South East Asia in Winter

AnInkling

I'm looking to spend around 3 weeks travelling in South East Asia (Malaysia/Singapore/Thailand) this winter, probably in January or February.

I've looked on the screensapers and seen some reasonable fares with e.g. Qatar Airways and Air India/Kingfisher, but no real bargains.

Is it best to book flights as soon as possible (before this month is out), or is there a reasonable likelihood of sales on the better airlines if I wait a little longer?

richardw

Be careful with Qatar Airways, they will sell you a ticket with a very short connection time at Doha increasing the risk of missing the next flight.

dickydonkin

You could possibly fly Air AsiaX from Stanstead to Kuala Lumpur and use Air Asia as your 'internal' airline. They used to be really really cheap, but like most of the LOCO carriers nowadays, by the time you pay all of your 'add ons' the very cheap flight becomes just reasonable however, by booking early, you should still get some good prices - but I suspect planning will be a key aspect of your trip so I would suggest you start very soon.

Air AsiaX is obviously not Qatar Airways and although Qatar frequently get rave reviews on Skytrax, I have used them once and found them to be somewhat overrated and Doha airport at the time was an absolute hell hole - a truly awful experience and the ground crew and operations were a shambles.

Once in KL, you will have access to the many destinations Air Asia fly to within South East Asia although I appreciate that LOCO carriers are not everyone's cup of tea and sometimes legacy carriers can be better value in terms of reliability and comfort.

Incapuppy

Malaysia Airlines current sale covers 16 Jan - 31 Mar, flights to KUL from £449

markandkate

We went to Malaysia and Cambodi in January last year. it is the most expensive time and so you will need to book your flights early. it is unlikley that you will get any offers for that time of year.

As others have already staed Air Asia is a low cost airline based in Kuala Lumpur so that makes KL a good base to explore from. We flew with Gulf Air ( free Business Class upgrade, still don't know why!!) and booked almost as soon as we could. The earliest is 330 days before your return.

Its worth using a site like Kayak and also putting in your local airport if not one of the London ones as you can often get good value connecting flights via major airlines hubs, eg Air France via Paris or KLM via Amsterdam.

Have a look at the Air Asia website and work out where you want to go. Be warned that the East coast of Malaysia and Borneo get very wet in January there were serious floods when we were there, but the west coast such as Penang and Langkawi were fine and dry.

Bob_the_Saver

Get to KL and use Air Asia. https://www.airasia.com

Applepips

I'm going to agree the consensus and say go to Kuala Lumpur, from there you can get almost anywhere in SE Asia and Southern China, that is what I did. AirAsia are cheap as chips.

Also January - Feburary is a great time to visit SE Asia the weather in Thailand will be beautiful, KL is always a bit cloudy and sweaty and hot though. I'd recommend Vietnam also, I had my best travel experiences there.

Dave_Z

There really are no good deals around this year to SE Asia. Last year me and my Missus went to KL on Emirates in business class for £1100 each (on their A380 which was excellent) and my Brother and I went to Singapore on Singapore Airlines for a little over £300. I might be an airline employee, but these were both offers available to anyone on their websites, so way better than stupid cheap standby tickets i normally use.

And Air Asia are great unless you book last minute or have tons of luggage. Even then they're usually better priced than the traditional carriers.

dickydonkin

Dave_Z wrote: »

There really are no good deals around this year to SE Asia. Last year me and my Missus went to KL on Emirates in business class for £1100 each (on their A380 which was excellent) and my Brother and I went to Singapore on Singapore Airlines for a little over £300. I might be an airline employee, but these were both offers available to anyone on their websites, so way better than stupid cheap standby tickets i normally use.

Two great deals there without a doubt!