Bay Area flight deals radar: Cebu $801, Papeete $614, and SJC–Hong Kong $706 (2026)

Two fares deserve a same-morning check: Korean Air's SFO–Cebu round trip at $801 and Cathay Pacific's SFO–Phú Quốc round trip at $856. Both alerts were published on August 23, 2026. The sample dates are September 9–16 and November 16–25, and both require purchase at least three days before departure. The Flight Deal says a posted fare can disappear after two days, so check both before doing anything else. 1 2

Two older alerts are worth testing when the dates fit: Delta/Air France/KLM's $614 Basic fare to Papeete and Delta's $706 Basic fare from San Jose to Hong Kong. The Papeete alert appeared on August 21, and the SJC–Hong Kong alert appeared on August 20. Treat both as verify first rather than live inventory. 3 4

Cash-fare board

The six selected fare alerts publish deal prices and booking rules, while route-level historical normal-price baselines remain unavailable. The comparisons below use observed Basic-versus-Regular prices and current Matrix or carrier repricing where the source provides it. Those figures are current comparison anchors, not historical averages.

Deal and freshness	Route and carrier	Price and sample dates	Window and booking conditions
Fresh, check today — posted Aug. 23, 2026	SFO–ICN–CEB on Korean Air	$801 round trip, fare class T. Sample: Sept. 9–16, 2026.	Monday–Thursday departures and returns through late November, or late January–early May 2027. Buy at least 3 days ahead. Stopovers are unavailable. The page lists 3,762 redeemable Delta miles, 15,048 flown miles, and $752 Medallion Qualifying Dollars; it leaves baggage, seat, change, and cancellation terms unspecified. 1
Fresh, check today — posted Aug. 23, 2026	SFO–HKG–PQC on Cathay Pacific	$856 round trip, fare class Q. Sample: Nov. 16–25, 2026.	Monday–Thursday departures and returns in early September, late November–early December, January–early March 2027, and April 2027. Buy at least 3 days ahead. Stopovers are unavailable. The page lists 3,740 redeemable Alaska miles, 15,950 flown miles, and zero American miles; it leaves baggage, seat, change, and cancellation terms unspecified. 2
Verify first — posted Aug. 22, 2026	SFO–CPH–WAW on Scandinavian Airlines	$685 Basic / $755 Regular. Matrix showed a current $712 Basic comparison. Sample: Oct. 7–14, 2026.	October–early December, mid-January–early March 2027, and April 2027. A Sunday stay is required; buy at least 7 days ahead. Basic fare class T; one checked bag on Regular. Basic bags cost $75 each way when bought at least 22 hours before check-in, or $105 at airport check-in. Changes are unavailable, and cancellation after the 24-hour risk-free period has no future-travel value. 5
Verify first — posted Aug. 21, 2026	SFO–LAX–PPT on Delta/Air France/KLM	$614 Basic / $824 Regular. Sample: Feb. 7–15, 2027.	Mid-September, late November–early December, and January–early March 2027. Buy at least 3 days ahead. Basic fare class E; Regular fare class V. Basic has no advance seat assignment, costs $60 each way for the first checked bag and $100 for the second, and has no changes, mileage earning, or cancellation value after the 24-hour risk-free period. Regular includes advance seat assignment, a normal carry-on, and one checked bag. 3
Verify first — posted Aug. 20, 2026	SJC–LAX–HKG on Delta	$706 Basic / $886 Regular. Sample: Nov. 5–12, 2026.	Through early December, or late January 2027–early May 2027, with Monday–Thursday departures and returns. Buy at least 14 days ahead. Basic includes one checked bag; advance seat assignment, changes, mileage earning, and cancellation value after the 24-hour risk-free period are unavailable. Regular includes one checked bag and a normal carry-on. 4
Verify first — posted Aug. 19, 2026	SFO–CPH–VIE on Scandinavian Airlines	$648 Basic / $718 Regular. Matrix showed a current $662 Basic comparison. Sample: Apr. 16–23, 2027.	Late April 2027, with a Sunday stay required. Buy at least 7 days ahead. Basic fare class T; Regular includes one checked bag each way. Basic bags cost $75 each way when bought at least 22 hours before check-in, or $105 at airport check-in. Changes are unavailable, and cancellation after the 24-hour risk-free period has no future-travel value. 6

Live domestic checks

These are current route-page snapshots rather than dated promotions. Frontier's official SFO–Las Vegas page showed one-way economy from $139 in August 2026, with $33 starting prices in September and October. The page says prices may require Discount Den membership and may be unavailable when you search. 7

