Well travelers, it's nice to be back in the blog seat!
This weeks big news is the successful first flight by low cost carrier Air Asia X from Kuala Lumpur to London.
May I congratulate the Air Asia team on achieving this impressive milestone.
Australian travelers in particular should be very excited with the opportunity to travel on the cheap to Europe.
Travelers in south-east Asia are fortunate to have several quality airlines linking them to Europe, and the addition of Air Asia X to this line up opens up long haul travel to more and more people.
I really hope that Air Asia can make this route profitable.
My previous post on Oasis Hong Kong Airways shows just how difficult it can be to successfully operate long haul flights on a low cost carrier structure.
I'll be honest and say that, as a large Aussie guy, when I do get the chance to fly Air Asia to London, I'll certainly go for the XL seats to give me a bit more room for the long flight.
Having flown Tiger and Jetstar around Asia, I can get away with the economy seats on the short haul flights, but the extra room will be a necessity! Unless I can work off those few extra kilograms at the gym!
For around the cost of a full service economy seat, the XL seats seem to be excellent value for money, especially the seats that are currently on the A340 plane used on the KL to London route. I understand these are ex-Air Canada planes and the XL seats are full "bed" like seats! Check out the answer to my query on this here.
One of the reasons Air Asia has been able to keep costs down is through the use of Stansted Airport as the gateway to London.
Stansted is the 3rd busiest Airport in the UK and is located 48km north-east of central London. Stansted is connected to central London via an express train that takes passengers to central London in around 45 minutes, operating at 15 minute intervals. The ticket prices are around 46 pounds sterling, or AUS$98 for a return ticket, which is not cheap!
Connection to central London should certainly be considered when looking at the total point-to-point cost of getting from KL to London.
Well I for one hope that Air Asia X can keep this route going and eventually expand into continental Europe and North America. Then we can really see if the low cost carrier model can work on long haul.
Thanks again budget travelers for taking the time to read my thoughts. Feel free to add your comments, I appreciate your feedback and insights.
Till next time.
Travel Budget, Travel Well.
TheBudgetTravelGuy
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
TheBudgetTravelGuy Media Release
Budget Travelers!
Check out the link in the post title to view the official media release of the Budget Travel Tips blog.
Travel Budget, Travel Well
TheBudgetTravelGuy
Check out the link in the post title to view the official media release of the Budget Travel Tips blog.
Travel Budget, Travel Well
TheBudgetTravelGuy
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Airport Transport - Friend or Foe?
Hi there budget travelers.
Welcome to another exciting post.
Today I'll be discussing getting to and from the airport.
I'll be sticking to four cities that I've had recent experience with, and one that I'm yet to discover.
Firstly my home city of Perth. The only way to describe the budget transport options getting to and from Perth international airport - zero, zilch, none. The only option, besides expensive taxis, is to take the privately operated Hotel Shuttle Buses. I believe these cost about AUS$20 each way.
Come on Perth, get with the rest of the world and provide public transport to the international airport!
Secondly, somewhere I travel a couple of times a year, Sydney. Although Sydney now has a train link to both the domestic and international airports, the trains they operate are horrible, and the journey is quite expensive by international standards. But still an improvement on Perth.
Next up is Hong Kong. Now the Chinese have learnt a thing or two about customer service over the years. The Hong Kong airport train is both cheap and convenient. And it also has the added service of providing airline check in facilities at the city train stations. So you can walk on to the train without carrying all your checked baggage with you. That's nice!
The fourth city that I've had the pleasure of taking airport public transport is Singapore. Now if you thought Hong Kong was cheap, you should check this out! I think it costs about SING$3 to get to the city. Although not as "express" as the Hong Kong airport train, the Singapore trip is of similar duration and offers the same kind of convenient access.
Singapore and Hong Kong show the world how airport transfers should be!
Finally I'd like to mention Kuala Lumpur, somewhere I feel that I'll be visiting eventually if AirAsia keeps their fares so low. From the Low Cost Carrier Terminal, there are a multitude of low cost buses available to take you to the city, or to the main international terminal to link in with the train system.
Welcome to another exciting post.
Today I'll be discussing getting to and from the airport.
I'll be sticking to four cities that I've had recent experience with, and one that I'm yet to discover.
Firstly my home city of Perth. The only way to describe the budget transport options getting to and from Perth international airport - zero, zilch, none. The only option, besides expensive taxis, is to take the privately operated Hotel Shuttle Buses. I believe these cost about AUS$20 each way.
Come on Perth, get with the rest of the world and provide public transport to the international airport!
