Kuala Lumpur - A great Asian megalopolis!

Walk into any of the major Asian cities and you’re going to find some similarities: chaotic traffic, masses of people, hazy skies…..Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok, Beijing and Shanghai all have it.

But, having now been in KL just 2 days, I’ve got a great feeling about this place. This is one awesome Asian megalopolis, a place that has somehow managed to steal the best bits of lots of other big Asian cities, whilst leaving lots of the worst bits behind. Two days here and I love it!

Transport
There are two sides to transport in KL: Yes, it is cheap and easy to use, but in peak hour it is massively congested.

Staying in the city centre is great because there is a lot within walking distance. The monorail or metro (LRT) costs about 30-80c per trip depending on how far you're going and, worst case scenario, taxis are plentiful and cheap too.

Taxis in and around KL are safe to catch, though depending on where you take them the driver might refuse to run the meter (particularly if you are taking the cab from a touristy area like Chinatown) and want to negotiate a fixed price.

Wherever possible, insist that your driver uses the meter. If not, either find another taxi or remember that short trips around KL (e.g. the hotel to Chinatown) shouldn’t cost more than about 10 ringgit (depending on traffic).

Food
The food in Malaysia is an absolute highlight. From the hawker stalls on the roadsides (which are for the most part fine to eat from unless you've got a really sensitive stomach) to the restaurants, it's hard to go wrong.

Malaysian food is influenced by the country's three main cultural sub-groups: Malays, Indians and Chinese. Mix them together and you've got a culinary dream!

If you head into a food court you can generally pick up a meal for about AUD$1.50-3, and you'll be full afterwards! Restaurants are more pricey but still cheap by Australian standards - $10 will get you a great meal just about everywhere unless you are really going upmarket.

People
The Malaysian people are fabulous - really friendly and smiley. English is spoken everywhere (we've had only rare instances where someone we've met hasn't spoken excellent English) making it really easy to get around.

The city is really clean, connected to the world by super-cheap airfares (thanks to Air Asia) and definitely worth visiting. It would be a great place in which to undertake studies or an internship.

Frequent Flyer Points

When you fly it is normally possible for you to accumulate frequent flyer points.

Definitely sign up for the frequent flyer program of the airlines you fly! The cost of the program is calculated in your airfare, so you should make the most of it!

Frequent flyer points are points that you receive for each mile you fly (normally you get 1 point for each mile you fly) as long as you have booked an airfare that is eligible for frequent flyer point accrual. These days, many of the super special airfares don't accumulate points, but then again you are getting a great price!

The more you fly with a particular airline, or airline network, the more points you earn which can then be redeemed for free flights. Trust us, this is worth doing! We have earned free flights to Europe, New Zealand, Asia and New Caledonia over the years!

Airline Networks
Most airlines these days are part of airline networks.

Airlines in these networks have agreements so that if you have your frequent flyer points with, say, Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance network) and fly with another airline in the network, you will still accumulate points towards your Singapore Airlines account.

The major networks are:

Star Alliance: Our preferred network which includes the best airlines and most destinations worldwide.

Airlines include: Singapore Airlines, Thai Airlines, United Airlines, Scandinavian, Lufthansa, Swiss, South African Airways, US Airways, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Air China and many more.

One World: The One World network includes Qantas, British Airways, LAN Chile and Japanese Airlines (JAL) amongst others. Not a bad network.

Sky Team: The much smaller Sky Team network includes Air France, KLM, Delta, Aeromexico, Korean Air and China Southern. The network does not have good links into Australia.

Useful Frequent Flyer Point Resources

Webflyer: Mileage Calculator to help work out how many points you'll earn for certain flights and lots of other forums and tools.

Flyer Talk: Lots of forums and information about Frequent Flyer programs.

How to Book Flights

Everyone likes to find the best price on their airfare - that's totally natural! Here is how we go about booking our flights when we travel internationally.

1. Work out the dates you want to travel
Check out our post about working out when you should arrive at your host institution.

2. Check out a couple of sites online to get an idea of prices
Online sites are getting easier and easier to use in order to search for international airfares.

The two sites that we use are:
Expedia.com.au
and
Zuji travel

These sites are great because you can search as much as you like and it is very easy to book. They are very powerful in that they can search multiple airlines (and sometime multiple destinations) at once.

3. Choose your preferred airline and search their website
Once you've used the search engines to identify suitable airlines, go directly to the airline's webpage and check the price they offer for the same flight.

