Same day visa run fight - Chiang Mai to Kuala Lumpur

[chadimus]

Since land crossing border runs are out (at least nearest to Chiang Mai), I need to fly out and return to get another visa exemption + extension, then I'm out for many months.

I don't have many options for same day flights except to Kuala Lumpur.

There are two flights available, one with a 1h 20m turnaround and another with a 3hr turnaround. I really would prefer the shorter turnaround as both of those flights are non-stop, but just doesn't seem like enough time to go through immigration/customs and get back on the return flight within 80 mins (no checked bags of course).

So I'm wondering *could* I make the 80 min turnaround work or not enough time?

Secondly, then would 3 hours provide enough time?

Otherwise I'm looking at an overnight stay, not the worst thing in the world but will avoid if I can.

Anyone done this or something similar?

Thanks!

[KhunBENQ]

Do you absolutely insist on non stop flights from CNX to KUL?

There are 24 non stop flights from one of the two Bangkok airports to KUL and more than 50 (!) non stop flights from CNX to one of the Bangkok airports. Possible permutations uncountable.

AND: I simply can not find the one day turnaround flights from CNX that you describe?

Can you explain what flights you mean?

What I see:

CNX - KUL

9:10 -> 13:00

15:10 -> 19:05

KUL - CNX

6:55 -> 8:40

12:45 -> 14:35

All flights AirAsia ("Zulu" time for our US friends).

How can you do a one day border run with these flights?

Edited December 30, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[chadimus]

I don't absolutely insist same day, but it seems do-able and same day would be less disruptive to the projects I have going on next week.

I'm using a site called Kayak, so they're combining flights from different airlines.

Option1 (1h 20m turnaround)

09:10 CNX 13:00 KUL 2h 50m

14:20 KUL 16:00 CNX 2h 40m

Option 2 (3h 10m turnaround)

09:10 CNX 13:00 KUL 2h 50m

16:10 KUL 20:55 CNX 5h 45m

Looks like Option 2 would be more feasible in terms having some buffer time and no stress. Just thought it worth asking about both and if the second option is for some reason not feasible, I'd really like to know that before I book tomorrow.

[Singerman]

Try using a dedicated flight search engine such as Skyscanner.

http://www.skyscanner.co.th/?locale=en-GB

[chadimus]

Kayak.com is a very well respected and dedicated flight search engine.

My question is still:

How much time should I allot myself to get through KL customs and immigration so I get back on my return flight to Chiang Mai?

Options are..

1hr 20m

OR
3hr 10m
OR

stay overnight which I'm trying to avoid via the first two options.

[cnx355]

If I had the choice, I would choose the 3 hours turn around.

Your can even enjoy a meal at the airport and if the CNX-KUL flight is a bit late,you have nothing to worry about.

The low cost terminal is new and well organized The only thing I could not find is a restaurant to have a beer. But it was last year..

But, in the supermarket they had a little food corner with beer available to drink on site.

[KhunBENQ]

16:10 KUL 20:55 CNX 5h 45m

This is not a non stop flight of course but via DMK (Don Mueang).

So just another of the 20+ flights via Bangkok.

The 14:20 from KUL is not daily.

[tijnebijn]

May I suggest you to just cross the border at Chiang Khong to Laos for a 15 days or 30 days , 30 days for a G7 country and 15 for others .

Chiang Khong border cross is as close to Chiangmai as Mae Sai is , both in Chiangrai province . At Mae Sai they do not allow but to Laos THEY DO ......

So I might make you save a trip to KL.....................

[chadimus]

If I had the choice, I would choose the 3 hours turn around.

Your can even enjoy a meal at the airport and if the CNX-KUL flight is a bit late,you have nothing to worry about.

The low cost terminal is new and well organized The only thing I could not find is a restaurant to have a beer. But it was last year..

But, in the supermarket they had a little food corner with beer available to drink on site.

Thanks, that's helpful and what my common sense tells me at well.

I just have a few days left to fix this so I'm not going to chance another land border crossing at Chaing Khong, maybe next time

If anyone has done a same day from CM or BKK to KL and had any issues of any sort, that would be great to know.

[chadimus]

May I suggest you to just cross the border at Chiang Khong to Laos for a 15 days or 30 days , 30 days for a G7 country and 15 for others .

Chiang Khong border cross is as close to Chiangmai as Mae Sai is , both in Chiangrai province . At Mae Sai they do not allow but to Laos THEY DO ......

So I might make you save a trip to KL.....................

Thank you, that would perhaps an option for next time.

The flights are $150-175 RT, I'd estimate sometime similar with the trip Chiang Khong for petrol, accommodation, Laos visa, etc. Perhaps not quite as much, but it would def kill two full days. At least flying I can get some work done.

