Chiang Mai To Stanstead (Report)

[lifemagic]

Hi,

I'm typing this from sunny Northampton in UK, and last week was in Chiang Mai. I prebooked a kl to stanstead with air asia for 130 sterling one way, and thought I'd let you know how that worked out.

Firstly, I went down via train. I prebought tickets at chiang mai station as far as Hat Yai. I got the info from seat61 about train 7 Langkawi Express, Hay Yai to KL but at Chiang Mai they didn't know anything about it and said get train 953, same routue, buy it in Bangkok.

I went down on sprinter train number two, very, very nice. I'd already bought bangkok to hat yai, but went to the booking office, they didn't know anything about train 7 but said I could get that or 953 in Hat Yai.

I went down to Hat Yai, stayed in Dusit hotel which had a good bathroom to do my clothes in (rooms vary so check more than one, and check the window's OK). At Hatyai station, they didn't know anything about train 7, but said 953 OK. I went online and according to the Malaysian train website, you can buy it online, from Hat Yai to KL... but I didn't feel good buying a ticket for a train from a station where the staff were telling me it didn't exist.

So I got 953. This was a handwritten ticket, just 518 baht. It turned out to be fine. I met a student who often uses it and he told me it's never full.

There was a long wait at the border, when you come through customs it was nearly an hour until the train came back, so find somewhere to sit.

I checked in 48 hours before online. You need to print both the ticket itself and the boarding pass, each on its own page. I paid extra for a hotseat.

In KL, there was a fast train and bus combination to Lcc airport, about 12Ringett, took less than an hour. Departure tax was included.

There was a last minute change of plane so I didn't get my specified seat but an awful one by the toilet. The leg room was good. I paid four American dollars for a veg meal which was fine. I'd prebought water at the airport after going through security for 1.50 per half litre.

MAIN TIPS/ THINGS I WISH I'D KNOWN THEN THAT I KNOW NOW

1 - I think, if you're pre-booking an airasia flight for the cheap flight, just buy the ticket, not the extras. If you want extras, buy them when you're checking in online 48 hours before.

2 - extra seats are two types, either 'hot seat', which means you can pick any standard seat you want for window or aisle etc. Or, there's premium seat, which is one at the front with extra legroom (but you might get the emergency door). If you want a hotseat, I would recommend an aisle seat near the back but not directly by the toilets. That will be an extra five UK pounds. If you go for premium, go for aisle at the side on the plane, the ones in the middle are a shortcut between aisles and people will step over your feel all night.

3 - At chiang mai rail station, buy as far as hat yai, then get 953 the rest of the way, don't worry about the handwritten ticket, it's fine.

4 - Check in 48 hours before and buy any extras then.

5 - Save a few ringet cash to buy water after clearing security

6 - Don't prebuy a ticket out of Stanstead to the city as it will have a specified time on and if you're late you'll have to buy it again. When you get to the airport, there are ten quid buses to Victoria. I got in about midnight and had to use night buses to Earls court, so preplan than.

7 - I had a single prebooked in the easy hotel in earls court, 25 quid with 10 months prebooking, and fine.

OK. I may or may not reply again on this post as i'm really busy, planning my trip out of NOrthampton back to LOS!

ps airasia refunded the hotseat money and I am very, very pleased with what I paid.

Sorry for typing mistakes, I'm a bit rushed.

[thaimiller]

Cheers for the report and all the information, its good to know incase people ever need a cheap flight, but it seems hel_l of alot of messing about, I think I'll stick with Qatar or Thai though.

Edited June 15, 2010 by thaimiller

[Paagai]

That amount of pain and hassle makes the price of a first class ticket with BA from BKK to Heathrow actually seem worth it

[cerbera]

Ive used air aisa Kl to stansted multiple times. I gort a flight for 179GBP when they first started that route. Id be extremely surprised if you paid 130 GBP. I also had an experience of spending a night in a tune Kennel. A 11.30hour delay which turned into a 13 hour delay which Im sure they knew about at the time. Boring stuff. Tony fernandes is making dough.the passengers are sometime shappy. But jet, etihad, qatar are actually cheaper. Emirates the best option as long as you havent walked through the rasta bar area in your travelling footwear. Otherwise you may be looking at 5 years imprisonment instead of duty free fun.

ps why didnt you get a flight from cnx to kllct instead of the train nightmare.

pps Im busy too

Edited June 15, 2010 by cerbera

[anonymouse]

Ive used air aisa Kl to stansted multiple times. I gort a flight for 179GBP when they first started that route. Id be extremely surprised if you paid 130 GBP. I also had an experience of spending a night in a tune Kennel. A 11.30hour delay which turned into a 13 hour delay which Im sure they knew about at the time. Boring stuff. Tony fernandes is making dough.the passengers are sometime shappy. But jet, etihad, qatar are actually cheaper. Emirates the best option as long as you havent walked through the rasta bar area in your travelling footwear. Otherwise you may be looking at 5 years imprisonment instead of duty free fun.

ps why didnt you get a flight from cnx to kllct instead of the train nightmare.

pps Im busy too

I flew from KL to Stanstead in March for just under 100GBP so I'm not suprised at the OP saying he paid 130GPB

It really depends on luck and how far you book in advance, flying back on Saturday and the difference between flying Air Asia and Thai booking in advance a couple of months was less than a hundred quid, so it's Thai this trip .

