Are you 'sick' of Southeast Asia? The cure is the Emirates Asia Pass (if only the reservation system worked...).

If you are 'sick' of Southeast Asia. (The 'Barbone' Matteo Rainisio certainly is, but the virus is infecting more and more Italian travelers.) Emirates has invented a cure that allows for real zingers between half a dozen countries, through agreements with a couple of carriers in the region.

It is called Emirates Asia Pass and gives access, for those arriving in the area on a flight from Dubai, to twenty destinations spread across Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

One to ten flights can be purchased, even passing through the same city twice, with a single reservation that can then be changed up to the time of departure by paying a penalty of 15 euros for each route changed Along the chosen route.

The ticket can be made in all classes made available by Emirates, from Economy to First via Business and (where available) Premium Economy.

In recent times, Emirates has expanded its network in that very region, where today one can fly nonstop from Dubai and in continuation also with interesting 5th freedom flights.

With the Emirates Asia Pass you also have access to flights operated by Batik Air between Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kuching, Johor Bahru, and Langkawi in Malaysia; Jakarta, Bali, and Kota Kinabalu in Indonesia; and Singapore. And with Bangkok Airways one can 'gypsy' between Bangkok, Chaing Mai, Phuket, Ko Samui, Krabi, Lampang, Luang Prabang and Sukhotai in Tahiland, between Pucket, Ko Samui and Chiang Mai as well as between Singapore and Ko Samui.

Batik Air is Malaysia's second largest airline by size, with its mix of Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 two-classes (Business and Economy).

Bangkok Airways, voted for years at the Skytrax Awards among the world's best regional companies, instead operates with a mix of Airbus A319s and ATR 72s and has a Business Class cabin on only four of its 11 A319s.

To arrange the Southeast Asia gypsy trip, one must go to the Emirates website Selecting the multi-city booking mode through the 'Advanced Search Page' and there build your own tailor-made itinerary by entering, one after another, destinations and travel dates. Once you have booked and purchased flights, you can still edit them in the 'Manage a booking' section.

TFC tested the system, building an itinerary through five destinations in the region, following an inbound flight from Italy via Dubai: Bangkok, Ko Samui, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi and back to the Malaysian capital before returning to Dubai/Italy. But the system always gave us 'error' at the end of the flight selection process.

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