Last Minute Airfare Deal to Southeast Asia for Thanksgiving

Q: I am planning a last minute trip right after Thanksgiving Day, any advice? I want somewhere warm with a beach that won’t cost me an arm and a leg as I am on a tight budget.

For my readers in California, this Thanksgiving comes with a special bonus, hot last minute airfare deals to Southeast Asia, so you can have Turkey with your extended family on Thursday and find yourself lying on a beach paradise in Thailand or Cebu by Saturday for basically the same price as a last minute flight to the Caribbean, with the bonus advantage of super low prices for hotels, bars and food once you get to the exotic beach resorts of Southeast Asia.

Frequent travelers to Southeast Asia have always jumped at last minute deals to Bangkok or Manila or Even Siem Reap, because they are very rare and they are not advertised in advance since they are, after all, last minute deals.

Row of seated Buddhas at the temple of Wat Arun in Bangkok, Thailand

Forewarned by my travel spies, I have done a search on vayama.com for last minute airfare deals to South East Asia for the first week of December and have been pleasantly surprised at the low airfares, some last minute airfares this year are lower than what I paid to fly to Puerto Rico at the last minute around the same time last year.

I hope these hot last minute airfares encourage you to take the plunge and discover the wonders of Southeast Asia for less, from the ancient temple ruins of Angkor to the high tech metropolises of Bangkok and Taipei, and from the mystic jungles of Cambodia to some of the most breathtaking beaches on the planet in Cebu and Phuket. Don’t wait, grab these last minute airfares, you won’t regret it.

One Night in Bangkok and the World is your Oyster!

For travelers that have always dreamed of discovering South East Asia but were afraid of the price of the airline ticket, fear no more, we will show you how to get the most out of your airline ticket to South East Asia.

Longtail boat in Thailand

Bangkok is the hub of South East Asia:

Once you are in Bangkok, you have most South East Asian capitals at your fingertips, here is a list of destinations where you can fly to from $150 each way from Bangkok:  Cambodia (Siam Reap & Phnom Penh), Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City & Hanoi), Bangalore, Delhi, Singapore, Phuket & More.

How to book inter Asia Trips:

You have 2 options, you can use the vayama.com site to book as many side trips from Bangkok as you like, from the air conditioned comfort of your hotel room, or you can brave the heat and visit a local travel agencies down the Khao San Road in Bangkok, you will find that you will be able to pay the local price and shave off a few dollars for puddle jumps that originate in Bangkok, plus it’s a great way to meet the locals and to get travel suggestions from them, like the best beaches of Cambodia or the cool jungle resorts of Thailand.

Side trips in Paradise: Take Side trips in Southeast Asia

Manila: Cebu

Bustling Manila has its charms, but nothing beats the white powdery beaches of Cebu.  Book a side trip from Manila on Cebu Pacific and watch the air hostesses dance to Lady Gaga on the way to your beach paradise.

Cebu

The island of Cebu is my idea of the perfect real beach experience.  Friendly people, fantastic food (whole roasted suckling pig is a national dish), great beer (San Miguel), and perhaps some of the most beautiful beaches in South East Asia, plus a bonus pair of islands just off the coast of the main island of Cebu, for that hut on the beach experience we all crave. I found a discounted airfare directly into Cebu (skipping Manila) on vayama.com.

Jakarta: Bali

This has to be the mother of side trips, the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the world.  Jakarta is both sprawling and congested (if that is possible) and Bali is as close to paradise as it’s possible on this planet. Just ask Julia Roberts.

The Beach: Make the movie your reality

Now you can retrace Leo’s steps, sans the neo-hippies  (can’t guarantee zero smugglers) with a discounted airfare to Phuket. I found an airfare deal on vayama.com from San Francisco to Phuket on Korean Airlines that flies directly from Seoul to Phuket, avoiding Bangkok altogether. Once in Phuket, catch a local boat ride to the Phi Phi Islands and get ready for a warm dip in paradise.

Good Mornings in Vietnam

Vietnam has some of the best beach resorts in South East Asia, and together with Halong Bay near Hanoi and Vung Tau near Saigon (ho Chi Ming City), it gives Thailand a run for its money with spectacular rock formations that come with a tranquil bay, to party all night resorts. Vietnamese cuisine is sublime when it comes to seafood, you can’t go wrong with a breakfast of catch of the day on the sand after a night of bar hoping. Vietnam is the best when it comes to sun, sand sea and surf. I found flights into Hanoi and Saigon (Ho Chi Ming City) on vayama.com; you can mix it up and fly into one and out of the other.

Bangkok, Thailand

Max Milano
Born in South America, educated in the British West Indies and in London, England, Max is an avid world traveller and blogger with more than 15 years experience in travel writing, first as a tour guide in Europe and in the Caribbean. Max has been writing copy for online travel websites since 1998. His first published Novel: The Mechanicals of Recoleta is out on paperback and available through Amazon.com.  He is currently blogging and providing content and travel expertise for online travel agency Vayama.com.  Max  Milano has lived throughout the world, and now resides in Silicon Valley, California, where he is writing his next two books.

All photos courtesy and copyright Max Milano