malaysian airlines to oz

bovril

anyone every flown with these guys to oz? any comments?

ta

voodoo

No, but flew with them from Heathrow to Malaysia on honeymoon. Very nice, comfy and friendly.

mollser

yep, very good

they do code shares with virgin, so chances are if you book a virgin flight you'll be on their planes as well

all the gadgets, about 4/5 movie channels (brand new movies), nintendo, the whole lot, great service, comfy seats (well - as comfy as an airplane gets anyway)

One major advantage i find with these guys is that you're return flight leg is flexible, and can be changed any number of times (on a direct return flight). Sometimes people chose to stay in Oz for slightly longer than intended....

KL airport is quite something as well - brand new, very spaceage

Good luck, enjoy your trip!

Frank Grimes

I flew with them from Heathrow to KL last year.
Very nice, lots of space, decents movies etc.
Well worth flying with them.

Same here , flew with them to Oz, biggest duty free I've ever seen in K/L

thumbs up

mm

Silvera

Any of you guys had experience of other airlines to Oz ?

Somebody said that if you arrive late for your flight, you may get 'bumped up' to business class for free (or a little extra cash) ?
i.e. better seats, more legroom, etc.

How long is the stopover in KL ?

I'm headin' to Oz in January - any other travel advice or other pointers ?


Cheers,
Silvera.

mollser

Originally posted by Silvera

Somebody said that if you arrive late for your flight, you may get 'bumped up' to business class for free (or a little extra cash) ?
i.e. better seats, more legroom, etc.

This has happened, and is more likely if you're travelling as a couple and play the old 'honeymoon' card. Far more likely however is that you will get stuck right in the middle of a row of 5 seats, or an equally bad seat. Arrive early, get the aisle or window seat booked - max comfort possible is vital on these flights.

Other airlines I've experience of:
Lauda Air (Austrian Airlines) - consistently the best value flights to Oz, every bit as good as any other airline (brand new planes), just can be difficult getting the Dublin to Vienna flight

Quantas/BA - mixed reports, these guys are in the middle of updating their fleet. On the brand new planes apparantly there's noone better, on the older planes they're (from what i've heard) one of the worst currently doing the route. Hit and miss I'm afraid.

Any other advice?? Stay there!

How long are you going for Silvera? Full year?

Originally posted by Silvera


How long is the stopover in KL ?

I'm headin' to Oz in January - any other travel advice or other pointers ?

It was about 3 hrs in Kl when I went.
If you want max legroom and haven't booked the flight yet, try for a seat at the emergency exit, these are wide with no one in front so max legroom.
This will be handy about four or five hours into the first 12 hour flight.
you will need to be tallish or you won't be allowed that seat.

When you are booking, talk to a travelagent and ask them for a flight with that seat still available if you are flexible enough within reason, it goes pretty quickly.

Regarding Quantas / BA they codeshare, and as far as I'm aware they have now updated their OZ - Heathrow planes, the biz/club class have now got the fully flat beds.
I don't care who's paying for it, but next time I go down under, I'll have one of those seats thanks link

Of course the likes of singapore Airlines had raffles class to Oz for ages with those flat beds so the other airlines would have been losing business.
Virgin have had the flat beds to the US for a couple of years now as have BA, but I digress...

mm

Silvera

Thanks for the advice guys !

mollser,
I have a one-year visa for Oz and a one-year visa for NZ.

Man,
I've heard of Lauda Air. Have they offices here or did you book through travel agent ? Nice plane seats ?

When booking a flight to Oz, do you basically get whatever airline the travel agent works with, or can you specify a particular airline ?
(or book direct with an airline?)


I'm average height, so don't know if I would qualify for exit seat

I was planning on asking for an aisle seat, but an exit seat would be better.

I have no fixed date to leave. Basically after Christmas sometime, mid-January perhaps.
Would I need to book well in advance (would that be cheaper too) ?

johnnyboy4711

Nz buy a mile!
I am not a kiwi!!!
j

mollser

Silvera,

Lauda Air are operated by Austrian Airlines, not sure if they've an office in Dublin. When booking the flight (to Oz especially), I found trailfinders on Dawson St exceptional help. You can book almost any airline through them (I'm sure they do Lauda also), they seemed to be aware of all the best deals accross the airlines, and are great at arranging diversions on the way over (quick one week stop over breaks etc). They won't sell you the crap airlines (unless you say you want the cheapest deal possible, and appear to have no affiliation or preference to any airline. I've just booked my flight back home through them (Sydney office), and again she came up trumps - much cheaper than anything on the internet. (*I'm in no way affiliated with them - just a happy customer!)

I have heard of a place on Pearse St which are meant to be excellent for long haul flights as well - pays to shop around.

