Papua New Guinea

Flying to Port Moresby from Tokyo, Manilla, or Singapore is SO costly. Does anyone have a better/less costly idea? We are coming (Fall 2014) from Denver Colorado, visiting folks in Korea and Japan, and then would like to spend some time in PNG.
Thanks for any information/ideas/recollections, etc.

You could fly to Jayapura in Indonesian Papua via Jakarta and cross to PNG by land. You would need a PNG visa in advance, and the crossing would get you to the corner furthest from Port Moresby.

Moved to Papua New Guinea.

The way I get to PNG, living in Tokyo, is to take the JetStar flight to Carins and then hop on the Quantas Link to POM. This, I have concluded, is the cheapest and the most convenient way to get to PNG from Japan.

I second alexander_vi's idea. Going through Australia is the cheapest option.

Hey Laszlo, Hope you are well. I have been seaching for competitive fares to/from Vanimo and am having no luck.

note that you will probably need an aussie visa - there is a very limited allowance for transit without a visa under specific circumstances - check carefully

https://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/transit/no-visa.htm

also aus has very strict quarantine and will not allow anything with bark/seeds/bone/feathers into the country (even for a few hours) so buy souveniers etc in PNG with this in mind

http://daff.gov.au/biosecurity/travel/cant-take

Assuming the OP is American, you can transit without a visa since you are on the list of allowable countries. It also works flight wise as Qantas Link and JetStar are codeshare partners. You can check in your bags to the final destination. I've done this before.

Thanks guys...this has all been good information. We have decided we don't have enough time or money to include PNG in this trip. Now it's mid-Sept to S. Korea, Japan, then Cambodia and Vietnam, then home around the new year.

Okay. Have you thought about how to route this trip? I am familiar with all fares originating from Japan and some discounted fares are still not available on non Japan based search engines. For example in your case, Vietnam Airlines has direct flights to Ho Chi Minh, which are also cheapest fares to that city, that do not appear on sites like Expedia. But you can access those fares by contacting English speaking agencies like No 1 Travel.

So perhaps individual RT tickets for Denver-Tokyo, Tokyo-Seoul, Tokyo-Ho Chi Minh (or Hanoi or open jaw), then one way overland and one way flight from Cambodia, would be economical and make rational sense.

Thank you, Alexander. At this point we have bought one way tickets from Denver to Seoul. We are planning to overland and ferry to Fukuoka, heading east a bit, and flying out of Hiroshima to Siem Reap (the least expensive I have found for that flight is $351). Overland to Ho Chi Minh City, and from there, a flight back to Denver (again, the least expensive I have found is $670). This trip is from mid-Sept - late Dec. With your knowledge, are these good fares?

Your routing sounds fine. Didn't expect you to do so much surface travel. Your HCMC to Denver flight is really cheap. Enjoy your trip.

cheapest choice is flying there via cairns or brisbane

hi guys
just come back from a fantastic and unforgettable trip in papua new guinea
i have been there with my wife and thanks to our guide caspar dama we have lived like in a documentary
soon on our website we'll write the whole report with thousands pictures about all the tribes, ceremonies and wonders we have seen
i really think that this guide: caspar dama is a great embassador of papua new guinea culture and his prices are very fairs
let me know if you need any info about our trip

and thank you soooooo much for all the tips i have received here before our journey

mark

great guide