Usually the price will be the same or similar as the online travel search engines (see step 2). If so, we will often book using Expedia or Zuji just to have the support of another organisation behind us if something were to go wrong with our travel plans (i.e. you can ask them to sort out changes for you instead of having to deal with the airline yourself).

4. Finally, go to a travel agent to compare prices
A good travel agent may be able to find other flight routings, airlines or dates that help make your flight cheaper or easier. However, if the travel agent doesn't come back with a better price we always book online.


AIM Overseas' recommended airlines
Finally, here are the airlines that we usually fly. Of course, it all depends where you want to go!

To Europe: We fly Singapore Airlines whenever possible.
The cheapest way to fly to Europe is to fly Air Asia X to London via Kuala Lumpur. Note this is a discount carrier, so your flights will be efficient and no-frills.

To North America: We recommend V Australia. New planes and great service make this the best way to get to the USA. You may need to book onward flights separately.

To Asia: Lots of airlines fly to Asia, so who we fly depends on where we need to go.
Singapore Airlines is our choice carrier, though we've also had great experiences on Thai, Asiana and Cathay Pacific.

Air Asia X is most often the cheapest way to fly to Asia cities, connecting via Kuala Lumpur.

To South America or Africa: There aren't many direct options from Australia to these destinations and you'll most likely end up on Qantas.

Round the World: The beautiful round-the-world option is a great way to see heaps for a great price. We strongly recommend the Star Alliance network which incorporates many of the world's best airlines and gives you access to the widest range of destinations on a single round-the-world itinerary.

Also check out our post on frequent flyer points.


Other Useful Online Tools

Here are some other tools that you'll find very useful when booking flights:

Seat Guru: A MUST to check out EVERY TIME YOU TRAVEL. Seat Guru has reviews of every seat on every type of plane for every airline. This allows you to check if you have been given a good seat or a crap seat by your travel agent or when you check-in online.

Seat counter: For people who know what they're looking for - find how many seats are still available in particular booking classes for flights.

When should I arrive at my host institution?

A common question is 'When should I plan to arrive at my host institution?'

Here is a guide.

1. Check what day your program begins

Most often, programs actually begin on a Monday with classes, meaning that the arrival day for the program will be the Sunday before classes begin. For some programs, however, the arrival day is either the first Monday of the program or even the Saturday before, so read your program information carefully.

2. Plan how much time you want to allow for pre-program sightseeing and adjusting to time difference
We normally recommend that students arrive in the correct time zone at least 2 days prior to the start of their program. This allows for plenty of time to adapt to the rhythm of being in a different country, culture and time zone - your body will definitely appreciate having the time to adjust to the new sights, sounds, smells and sleeping pattern!

Most students also like to plan on some time to do some travelling before or after their program. Remember that you'll definitely meet people on your program, so travelling at the conclusion of your program allows you to plan trips with new friends.

3. Ensure you know when you are able to move into your accommodation

Finally, make sure you've checked when you are able to move into your program accommodation and that you've got the address with you. In the case that you'll be brought to your accommodation as part of a group, make sure you've noted the meeting place for the group and know how to get there. Google Maps is a great way to be able to find locations in Australia and abroad.

4. Book your flights accordingly

Book your flights according to what you have worked out to be your ideal date to arrive. If you want further advice, you can always contact AIM Overseas and we're happy to help!
Check out our post on booking flights here.

Arriving in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur International Airport is located about 75km from the city centre - quite a haul as international airports go. The airport itself has three times won 'World Airport of the Year' in the definitive annual Skytrax poll.

There are two main ways to get from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to downtown Kuala Lumpur: train or taxi.

A train will set you back about 35 Malaysian ringgit, about AUD$14, and the express service takes you all the way to KL Sentral station in about 35 minutes with no stops. See the KLIA Ekspress website for more information.

Once you get off at KL Sentral you'll then either need to connect onto public transport or take a taxi to your final destination in the city.

A taxi will cost you roughly double the train but will, of course, take you right to where you want to go.

Taxi tariffs from the airport to the city centre are fixed according to 'zones'. It currently costs about 70 MYR (AUD$30) for a taxi right to your destination. As soon as you pass through customs you'll find a desk selling tickets for the taxis. Pre-purchase your taxi ticket here. Make sure you get the 'budget' option ticket as they have a tendancy to automatically sell you the 'luxury' option if you're not paying attention (which costs more than double!)

The taxi ride will take about an hour to cover the 70km, all depending on the state of traffic as you get into the centre of KL. Taxis in KL are safe and you should have no issues from the airport. Tipping is not required.