[OOB]

OP - why did you not fly from CNX to KL on Air Asia ?

Edited June 15, 2010 by OOB

[Mickeem]

OP - why did you not fly from CNX to KL on Air Asia ?

Maybe he likes to sit on a train and look out the window..

I undertook the same journey CNX to KL Air Asia then Air Asia X to Stanstead, had grabbed a ticket for £100 as soon as they opened the booking for the new service. I would use the service again if they had kept to the cheap no frills concept, problem is the 'cheap' bit it just isn't any more. So high prices coupled with their late Stanstead arrival its Qatar or the Gulf carriers now.

[wehugheog]

I did the Stanssted to KL trip on premium/business class seat with AirAsia.

Booked like a week in advance for uhmmmm I think it was 530 EUR one-way.

The good:

-one way ticket

-good seats

-pretty cheap for business class seat

-got 8 hours of sleep (could actually lie on my side to sleep)

-Stansted is a hub for european low cost carriers.

-The stewardesses are pretty hot

-not a connecting flight to CNX same day, have to stay over in KL (which I liked, since got some sleep and was refreshed when got to CNX). Also you can plan a few days in KL and do some shopping before going to CNX.

The bad:

-The airport tax flying from Stansted is high, so ticket a lot pricier then flying KL-Stansted

-A bit cold in the plan, bring blanket/sweater

-Food was "ok" same as in the "back" of the plane

-13 hours flying is long, I normally fly max 10 hours then stop-over

-get a portable movieplayer/gamethingy ASAP! They run out FAST. CHECK it when you get it if it works (mine didn't).

-not a connecting flight to CNX same day, have to stay over in KL (which I liked, since got some sleep and was refreshed when got to CNX)

That's about it.

[Lizard2010]

Thanks for all the posts it is interesting to hear how people have experiences with Air Asia.

I will be using them later this year

[Blinky Bill]

Take the train a bit further south and jump on a Singapore Airlines flight from Changi to Heathrow. You can have a very comfortable one-way flight in an A380 Suite for just GBP6,201.82 including taxes.

Edited June 16, 2010 by Blinky Bill

[whiterussian]

^ Bargain! Only one days interest at 4%!!!
(and $80,000,000 in the client account). bloody banking parasites.

I assume its 6000 GBP for as many as you can cram into bed? Edited June 16, 2010 by whiterussian

[uptheos]

I've used Air Asia twice to the UK, mainly because Stanstead is just down the motorway from Cambridge, so it's convenient for my family. It was OK, both times, managed to get the 'hot' seats with good leg room (unfortunately near the toilets), as I booked months in advance. Had a mini break in KL both times as I actually like the place, so it wasn't any hardship.

Looked into Turkish and Air Berlin who both fly into Stanstead, but Air Asia beat them out of sight price wise

In my next life I'll try Blinky Bill's Singapore Airlines flatbed class, with stretch limo to Cambridge.

[kjhbigv]

Interesting...I thought about it back in Jan, flying in March and the price was an unbelievable (but genuine) GBP92.00 one-way.

Since then the prices with Air Asia don't seem that great anymore and combine that with the overnight in KL, the cost of Air Asia from CNX to KLL and the hassle, just not worth it. Good info though!

I'll just stick to the A380 from Singapore in my own suite!

[eek]

Some off-topic comments (and flames) removed.

Keep it civil please.

Great topic. Thanks OP.

[ilgitano]

I'm looking at this exact trip - CNX-KL and KL-STN both air asia.

CNX-KL. 890 THB (promo) - add 700 THB taxes

KL-STN (UK) 11000 THB - add 250 THB taxes

KL-STN: I'm annoyed cos I just missed out a special to STN for 635 RM (about 6350 THB) - like it expired the day after I saw it.

Currently works out to about 12700 THB - about 250 GBP

Reasonable price?

But I have a question: I can book these both the same day, but CNX-KL lands at 12:45, and KL-STN takes off 15:10.

I know airasia is Point-to-point only - gotta do the entire international checkout to checkin loop from scratch, including baggage. I have seen warnings saying AT LEAST 3 hours, more better.

Overnighting in KL would add maybe 500 THB for a room and 2 x 130 THB to/from the LCCT in KL. Done all this before, but haven't tried connecting the dots like this.