Secondly, somewhere I travel a couple of times a year, Sydney. Although Sydney now has a train link to both the domestic and international airports, the trains they operate are horrible, and the journey is quite expensive by international standards. But still an improvement on Perth.
Next up is Hong Kong. Now the Chinese have learnt a thing or two about customer service over the years. The Hong Kong airport train is both cheap and convenient. And it also has the added service of providing airline check in facilities at the city train stations. So you can walk on to the train without carrying all your checked baggage with you. That's nice!
The fourth city that I've had the pleasure of taking airport public transport is Singapore. Now if you thought Hong Kong was cheap, you should check this out! I think it costs about SING$3 to get to the city. Although not as "express" as the Hong Kong airport train, the Singapore trip is of similar duration and offers the same kind of convenient access.
Singapore and Hong Kong show the world how airport transfers should be!
Finally I'd like to mention Kuala Lumpur, somewhere I feel that I'll be visiting eventually if AirAsia keeps their fares so low. From the Low Cost Carrier Terminal, there are a multitude of low cost buses available to take you to the city, or to the main international terminal to link in with the train system.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Oasis Hong Kong Airways
Hi there fellow budget travelers.
Apologies for the delay in getting this new post to you, I've been away in the South West of Western Australia for a few days.
Today's post is unfortunately about an Asian budget airline that went belly up.
See the link above in the title for more background information on Oasis Hong Kong Airways.
I flew this airline from Hong Kong to London and back in June 2007.
I have to be honest and say that my first experience on Oasis was rather disappointing.
Check in and boarding were fine, no dramas there, and I even managed to get an exit row seat that gave me plenty of leg room.
My main concern was the width of the seat and the fact that the on-board entertainment system decided that day that it didn't want to work.
Lucky for me I was extremely tired, and managed to sleep most of the way to London.
This was after flying Perth to Singapore, spending about 6 hours walking around Singapore, then flying Singapore to Hong Kong.
I was fortunate enough to have done some research into facilities at Hong Kong Airport and found that there is a pay-as-you-go business lounge. This gave me the chance to grab some food and drinks, have a shower and a massage, and rest up on the comfy lounge chairs.
Back to the airline experience!
On the way back from London on Oasis I found the experience to be much better. Although I still had a smaller seat, the entertainment system worked fine and the meals and drinks on board were pretty damn good for airline food.
It's a shame that the airline went into liquidation, as I think there is certainly a need for budget airlines to operate long hall flights.
AirAsia X now operate flights to London from Kuala Lumpur and V Australia is flying into the US from the east coast of Australia. Although I don't consider Virgin's Australian operations to be a true low cost carrier, any competition on popular routes is always good for the consumer!
Well budget travelers, that's all for today. Keep an eye out for the next post where I'll take a look at getting to and from some of the airports that I've been to, or a traveling to soon.
Travel Budget, Travel Well.
TheBudgetTravelGuy
Apologies for the delay in getting this new post to you, I've been away in the South West of Western Australia for a few days.
Today's post is unfortunately about an Asian budget airline that went belly up.
See the link above in the title for more background information on Oasis Hong Kong Airways.
I flew this airline from Hong Kong to London and back in June 2007.
I have to be honest and say that my first experience on Oasis was rather disappointing.
Check in and boarding were fine, no dramas there, and I even managed to get an exit row seat that gave me plenty of leg room.
My main concern was the width of the seat and the fact that the on-board entertainment system decided that day that it didn't want to work.
Lucky for me I was extremely tired, and managed to sleep most of the way to London.
This was after flying Perth to Singapore, spending about 6 hours walking around Singapore, then flying Singapore to Hong Kong.
I was fortunate enough to have done some research into facilities at Hong Kong Airport and found that there is a pay-as-you-go business lounge. This gave me the chance to grab some food and drinks, have a shower and a massage, and rest up on the comfy lounge chairs.
Back to the airline experience!
On the way back from London on Oasis I found the experience to be much better. Although I still had a smaller seat, the entertainment system worked fine and the meals and drinks on board were pretty damn good for airline food.
It's a shame that the airline went into liquidation, as I think there is certainly a need for budget airlines to operate long hall flights.
AirAsia X now operate flights to London from Kuala Lumpur and V Australia is flying into the US from the east coast of Australia. Although I don't consider Virgin's Australian operations to be a true low cost carrier, any competition on popular routes is always good for the consumer!
Well budget travelers, that's all for today. Keep an eye out for the next post where I'll take a look at getting to and from some of the airports that I've been to, or a traveling to soon.
Travel Budget, Travel Well.
TheBudgetTravelGuy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
