Why I haven't flown Tiger Airways yet

I will probably end up using them someday but in the meantime, below are the 2 reasons why I haven't used them yet.

This will sound a lot like I work for Jetstar Asia but obviously I don't. I have to compare against Tiger's main competitor here in Singapore. I'd love it if these reasons could be wiped off - Tiger flies to some nice places.


1. The weirdly high taxes and surcharges
For some weird reason, it costs Tiger Airways more to use the supposedly Budget Terminal than it does Jetstar Asia to use Terminal One. And even when flying back from the same overseas airport, it's somehow more expensive for Tiger than Jetstar.

In this example shown below, it's more than $50 cheaper per person (on taxes and fees) to fly by Jetstar and enjoy Terminal One. And just $46 more expensive (again on taxes and fees) to fly by SIA and enjoy Terminal Two.

Tiger Airways is either getting screwed by all the airports or trying to screw people.




2. The sneakiness
It always looks like they're trying to hide some fees in an attempt to make their fares look cheaper and trick travellers who aren't paying proper attention.

If you saw the picture above, you'd be thinking well Tiger Airways is still the cheapest. But other than the fact that this example was captured in the middle of their promo, I'd still have to add the below charges:

-- $20 - for a seat selection fee of $5 per person per flight. True, this is optional but I want to compare against exactly what Jetstar gives.

-- $20 again - for a "convenience fee" of $5 per person per flight. The convenience fee is so I can pay by credit card on their website. Not that any other option is available. I wouldn't mind the inconvenience of paying at a SingPost SAM or walking down to a Tiger Airways counter if that would save me $20 per trip.
And when I said sneakiness, I really meant this fee. It never gets included in the big bold SubTotal amount. Instead, it's in a small box below in a smaller font and then only gets added at the last possible moment, just where you enter your credit card details.

Sneaky sneaky.

2008 In Review - Trips

As 2008 comes to an end, it's time to reflect back on some of the good stuff it brought. I'll start with my great trips of 2008. This excludes 2 short trips to KL in January and August.


08-16 June - Hua Hin and Bangkok, Thailand
Stayed At:
08-11 - Hua Hin Marriott Resort & Spa, Hua Hin
11-13 - Hilton Hua Hin Resort & Spa, Hua Hin
13-16 - Eastin Hotel and Spa, Bangkok

Background:
All thanks to a Team Conference held in Hua Hin. In my first visit to my favourite country since Chiang Mai in Feb 2006, happily extended the company-sponsored 3 nights with 2 more nights to fully explore Hua Hin and surrounding attractions and 3 nights in Bangkok.

Impressions:
A new destination to explore + an old favourite, good value hotels, free booze, Iron Man in a Bangkok cinema and a total of 8 nights in Thailand. Overall, a great fun trip.


09-13 August - Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Stayed At: Blue Lime. It had opened just days before we arrived, so new in fact that there wasn't a sign at the front door - that cost me some walking around with luggage. But nice hotel with pretty much all the furniture in concrete, loved the pool, great value for money at US$40 per night.

Background:
Booked this trip just 2 weeks before the departure date. Had considered Phnom Penh for the trip in November but dropped it in favour of HCMC. But when the long wait to November and a Jetstar promotion gave me itchy feet, Phnom Penh it was! Then dropped Jetstar because of their crappy schedules and this ended up as our first time flying SilkAir.

Impressions:
Was fun to visit a new city, a new country, even one with such a sad history. The motorcyclist taxis constantly hounding us and the beggar kids were a pain. But it was a beautiful place, easy to get around, easy to book sightseeing tours, with plenty of great and reasonably priced food.

Big fan of Cambodia's e-Visa system. Easy to use, pretty fast processing and it only cost US$25. This definitely makes it very attractive to visit Cambodia.


01-05 November - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Stayed At: Blue River Hotel. Continuing our trend of staying at cheaper but good hotels. This one cost US$27 a night. Will be hard to find a cheaper hotel anywhere else that's as good as this one.

Background:
Booked this trip way back in early July, before even the Phnom Penh trip. Our first time flying one of the budget airlines went to Jetstar. Our flights were alright and on time, so will probably use them again.

Impressions:
Again a city in a country I hadn't visited before, always fun to explore. Had read and heard a lot about how hard it is to cross the streets because of all the motorcycles but didn't really have that much trouble.

Loved Pho 24 and their Yoghurt dessert drinks, the excellent coffees available just about everywhere, the majestic Jesus statue and sunbathing in Vung Tao, the water puppet shows.

Not a big fan of the tour companies in Ho Chi Minh City. Limited tour choices, the prices really aren't that great and they're just too happy dumping 40 people in a coach instead of having smaller groups. It got even worse at the Cu Chi Tunnels, where our group got merged with at least 3 others. The tour guide, although funny with this $3-note jokes, didn't get a tip from us.

Also definitely not a fan of the hefty Vietnam visa fees which cost more than my plane ticket. Vietnam is a beautiful country but those visa fees will make me think twice before heading to Hanoi, Da Nang or any of their many places of interest.

Suzhou

As we bear down on our last days in Shanghai, we went on a day trip to Suzhou on Saturday and came back tired but a little disappointed. While Suzhou was still mildly interesting, it didn't live up to the hype brought by two obviously too boastful (typical Chinese) phrases commonly associated with it in travel guides.
1. In heaven there is paradise, on earth there is Hangzhou and Suzhou.
>> Chiang Mai beats Hangzhou and Suzhou any day of the year.
2. Gardens to the south of Yangtze River are the best in the world, and Suzhou gardens are the best among them.

We first visited the Master Of The Nets Garden. The travel guides repeatedly singled it out as the most beautiful one. But one look at it and I knew we wouldn't be in for a day of beauty. A pic here below showing the pond at the centre of it all at this garden.



