Star Alliance Introduces enhanced Asia Airpass

Star Alliance has launched an enhanced Asia Airpass for travel across the Asian continent.

“The new Asia Airpass, with its extended routing possibilities, reflects the growing desire for travellers to explore the full Asian continent on an Airpass journey, a need which was not fully met in the past,” said Horst Findeisen, Vice President Commercial and Business Development at Star Alliance.

Roundtrip for 52.000 THB
An example of a trip put together by ScandAsia went from Bangkok to Hong Kong to Beijing to Shanghai to Seoul to Taipei and back to Bangkok. The price was 52.000 Thai Baht.  To create a trip like this, Star Alliance has developed a convenient online Airpass Planner tool.

Asia Airpass must include a minimum of three flights and a maximum of 10, with a choice of over 235 destinations. Countries and territories that can be visited on an Asia Airpass used to be only the following 15:  Cambodia, China including Hong Kong SAR , Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. But now the following countries are also included:  Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The enhancement of the Asian Airpass forms part of a wider streamlining of the Star Alliance fare products. The revised portfolio offers the following seven fare products:

· Africa Airpass
· Asia Airpass
· China Airpass
· Europe Airpass
· North America Airpass
· Circle Pacific Fare
· Round the World Fare

“These fares allow customers to maximise their travel opportunities on Star Alliance member airlines and demonstrate the value of a strong collective regional network”, commented Findeisen.

Similar products are available from our member airlines’ which can be booked by Star Alliance customers looking for regional travel. For example. ANA offers a Japan Airpass, TAM Airlines offers a Brazil Airpass, Thai has a Thailand Airpass and United offers a Micronesia Airpass.

Airpass
A Star Alliance airpass allows customers to travel across a geographic region making use of flights offered by the various Star Alliance member airlines. The fares are calculated on a per coupon basis and offer better value for money than buying individual airline tickets. Airpasses can be purchased in conjunction with any international return ticket for travel into the area on a Star Alliance member airline.

Circle Fare
The Circle Pacific Fare is designed to facilitate travel between destinations across the Pacific Rim using various Star Alliance member carriers. Customers select the destinations offered to create a personalised circular itinerary. The fare is calculated by the total distance travelled and cabin class, whereby passengers have the choice of purchasing First, Business or Economy Class. Travel needs to begin and end in the same country.

Round the World Fare
In addition, Star Alliance will continue to offer its popular Round the World Fare, which enables customers to make use of the entire Star Alliance network to travel around the globe. Compared to single point-to-point tickets the fare is attractively priced, with levels set according to distance and class of travel.

Customers can choose between three mileage levels 29,000, 34,000 or 39,000 miles. The fare is available for travel in First, Business or Economy Class.

Tickets are valid for one year and permit anywhere between three and 15 stopovers. Additionally, a Round the World special fare is on offer, which is only available for travel in Economy Class, has a maximum mileage of 26,000, needs to be purchased seven days prior to departure and permits three to five stopovers.

Star Alliance Book & Fly
“Star Alliance Book & Fly” is an online booking tool available at http://www.staralliance.com/en/booking/book-and-fly which allows customers to plan their Round the World and Circle Pacific Fare journeys from the comfort of their own home, 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. Bookings can be made anywhere in the world and tickets are automatically issued electronically. The booking engine is currently available in English, German and Japanese.

More detailed information on fare products is available from http://www.staralliance.com/en/fares/

 

About Gregers Møller

Editor-in-Chief • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok, Thailand

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