[tijnebijn]

I've made the trip in the past , if you have your own transport you could make the trip in one day .

By public transport probably 1 night at the border town ,which is still dirt cheap , Laos visa 1500 baht approx .

So altogether ,even with a night sleep , no more than 4000 baht .

Or have you done many land border crossings recently... , if you have not there's nothing to worry about to do a crossing , no problems

at all if that worries you .

Edited December 30, 2015 by tijnebijn

[twwy123]

How much time should I allot myself to get through KL customs and immigration so I get back on my return flight to Chiang Mai?

Options are..

1hr 20m

OR

3hr 10m

OR

stay overnight which I'm trying to avoid via the first two options.

Do the 3h 10m option.

KL airport is efficient, but 1h 20m is cutting it too close. If both airlines depart from KLIA2 (the low cost terminal), and you can check in online to print a boarding pass for your connecting flight, then you have a some chance of making it within 1h 20min. At KLIA2, there's a long way from gates to immigration and back (how fast can you run ~3km?), and it's still not certain that you'd make it, a flight may get slightly delayed or you might take a wrong turn or find a long immigration/customs/security queue. If one flight is at KLIA1 and other at KLIA2, you need to take a train between terminals (and a far longer walk), so no chance of making it.

Overnight option is not horrible, a bus to the city costs only 10 RM (100 baht) and there are OK hotels starting from 60 RM (500 baht). KL is not a terrible city to find yourself in, and personally, if I were to spend ~$150 on flights, I'd add extra $30 and take a look around, if nothing else just to see that funny light show waterfall under Petronas towers, and get some great and cheap Indian food. Far less stress too.

Edited December 30, 2015 by twwy123

[Evilbaz]

I used to do this frequently from Phuket-KL.

You need the 3 hours for sure.

Besides, if it is a return flight with the same airline they wont issue an international ticket with just a 1 hr 20 turnaround.

Edited December 31, 2015 by Evilbaz

[keeniau96]

FYI Zulu time is Greenwich Mean Time, our local time here is Golf (+7). USA has three time zones and yes, still relies on the AM/PM method

[bigt3116]

"I don't absolutely insist same day, but it seems do-able and same day would be less disruptive to the projects I have going on next week."

Maybe you should not be on a visa exemption, projects sounds like work ?

[chadimus]

How much time should I allot myself to get through KL customs and immigration so I get back on my return flight to Chiang Mai?

Options are..

1hr 20m

OR

3hr 10m

OR

stay overnight which I'm trying to avoid via the first two options.

Do the 3h 10m option.

KL airport is efficient, but 1h 20m is cutting it too close. If both airlines depart from KLIA2 (the low cost terminal), and you can check in online to print a boarding pass for your connecting flight, then you have a some chance of making it within 1h 20min. At KLIA2, there's a long way from gates to immigration and back (how fast can you run ~3km?), and it's still not certain that you'd make it, a flight may get slightly delayed or you might take a wrong turn or find a long immigration/customs/security queue. If one flight is at KLIA1 and other at KLIA2, you need to take a train between terminals (and a far longer walk), so no chance of making it.

Overnight option is not horrible, a bus to the city costs only 10 RM (100 baht) and there are OK hotels starting from 60 RM (500 baht). KL is not a terrible city to find yourself in, and personally, if I were to spend ~$150 on flights, I'd add extra $30 and take a look around, if nothing else just to see that funny light show waterfall under Petronas towers, and get some great and cheap Indian food. Far less stress too.

Thank you! Very helpful.

I've never been to KL. Do you have a recommendation on an area I should stay in or even a specific guesthouse?

[tonray]

How much time should I allot myself to get through KL customs and immigration so I get back on my return flight to Chiang Mai?

Options are..

1hr 20m

OR

3hr 10m

OR

stay overnight which I'm trying to avoid via the first two options.

Do the 3h 10m option.

KL airport is efficient, but 1h 20m is cutting it too close. If both airlines depart from KLIA2 (the low cost terminal), and you can check in online to print a boarding pass for your connecting flight, then you have a some chance of making it within 1h 20min. At KLIA2, there's a long way from gates to immigration and back (how fast can you run ~3km?), and it's still not certain that you'd make it, a flight may get slightly delayed or you might take a wrong turn or find a long immigration/customs/security queue. If one flight is at KLIA1 and other at KLIA2, you need to take a train between terminals (and a far longer walk), so no chance of making it.

Overnight option is not horrible, a bus to the city costs only 10 RM (100 baht) and there are OK hotels starting from 60 RM (500 baht). KL is not a terrible city to find yourself in, and personally, if I were to spend ~$150 on flights, I'd add extra $30 and take a look around, if nothing else just to see that funny light show waterfall under Petronas towers, and get some great and cheap Indian food. Far less stress too.

