Flights to Malasia

tonybee_2

I am going to Tioman Island for two weeks in early August, for the diving, lucky me :-) and would really be pleased if anybody could advise me whether its best to fly into Kuala Lumpur or Singapore?. We intend spending a further week on the Mainland. Some where yet to be decided!
Non stop flight with Singapore Air is about £700 from LHR about 13 hours compared with Gulf or Emirates which have one stop and a duration of 20 hours for about £450

Any advice would be greatly received

Donnie

Forget about Gulf. Emirates is much better. Best option is to fly with Malaysia Airlines to Singapore, which gives you the option of both cities.

Oslo_Bear

Planning some 10 months in advance...not bad...

The price you quoted for Singapore Airlines is reasonable. I thought this website was pretty decent- http://www.leestravel.com (click on Flights & fares) maybe saving you 40 quid. Another website to whet up your appetite but i think this maybe a little more expensive - http://www.eupo-air.co.uk/eng/home_eng.htm

You did not mention where and how you're getting to Tioman, so I'll just fire away some suggestions (depends on which city you want to visit):-

1) Fly Malaysian Airlines, transit in Kuala Lumpur ("KL") for a few days and fly to Singapore.
2) Fly Singapore Airlines, straight to Singapore
3) Fly Thai Airways, transit in Bangkok and fly to Singapore
4) Fly Cathay Pacific, transit in Hong Kong and fly to Singapore

Check with airline/ticket operator whether you're allowed to exit the airport during transit (probably may have to pay a little bit more). For options 2 to 4, once you reach Singapore, you can visit KL via bus (6 hours ride) or shuttle flights (45mins).

Each city has its own merits and deserves a visit but in my humble opinion, maybe 3-4 days should be sufficient (I can't express my view on Hong Kong though as I've never been there before).

Sometimes these airlines do give pretty good deals (eg. fly cathay pac, free 1 night stay in Hong Kong), so it may be worthwhile to keep a lookout for it...

Lastly, i dont think it is but double check that your visit to Tioman is not during the monsoon season.

Lucky you... :beer:

Donnie

If cost is not a problem, you can connect via http://www.berjaya-air.com/flightschedule.htm
Flying non stop with the national airline is generally the most expensive way of flying.
As suggested before, an indirect flight with Malaysia, Thai or Cathay will give an interesting stopover.
Hong Kong? Ok for a two day stopover.
There are a number of low cost airlines in the region, if you fancy taking a look at other places in the region.

Singapore based;
http://www.tigerairways.com/
http://www.jetstarasia.com/
http://www.valuair.com.sg/

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
http://www.airasia.com/
http://berjaya-air.com/

Bangkok, Thailand;
http://www.airasia.com/
http://www.nokair.com/
http://www.bangkokair.com/
http://www.fly12go.com/

You'll find that you can put together a good and inexpensive itinerary, as most of the airlines fly internationally.