(Actually, I sorted that for you by cost, from lowest to highest.)<\/p>\n
Notice how there are three geographical bands evident:<\/p>\n
- \n
- East Asia<\/strong> (Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and, anomalously, Vietnam) with the lowest fares, averaging $627 return from Los Angeles.<\/li>\n
- Southeast Asia<\/strong> (Thailand, Phillipines, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia) average $781 from Los Angeles, with Phuket as an outlier.<\/li>\n
- South Asia<\/strong> (India and Bangladesh) average $1035, plus Balikpapan in Indonesia which is new to me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Within the bands, South Asia has the highest range from low to high; more than $300.\u00a0 East and Southeast Asia are $100 and less.<\/p>\n
But then I said to myself, “Self, what about the distance travelled to these places?”\u00a0 So here’s a chart for you, based on Great Circle data<\/a>, of the distance from LAX to each of those destinations, sorted from farthest to nearest:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/col>\n <\/col>\n\n \n LAX to<\/strong><\/td>\n Great Circle miles<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Bangalore, India (BLR)<\/td>\n 9,021<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Jakarta, Indonesia (CGK)<\/td>\n 8,985<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Chennai, India (MAA)<\/td>\n 8,980<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KUL)<\/td>\n 8,808<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Singapore, Singapore (SIN)<\/td>\n 8,770<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Hyderabad, India (HYD)<\/td>\n 8,740<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Mumbai, India (BOM)<\/td>\n 8,709<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Phuket, Thailand (HKT)<\/td>\n 8,674<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Denpasar Bali, Indonesia (DPS)<\/td>\n 8,633<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Ahmedabad, India (AMD)<\/td>\n 8,443<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Bangkok, Thailand (BKK)<\/td>\n 8,270<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Balikpapan, Indonesia (BPN)<\/td>\n 8,227<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Phnom Penh, Cambodia (PNH)<\/td>\n 8,211<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN)<\/td>\n 8,169<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Dhaka, Bangladesh (DAC)<\/td>\n 8,031<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Delhi, India (DEL)<\/td>\n 8,013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Cebu, Philippines (CEB)<\/td>\n 7,344<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Manila, Philippines (MNL)<\/td>\n 7,305<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Luzon Is, Philippines (CRK)<\/td>\n 7,296<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Hong Kong (HKG)<\/td>\n 7,260<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Guangzhou, China (CAN)<\/td>\n 7,231<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Taipei, Taiwan (TPE)<\/td>\n 6,799<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Beijing, China (PEK)<\/td>\n 6,251<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Tokyo, Japan (TYO)<\/td>\n 5,482<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Tokyo, Japan (NRT)<\/td>\n 5,451<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n |<\/p>\n
This isn’t exactly what I was expecting; the East Asian band is clear enough at the bottom, but somehow in terms of great circle distances, South and Southeast Asia aren’t so clearly distinguished.\u00a0 Bombay and Bangkok are both farther from Los Angeles than Delhi, which is closer than Dhaka.\u00a0 Now, you can argue that this is not exactly correct because there aren’t today flights from LAX that go beyond Hong Kong and Singapore; maybe Bangkok now?\u00a0 So that to get to Delhi or elsewhere in South Asia you’re going to need to transfer (typically in Singapore or Tokyo if you’re going west; it’s about equidistant going in the other direction via Dubai or London) and that’s going to add to the duration.\u00a0 And you, my pedantic reader, would be right.\u00a0 Bless you.\u00a0 Here’s a map of the routes, from The Great Circle Mapper:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/col>\n <\/col>\n\n \n $0.08<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Jakarta, Indonesia (CGK)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Bangkok, Thailand (BKK)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Guangzhou, China (CAN)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n $0.09<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KUL)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Singapore, Singapore (SIN)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Denpasar Bali, Indonesia (DPS)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Phnom Penh, Cambodia (PNH)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Hong Kong (HKG)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n $0.10<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Chennai, India (MAA)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Cebu, Philippines (CEB)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Manila, Philippines (MNL)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Taipei, Taiwan (TPE)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Beijing, China (PEK)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Tokyo, Japan (NRT)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n $0.11<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Hyderabad, India (HYD)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Mumbai, India (BOM)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Phuket, Thailand (HKT)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Luzon Is, Philippines (CRK)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n $0.12<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Delhi, India (DEL)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Tokyo, Japan (TYO)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n $0.13<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Bangalore, India (BLR)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Ahmedabad, India (AMD)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Balikpapan, Indonesia (BPN)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n $0.15<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n Dhaka, Bangladesh (DAC)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n These cost per mile bands reveal that although Narita is the cheapest in nominal terms from LAX, it’s actually only middling in cost per mile terms.\u00a0 Ho Chi Minh City is hands-down the cheapest per mile and Dhaka is off the chart on the other end, almost double Saigon.\u00a0 (Within the bands I’ve sorted by distance, longest to shortest.) India’s cost per mile varies widely, from ten to thirteen cents per mile.<\/p>\n
Travel arbs, start your jet engines!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’m a big fan of Kayak, an online travel service.\u00a0 It is for me the default go-to for researching airfares; Kayak has the best tools for searching through and evaluating airfares.\u00a0 The service lets you sort by airport, departure\/arrival time, … Continue reading
- Southeast Asia<\/strong> (Thailand, Phillipines, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia) average $781 from Los Angeles, with Phuket as an outlier.<\/li>\n
![\"great_circle_map\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/cqtwo\/files\/2009\/09\/great_circle_map.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n