Both Flyertalk user Freed0m and Sam Chui have posted about a fantastic fare today. Round trip flights from Singapore (SIN) to Los Angeles (LAX), with a stop in Fiji (NAN) from $722. These flights provide the chance to build an epic trip without breaking the bank.
Step One to Build an Epic Trip
The deal:
- SIN – NAN (10 hours) in Fiji Airlines business class each way. Long layover in Fiji. This is 2-2-2 nearly lie-flat seating with generally good reviews.
- NAN – LAX (11 hours) in Fiji economy class each way. Keep in mind that any flights between Singapore and L.A. are 17 hours. So 21 hours total, including huge rest stops in the South Pacific, isn’t bad.
- This trip nets you 28,000 Alaska Air miles, quite a lucrative haul for one trip.
But if you’re based in the U.S. why would this interest you? Because it’s possible to book a once-in-a-lifetime trip for a reasonable price, if you have travel flexibility or some standard time off. Even if this is just a thought experiment for you, hopefully it sparks some ideas on future travel.
Long Layovers as Opportunities Instead of Headaches
The stop in Fiji on these fares is often 24+ hours. That means a long time hanging around…one of the most beautiful areas in the world. I mean, you could stay at the airport or sit in a stuffy hotel room, waiting miserably for your next flight. Or you could explore Fiji’s main island.
Fiji Beach by PixaBay user KuyaAndy
It might even be possible to match the SIN – NAN segment with a NAN – LAX segment several days later (I didn’t try that yet); that means a true “2 for 1 trip” for Singapore and Fiji is possible. But even at 30 hours, that’s still plenty of time to actually relax at the beach or go sightseeing. Long layovers can be a chance to add memories instead of merely an obstacle to reaching your final destination.
Los Angeles to Singapore, Home from…Tokyo?
Let’s say you can book 2 weeks vacation this year, and 2 weeks next year; not atypical opportunities. I found the following dates for the SIN-LAX round trip.
Singapore to Fiji in business class; 30 hour layover in Fiji when returning to Singapore
But maybe you don’t want to visit Singapore twice (or maybe you do). While most vacations are “round trips”, you don’t have to limit yourself. What if you want to visit Tokyo too? Booking “open jaw” trips is easy; just choose “Multi City” as a booking option with Google Flights or any OTA.
2 weeks before Singapore – LAX trip, and 2 weeks after the return
But how are you getting from Singapore to Tokyo? What if you want to visit Hong Kong too? How does this build an epic trip? That’s where this deal gets even better.
Singapore to Tokyo Using Alaska Miles
As I mentioned, the Singapore to Los Angeles flights earn 28,000 Alaska miles. Which is just enough to book a 1-way trip in the “Asia” region on Alaska Airlines’ award chart. In business class!
Alaska Air Intra-Asia award chart
I was immediately able to find business class space for Japan Airlines on Alaska’s site from Singapore to Tokyo for 25K miles and $50.
Cathay Pacific business class space may also be available: it’s not visible on Alaska’s website. You must search Oneworld partners British Airways or Qantas, or try JuicyMiles, to find availability to book. I can almost guarantee economy space is available for any day, though.
Cathay Pacific A330-300 business class cabin
If you find business class space (or maybe even just economy), I’d book with Cathay Pacific over Japan Airlines. That’s because Alaska allows a free stopover on any international award ticket; for Cathay Pacific, that means you are free to spend as long as you want in Hong Kong before continuing on to Tokyo! Thus, you can add another fantastic city to your trip without spending more money on flights!
Hong Kong skyline at night by Pixabay user skeeze
For this to work, you’d either need 25K Alaska miles already (in which case the new miles are a 100% rebate), or to stay in Singapore long enough that the Alaska miles are credited to your account from the return leg (probably a few days), and then book a last minute flight to Tokyo. I searched for “close-in” flights on Alaska’s site and found plenty of JAL seats available right now. So it’s probably possible to wait, and I happen to like visiting Singapore a lot. But obviously it’s better to lock in seats early.
Build an Epic Trip Itinerary
So what do we have as our vacation, or really two vacations?
Trip one, in the fall:
- First we visit Singapore for one or two weeks. From personal experience I recommend hopping over to Malaysia for part of the time, especially Tioman Island.
- Then we fly business class to Fiji and explore a bit before heading home to/through LAX.
Then, trip two in the spring:
- We return to Fiji for one or more days to relax on the beach.
- Then back to Singapore for a quick stop or maybe a few days while waiting for miles to post.
- We grab a business or economy class flight heading to Hong Kong experience that magical city. Explore floating markets, the huge harbor and more for a few days.
- Then another business class flight to Tokyo. See Meiji shrines, cherry blossoms in the national garden, visit Golden Gai, or take bullet trains around the country.
- Fly home direct to LAX.
Total airfare cost: $1,319. Not a “budget deal”, but definitely not high cost for 26 hours in business class, 3 major cities, and two trips to the beach!
Conclusion
It’s not impossible to build an epic trip full of unforgettable memories. It does take some flexibility and imagination, but a dream vacation is possible. Even with just a couple of weeks vacation and a limited airfare budget you can take a trip to savor forever. And it’s certainly possible with this deal from Fiji Airways.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Hello,
Have you tried to match the flights so that the “stopover” in Fiji can be days later? If not, can you tech me how to do it?
I haven’t, but here’s the basic ways I’d try it.
1. Try multi-city search when building the itinerary. Make sure that any leg you do NOT want a long stopover is set to the same day or 1 day later. Then try various date splits for the stop-over legs.
2. If you feel comfortable with ITA Matrix and/or expert flyer, you could find this fare code and then try to manually build it on Matrix with the multi-day stopover.
3. This is breaking a cardinal rule of not-normal fares (I’m avoiding clearer terminology for a reason). But you could book the fare with the longest layover you can get and then call Fiji Air and see if you can get the dates split manually by an agent. If I were certain this fare was an accident I would never recommend that, but I have reason to believe this fare is planned.