Alaska's official SFO–Honolulu page showed $318 one way in August and $136 in September on Saver fares. Alaska says these fares can disappear before booking and can carry baggage and optional-product fees. 8

What the cheap fare leaves out

For a traveler checking one bag each way, the Scandinavian Regular fare is the better arithmetic on both European routes. Vienna's Basic fare plus two $75 bags reaches $798, compared with $718 for Regular. Warsaw's Basic fare plus the same two pre-check-in bags reaches $835, compared with $755 for Regular. Airport bag purchase raises the Basic total further. The $70 Basic-to-Regular gap is smaller than the cost of two checked bags. 5 6

Papeete requires a different calculation. One first checked bag each way takes the $614 Basic fare to $734, still $90 below Regular, but Basic also gives up advance seat assignment, changes, mileage earning, and cancellation value after the 24-hour risk-free period. SJC–Hong Kong is simpler: Basic already includes one checked bag, so the $180 upgrade to Regular mainly buys the standard economy package, including a normal carry-on, while the exact seat and flexibility value depends on the checkout display. 3 4

The fresh Cebu and Phú Quốc pages give the fare class, routing, stopover rule, and mileage details. Their retrieved fare pages leave baggage, seat, change, and cancellation terms unspecified. Read the full fare rules at the final booking screen before treating either $801 or $856 as an all-in trip cost. 1 2

Points radar

Frequent Miler's August 19, 2026 United analysis found a substantial Polaris advantage for United cardholders. United cardholders receive a 10% discount on United-operated Polaris awards, while cardholders with United status receive 15%. In the regional sample, cardholder or elite pricing surfaced at least one saver seat on 848 flights to Europe and 316 flights to Asia. The one-way saver examples were 72,000 miles to Europe with a card and 90,000 miles to Asia, before the larger card-plus-status discounts. The counts cover United's network and regional searches; they are not a list of confirmed SFO seats. Search an exact United-operated itinerary from SFO, then confirm the award price, taxes, fees, and operating carrier before moving points. 9

Current transfer bonuses that may matter for Bay Area award searches:

Transfer source	Destination program	Bonus	End date	What to verify
Bank points or Marriott Bonvoy	Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	10%	Aug. 28, 2026	Especially relevant to Hong Kong and Phú Quốc searches; exact SFO award space still requires a separate search. 10
Capital One Miles	Avianca LifeMiles	15%	Aug. 31, 2026	Check the exact operating carrier, award price, taxes, and fees before transfer. 10
Citi ThankYou Rewards	Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles	40%	Aug. 31, 2026	Check exact partner availability and the full cash component first. 10
Amex Membership Rewards	British Airways, Iberia, or Aer Lingus Avios	30%	Sept. 27, 2026	The bonus applies to the listed Avios programs; award space and taxes vary by itinerary. 10
Chase Ultimate Rewards	Air Canada Aeroplan	20%	Sept. 30, 2026	Search the exact itinerary before transferring. 10

The transfer-bonus table is a deadline board, not an award-space board. A bonus becomes useful only after the exact seat, mileage price, taxes, and fees are visible. 10

Book today

Start with the two August 23 alerts. Run the SFO–CEB search in Matrix using Korean Air routing codes KE KE and the page's maxconnect 630 rule. For SFO–PQC, use Cathay routing codes CX CX and the page's -overnight condition. Confirm the $801 or $856 fare on the booking path after Matrix finds a date. 1 2
Test the verify-first European and Pacific alerts. Use the exact Matrix dates and routing rules, then reprice on Delta for Papeete and SJC–Hong Kong or Scandinavian Airlines for Vienna and Warsaw. The source pages give the carrier booking paths and fare classes. 3 4 5 6
Price the fare family with your real luggage plan. Add the checked-bag, seat, and optional-product charges before comparing Basic with Regular. On SAS, one bag each way makes Regular cheaper than Basic plus two pre-check-in bags on both listed routes. On Papeete, Basic remains cheaper with one bag, but the flexibility and mileage tradeoff is larger. 3 5 6
For points, verify before transferring. Search the exact SFO award on United or the relevant partner program, confirm taxes and fees, and then apply the bonus or United cardholder pricing. A transfer deadline never reserves a seat. 9 10
Book while the fare is visible and save the fare rules. The two newest alerts are the first checks this morning; the older four are worthwhile only after a fresh repricing. This week's verified list is concentrated in SFO and SJC, with no independently verified OAK fare qualifying for the board.