Flying to Singapore in Sept - looking for cheap flight or code for airline....

meester

Sam_Bee wrote: »

Quoted verbatim from airline, so it will be happening soon unless they have had 2nd thoughts:
Fares to all destinations, will increase by £30 in each direction per passenger. For example:
Deadline June 16th:
LHR LHR
+ £30 KUL +£30
KUL LGK
+ £30 KUL +£30
LHR LHR
Total increase in both scenarios = £60 per passenger
The following increase will apply (per passenger) to all other destinations:
UK to China + Total surcharge of £5 each way
UK to Korea + Total surcharge of £8 each way
UK to Australia/New Zealand + Total surcharge of £15 each way
UK to South East Asia + Total surcharge of £24 each way
UK to Hong Kong + Total surcharge of £4 each way
UK to India/Pakistan/Bangladesh + Total surcharge of £30 each way
UK to MLE + Total surcharge of £18 each way

Hmm, it really doesn't look good. Australian story:


Some airline passengers could soon be paying as much in fuel surcharges as the pay for their base airfare, research by Flight Centre Ltd suggests.
Flight Centre said Japan Airlines would soon become the first carrier to charge travellers a $1000 fuel surcharge on its popular Sydney to London route when its latest surcharge increases were applied from July 1.
Thai Airways and Malaysian Airlines will increase their fuel surcharge next week, taking the levy nearer to $1000 for their London routes.
Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner said the overseas airlines were defying the Australian trend, led by Qantas Airways Ltd and Virgin Blue Ltd, of increasing base airfares to reflect fuel price rises.
“At a time when most experts are predicting further fuel price rises, surely the time has come for fuel to once again be included in the base airfare,” Mr Turner said.
The fuel surcharge will increase on a return Sydney-UK flight rise from $773 to $1076 on Japan Airlines, from $526 to $892 on Thai Airways and from $588.60 to $829.60 on Malaysian Airlines.

According to Forbes, the surcharge on MAS is going on Friday

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/06/23/afx5142133.html

Also an agent told me it was going to be an extra £70 return from Friday

Singapore Airlines have just increased their return surcharge on LHR-SIN from £169.70 to £184.70, effective yesterday.
http://www.etravelblackboard.com/showarticle.asp?id=78947&nav=72

More flights will be cut, more surcharges will come.

meester

The surcharge is now £235.80 on MAS. Ouch. £58.60 is the increase over yesterday's prices. Strangely, the surcharge is 'only' £234 to MES, £301.60 total taxes. £981.60 is the best fare in July, £340 each way, plus £301.60 taxes.

meester

seems that SQ and MH are now both sold out for the whole of July..... Should have booked sooner.

pompeii

Both Etihad and Qatar Airways have sales on at the moment i think you will need to book with Qatar by 11th July not sure what the terms are with Etihad. I know they fly to Bangkok and Hong Kong not sure if they go to Singapore. I was looking for Flights to Dubai in September and Qatar had lots of seats for sale then at £257 from Manchester to Dubai and arround £420 to Bangkok.

meester

pompeii wrote: »

Both Etihad and Qatar Airways have sales on at the moment i think you will need to book with Qatar by 11th July not sure what the terms are with Etihad. I know they fly to Bangkok and Hong Kong not sure if they go to Singapore. I was looking for Flights to Dubai in September and Qatar had lots of seats for sale then at £257 from Manchester to Dubai and arround £420 to Bangkok.

Qatar is for off-season, September 1st onwards. They want £1100++ for July. Etihad just seem booked out....

Sam_Bee

Meester, not sure of your dates, but Sri Lankan have good availability to Singapore in July (presume you're still trying to get to Medan?).

I think only connects out on Tuesdays, back on Fridays & Sundays (not 100% on that) but good availability, and when I flew them, they were (and remain) my outstanding economy class carrier, although I gather not all their planes are as sparkly as the ones I flew.

i.e. 22 Jul - 03 Aug = £750 inc tax.

pompeii

amateur_saver wrote: »

Has anyone got any ideas/thoughts for 2 Adults for Singapore.

I'll be travelling with my mum so ideally direct flight would be better, but if not then perhaps a stop without hours of waiting around.

Mum said 7 years ago she paid £380 for return flight with BA - price is now around £580 upwards, some with HUGE waits at Dubai.

Anyone have any ideas for a good price without huge waiting times and with a good quality airline?

Thanks in advance

A_S xx


[Though they were looking for flights in September when did it change to July? pompeii]

meester

Sam_Bee wrote: »

Meester, not sure of your dates, but Sri Lankan have good availability to Singapore in July (presume you're still trying to get to Medan?).

I think only connects out on Tuesdays, back on Fridays & Sundays (not 100% on that) but good availability, and when I flew them, they were (and remain) my outstanding economy class carrier, although I gather not all their planes are as sparkly as the ones I flew.

i.e. 22 Jul - 03 Aug = £750 inc tax.

Yean Sri Lankan were good when I took them, seven years ago.

I remember it well. I was 19, flying out to BKK for the first time, I arrived with my parents at the airport, exactly two hours before take-off. 'Sorry, the flight is full.' 'But I am here on time, what's the problem, can you put me in business class' 'No, sorry' 'Please' 'Ok'.

I was quite pleased, though it took me a while to realise that I'd actually been put in Economy, next to a Sri Lankan woman with baby in the bassinet seat.

I was impressed with the IFE (seat-back TVs, with a lot of channels and Nintendo games, though I think the controllers were bust), and I still remember one of the songs on the radio, it was 'Can't Keep It In', by Cat Stevens which I found quite redolent of my mood of excitement at the time of flying off on my own.

I wasn't quite so impressed with the unpleasant stopovers in Colombo airport though (from what I can see these persist, with flights to SEA leaving around 01:30 and flights from London arriving at noon, I think there's an 18-hour wait in each direction)

I flew LHR-BKK, SIN-LHR

We were actually hoping to fly more like the 15th July. I'm contemplating flying Eva Air to BKK, not sure if £1100 for their Premium Economy is worth it.