Diary of an Internet Addict

Singapore seems to have an on and off direct flight relationship and this time around, it’s an off. So we had to go via KL instead.

The cheapest options were Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines (MAS). Budget or full fledged airline? Definitely full-fledged is the way to go.

MAS also has this scheme where one can upgrade to business class at a minimum of SG$45 onwards. You sort of bid on it and you will be charged accordingly if you “win” a seat. The business class guests will get to wait out their flight at the Golden lounge in KL. More on the cabins later.

The Golden Lounge

There are two lounges at KLIA, one on the domestic floor after immigration, and another on the “international floor”, in quotation marks because it’s actually one escalator up. I don’t know why the map puts it on the same floor.

The one under domestic is actually under renovation, so we had to be satisfied with a sad temporary set up near gate B3 with only finger food. The chicken murtabak and the cucumber roll is decent though.

I love that they have instant noodles.

The Cabins

So for this trip, I would experience both economy and business cabin classes.

Seats

Economy class is pretty standard for this type of craft. 3 – 3 seats. The same space for 3 seats was 2 seats for business class. For spacious legroom, get the emergency exit at the wings for economy cabin. Business class reminds me of SQ’S premium economy (I’ve not tried but may do so).

Food

Food for economy was a pack of peanuts and a cup of fruit juice drink. In business class, we were served drinks (in glass!) before the flight and during the flight. We were served food and had a choice of either chicken murtabak or chicken sandwich. It came with dark chocolate, a choice of drinks, and a pack of peanuts.

Luggage

I thought business class luggage would come out first. I thought wrong. Oh well.

General MAS Flight Experience

MAS was an acceptable experience overall. However the flight back from KUL to SIN was really bad. It didn’t seem like the air-con was working. The plane was really stuffy.

Would I take business class again? Well, for this price, it was quite a steal. I would, really.

The Transit

As I’ve mentioned above, we transited through KL. Our connecting flight to KL was via KLIA. Trying to find the Golden lounge is just..ugh. We spent quite a fair bit of time trying to figure out how to transit through KL. And it involved going up and down. I can’t even.

We had 2 hours for our layover but by the time we figured out everything, we only had around 30min. The range of shops is disappointing, but you won’t be hungry at least.

Tips:

1. If you need a Sim card, there are booths on 3rd floor before immigration clearance. I took My Maxis for 30RM for 4gb worth of data.

2. If this is your first time doing transit, make sure you have around 2.5 hours of layover. The signage is very confusing. If you need to clear in and out…you will need more. Quite likely you’ll be in different terminals altogether, and you would still need to get your luggage and all.