Traveling

From your home country to your destination and back again

AE encourages students to arrive at the study abroad destination well in advance before the start of the study program. It will make it easier to settle in and find long-term accommodation. It will also help you get the most out of your orientation and the first days of classes, because you will have had time to recover from jetlag. Some AE students travel to Asia weeks before the start of the study program to satisfy their backpacking craving while others choose to travel around after the study program has ended, and don’t know when they will be returning to their home countries. In such cases, it’s worth asking your travel agency what their policies and fees are for changing a return date on an airline ticket, or buying a ticket with an open return date. Shop around to find the best deals.

To ensure finding the cheapest airline tickets available, book your flights well in advance before the start of the study program, preferably right after receiving your initial acceptance letter from AE. You might want to consider buying flight cancellation insurance (in case of illness or better flight offers), because regular travel insurance most often does not cover the costs of airline tickets which you cancel on your own. Sometimes flying to your destination with a stopover can be cheaper than choosing a non-stop flight. However, please remember that changing planes and waiting at airports increase your travel time and you should have a few days to rest once you arrive at your destination.  You can also consider stopping for a few days at your stopover destination (e.g. on Bangkok – Phuket, Bangkok – Bali or Hong Kong – Guangzhou routes).

Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok

Booking your flights

Please keep in mind that even if you’re not quite sure what your return date will be, you will be required to present a return ticket when traveling to Asia. You will need to know your travel dates when applying for a visa, because you are required to attach a photocopy of your plane tickets to your visa application. Ask about possible student discount prices from your local travel agency. Students living in the Nordic countries and Holland can ask about affordable travel options e.g. from Kilroy Travels.

Traveling in Asia Traveling in Asia is very affordable. It only takes a little while to get acquainted with public transportation. Taking a taxi on short journeys only costs a couple of euros. However, AE recommends using public transportation whenever possible. It’s not only ecological but also the most economical form of transportation. Using the subway is one of the most convenient forms of transportation in the cities where it is available. Bangkok has a very small-scale subway network and it is mostly substituted by the Skytrain (Bangkok Mass Transit System, BTS) which will take you on longer journeys above the city in a jiffy.

Skytrain station in Bangkok

Scooters and motorbikes are very popular among the locals in Asian metropolises. However, we recommend you use them at your own discretion, because the risk of accidents is much greater than when traveling by car. In Phuket the monthly rent for a scooter is about 40 €.

Going on foot in the cities and their surroundings can be very rewarding. It gives you a chance to see the course of life from the viewpoint of the average city dweller and you can pop into numerous little boutiques, markets and restaurants.

Bangkok is called the center of Asian air traffic and it’s very convenient to travel to nearby destinations with budget airlines, the most popular of which is Air Asia. You can travel to other destinations in Thailand (e.g. Phuket, Krabi and Chiang Mai) or to destinations in neighboring countries (e.g. Hong Kong, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bali etc.).