Is this itinerary insane???
Jan 10th, 2006, 01:12 PM
#22
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It's fine to have all of your Bangkok time together, but I thought you had to return to Bangkok to get your flight to KL.
Frankly, if you want to make things easier, you would need to change your destinations. You've chosen two beach destinations that are hard to get to... is that what you want? If so, then you'll have to put up with frittering away a chunk of your vacation in airports and in transit.
Frankly, if you want to make things easier, you would need to change your destinations. You've chosen two beach destinations that are hard to get to... is that what you want? If so, then you'll have to put up with frittering away a chunk of your vacation in airports and in transit.
Jan 10th, 2006, 01:14 PM
#23
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They don't have any with FF seats left. I've tried. My original plan was LAX>KL>Siem Reap then Phuket>KL>LAX. They have nothing within a week of when we can go. I also tried going straight into Phuket and no go there either. I've got our tix on hold, but they haven't been issued yet, so I keep checking every couple days to see if anything opens up. Highly unlikely though.
Jan 10th, 2006, 01:18 PM
#24
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oops, that last reply was to JamesA, we must have posted at the same time!
Kathie, I suppose that if I'm flying half way around the world, I really want to see the places that I have my heart set on. If that means a little extra time in transit, so be it.
My husband and I tend to move around a lot when we travel anyway. Otherwise, we get bored after too many days in one location.
I'm just trying to come up with an ideal itinerary given our difficult circumstances with the FF miles.
Kathie, I suppose that if I'm flying half way around the world, I really want to see the places that I have my heart set on. If that means a little extra time in transit, so be it.
My husband and I tend to move around a lot when we travel anyway. Otherwise, we get bored after too many days in one location.
I'm just trying to come up with an ideal itinerary given our difficult circumstances with the FF miles.
Jan 10th, 2006, 01:28 PM
#25
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Hmmmm, what if I were to try to reverse it completely and fly into Langkawi and then boat to Satun then to Lipe and then work up from there.
I have no clue if it's available, but if it is, is there an immigration office in Satun so that we can enter legally by boat? Has anyone tried this?
I have no clue if it's available, but if it is, is there an immigration office in Satun so that we can enter legally by boat? Has anyone tried this?
Jan 10th, 2006, 02:35 PM
#26
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That's what I thought would be a good idea, as you say, you are flying halway round the world for a great vacation, if you have to add a couple of flights at cheap prices I would do so, local flights are relatively cheap so I wouldn't totally rely on the FF flights, sure for the long haul to KL but you can then just add on the local transport. The route langkawi-Satun is regular and 'official' and their is Immigration on penang as you leave to satun and you pass through the immigration office at satun, all quite normal, you will see plenty of others doing the same.
http://www.langkawi-ferry.com/schedule.html#satun
The fare is about USD 6.50 one way
Flights from KL to langkawi are cheap. At Satun you will find drivers to take you onwards no problem.
Those budget fares can vary so it might be worthwhile checking closer to the exact dates, you can sometimes find a big fifference, e.g a flight say from KL on a Friday evening would be higher than say a Tuesday morning, there certainly are 'peak times' and to and from say Phuket heading north on a Thur/fri and back south on a Sun/Mon would be the peak.
As you are heading to Lipe/Lanta area going up through Langkawi makes sense, there is a rail line all the way up from KL to Butterworth(Penang) from where there is a daily "International Express" thru to Hat Yai and onwards to Surat, Hua Hin and bangkok, but as you are heading west side that is no use ( I only mentioned in case you thought about the train, just to show it won't help ).
I think you could wind-it-down to a much easier plan based on doing Siem reap as a simple return from KL and then use cheap Air Asia to get you into the lankgawi/Lipe/Lanta area, then if you feel you want a night or 2 in BKK then just use a budget flight from Phuket.
You still have plenty of time and once Thai new year is over ( by 20th April ) things start to go quiet in those areas so getting around/accommodation is easy.
My humble personal opinion would be to prioritise getting your LAX-KL returns sorted, decide on Siem reap and then leave a lot of space so you can beach/island hop at leisure.
Now probably a dumb question from me...can you not fly LAX-BKK with whoever you are using the FF miles with? or is there a reason to route to KL ?
http://www.langkawi-ferry.com/schedule.html#satun
The fare is about USD 6.50 one way
Flights from KL to langkawi are cheap. At Satun you will find drivers to take you onwards no problem.
Those budget fares can vary so it might be worthwhile checking closer to the exact dates, you can sometimes find a big fifference, e.g a flight say from KL on a Friday evening would be higher than say a Tuesday morning, there certainly are 'peak times' and to and from say Phuket heading north on a Thur/fri and back south on a Sun/Mon would be the peak.
