Asian itinerary suggestions
 

I am looking for itinerary suggestions and cost saving tips for a 14-17 day asian trip
Next summer June 17- July 5

Depart DCA or NYC

Cities we want to go for sure

Tokyo
Beijing
Hong Kong

Open to other cities

Shanghai
Bangkok
Seoul
Osaka

What other cities are even possible?

What's the best city to fly into for cost and to make this work?
Best airlines to fly
Interested in train travel if possible in china /Japan
Really worried about air fare!
Looking for cost saving tips
Rather do it myself than use a pre planned tour

Would like to stay in LA or SF for a few days on way back if possible

Thank you

Since you want to stay in LA or SF on your return, you'd best stick to the first three cities you name, and forget adding any other cities to the itin. You will barely scratch the surface of those three in your timeframe, let alone adding more. Just my thoughts.

Prices are crazy for flights to Asia!! You should have a number of options for non-stops, which will save you time. Check itasoftware dot com and you will get a pretty good idea of your options. Most airlines are represented on this site, though you cannot book from this site.

Lots and lots of cities are possible. Are you only interested in cities?

If you want to save money, stick to one or two countries. China requires an expensive visa, Hong Kong and Japan do not.

You could fly into Tokyo and spend your whole time in Japan - it's just enough time for a "get acquainted" visit. And of course, you can take the train to other places in Japan.

It will be very hot in Beijing - not the best time to visit IMO. But you could spend your whole time in China/Hong Kong easily as well.

I don't advise adding more destinations - less (destinations) is more in Asia.

i love korean air from jfk... non-stop to seoul and just continue from there to all major asian cities..

shanghai is fantastic for 3-5 days and then a quick hop to beijing and finally HK and home from HK on korean.

OR

bangkok, hanoi and HCNC... starting and ending in bkk with korean.

save tokyo for another trip...

can fly japan air direct from boston and probably nyc too non-stop and spend whole time in japan

Totally agree with the above. You only have max 17 days, don't bother with LA or SF, spend all your time in Asia, 5 days each in those 3 cities is barely enough.

Check Cathay Pacific Airlines Asian Pass to see if it'll work for you. Fly into HK, cross the border and take the super train to BJ, fly to TK and back to HK, or the other way around HK -- TK -- BJ -- HK.

PatrickH, I see you've posted two other threads.
Your first threads suggest you are or were interested in 17 to 21 days in California. You still sound interested in California.
You maintain you are leaving from either Washington or New York - why do you not know which is your origin airport? What have you not yet planned?

You are now branching out to three countries - western US, China and Japan, within 2 weeks;
You want to fly to multiple cities in Asia from the eastern US within 2 weeks, but are 'super concerned about airfare' - what does this mean, what is your budget in dollars, as opposed to concern (which is not quantifiable on an objective scale.)
You are "Interested in train travel" in Japan or China - what does this mean? People generally get on trains to go from A to B; what A? What B?

And your postulated date of travel is next summer, June 17 to July 5.

Is this a school project?