to limit the destinations or you will spend all your time moving from one place to another...

hong kong and thailand are both places which are very easy for tourism...

i might be inclined to fly into one and out of the other...in between i would take one of the budget airlines like air asia.
a few days in luang prabang, laos would be very nice...

i might do 5 days in bangkok....then go to one of the thai beaches for a few days....then head over to laos for 4-5 days, then head to hong kong for the remainder....or you can do it in reverse...

Kathie

Pause and consider what are the most important things you want to see/do/experience. Then plan your itinerary around that. As Bob notes, it will be important to limit the number of stop you make unless your idea of a great time is seeing the insides of different airports in SE Asia.

Go for as long as you can - if you can take three weeks, do it. It's a long flight and it's nice to have some real time where you are going. With three weeks, you'd have a maximum of 20 days on the ground in Asia. Four destinations would be perfect, as you'd end up with four days in each place, not counting your travel days.

Scout12

Thank you all for your helpful advice! I picked Bangkok and Hong Kong as possible cities to fly into and out of. I've never used miles before; I had assumed that the ticket has to be a roundtrip ticket. My top choices are Cambodia and Laos. Thanks again.

rhkkmk

neither of those destinations are good FF destinations, so you will need other bases

Kathie

Bangkok is a good base for getting to both Cambodia and Laos. If you haven't been to Bangkok before (and even if you have) you'll no doubt want to spend some time there. For flights, take a look at the Bangkok Air Discovery Pass. It will make those flights in and out of Siem Reap much more affordable. Tell us more about what you want to do in Cambodia and Laos.

sf7307

<<<I've never used miles before; I had assumed that the ticket has to be a roundtrip ticket.>>>

You are allowed one stop-over (for ex., fly R/T to Bangkok, but stop off for a few days in Hong Kong), or open-jaw (for ex., what we're doing, flying into Hanoi, out of Hong Kong, and making our way back to HongKong on our own, on AirAsia), but not both.

rhkkmk

i think that you will find that the rules for stop overs vary from airline to airline

sf7307

OK, my advice re rules for stopovers pertains to United miles

Scout12

I've never been to Thailand before, so I thought I would fly r/t into/out of Bangkok. From there I would perhaps explore other parts of Thailand, such as the coastal area in addition to Bangkok. I've always wanted to spend a few days in Angkor Wat, so that will be a side trip. Since I will be in that region, friends have suggested Laos as well. But that may be too much to do in this trip, so I can save that for another trip to SE Asia. Thanks for all the tips so far.

Kathie

If you have 20 days on the ground, you can sample those three countries. I'd suggest a stop at Angkor, a stop at Luang Prabang, a stop in Bangkok and a beach stop in Thailand. Don't try to do more than that in your allotted time. If you want a slightly more in-depth look at either Cambodia or Thailand, you'll need to cut out Laos.

Basically, you'll have 5 nights (which is 4 full days) in each location. It takes most/all of a day to get from one place to another. Use the Discovery Pass from Bangkok Air to reduce your flight costs.

Which beach to visit depends on what time of year you are going. Just to prepare you, beaches are international resort locations, so you won't be soaking up a lot of local culture. If you aren't a beach person, substitute a different stop in Thailand, like the Golden Triangle or Chiang Mai or a more rural location like Mae Hong Son.

Scout12

Kathie, that sounds like a good plan. I'll either do that or focus on just Cambodia and Laos for this trip. United does fly into Cambodia, so I don't need to fly into Thailand first. I plan to travel in mid-October to early November of this year. Thanks to all for your help!

Kathie

United itself does not fly into Cambodia. But one of the Star Alliance Partners does - Korean Air perhaps?

Have a great trip. Let us know if we can be of more assistance.

NeoPatrick

Scout, I'm in Asia now as part of a 2 and a half month One World Pass with American using FF miles.

But the part you're now talking about I'm doing. A week in Bangkok, then I got a Discovery Pass to fly to Siem Reap for three days to do Angkor Wat, then to Luang Prabang for three nights, then to Chaing Mai for a week and back to Bangkok. That would be a three week trip in itself. Some might like to do the beach thing instead of northern Thailand.

ekscrunchy

The only thing I can add is that I've made multiple trips to just about every country in the region, and have almost always traveled solo.

As far as I know, there is no destination that you list, or any I can think of at all in that region, that you could not enjoy to the fullest while traveling as a single female..

Scout12

Thanks all for your helpful advice. I would like to focus on just Cambodia and Laos for this trip. Just got off the phone with United. I can fly to Cambodia via Beijing and Bangkok and return from Laos (Vientienne) via Tokyo and Bangkok. What is a Discovery Pass? Maybe it's better if I book a r/t to Bangkok so I can check out Angkor Wat, Luang Prabang, and Chiang Mail like NeoPatrick did? Thanks again.

simpsonc510

NeoPatrick is also in Bangkok on this trip. I believe he is there right now. I'm anxious to see his updated trip report. I would include BKK in my trip planning if I were you (but I'm not) because it is an amazing place. It's a nice 'base' for Southeast Asia travel. And UA flies into BKK airport. FF tickets should be do-able.

Kathie

The Discovery Pass is the airpass from bangkok AIrways. Go to their website and read about it. Note that it MUST be purchased before you get to Asia and cannot be purchased by a travel agent. Bangkok Air has flights to/from Siem Reap. Luang Prabang, Chiang Mai and many other cities in SE Asia. Bangkok is an excellent base for exploring this area.