Another crazy China trip...

[petekeller]

I'm off on Monday for Asia. Wanted to give a little background on how you can travel for relatively cheap. Costs are listed in approx USD for convenience here.

 

So, I booked a ticket using my FF miles on United AUS-NRT, and PVG-AUS. This cost 65k miles and $57. I transferred points from my Chase Ink Bold MC.

 

I will spend the first night in Tokyo and stay in a capsule hotel- estimated hotel cost $50. Note that other options are sleeping in an internet cafe ($40) or couch surfing (free). Food should be cheapish- hitting up a sushi conveyor belt place. Attractions should be cheap as well- I am going to walk a ton and soak in the culture.

 

The following day I fly to Taipei. I booked late so was unable to get a cheap fair or use points effectively. Cost~ $250. I will crash at a friend's couch that night. I met the friend online. Cost (maybe dinner/drinks). I've got some business to do in Taipei, so I'll put most charges on my business card.

 

The next day I fly to HKG. I booked tickets using Amex points. Cost= 15,000-ish points, and no $. I will stay in either a hostel, or couch surf, or airbnb. Still deciding. In any case, the MTR around Hong Kong is fairly cheap and I will use it to get around. My sleeping arrangements should cost less than $150 (for two people now- I am meeting a friend and traveling with him), and you can find places on airbnb for $75 or less. Eating out can be fairly cheap to very expensive, and I'll probably have a few drinks too.

 

The next day I take the MTR to Shenzhen (mainland China). This is cheap and fast. In Shenzhen, I'm staying at the Westin- 20,000 amex points (I overpaid, but I was in a hurry to book) (and this is again 2 ppl). I could stay at a (much) lower class hotel for as little as 4,000 points. I'll be traveling around Shenzhen either by cab or public transit depending on my time constraints.

 

...And that's the start of my trip. I hope this is interesting or helps someone. I see a lot of posts about people traveling on points, but not a ton of posts detailing how the points were actually spent.

 

To earn points, check out Chris Guillebeau's blog- anyone in the US with a little work and not too much $$ can build up a decent store of points/miles.