Bay Area flight deals radar: Shanghai $714, Portland $117, Nassau $333, and a new 55.3K award (2026)

The two fares I would test first this Monday are Asiana's SFO-Shanghai ticket at $714 roundtrip and American's SFO-Nassau ticket at $333 Basic Economy. Both were posted August 16, but The Flight Deal warns that its fares can disappear after roughly two days. United's $117 SFO-Portland fare is older and should be treated as a verify-first lead, while Cathay's $843 SFO-Kota Kinabalu fare is the best Asia alternative if the Shanghai dates do not work. 1 2 3 4

The comparison that matters is not always the headline price. Portland costs $80 more in Regular Economy, but the $117 Basic fare can charge $50 each way for a normal carry-on. Nassau costs $70 more in Regular Economy, which buys the carry-on, a seat assignment, and a fare without the Basic ticket's no-change and no-cancellation restrictions. A separate September KrisFlyer promotion is worth checking only for an inbound Singapore-to-SFO trip, not as evidence of a cheap SFO departure. 2 3 5

At a glance

All cash prices below are roundtrip fares including taxes as published. The comparison column uses a fare-family gap when the source provides one. It does not pretend that a Basic-to-Regular gap is a historical normal-price baseline.

Status on Aug 17	Route and airline	Published price or award	Sample dates and travel window	Decision anchor
Check now, posted Aug 16	SFO-PVG, Asiana	$714, W class	Nov 12-19 sample; September, November, or late Jan-Apr 2027	No historical baseline published
Check now, posted Aug 16	SFO-NAS, American	$333 Basic / $403 Regular	Nov 10-17 sample; October-early December	+$70 for Regular and its included benefits
Check now, posted Aug 15	SFO-BKI, Cathay Pacific	$843, Q class	Oct 14-21 sample; Monday-Thursday travel through late October	No historical baseline published
Verify first, posted Aug 14	SFO-PDX, United	$117 Basic / $197 Regular	Oct 1-5 sample; through December or January-February 2027	+$80 for Regular; Basic carry-on can add $100 roundtrip
Book by Aug 31, limited award seats	SIN-SFO, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	55,300 miles, premium economy Saver, one way	September 1-30, 2026	30% off the standard award price; inbound to SFO

The cash fares

Asiana to Shanghai: $714 roundtrip

This is the cleanest international cash lead if Shanghai is on your list. The source lists a November 12-19 sample, but the broader window is September, November, or late January through April 2027. The fare is class W and routes through Seoul: SFO-ICN-PVG-ICN-SFO. No stopover is permitted, and the ticket must be purchased at least three days before departure. The source does not publish baggage, change, or cancellation terms, so check the final fare conditions before paying. 1

The post is one day old on this Monday scan, but its own freshness warning is unusually important here: availability is limited and the fare is likely gone once the post is more than two days old. Search the listed SFO-PVG routing in ITA Matrix, then use the post's Priceline booking path for the actual purchase. Matrix can find the fare; it cannot issue the ticket.

The source gives no historical normal-price comparison, so $714 is a live fare signal, not a verified percentage saving. It is also not a nonstop: the Seoul connection is part of the published routing.

American to Nassau: $333 Basic or $403 Regular

Nassau is the simplest warm-weather check. The source's sample is November 10-17, with travel valid from October through early December and a 14-day advance-purchase requirement. The published routing is SFO-CLT-NAS-CLT-SFO, and the source says stopovers are not permitted. 2

The $333 Basic fare is not a like-for-like substitute for the $403 Regular fare. American's Basic ticket has no advance seat assignment, no changes, no cancellations, boards last, and earns no miles. Regular includes a normal-size carry-on, a personal item, and advance seat assignment. If you need a cabin bag or any control over the seat, start with $403 as the usable comparison. The $70 gap is smaller than the cost and inconvenience of treating Basic as a fully featured ticket.

The source says pricing varies slightly with the routing and does not provide a historical normal-price baseline. Search the exact dates in Matrix, then reprice and buy on American.

