Singapore to Kuala Lumpur Cheap Fares a Farce

Having just been online to book fares from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, with the thought in the back of mind that flying between the two cities is now supposedly cheap; I am somewhat perplexed at the extortionate fares both Singapore Airlines and Silk Air are charging. Sure, its Chinese New Year that we are travelling and as predictable as it can get, airlines are looking to extort whatever they can out of a diminishing traveller when they have you over a barrel, so to speak. However, there are some distortions here that deserve mentioning.

Firstly, it is less expensive, well only by S$100 or so, to travel by Singapore Airlines flexi travel for 2 adults and one child at S$1214, with the emphasis this is flag carrier full-service airline, as compared with Silk Air, the low-cost carrier?, for the same criteria, costing S$1344. Putting this in to perspective, even the extremely efficient Silk Air flight attendants are struggling to get a chicken roll and a cup of tea in to you before the captains announcing the decent in to Kuala Lumpur. Somewhat confounded by the higher price of the Silk Air being more expensive than the mother ship, I decided to go for Singapore Airlines, although discovered that when I clicked on the schedules for Singapore Airlines there were optional flights “serviced by Silk Air” that when clicked brought the fare down to S$1077, though the flight times where the most ugliest inconvenient ones of course.

When you break down the fare, I certainly don’t mind paying S$150 airport tax for 3 persons, as I cannot think of a more efficient and pleasant experience as far as airports go than Changi. However, being slapped $246 airline fuel surcharge is a complete rort and I don’t care when the airline took out a hedge on their fuel, this sort of grab is way out of line and over the past-due date. In case you have not been reading any media, oil prices plummeted a little while ago. Then there is the S$48 airline insurance charge, which I have not looked in too but I am sure is standard airline extortion, another way of rorting passengers and lining the pockets of some badly-run insurance company. I would rather rely on my own private insurance thanks than get paid US$5000 for a lost limb. Actually, this reminds me of the macabre details printed on the reverse side of a China Airlines boarding pass that had all the gory and specific details of how much the airline insurance cover would pay out in the outcome of death, loss of legs, arms, eyesight, inability to walk, talk et all; installing a great deal of confidence pre-take-off!

Going back to the Singapore Airlines website, I clicked on the S$298 “two to go – super-saver fare’, curious on how this would crunch out. At S$887 for 2 adults and one child, and reading the fine print – that is don’t fly at any time that is within the normal hours of being vertically aligned and compos mentis or having any sensibility of travelling with a child. Do not accrue points. Pay severe penalties if you change the flight date-time or miss the flight, which is a given when you travel with children. And of course, I nicely timed little block-out of the fair between January 23rd and 25th so we pillage our Chinese New Year traveller, like really nice guys, yeah, really good Chinese New Year spirit. So, at nearly $300 per person Singapore to KL with conditions, does that really differ to the fully flexible fares of the past that were around $400.

Frankly, the whole things sucks and I refuse to fly this leg. Let’s face it, by the time you get to the airport, check-in two hours before, the flight time and then the chaos at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, I think we will drive thanks, which is around a 3 to 4 hour cruise. Actually, I forgot to tell you we are actually travelling on to Ipoh, another 2 hours plus drive. In the past, we used to fly using Air Asia out of Johor Bahru to Ipoh but some wise guy decided to upgrade all the planes to more efficient-economical Airbuses, without checking if they could land on Ipoh’s rather short runway! Really good planning, leaving out a city of 1 million or so people, a place where practically everyone you run in to comes from and there are no flights in to the joint!! I reckon if someone started up a Singapore – Ipoh direct low-cost flight, they would fill every crevice of the bulkhead several times a day, and that’s just with Singaporean’s looking for a decent (real) feed of Char Kway Teow.
By the way, if you have been thinking of satisfying all those Makan cravings and doing the rounds of the Ipoh food stalls, you must stay at Indulgence www.indulgencerestaurant.com a crazy (good) boutique hotel that is an oasis of otherwise Alcatraz level accommodation in this somewhat dilapidated yet fascinating ghost town.
Cheers
The Wandering Palate
And hey, visit the www.thewanderingpalate.com