Getting to Myanmar
In order to get to Bagan (where the tour begins), you’ll need to fly into one of the two international airports in Myanmar. You could fly into Yangon (in the south) or Mandalay (in the North).
If the prices are similar, and you don’t plan on doing any other travels inside of Myanmar, I highly recommend flying into Mandalay for 2 reasons:
- You can take a short 30-minute flight to Bagan, or you have the option of booking a private Taxi for between $70 – $100.
- The cruise ends in Mandalay so it will make your departure super easy.
If you choose to fly into Yangon, your best option will be to fly to Bagan to start the cruise. Otherwise, you can choose the adventurous option and take the overnight bus from Yangon to Bagan which would take about 10 hours and cost between $20 – $30.
If you book a round trip flight from your home airport to Yangon, you’ll need to fly back to Yangon from Mandalay (where the cruise ends), or there’s also the overnight bus option again for the budget-conscious adventurers in the group.
Besides price, the biggest reason you would want to book a flight into Yangon as opposed to Mandalay would be to spend a day or two exploring the city. We only spent one day exploring the city, and the Shwedagon Pagoda was definitely the highlight. It was one of the most beautiful religious sites we have ever visited. You can check out our video at the link below if you’re interested.
If you end up booking a flight from either Mandalay or Yangon to Bagan (where the cruise begins) you’ll be flying on one of Myanmar’s domestic airlines. Kara and I have never flown any of these airlines, but after doing some research on airlineratings.com, it seems like your best choice would be booking a flight with either Myanmar Airways International or Mann Yadanarpon Airlines because these were ranked significantly higher than the others.
Below is a list of the domestic airlines who fly to Bagan. I have included the airlineratings.com rating of each airline (rated out of 7).
- Air KBZ – 3.5
- Golden Myanmar Airlines – 3.5
- Myanmar Airways International – 6.5
- Mann Yadanarpon Airlines – 6.5
- Myanmar National Airlines – 3.5
When searching for these domestic flights, I recommend checking prices on Skyscanner and Momondo. I usually use these sites to find the best option, and then I will book the ticket directly with the airline.
Arriving in Bagan
We will have a hotel booked for the group on November 12th. So, if you are arriving on the 12th, you will need to get yourself to the hotel. We are still searching for the perfect hotel, and we will let you know as soon as we find it.
If you are arriving in Bagan via the airport, it will be a 10-20 minute drive to the hotel. Taxis in Myanmar are cheap, so it shouldn’t cost you more than $10 or $15 for a private taxi.
Disembarkation in Mandalay
It’s never any fun to talk about the last day of the trip, but it must be done. The cruise will end in the city of Mandalay at the Gawein Jetty on November 19th. Breakfast will be served, and then we must disembark the ship by 9 a.m. Once we disembark the ship, the city center is only a 15-minute taxi ride away. However, it will take close to an hour to drive to the airport. Ourselves and the crew will be on-hand during the disembarkation to help you arrange transportation to your hotel or the airport.
Buying Insurance for the Trip
After hosting our first tour last year, we learned you can never predict what will go wrong. For this reason, we want to make sure everyone is covered, and we’re requiring that everyone buy travel insurance for this year’s trip.
Kara and I have a long term international health insurance that covers us when we’re abroad, and we usually use credit cards to pay for trips that provide additional protection. So, we don’t have personal experience buying travel insurance, but we’ve spent enough time in the travel space that we’ve heard several names rise to the top again and again.
The most popular travel insurance that we know of is World Nomads. We’ve heard nothing but good things about this company, so I would recommend starting with a quote from them.
The other company I have heard several people using is Allianz Travel Insurance.
It’s probably worth comparing quotes between these two companies and then choosing the one that fits you best when taking into consideration costs and benefits.
I’m sure there are many other travel insurance providers on the market, these are just the two I’ve heard of several times that I feel comfortable recommending.
You Must Arrange Your Visa BEFORE Arriving in Myanmar
I’ll repeat that one more time because it’s so important! You must arrange your visa before you arrive in Myanmar. If you show up in Myanmar without a visa, you will not be let into the country. The easiest way to obtain a visa is by applying for an e-visa through the official website.
They say it takes at least 3 days to receive a response after submitting your application, but I wouldn’t save it until the last minute. Give yourself plenty of time to get your visa approved, otherwise you won’t be able to join the trip.
You must travel within 90 days of receiving your visa approval, so you also shouldn’t apply too early. A month or two before the trip would be ideal.
