Well as you all know I have finally reached my destination, which is Hong Kong! I am have been planning this trip for well over seven months. Anyways I’d like to share briefly my experience I encountered in the different airports that I traveled in to reach my destination. Well I left out of Raleigh North Carolina (RDU Airport) and I ended up getting there three hours before my plane left… Let’s just say that it was a very boring wait. I actually wish I had waited a little longer, because I could of spent the extra time with my family before leaving. But I have only been on an airplane twice in my life (this being the second time) and I did not know what to expect. Last year I also went to Hong Kong, but I traveled over to HK with a group. This time I was traveling over to Hong Kong by myself and then meeting a group of friends over there.

So overall it was extremely easy to find my different gates and checkpoints. I was a little nervous once I arrived in the Canadian airport. I did not stop at the International Toronto Airport last year, so I was not quite sure as of where to go at some times. But thankfully the majority of the Canadians that I met were very pleasant and very helpful. I did notice a pretty diverse culture in the airport and throughout my hotel. Oh just a word of advance, do not travel to Canada on Canada Day unless you want to be shedding out some extra dough… I did not do a lot because everything was a little expensive, I guess because of the tourists.

The funny thing is that Hong Kong is celebrating their return to China after being colonized by the Brits for 100 years on the 3rd I believe. So I will be able to experience Canada Day and Hong Kong return to China. I only hate that I will be missing the 4th of July. I really enjoy watching the fireworks and celebrating my nation’s heritage.

Anyways thats all for now, I’m a little tired and there is not much to report on for the time being. Especially since I just arrived here in Hong Kong and I need to get some necessities.  Plus I need to grab a bite to eat! Until later guys, zaijian!

I’m going to give a brief description of my trip and the extreme difference I saved on booking my flight. Like the title of the blog says I am traveling to Hong Kong. The duration of the trip is going to be the entire month of July. I have been planning and praying over this trip for several months. Last year for my plan ticket to Hong Kong I paid a little over $1700. I believe our group bought the tickets about a month and a half from our set date.

This year I bought my tickets maybe about two weeks ago now and I ended up paying a total of $1000. That is quite a difference in price. I almost paid for my ticket at half the price. Now keep in mind we are under a “recession” but I found the same principles to hold true before we came under this unfortunate economic downturn.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Orbitz is not the only online travel provider. There are plenty of other sources such as http://hotwire.com http://travelocity.com http://studentuniverse.com and I’m sure there are plenty of other ones. While I was searching for my ticket I searched a span of months that might be cheaper to travel in. After trying May, June and July, July turned out to be the cheapest month to travel to Hong Kong over the summer. I’m not sure if this is a yearly thing or just pertains to this year. Anyways over a period of two weeks I check daily the pricing of airplane tickets. You would not even believe me if I told you about how drastically they change each day.

So my suggestion is pay close attention to flight tickets and do a lot of research on the pricing. This is the first step in optimizing your trip budget so your piggy bank won’t be aching after you return from the trip.