Travel Forum / Destinations / Asia / April 2005

"I am looking for spesific examples of inexpensive flights or advice on
how to get inexpensive flights. Will I get the best fares through a
travel agency or directly from a carrier?"

Almost always from a travel agency.  It's usually only worth booking
directly from a carrier when they have a special deal.

"What comapnies have inexpensive tickets?"

In London: trailfinders.co.uk
In Paris: nouvelles-frontieres.fr
And there's an international chain called statravel.com that has very
good prices.

"I assume I have to change flights. Is it more inexpensive to book
separate tickets or from one carrier?"

You should always book the flights together rather than separately.  If
you go from Amsterdam to City-X to Tashkent, buying it as one
round-trip ticket with a stop in City-X will be cheaper 99% of the time
than buying a round trip from Amsterdam to City-X and a separate
round-trip from City-X to Tashkent.  Even if a carrier doesn't fly to
Tashkent, they may have an arrangement with another carrier to allow
their passengers to take that second airline specifically to Tashkent
for not much more than a regular round-trip to the hub of the first
airline.

"If I look for separate flights. Is it other cities than Moscow and
Kyev that is a good idea to check for inexpensive tickets?"

If nothing else works out, get a cheap ticket to Istanbul, where you
can get cheap flights to many destinations in the former Soviet Union.