Leaving Beijing? Where to get the best airfare deals

Airfare prices for the summer are already quickly rising, probably at a faster and sharper ascent than possible on any airline’s jet. We tried to snag some tickets back home for the summer at an incredible USD 600 per person. The route would have taken us from Beijing to Istanbul then to Vancouver stopping finally in Atlanta. We liked that we’d even have a bit of a layover in Istanbul for a bit of time killing. Sadly, the bank back in the States didn’t know it was an authorized purchase and so declined the payment.

A few days later, our pockets sweated as we had to fork out an extra USD 100 per person, and as all parents know, traveling with kids can get pricey. The difference could have covered our car rental for two weeks.

We found these great tickets using Sky Scanner, which has pulled up better prices against Kayak every time we compare. We know we still can’t beat Ctrip for Asian related flights in most cases. Our friends beat us by several thousand RMB when they bought tickets to Phuket via Ctrip. Good news is that their mobile app and website has a new feature allowing infant seats to be booked from the site rather than needing to call the airline or booking agent. If you haven’t already bought your tickets for leaving Beijing… for good… you probably should start checking out prices.

And if you haven’t already heard the bad news, certain flights departing from the Middle East flying into the US and UK require that electronic devices, such as laptops and iPads, be checked in before take off. This new strange measure meant to curb terrorism really just creates a nightmare for traveling with kids. Check out this article for ideas on how to keep kids happy for hours and hours while confined in an airplane-shaped jail. I suppose I’m happy we won’t be flying from Istanbul now.