Cathay to Kota Kinabalu: $843 roundtrip

This is the more unusual Asia option. The sample dates are October 14-21, with travel valid through late October for Monday-Thursday departures and returns. The published routing is SFO-HKG-BKI-HKG-SFO, class Q, and two stopovers are permitted at $100 each. The ticket must be purchased at least seven days before departure. 4

The source does not state baggage, change, or cancellation rules. It does say the fare earns 3,464 redeemable Alaska miles and zero miles with American. That makes the Alaska earning detail relevant for travelers deciding whether the ticket's price also fits their mileage strategy, but it is not an award sweet spot. Search on Cathay's published routing through Matrix, then follow the source's Priceline path to buy.

Because this post is two days old, treat the $843 as check-now rather than locked inventory. The source provides no historical normal-price comparison.

United to Portland: $117 Basic or $197 Regular

Portland is the domestic value check, but it has already crossed The Flight Deal's two-day freshness line. The sample is October 1-5, with travel valid through December or January-February 2027 and a 14-day advance-purchase requirement. The route is SFO-PDX-SFO, and the source lists class N Basic Economy and class G Regular Economy. 3

The $117 Basic ticket does not allow advance seat assignment. A normal-size carry-on that does not fit under the seat costs $50 each way, plus applicable gate-check fees, unless the traveler has United elite status or a United co-branded card. Basic also does not earn miles unless one of those exemptions applies. The $197 Regular fare includes a normal-size carry-on, one personal item, and advance seat assignment.

For a traveler with a carry-on, the nominal $80 Regular upgrade is cheaper than adding the $100 roundtrip carry-on fee to Basic, before accounting for the seat. Search it today only if the dates fit, and treat any surviving $117 result as a repricing rather than assuming the August 14 post is still live.

The points angle: KrisFlyer to SFO

The new points lead is Singapore Airlines' September 2026 KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes promotion. Singapore-to-San Francisco premium economy is listed at 55,300 KrisFlyer miles for a one-way Saver award, a 30% discount from the standard award price. The promotion covers travel from September 1 through September 30, 2026, and tickets must be issued by August 31. 5

The direction matters. This is SIN-SFO, so it can help someone positioning into the Bay Area or building an open-jaw itinerary, but it is not a 55,300-mile SFO-to-Singapore deal. Seats are limited and first-come, first-served. The promotion cannot be changed or cancelled after booking; no stopovers or waitlists are allowed. Book through Singapore Airlines' website or app, and confirm the award price, seat count, and taxes before transferring points. The published analysis does not give a fixed cash co-pay for the SFO award. The official promotion page carries the program's route-specific terms. 5 6

The current transfer-bonus tracker lists bonuses to Flying Blue, Cathay Asia Miles, LifeMiles, Turkish Miles&Smiles, and Avios, but not a KrisFlyer-specific bonus. A transfer bonus does not create award space. Search the Singapore award first, verify the final cash component, and transfer only the required amount after the seat is visible. 7

What this scan did not prove

The cash sources do not publish historical normal-price baselines for Shanghai, Nassau, Kota Kinabalu, or Portland. The Basic-versus-Regular gaps are current product comparisons, not savings percentages. I have left out a percentage claim rather than turn an unverified fare into a false normal-price comparison.

All route-level cash fares that survived this week's verification are from SFO. This pass did not produce an independently bookable OAK or SJC fare, a verified Bay Area cash flash sale with a promo code, or a confirmed error fare. That does not mean OAK or SJC inventory is empty; it means there is no route-specific evidence here strong enough to call a deal. 1 3

Book today

Search SFO-Shanghai and SFO-Nassau first. Both were posted August 16, and both may disappear before the next weekly scan.
For Nassau, price the $403 Regular fare if you need a carry-on, seat assignment, or any flexibility. For Portland, price $197 Regular before accepting the $117 Basic fare's carry-on and seat tradeoffs.
Run SFO-Kota Kinabalu if the late-October Monday-Thursday window works. Check baggage and change rules because the source does not publish them.
Treat SFO-Portland as verify first. Use the $117 result only if United still shows it; the August 14 source is beyond its own two-day freshness warning.
For points, search SIN-SFO at 55,300 KrisFlyer miles by August 31. Confirm the award direction, dates, seat count, and taxes before transferring anything.
Repeat the live search from OAK and SJC if those airports materially improve your ground travel. This week's board does not provide an independently verified comparison for them.