As you are heading to Lipe/Lanta area going up through Langkawi makes sense, there is a rail line all the way up from KL to Butterworth(Penang) from where there is a daily "International Express" thru to Hat Yai and onwards to Surat, Hua Hin and bangkok, but as you are heading west side that is no use ( I only mentioned in case you thought about the train, just to show it won't help ).
I think you could wind-it-down to a much easier plan based on doing Siem reap as a simple return from KL and then use cheap Air Asia to get you into the lankgawi/Lipe/Lanta area, then if you feel you want a night or 2 in BKK then just use a budget flight from Phuket.
You still have plenty of time and once Thai new year is over ( by 20th April ) things start to go quiet in those areas so getting around/accommodation is easy.
My humble personal opinion would be to prioritise getting your LAX-KL returns sorted, decide on Siem reap and then leave a lot of space so you can beach/island hop at leisure.
Now probably a dumb question from me...can you not fly LAX-BKK with whoever you are using the FF miles with? or is there a reason to route to KL ?
Jan 10th, 2006, 02:38 PM
#27
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Typo: "There is immigration on Langkawi at Kuah Port leaving langkawi(Malaysia) and there is the Immigration office as you arrive at Satun ( Thai ), totaly regular and official, 4 x per day now showing 1 hr 15 mins, it is very near!
Jan 10th, 2006, 03:08 PM
#28
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JamesA,
Thanks again for all your help. I'm actually going to check for FF mile flights through Langkawi and Siem Reap in the opposite direction that I tried before, just in case it's possible. Otherwise, buying the extra flights might be the way to go.
To answer your question about LAX>BKK, the only airline that goes non-stop is Thai Airways and I don't have enough miles with anyone that is a partner with them. My miles are with Delta. The only partner airlines that seem to have any seats left are Korean through Soul (with a 36 hour layover on the way there and 14 hours on the way back) or Malaysia Air through KL with an overnight in KL on the way back. Obviously, the Malaysia Air flights sound way better!
Thanks again for all your help. I'm actually going to check for FF mile flights through Langkawi and Siem Reap in the opposite direction that I tried before, just in case it's possible. Otherwise, buying the extra flights might be the way to go.
To answer your question about LAX>BKK, the only airline that goes non-stop is Thai Airways and I don't have enough miles with anyone that is a partner with them. My miles are with Delta. The only partner airlines that seem to have any seats left are Korean through Soul (with a 36 hour layover on the way there and 14 hours on the way back) or Malaysia Air through KL with an overnight in KL on the way back. Obviously, the Malaysia Air flights sound way better!
Jan 10th, 2006, 03:33 PM
#29
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I am no expert on FF ex LAX ( rkkwan is the expert there ) but if you used Korean with the overnight stop into BKK it might not be 'so bad' if you then weigh that up againsat having to back-track north again, if you could just get straight into BKK it might weigh up in a positive way, you could spend a day or so in bangkok, leave heavy baggage at hotel do Siem reap, overnight back same hotel BKK, then just take easy baggae for your beach and island hoping, then back to BKK for shopping.
Rkkwan knows all the routings and it 'might' be worth throwing in a thread to ask any ideas on routings.
This is fun actually! Nice to have something to get the brain cells working!!
Rkkwan knows all the routings and it 'might' be worth throwing in a thread to ask any ideas on routings.
This is fun actually! Nice to have something to get the brain cells working!!
Jan 10th, 2006, 05:05 PM
#30
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Wow!! I just called the airline and was able to get our return switched to Siem Reap>Kuala Lumpur>LAX. I haven't tried switching the arrival to Langkawi yet, because I need to be 100% sure I want to do that before they can even check; otherwise, they may cancel our segment into BKK and I believe we have the last FF mile seats on that flight.
Now, after all this, I told my husband the "great" news and he says, "so why are we going to Cambodia again? Maybe we could save that for another time." Ugh! I suppose visiting Northern Thailand instead is an option, but I'm just not sure what all we would do there. I'm not really a "treker". Maybe I need to show hubby some pictures of Angkor. He really seemed to enjoy Tikal (in Guatemala), so I can't imagine that he wouldn't enjoy Angkor.
Now, after all this, I told my husband the "great" news and he says, "so why are we going to Cambodia again? Maybe we could save that for another time." Ugh! I suppose visiting Northern Thailand instead is an option, but I'm just not sure what all we would do there. I'm not really a "treker". Maybe I need to show hubby some pictures of Angkor. He really seemed to enjoy Tikal (in Guatemala), so I can't imagine that he wouldn't enjoy Angkor.