If I try for same day, I have 2 hr 25 mins. Checkin must be before 45 mins before liftoff - so I have to go round in 1 hr 40 mins, doable if the CNX leg is not delayed.

Is it worth the risk to do it same day? How often are flights air asia FROM CNX delayed? Or would it be better overnighting in KL, for an extra 1000 THB or so?

[ilgitano]

I'm looking at this exact trip - CNX-KL and KL-STN both air asia.

CNX-KL. 890 THB (promo) - add 700 THB taxes

KL-STN (UK) 11000 THB - add 250 THB taxes

KL-STN: I'm annoyed cos I just missed out a special to STN for 635 RM (about 6350 THB) - like it expired the day after I saw it.

Currently works out to about 12700 THB - about 250 GBP

Reasonable price?

But I have a question: I can book these both the same day, but CNX-KL lands at 12:45, and KL-STN takes off 15:10.

I know airasia is Point-to-point only - gotta do the entire international checkout to checkin loop from scratch, including baggage. I have seen warnings saying AT LEAST 3 hours, more better.

Overnighting in KL would add maybe 500 THB for a room and 2 x 130 THB to/from the LCCT in KL. Done all this before, but haven't tried connecting the dots like this.

If I try for same day, I have 2 hr 25 mins. Checkin must be before 45 mins before liftoff - so I have to go round in 1 hr 40 mins, doable if the CNX leg is not delayed.

Is it worth the risk to do it same day? How often are flights air asia FROM CNX delayed? Or would it be better overnighting in KL, for an extra 1000 THB or so?

An additional complication I just noticed: checkin closes 1 hr before flight now, not 45 mins, giving me 1 hr 5 to complete the loop.

And worse my passport will have 4 months remaining at the time of flight, so there may be some hassle with overnighting or even disembarking at KL - and they want to sight an onward ticket for transit I think. how will they 'sight' and eticket? print out the itinerary enough?

Life is getting interesting.

[KhunDave]

I'd say you will most likely make it. The CNX flight is very rarely delayed as it is the aircraft's first working of the day. Whether you want the stress of the chance of something going wrong on such a long trip is another matter though. Personally I'd have a night in the Tune.

[Blinky Bill]

..............................Life is getting interesting.

It must have been pretty dull previously if you call this interesting.

[THAILIBAN]

That amount of pain and hassle makes the price of a first class ticket with BA from BKK to Heathrow actually seem worth it

not if he would have taken the non-stop flight from CNX to KUL on AirAsia, which probably would have been not more expensive than this gruesome and hasslesome 48-hrs train ride.

it's really stunning me why the OP did not fly nonstop to KUL, he would not even have to change the terminal to hop on his Stansted-bound flight

[THAILIBAN]

Take the train a bit further south and jump on a Singapore Airlines flight from Changi to Heathrow. You can have a very comfortable one-way flight in an A380 Suite for just GBP6,201.82 including taxes.

you buy one ticket for a luxury-1st-class suite, and the OP buys 25 one-way-tickets on AirAsiaX between Asia and the UK for the same amount.....

different people, different approach

Edited July 26, 2010 by THAILIBAN

[thomo]

it's really stunning me why the OP did not fly nonstop to KUL,

Really?

I'd much rather a 2 day train ride, sitting at the window, reading a book while the subtropical world of Thailand and Malaysia drift by, than 2 hours of fake air in some enclosed plastic tube.

[ilgitano]

..............................Life is getting interesting.

It must have been pretty dull previously if you call this interesting.

Well ... life is generally 'interesting' in a nice way - no need to remark on that. That is 'interesting' in a not-so-nice way - which required some comment I thought.

[JuniorExPat]

<snip>

And worse my passport will have 4 months remaining at the time of flight, so there may be some hassle with overnighting or even disembarking at KL

<snip

For what it's worth: A friend was not allowed to check in at Heathrow for a flight to Thailand due to his passport having less than 6 months to run apparently this is the law and cannot be argued against. I guess that if you're heading "home" the same rules may not apply, all the same it might be worth checking with your airline/consulate/embassy.

JxP

[uptheos]

I'd say you will most likely make it. The CNX flight is very rarely delayed as it is the aircraft's first working of the day. Whether you want the stress of the chance of something going wrong on such a long trip is another matter though. Personally I'd have a night in the Tune.

I've done this flight twice, not because of cost but I like to keep a low profile unlike Blinky Bill and it's handy for Cambridge UK.

One flight to KL was delayed for whatever reason and one was on time.

Personally, I wouldn't stress out over making the connection and I don't mind a night in the Tune box.

At immigration I just had my printed ticket and said I'm catching a flight tomorrow - just stamped me in...but who knows how attentive they really are to passports and how much longer is left on them.