stopover singapore? Hong Kong? Kuala Lumpar???

[solar1]

hi

will be travelling one way whoo hoo to Welly NZ in september. Really wanna do a cheap stop over to break the flight up, for like 3 or 4 days.

Was looking at sinagpore, but a mate mentioned kuala lumpar, (sp).

Not sure, what does everyone think, and costs important, singapore looks well cheap , gotta book soon i think im delaying it on purpose, cos once its booked that the last thing left to do before i leave the UK.

scary but excited :cool

also anyone know any decent companies to book with, ebookers looks cheap, estimates for singapore ive had are 480 for flight at 99 pounds for hotels.

thanks

dave

[acisman]

Singapore is certainly a cheap option, although we have no knowledge of the other two locations. If you are stopping over for a few days ( Singapore does need a few days), you will find public transport and taxis very cheap.

We found booking direct with Singapore Airlines online to be the cheapest option, although Austravel were very close. Travelbag ( part of Ebookers) are a great company to deal with. Try Octopus Travel website for cheap hotels in Singapore or anywhere else.

We have done Singapore twice so if you decide to stop-over there and want some info on what to see etc., drop us a line.

Pam & Dave

[Miffy]

When we looked to fly over the cheapest we got was with Mlaysian airlines with a stop over either in KL or on a beach, inc free transfers BUT it only had 20k luggage allowance no exceptions even for migrants.

We then looked at going Air NZ via LA or San Fran .... there was nothing in the cost and in the end we went via LA then a stop over in the cook isalnds (other option was fiji)
Air NZ offer an amazing 64k luggage plus 7k hand luggage have huuuuuge leg room and now have seat back tv / games in economy... they won't be strkining forver ....

Booked with Trailfinders, went into one of their london stores but the are available over the 'net or on the phone. They were soooooo helpful and offered loads of altnatives / ideas. They were way cheaper than the others too.

[acisman]

Air New Zealand's baggage allowance via LA is 32 kilos, which they double if you are emigrating. If you travel east all the airlines allow only 20 kilos. However if you buy one way tickets and tell Singapore Airpore Airlines you are emigrating, they will increase the allowance to 25 kilos and the hand luggage to 7 kilos.

Our experience is that they will then allow a further 3 or 4 kilos at checkin.

There is also Excess Baggage Ltd who will air freight out to NZ 25 kilos at a cost of about £150. You can actually book this in at Terminal 3 at Heathrow when you leave and it will arrive in NZ about 5 days later. You have to pay for a minimum of 25 kilos and there are some MAF clearance charges in NZ, but it is still a lot cheaper than paying airline excess charges of £30-£35 per kilo !!

Pam & Dave

[Jo and Andy]

Interested in the ideas of Stopovers on the way (not LA) as we want to have a break on the way too.

Someone mentioned stopping at Singapore but going to an Island I think, can't remember who.

Any ideas of where you can go?

Who is best to book with.

Also what do you do about travel Insurance, do you need something special as migrating.

[baboonworld]

Singapore is nice and cheap for stopovers (i staying in a suite at the carlton for about £40!)
www.octopustravel.com

Emirates was cheap last time I flew and I booked with Travelmood (Leeds branch). Dubai is lovely for a stop over of a couple of days (stayed at Deira Metropolitan - which included breakfast and caught the free bus to their Metropolitan Beach Resort and lagged out on the beach all day! also did a sightseeing tour. Really nice.

All you guys that say Singapore Airlines are cheap online - do you mean through an online agent (eg ebookers) or direct - i always find they are really exp on their site!

[acisman]

Book Singapore Airlines using their website. I have never seen their prices beaten. However you will often find that the SA price is shown as the full price, This usually means you are trying to book too far in advance or too close to your departure date at which time discounted prices are not available. We have also experienced occasions when on one vist to the website discount fares were not available, but a couple of days later they were.

With regard to insurance, when emigrating you will find that a lot of travel insurance is not available because you are not ending the insurance period in the UK. We had annual worldwide insurance already valid when we emigrated, but on checking with the insurance company we found it was not valid. This was also the situation with several firms we tried, before we found one that covered us from the time we left UK until we arrived in NZ and included a 5 day Singapore stop-over.


Pam & Dave

[Tanya]

Air New Zealand's baggage allowance via LA is 32 kilos, which they double if you are emigrating.

Sorry to disagree but Air NZ luggage allowance is 2x suitcases not exceeding 32kg each regardless of whether you are emigrating or not.

Taken from Air NZ website:

Journeys to or from the USA, US territories, Canada and Papeete, including flights between New Zealand and the UK via Los Angeles (piece system)
The free allowance in all classes of travel is 2 pieces of baggage per person
No single piece of baggage should weigh more than 32kg
Each piece should not exceed total dimensions (length + width + height) of 158cm (62")
Star Alliance Gold Customers (including Airpoints Gold and Gold Elite) are permitted one additional piece of baggage with the same conditions as above
Infants are permitted one piece of baggage with a maximum weight of 32kg and maximum total dimensions (length + width + height) of 115cm (45"), plus either an infant's car seat or a collapsible umbrella stroller

Tanya

[Ebeee]

Hi Solar1,

I recently looked at stopping over in Hong Kong (if we get our visas). I looked on expedia.com You can choose any destination and date, one way or return, and also book hotels.

I found a flight leaving London HR on 29th Sept to Hong Kong (one way) for £317.10. The next flight leaving Hong Kong to Auckland was on 5th October (one way) £698.90. Hotels can also be booked/viewed depending on your budget.

I found it quite useful for comparison and a guide of what we are likely to pay.

Having been to Hong Kong I can certainly recommend it.

Good luck!

Ebeee :smile

[Jo and Andy]

Re Insurance,

I am looking into the POST Office insurance, they do something for Emigration you say how long you want it to cover you up to 17 days.

But what do you do then?