You have to buy your tickets on line at www.cathay-usa.com/dotm, where more information is available, including special rates offered by partner hotels. (Such as $45 to $97 at one of five first-class Regal Hotels in Hong Kong, $92 per night (including buffet breakfast) at Singapore's Traders, a posh Shangri-La hotel. The price for two persons at Traders is $98 per night).
Travel must originate in the US and take place between May 1 and June 30, 2002. During that period, two of Singapore's biggest events take place, the Arts Festival and the Great Singapore Sale.
The Sale begins May 24. You'll find prices slashed 70% and more, Cathay Pacific claims, including for high-tech electronic goods. In June there is the Arts Festival, with performers from Asia and the rest of the world on view.
Singapore is one of the safest places on earth, its crime rate unbelievably low. You can enjoy the Botanical Gardens, the historic district (including Chinatown and Little India), Arab Street, the Open Zoo (especially the Night Safari, the first such in the world) and the Orchard Road shopping district. If you want to see how Singaporeans enjoy themselves, or just to give your kids a break from sightseeing, go to Sentosa Island, close by offshore, where there's a large assortment of amusement parks and other activities. My favorites: the Underwater World (a long, clear tunnel through which you glide on a conveyor belt while eyeing marine life above and alongside you) and the Butterfly Park (many local species in flight and at rest).
There's a maximum stay of 30 days on this promotion, and you don't get frequent flier credit at these special rates. From New York or Los Angeles, you fly Boeing 747s to Hong Kong, from San Francisco the equipment is Airbus 340-300.
For more information and to make reservations, go to their website, www.cathay-usa.com/dotm.