Thank you! Very helpful.

I've never been to KL. Do you have a recommendation on an area I should stay in or even a specific guesthouse?

When I first arrived in Kl I stayed at this place: Hotel Paloma Inn. They have both private bath and shared bath rooms. The woman that owns it (Madam Ong) is a sweetheart...Chinese Malaysian lady who treated me like her own son.....I stayed a month because of her hospitality. Highly recommended.

https://www.agoda.com/hotel-paloma-inn/hotel/kuala-lumpur-my.html

It is within walking distance of the Bukit Bintang tourist area with many great things to see and do.

[dundas]

My last time in the low cost terminal at KL - the Air Asia plane left CNX well over an hour late. Lots of anxious passengers in CNX milling around and asking questions about the flights they were connecting to in KL. No info about our flight from CNX was forthcoming until just a few minutes before boarding, it wasn't the best customer service I've seen.

My transfer time at KLIA2 was an hour and half, something like that. At that time KLIA2 was brand new, was poorly sign-posted, and it had (and still has) immense distances. When we arrived in KL, it was a matter of each man for himself - no AA staff were on hand to help pax from the incoming fight.

Twenty minutes after boarding my flight back to Australia, I was still sweating from running what seemed like miles ... Never again.

Air Asia does make connecting in KL a little easier if you have a "fly thru" fare (as I did), but i doubt they would offer a "fly thru" fare for a return flight on the same day. The airline's "help" on a fly-thru fare seems limited to giving you a seat on the "next available flight," without penalty. Any expenses you incur while you're hanging around waiting are your own. Otherwise they're point to point, and the airline isn't going to be too concerned about you missing your return flight.

In the past, I have done a visa run, and stayed overnight in KL. Nowadays the low cost terminal also has a convenient train service into Sentral, and the place I stayed in was the modest Hotel Sentral. No doubt there are better choices for location and hotel, but it was OK - check out their reviews on Trip Advisor. As another poster has mentioned, it's a chance to check out the Indian food and explore the area - and yes, it can be seedy. Overall, staying the night was worth it, though, a lot less stress. I would take the earlier flight from CNX just to give myself more of a chance of getting to KL the same day if there were problems with that flight. In the past, I've booked on the last flight of the day (this time with Jetstar between another city pair) and then found it cancelled moments before I was due to board. If that were to happen, I've probably lost the costs of my return ticket, and my hotel accommodation.

Edited December 31, 2015 by dundas

[jippytum]

In the past i have completed visa runs by air in one day ,Last one round trip Bkk to Penang .Go for the three hours as some airlines require three hour check in for international flights .

[volsfan]

At KL airport, the security is at the individual boarding gates. So, there is not really a dedicated arrivals and departures floor. If you checked in online, theoretically you could get off the one flight and simply walk to the next gate and go back in. No reason to go thru immigration and customs at all. Very unlikely that Thai immigration is going to be looking for the Malaysia stamp in your passport. You are arriving on an international flight, so as far as they know, or would be concerned about, you came from some other country.

[louse1953]

What is so precious about CM that you have to rush back.Check out KL you WILL be surprised.

[NanLaew]

At KL airport, the security is at the individual boarding gates. So, there is not really a dedicated arrivals and departures floor. If you checked in online, theoretically you could get off the one flight and simply walk to the next gate and go back in. No reason to go thru immigration and customs at all. Very unlikely that Thai immigration is going to be looking for the Malaysia stamp in your passport. You are arriving on an international flight, so as far as they know, or would be concerned about, you came from some other country.

Even doing an online check in, one typically needs to show up at check in and use the internet check-in or bag drop desk. You correctly state that at KUL, the security check is at the gate but security is NOT immigration. I don't think you can front up at a gate for an international departure without having an immigration clearance. There's an Immigration facility air-side at KUL for those transiting from an arriving international and Malaysian domestic flight to a domestic flight to Sabah (the island part of Malaysia has separate, internal immigration status) but I don't think it will process a passenger for an international departure from Malaysia. Maybe someone can advise?

I have only done the BKK-KUL-BKK passport shuffle using the likes of Turkish, Egyptair (very good), Turkish (pretty good) and Ethiopian (dire). Three hours is the least stressful turnaround option IMHO.

Edited January 1, 2016 by NanLaew

[wrazoru]

Has anyone here tried the same day visa run successfully recently?

As I plan to do the same to KL... I had no problems booking the tickets on AirAsia tho I got the same message as others above...

I already have 2 60day tourist visa & 1 30 day visa stamped in my passport too. Anyone think this might be a problem?

Many Thanks for any feedback... Especially w how many stamps u had in your passport & if it was successful...