Flights to Beijing During the Summer

Do you dream of going to China?

I was delighted to receive information from TravelGator regarding flights that would match up with a visit to Beijing for the summer Olympics.

Now granted, not all of these options are guaranteed to be available, but perhaps it will inspire some of you who want to go to the Games, but haven't booked anything, to take a second look at the possibilities.

TravelGator took the date range of August 4 to 26 (the Summer Olympics in Beijing open on 8/08/08) and used the TravelGator flight search tool to find roundtrip airfares in coach class.

Here are some of the details that TravelGator provided (all fares are for one person return in coach):

• Boston to Beijing - Expect to pay around $1700 with the best deals coming from using more than one airline on Orbitz. Partner TravelGrove also came up with options on Continental starting at $1570.00.
• New York to Beijing - Airfares start around $1570 on Air China.
• Chicago to Beijing - Starting on American Airlines and then connecting to a range of Asian airlines will ring up a price tag starting at $1870. TravelGator also saw some Orbitz fares from $1790 for those willing to search a bit.
• Seattle to Beijing - TravelGrove and Sidestep both found the best fares out of Seattle starting at $1516.
• Washington, DC to Beijing - about $1700 is the price point for this routing.
• Atlanta to Beijing - Starting on Delta Airlines and then switching to one of their Asian partners resulted in airfares around $1800.00.
• Los Angeles to Beijing - No big discounts for starting out closer to Beijing. $1575 on Korean Air and airfares went up from there.
• San Francisco to Beijing - a range of airfares between the $1400 and $1500 mark still come up.

It isn't cheap, but it is possible to get to Beijing for the Olympics. As the time draws closer, these airfares are likely to keep soaring towards and above the $2000 mark.

Other travel tips and info about Beijing and the Olympics:

• Beijing - 2008 Olympic Games City Beijing - Geography
• 2008 Olympics in Beijing - China Travel
• All About Swimming In The Olympic Games
• Going to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing
• Olympic City Guides - it's not just Beijing
• What to See with Three Days in Beijing, Capital of China
• Traveling to China with Children