Good Business Class Fares to Southeast and Southwest Asia

One of the reasons I enjoy watching sporting events at home is so that I can multitask on my computer – so while the World Cup final was on in the background, I was also playing around with ITA Matrix for the past couple hours. While the glory days of the ex-CMB fare are over which I at least got to book once, I decided to check back and see how CMB fares are looking these days.

Overall, there are still some pretty darn good fares to be had ex-CMB. As an example, for random dates in September Business Class seats are available for as low as $2,639 round-trip from CMB to LAX on Thai Airways, and at $2,800 on Malaysian. Each of those options has two connections. Looking at the fare rules on Expertflyer, the TG option even permits up to three free stopovers (one in each direction at BKK, one in ICN) and up to two additional ones for 3500 LKR each which is approximately $27 USD.

For a few hundred dollars more, one connection options are available through Etihad and Emirates. If you’re looking to splurge, round-trip First Class fares are pricing out at $5,332 on Etihad and $6,591 on Emirates which includes the A380 from DXB-LAX. All Business and First Class options on Etihad and Emirates appear to include free unlimited stopovers.

If you already have a positioning flight and only need to get home, one-way Business Class options are also available on TG starting at $1,471 as well as a combination of Cathay Pacific and Eva Airways for $1,627.

While I haven’t tried to actually book any of these fares, your best bet is probably to try a multi-city search using one of the online travel agencies (Expedia, Orbitz, etc.).

In general, I consider anything under $1,500 one-way / $3,000 round-trip to be a good Business Class fare to Asia, so these ex-CMB fares are a solid option especially if you’re able to make use of the free stopovers.

I’m sure someone may ask, so worth mentioning that the fares don’t work in reverse. So you can either use your miles to position to CMB, or potentially nest within the current Cathay Pacific Business Class sale ex-USA (which has fares as low as $3,841 to Southeast Asia) if planning multiple trips within the next year.