TripSavvy wrote a detailed guide that I recommend reading before applying for your visa.
Since most of our travelers are American, below is a link to the US government website with information regarding your visa.
Last but not least, below is the link of the official e-visa website where you can apply.
Saving Money When Booking Your Flights
As many of you know, Kara and I saved up almost 2 million miles and points before we started traveling, which to date have saved us well over $30,000. We earned the majority of these miles and points by signing up for travel credit cards. If you’ve never explored the world of saving money through travel credit cards, this trip could be a great opportunity to get started.
I am currently in the process of updating my travel hacking course, and I will be giving everyone on the trip free access to the course once the update is complete. Until then, I wanted to recommend several credit cards you may want to sign-up for in order to save money on your flights.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred (or the Chase Sapphire Reserve)
These are the number one cards I recommend to people with good credit (above 700) who are just getting into travel hacking. I wrote an entire blog post about why I believe every traveler should have one of these two cards in their wallet. You can read the blog post at the link below if you’re interested.
Why Every Traveler Needs a Travel Credit Card & Which One You Should Get!
Chase Bank will only allow you to sign-up for one of these cards., so you need to choose between the two. I’ll quickly give you the facts so you can decide which is best for you.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card comes with a 60,000 point sign-up bonus and $95 annual fee. These points could be transferred to an airline partner such as United Airlines, or you can book a flight through the Chase Travel Portal (this is super easy), and your points are worth 1.25 cents each. So, the 60,000 point sign-up bonus would be worth $750 in free travel. Below is a screenshot of booking through the Chase Travel Portal.
The good thing about using the Chase Travel portal to book your flight with points is that if you don’t have enough points to pay for the entire flight, they allow you to pay for the rest with cash. This makes using your points super easy, which isn’t always the case without travel credit cards.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve Card comes with a 50,000 point sign-up bonus and a $450 annual fee. Due to the high annual fee, this card won’t be for everyone, but the additional benefits you receive from the Reserve card more than make up for the high annual fee in our opinion. First, you receive a $300 travel credit every year. Basically, the first $300 you spend on travel every year will be reimbursed to your account. This effectively brings the annual fee down to $150.
The biggest benefit Kara and I enjoy with the Reserve card is the free Priority Pass Membership which gives us unlimited access to the 1,000+ Priority Pass Airline Lounges around the world. By signing up for this card, you’re basically buying an unlimited Priority Pass Membership for $150. So if you travel enough to get value from lounge access, you may want to consider signing up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve over the Preferred version of the card.
One other major difference between the cards is that the points you earn with Chase Sapphire Reserve can be redeemed through the Chase Travel Portal for 1.5 cents each. So even though the sign-up bonus is 50,000 (compared to 60,000 with the Preferred), if you’re redeeming your points through the Chase Travel Portal, your 50,000 bonus points will be worth $750 in free travel.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Card
The other card that earns super flexible points that are easy to use is the Capital One Venture Rewards Card. This is another card that I recommend often to travelers who value the flexibility and ease of use with the points they earn from their credit card.
By signing up for the Capital One Venture card, you’ll earn a 50,000 point sign-up bonus worth $500 in free travel. The nice thing about using your venture miles is that you don’t have to make purchases through a special travel portal. Instead, you book your flights directly with the airline or with the Online Travel Agency of your choice. Then, you can log in to your account and use your points as a purchase eraser for any purchase that codes as travel.
Obviously, signing up for one of these cards is not a requirement to come on the trip, but Kara and I have saved a ton of money using these strategies, so I wanted to take the time share them with you because we’re grateful you’ve chosen to travel with us.
Join the Facebook Group!
Kara is creating a Facebook group for everyone signed-up for the trip! We did this last year for the Vespa Tour, and everyone seemed to really enjoy getting to know each other before the trip! Then, when everyone showed up, it was like traveling with a big group of friends! So, we’d love have you introduce yourself in the Facebook group using the link below. We’re keeping this group private just for the people who are on the trip, so to join you’ll need to enter the secret password which is, of course, “COFFEE.” We have to review each request to join the group individually, so we’ll try to get each of you approved ASAP.
Click Here to Join the Facebook Group!
Need Support?
If you have questions or need help, please send them directly to me so that they don’t go unnoticed. You can email me directly at nate@karaandnate.com.
We can’t wait to travel with you!
Cheers,
Nate (and Kara)