I pulled this of
www.batamforum.com - Hopefully it is of some help
"A big barrier for many to travel to Asia is the cost.
The barrier is only in your mind, as once you arrive, everything is far cheaper.
Here are some tips:
A person I know who travels by air a lot says he never specifies
the dates of his travel and always uses the flexible dates option to get
the lowest price.
When you are flying from a major Asian departure
airport (LAX), you will have lots of options. I have to fly to a major
departure airport, like LAX, MSP, SEA, DFW, or SFO. That limits the
possibilities on Travelocity flexible dates, as half of the low prices are
for Asian airlines that do not fly anywhere near my home airspace.
Every time I check Priceline for overseas flights they are more expensive
that what I can do elsewhere. In the past they did not tell you the
flights or the times until you purchased. Are these supposed to be a
great selling points for using their service? More expensive and I don't
know anything about the flight until after I purchase? So use Priceline
if you can find a good fare there. I use them to be sure what I am paying
is way lower than anything they offer.
I ran some more checks.
Orbitz: since Orbitz does not have flexible dates, I made up some dates:
15 Sep to 4 Dec from LAX to BKK. These prices are starting prices; the
flights you select might be more. Where there are two prices, that is as
listed for one or two stops. There were more airlines, but those cost
more than $800 round trip.
Delta - $678 (China Air in disguise)
Korean Air - $681
China Air - $693 or $697
Asiana - $719
Eva - $739
United $769 or $774
Travelocity: I used flexible dates and got similar prices as I posted
before. When I tried to book a trip using flexible dates from mid Sep to
Early Dec, I found that the return trips seemed to be limited to a month
or two following the month of Departure. Thsi seemed to be true for the
first four options, so I quit. I then specified the dates I made up
before: 15 Sep to 4 Dec. These are again LAX to BKK. Note that these
are
the cheapest routing options. The flights you select may cost more than
these prices.
Korean Air - $673
Delta - $673 (Korean Air in disguise)
Delta - $679 (China Air in disguise)
PI Air - $682
China Air - $686
Eva Air - $750
United - $781
So git along lildoggie to that great web site in the sky. You kin rope
them there good values if you try."