Lauda sell a lot of their flights on the net, so try ebookers. (tip, in Oz, travel.com.au are supurb for flights etc)

Tip: There's a massive price war going on RE flights between oz and NZ, before being cajouled into buying one at home, check out pacificblue.com, freedomair.com, airnewzealand.com and quantas.com.au. Freedomair gave away free flights this week, and the fair should be coming down to about AU$200 (eur 120) return, they may try and sell this at a fairly inflated price at travel agents at home
(addresses may not be correct, try a google on them)

imho, unless you get the emergency row, the aisle seat is the next best thing

anything else, just ask!

Originally posted by Silvera


Man,
I've heard of Lauda Air. Have they offices here or did you book through travel agent ? Nice plane seats ?

Travel agents in most cases, especially the bigger ones as mentioned above will have deals with airlines to sell seats.
nine times out of ten they will be a lot cheaper than the airlines website.
Bear in mind that january being the height of the Oz summer is an expensive time to fly there

Heres a sample search I did from www.dialaflight.com :

Other flights from LONDON to SYDNEY :
Leaving on Monday, January 12, 2004, and returning on Tuesday, September 14, 2004.

KOREAN AIRLINES from HEATHROW £700 (+ £63 tax)
AUSTRIAN AIRLINES from HEATHROW £690 (+ £79 tax)
SRI LANKAN AIRLINES from HEATHROW £715 (+ £63 tax)
LUFTHANSA from HEATHROW £762 (+ £75 tax)
EMIRATES from GATWICK £808 (+ £61 tax)
EVA AIRWAYS from HEATHROW £810 (+ £63 tax)
THAI AIRWAYS from HEATHROW £830 (+ £63 tax)
SINGAPORE AIRLINES from HEATHROW £840 (+ £63 tax)
MALAYSIA AIRLINES from HEATHROW £840 (+ £63 tax)
____________________________

E-bookers turned up the emirates flight for over £800 stg as it's cheapest economy option for the same dates.

And if you feel like robbing a bank lauda air had the cheapest business class seat with dial a flight at £2005 stg.

mm

vibe666

I found my mum a business class flight with malasian in feb for €1700, which was very good value. all the others were looking for 3k+.

she was happy, and got the star treatment all the way. and a nice stopover in KL too.

highly recommended anyway.

Silvera

Rang trailfinders today - €648 (+40 tax) one-way to Sydney mid January 04 with Cathay Pacific.

Any experiences with Cathay, guys ?

Seems January is booking up fast - lot of other people heading down under

Originally posted by Silvera


Any experiences with Cathay, guys ?

I've always heard that they were good!
Heres a review from last year.

mm

Billy Turdhed

Flew with Malasian to Oz last year x Manchester
Excellent ..on time all the way there and back....


A litle hint ....if you are looking to get "Bumped up" and you arrive late looking like you were pulled thru a hedge backwards ...forget it ..if the y need to free up seats they will look for some suits .......not some dude in shorts t-shirt 3 day stubble which is how I like to travel!.....trust me on this one


WOT :cool:

CodeMonkey

Originally posted by Billy Turdhed

A litle hint ....if you are looking to get "Bumped up" and you arrive late looking like you were pulled thru a hedge backwards ...forget it ..if the y need to free up seats they will look for some suits .......not some dude in shorts t-shirt 3 day stubble which is how I like to travel!.....trust me on this one

That's rubbish (yes, I am stalking you now cause you annoy me and I don't have a life). I was flying from Bangkok to Hong Kong 4 months ago on my own on Cathay Pacific and I was bumped up to business class and I was unshaven, wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Maybe they target single travellers, maybe it depends on the check-in persons mood, maybe each airline has different policies, who knows.

Billy Turdhed

Bejasus! Im shivering in me bootees.

Of course I annoy you because I know what I am talking about...The geezer who bumped you up must have had drink taken or was desperate.

Keep taking the pills horse


Bill

Smurfette

Your spot on Billy !
Having worked in Heathrow a while back at check-in I can assure nearly every airline I know has policies on who to upgrade and those to avoid . Everyone else on that Cathay Pacific flight must have looked even worse than you if you were there only option !

Big Chief

Originally posted by Silvera
Any of you guys had experience of other airlines to Oz ?

i got a return flight for 600 sterling with royal brunei and they are the best airline ive ever flew with to date, constantly at your service, movies were good and as for legroom, on the way over i had 2 seats to myself and on the way back i had 3 seats to myself. Apparently it is mostly always like this according to a few people i spoke to so all the better.

I would definately recommend them anyway, especially at that price when comparing them to qantas etc...

Big Chief

and not that its of massive importance but...

when you are refueling at Abu Dhabi airport you are allowed off for about 30 minutes in which time you can go to the duty free and 200 cigarettes cost about €9!

if only i had of known this on the way over, least i got to know on the way back and picked up 600

brunei seemed like a lovely country aswell, and the duty free was ok i suppose. Think i paid about 30 brunei dollars for 200 cigys, which is about roughly 15 sterling i think? not sure exactly but i know its roughly around there.

Alcohol was also dirt cheap in abu dhabi if i remember correctly, but i wouldnt know as all my efforts went into getting cheap cigys