If you’re looking for a cheap fare from New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco to someplace in Southeast Asia — Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta — now is the time with trips available from $417 all-in.

Fares are available September through December. You’ll find United fares for travel on United and ANA.

While there are cheap fares (~ $600) to and from the same cities, the cheapest fares are open jaw trips like New York – Bangkok, return from Kuala Lumpur. Similarly fly into Jakarta and back from Singapore.

Here’s a calendar of availability for that trip in October:

Not everything is going to be this cheap, there’s much better availability once you hit the $550 price point — where you may find Star Alliance member Air China’s flights for still an amazing fare and without requiring an open jaw. Here’s $115 each way plus taxes and a $200 fuel surcharge for Los Angeles – Jakarta roundtrip:

For mileage-earning purposes I’m going to be a bigger fan of the cheapest United fares, because L and K fares earn 100% flown mileage when credited to Singapore Airlines Krisflyer.

It’s a great opportunity to see Singapore, one of my favorite cities.

And you can’t beat the food in Bangkok, either.

Since this is going to mean travel in coach — United allows mileage upgrades from any fare but then adds cost-prohibitive co-pays even if the space is available — this won’t be for everyone. But it will be valuable to some readers I’m sure.

(HT: SecretFlying)