Summer adventures to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur with Qatar Airways, Malaysia Airlines and British Airways (with a lot of this in Business Class)
Contents
- Seriously – Take a holiday!
- Morning Manoeuvres in the dark, Terminal 5 and Galleries South
- BA776 London Heathrow to Stockholm Arlanda (Club Europe)
- Exploring Stockholm on the cheap (Travel Plus!)
- Back to Arlanda, Stockholm Arlanda Lounge
- QR168 Stockholm Arlanda to Doha (Hamad International Airport) – (Business Class)
- Six Hours in at Al Mourjan Doha’s Lounge
- QR944 Doha – Singapore Changi International (Business Class)
- Intercontinental Singapore
- Exploring Singapore by boat
- From the Top of the Marina Sands
- Back to Changi T2, SATS Lounge
- MH624 Singapore to Kuala Lumpur International Airport
- Into KL, Holiday Inn Express KLCC, Kuala Lumpur
- Adventures in KL
- KL Tower (or yes, Kevin is in yet another tall building)
- Back to KLIA
- MH611 Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Singapore Changi
- Exploring Singapore again with a tweep
- Back to Premium, dnata lounge, Singapore T3
- QR947 Singapore Changi to Doha (Business Class)
- A Dash through Doha…
- QR169 Doha – Stockholm Arlanda (Business Class)
- From Premium to Economy featuring the Aurora Lounge
- BA777 Stockholm Arlanda to London Heathrow
- To have flown, To Wait…
- I need another break…
Editors Introduction: Well, I didn’t plan this trip report to be this long… but it seems life has conspired against me on this one. Welcome to my summer holiday – as I take you on a big adventure with me. I have done a couple of snapshots for this (brief overviews), but this is the big beef adventure. Settle down – grab a drink or three. Or a Laksa. In fact, a laksa is far more appropriate. Oh, and those who take issue with my grammar are kindly invited read this press release.
Seriously – TAKE A HOLIDAY
This year has been… interesting to say the least in the land of Kevin. I’ve been working on a project this year that has had more than its fair share of fun and games (and it didn’t help that WannaCrypt and friends wandered into my life to cause pure and utter chaos).
And there comes a point where a person needs a holiday. That point has now arrived where I need to get away and to use the oft used term “have a life”.
So, I was in the mood to take advantage of a nice Qatar Airways fare that would
- Get me there in some comfort
- Get me a bunch of British Airways Tier Points in the process.
- Give me time to enjoy myself.
As I’m trying to maximise my annual leave, I was scheduling my break before and after the late summer bank holiday in England.
And if I want a cheap business class flight – the obvious choice is Qatar Airways.
The first fare that caught my eye was one that would be Venice-Doha-Bangkok at €1225 (£1075 or there about). Which on the face of it was pretty reasonable.
Except for one little incy weenie problem.
Getting to Venice represented no issues at all. However, getting back from Venice to the UK was troublesome – to the point where I was seriously considering a sleeper train from Venice to Paris, and Eurostar back to the UK.
Whist that would had been hilarious for all you – that wasn’t going to happen – least of all the overnight sleeper from Italy to France is notorious for running late. With a Eurostar connection in hand… that wasn’t happening.
Additionally, the quality of the equipment from Venice was… not what I’d call inspirational – with a Qatar Airways A330 and Boeing 777 (non Q Suite fitted). So, with a sigh… I let the fare pass.
But as we all know, if you hang on two weeks more, another fare would come along – because sales seem to be in thing at Qatar Airways
And lo and behold Stockholm to Singapore turned up for SEK 11908 – or about £1080ish. Now that’s more like it. This fare would feature newer products (direct aisle access, as well as Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s).
After checking there was redemption space on the connecting flight back and forth from the UK (and lo and behold – there’s plenty of space to Stockholm – even if it’s in Club Europe on the way out, and EuroTraveller on the way home), the hammer went down on the ticket
So that was the first part of the trip sorted. The next part was to add another city to the mix. I played with the idea of visiting Taipei – but in the end settled for a return to Kular Lumpur. This brings a new choice – Malaysia Airlines, Scoot, Jetstar or Air Asia.
And it wasn’t that hard of a choice in the end – namely due to time constraints and luggage fees. There was about £4 in it – but I went with Malaysia Airlines. Well, there would be lounges at both ends too.
In terms of hotels, I decided to exploit my Intercontinental Ambassador membership, with me selecting the Intercontinental in Singapore (which would use a 2-4-1 voucher)… and something a little more low rent in Malaysia, with the Holiday Inn Express being used (least of all, the IC was booked out, but most of all it was £90 for two nights).
So, here’s the grand map for this trip – and it’s a big-un.
Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper – copyright © Karl L. Swartz
So lots of adventures ahead. And lots of room for things to go wrong.
And those things that go wrong… start right at home…
NEXT: Early Morning Manoeuvres… or where is my wallet? Oh ****
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.
Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can also follow me on Instagram too!
Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European Frequent Flyer.
