Taiwan has become a popular destination for business and leisure travelers, and starting from January 15, travelers will be able to fly from Phoenix to the island country.
This spring, high-end Taiwanese airline Starlux Airlines revealed that it will conduct three uninterrupted flights between Phoenix Skyport International Airport (PHX) and Taiwan Dow International Airport (TPE).
These flights are now available for booking.
They will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, leaving Taiwan at 8:45 pm and landing in Phoenix at 5:40 pm, and have been local. Technically, the return flight will depart from Phoenix at 10:45 pm and land in Taipei at 4:55 AM two days later.
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Starlux has already flew directly from Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Ontario, California to Taipei. It will be the only direct route between Taipei and Phoenix. The new route also marks Phoenix’s first uninterrupted route to Asia.
Flights will run on the Airbus A350-900, which will travel eastward in 11 hours and 55 minutes and westward in 15 hours and 10 minutes. These aircraft have economical, advanced economical, business-grade and first-class cabins. In 2024, when TPG’s Clint Henderson flew from Los Angeles to Taipei in his business class at Starlux, he praised the airline’s food and service as much as possible.
One-way economy tickets range from $448 to $650, with premium economy prices rising to more than $1,000 each.
Until summer, this direct route won’t offer much commercial-grade or first-class availability. In July, the price of one-way seats is about $4,000.
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Meanwhile, top-notch one-way seats are over $10,000.
Fortunately, travelers will be able to skip the cash cost and instead use Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles to pay for seats on this new Starlux route. There is currently no good commercial redemption opportunity, but Starlux takes about 75,000 miles (plus taxes and fees) from the direct to Taipei route from other U.S. cities like Seattle, via Alaska Airlines. So once this Phoenix route rises and runs, there may be some stable price.
We recommend setting an alarm in the seat. Aero or similar redemption availability platform websites so you will be notified when better pop-ups are available.
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