Business

Tuesday November 17, 2009

Hunting for cheap airfare to London? Be cautious

By B.K. SIDHU


PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) recently launched its global sales promotion, which offers an all-inclusive one-way airfare of RM1,248 to London.

But there are conditions attached to the offer and you will be lucky if you can get it at that price before the year is out.

The final quarter of the year is usually the busiest for an airline. That is when most carriers enjoy full capacity and this helps them to make up for any shortfall in income in earlier months.

Ticket prices have generally come down due to competition and the impact of the global economic crisis.

But London is one of the many “hot destinations” for most airlines and if you do not book early you may have to pay a lot for a flight to London in November or December.

There are now many more choices for Malaysians to travel to London, more so since AirAsia X made it debut on the route last year.

AirAsia X has made it possible to fly to London and back for less than RM1,000; you just have to look out for the promotions.

Both MAS and AirAsia X offer twice daily and once daily flights respectively and the direct flights are good for people rushing to get into London for their business meetings.

However, if you do not mind spending a few hours in transit then you have many more options as you can fly to London via Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, India and even the Middle East.

MAS’ fares are attractive at RM1,248 one-way and if we can get the same return airfare, then London is a steal at RM2,496.

But that is not usually the case as the return portion can be slightly higher. And if you still insist on travelling just before Christmas you may have to pay RM12,512 for a return ticket.

That was the price that showed up when a check was done online for a flight departing Dec 18 and returning on Dec 28 on the MAS MH FLex fare.

But if you delay your flight to Dec 21 and return on Dec 30, then you only pay RM5,111 for an all-inclusive return fare.

On the same dates, the fare charged by AirAsia X was lower at RM4,268 for a return flight.

Singapore Airlines flies three times daily from the republic to London.

The lowest all-inclusive airfare from Kuala Lumpur to London, transit Changi, was priced at RM3,666 for each person and it should be a group of two travelling, SIA said in an email response.

If it is a single person, the fare is RM4,966 return all-inclusive and subject to seat availability, according to SIA.

An online check for a flight on Dec 18 to 28 showed that the price of an all-inclusive return ticket on SIA was RM5,866.

Some of the Middle Eastern carriers have bargains but booking early helps as the peak period sees many Arabs heading for London, thus the airlines have pre-sold a lot of their seats.

Nevertheless, Gulf Air is offering an all-inclusive fare at RM3,082, but subject to seat availability and comes with a transit in Bahrain.

If you want to fly via Dubai, then Emirates is offering an all-inclusive return fare at RM4,566 but an online check showed you could get it for RM4,444.

Qatar Airways, dubbed the most popular Middle Eastern carrier by some publications, is offering a promotional fare of RM3,089 if you return to KL before Dec 10, and it comes with a transit stop in Doha. For a flight on Dec 18 to 28, the all-inclusive fare quoted by its office in Kuala Lumpur was RM4,132 per person.

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