In the past I wrote about using Taiwan as a travel hub. I have actually scheduled a short trip out of Taiwan for a few days in the summer and that has provided a good opportunity for us to take a look at the real cost of exploring different parts of Asia from Taiwan.
A couple things to remember are that I live in the Taipei area, so I have pretty reasonable access to Taipei Taoyuan International Airport, and there are 3 people included in this trip, so the prices shown are not just for me.
Now, onto the trip.
Taiwan to Singapore
The destination chosen is Singapore. There are much cheaper places to visit, so whatever I paid for this flight and hotel, you are sure to find cheaper options to places like Hong Kong and the Philippines. You should be able to find even cheaper options for Singapore, and if I was traveling solo there are a few corners I could have cut to cheapen this short little vacation.
I have previously discussed how more and more discount airlines are popping up around Taiwan. One of these airlines is called Scoot, and that is the carrier for this trip. Here is a crop of the actual invoice.
As you can see, for 3 people this round trip flight, taxes included, totaled $NT27,159. That’s around $300 USD per person, give a take a few dollars for currency fluctuations. For round trip fare in the middle of the summer, that’s not too bad. If you are flying to some of the locations mentioned earlier, you can find even cheaper prices.
My small group will stay in Singapore for 4 nights. We chose a nicer hotel than I would have if I was traveling solo, but since I am not I have to be aware of my fellow travelers’ preferences. Here you can see that our 4 night stay in a 4-star hotel is going to run us $NT16,544.
As hotel prices can get complicated depending on how many rooms you need and how many people use the rooms, I think it’s only fair to also check current prices for other rooms using the same travel dates for our benchmark.
I have been personally using Agoda.com for booking hotels over the last few years. On Agoda I found a 3-star hotel in the Chinatown area running $70.54 USD per night.
Budget travelers tend to use hostels, so here is an example of what you can expect if going that route. One bed in a mixed dorm is running less than $16 USD per night.
Looking at the totals from my trip, the total cost of the flight plus the hotel comes to roughly $NT44,000, or around $1470 USD for 3 people. Using cheaper accommodation than we are it’s entirely possible to get your flight and hotel/hostel expense to under $400 USD for a 4-night stay in one of the more expensive places in Asia.
That is less than a new salaried teacher’s earnings for a week of work. Of course you have to factor in your spending money, but that varies so much from person to person, you’ll have to use your best judgement when estimating that.
If you plan to teach English in Taiwan with the hope of traveling a little while in Asia, you can see that it’s definitely possible. It takes a little time and effort to find the best value trips and arrange time off from your job, but it’s worth the experience. Just remember that your job is what grants you your visa to stay in Taiwan and pays you the money that you will be using for traveling, so plan ahead and keep your relationship with your employer friendly.
And in closing, please let us know if you find any amazing travel deals in Taiwan. We’re always looking for new places to visit!