What do you do when the wanderlust bug hits you? Book the most attractive deal you can find and get out of the country. The decision to leave for Bangkok was a super last minute one. We were bumped out with all the back to back work. We found a good deal on zuji.com and off to Bangkok we went.
We booked a flight + hotel package from zuji.com. Our Malaysia Airlines flight & Prime Hotel Central Station Bangkok accommodations cost SGD 286 per pax for 4 nights.
This was not my first time flying on Malaysia Airlines. I have previously flown their domestic route many years back in Malaysia. Online check-in opens 48 hours before the flight itself. There is no dedicated counter at Changi Airport for passengers who have completed their check-in. Malaysia Airlines is also not a part of Changi’s FAST program. There were only two check-in counters opened and one of the counters was reserved for first class & business class passengers. Check-in took some time as there was a lot of passengers flying that day and the counter staff was very slow.
Malaysia Airlines calls Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as their home base. Most of their flights out of Singapore would require a transit at KLIA. Malaysia Airlines’s flight dock at KLIA Terminal M. KLIA Terminal M is one of the worst airports that I have visited. There were only minimal dining and shopping options with no facilities. If you have the time to spare, hop on the shuttle train with will bring you to the satellite terminal. All other major airlines part at the satellite terminal. At the satellite terminal, you can find a wider variety of shopping & dining establishments.
On both legs of the itinerary (SIN-KUL & KUL-BKK), we flew on Boeing’s 737 aircraft. Personal in-flight entertainment system was available on both flights, but on the SIN-KUL leg, earphones were not provided. The screens are touch-enabled, but the system was very sluggish. It takes a few seconds before the user’s input is recognised and reflected on the screen. The film collection was surprisingly decent. Some of the latest blockbusters, as well as Oscars nominated films were available.
The onboard meals for the SIN-KUL leg was a bag of peanuts & a small tub of orange juice. No hot drinks or other soft drinks were available. On the KUL-BKK part of the itinerary, you get the option of either chicken or fish for your mains. Each mains is also accompanied with fruits, bread and soft drinks of your choice. Alcoholic beverages were not provided.
The overall experience with Malaysia Airlines is ok. Two out of four flights were delayed (KUL-BKK & BKK-KUL). Malaysia Airlines pales in comparisons with other airlines in the region like Singapore Airlines & Cathay Pacific.
Malaysia Airlines is currently running a promotion, which places their price right in the budget airlines’ range. The low ticket price is the only reason why I will consider flying with Malaysia Airlines again.
We landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport past midnight after our delayed flight. Automated immigration clearance for Singaporean is only available at zone c. We did not know about this and we ended up at zone b after getting directions from two security officers. The airport staff stopped us after we tried to use the automated lanes at zone b. She told us to join the queue for the manual clearance instead.
While we did not manage to use the automated lanes when entering Bangkok, we were able to do so when we were leaving. After the security screening, you can find the automated lanes behind the escalators.
The Airport Rail Link train departs Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 12 midnight.
As we arrived way past the closing time for the Airport Rail Link, we opted to take the taxi to our hotel. We initially wanted to try taking a grab but their airport surcharges were doubled of what the taxi companies were charging. The taxi counters are located in the basement of the terminal. Once you exit the terminal, look out for a row of self-service terminals. Get a ticket from the machine and head to your taxi. Keep the ticket with you and do not pass it to the taxi driver as it contains details of your taxi and a help desk contact number. This will come in handy if you left your belongings inside the taxi, or need to make any complaints about your ride. We ran into problems trying to communicate to our driver the hotel address. The address given to us was in English and the driver could not understand. We were lucky that our hotel was located near Hua Lamphong station, and we told our driver to head towards the train station. As we’re approaching the station, I guided the driver to our hotel using Google Maps. The journey from the airport to our hotel cost us 425THB (including tolls and surcharges).