We then went for lunch. Much like Suzhou, it was decent but not spectacular. And with our stomachs full, we went to the Lion Grove Garden and got the workout we needed. This garden was our favourite on this trip and much of it has to do with the mazy paths, complete with stairs and bridges, through the limestone rocks. A fun time and well worth the RMB30 entrance fee.





Our last paid stop was at the Tiger Hill with its leaning pagoda. At RMB60 per entry, this was the biggest disappointment. I'm usually a sucker for these types of old pagodas and this one was nice but not worth the hefty entrance fee. After seeing the awe-inspiring Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai for 0 baht, this one left a sour taste in my mouth.



We then stopped at Hanshan Temple but did not find it worth paying another RMB25 to go in. Not helping matters was the fact that we reached there at 16:45 and the sign by the ticket office said it closed at 16:30 even though it was still selling tickets to the hordes of group tourists.

Our last stop in Suzhou was at a nice little shopping street where the women did some shopping while I did some waiting. Only minus point here was the annoying bicycle taxi drivers always pestering us to hitch a ride in their death traps.



These next 2 pics are my favourite among the ones taken in Suzhou. They don't feature the gardens, so that should be enough to tell you loads about how much I rated those.

Cute little puppy under the display cases of a stall peddling touristy stuff at the Master Of The Nets Garden. There were at least 4 puppies under there.



The sunset sky as I was waiting for the women at the shopping street.

Bullet Train to KL

Nice little article from TODAYonline.com below about a proposed bullet train between Singapore and KL.

I wonder whether the liberalisation of air links between Singapore and Malaysia will hurt this project. The planes will probably start flying to KL by the end of this year while this bullet train will take a few years to materialise.

But I'm hoping the bullet train still comes through. I much prefer simple fares with no added taxes for security, airport handling and everything else they can come up with. And this will be more convenient than the planes because the passengers will get dropped much closer to the City Centre. KLIA rocks but it's still about an hour away from the action.

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The people behind the operating systems of the North-East and Circle MRT lines want to be the driving force behind the proposed bullet train rail linking Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Philippe Mellier, president of Alstom Transport, said yesterday his company was "very interested" in developing the bullet train, which would cut normal rail travel time from the current seven hours or so to just 90 minutes. He pointed to Alstom's experience in the Asia Pacific region — which includes building Korea's KTX high-speed train connecting Seoul and Pusan — as an advantage for the French company.

"We are by far the biggest manufacturer of high-speed trains in the world," Mr Mellier said.
"We know the region, we know the requirements and we have experience in exporting our technology far from home."

Alstom Transport occupies the No 2 market position in urban rail transport and has an annual turnover of €5.1 billion ($10.2 billion). A consortium led by Malaysian company YTL Corp is the only party that has presented a proposal for a bullet train service between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Preliminary studies showed the US$2.3-billion ($3.5-billion) project is feasible but the Malaysian government has not made any decision. Last month, Singapore's Transport Minister Raymond Lim indicated he was open to the proposal if it benefits both countries.

Mr Mellier, who was here for a Metro workshop, said conditions are "ideal" for the construction of a high-speed rail system between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Millions of people live in and could commute between the two cities, he said, envisioning a train that would travel at about 350kmh — giving air travel a run for its money.

Asked about Singapore's public transport, Mr Mellier suggested building a tram system around Orchard Road and the Central Business District. Though it would involve a bigger start-up investment, he said, a tram system could carry three times the capacity of buses while conserving a quarter of the energy.

Liberalisation of Air Links with Malaysia

Interesting article from channelnewsasia.com below.

I'm still not too hot about budget airlines. It annoys me that I can almost never get the super discounted fares whenever I do a search. And even when I do get something reasonably close to the lowest of the low, the various added taxes usually end up dwarfing the fares and the whole thing doesn't look like such a good deal after all.

That said, when the budget airlines start flying to the promised destinations in Malaysia, I'll be there again clicking on their websites. My baby car will still be driving me to KL but maybe the budget airlines can bring me to Langkawi, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. Now if only the hotels offered cheaper rates too ...

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Budget carriers based in Singapore are eagerly awaiting the liberalisation of air links with Malaysia now that the two countries have agreed, in principle, to open up the current aviation agreement.

Though details of the proposed liberalisation have yet to be announced, budget carriers are already eyeing certain destinations in Malaysia.

Budget carriers, like Tiger Airways and Jetstar, see the opening up of the aviation playing field as a positive step in the right direction.

Flying from Singapore into Malaysian cities would mean a huge boost not just in tourism, but also in business links.

Chong Phit Lian, CEO, Jetstar Asia Airways, said: "Once it's opened up, it'll open a lot more visitation, that's for sure. What you used to think twice to do, you'll do it faster and you'll probably invite more relatives and friends to visit you in Singapore. There'll be a great surge in interest for family, friends and for short holidays. If you do a rough estimate based on capacity, it will probably be two or three times more."

Under a 34-year-old agreement, national carriers from both sides have monopolised the Singapore-KL route, with more than 200 flights a week.

And with budget carriers entering the scene, it will create a very competitive environment in terms of ticket prices.

Besides Peninsular Malaysia, destinations further north and into East Malaysia could become more attractive to travellers.

"If it opens up and we're given a chance to choose, we definitely would like to go to KL, Ipoh, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and beyond, typically. We're also working out with Malaysian travel agencies to understand their needs and if there's a demand. If we can serve the market, we'll definitely consider those routes," said Ms Chong.

Tony Davis, CEO, Tiger Airways, said: "Ultimately, the consumers will decide how big the market becomes. There's a big increase in passenger services when we enter the market. We expect that to happen in Malaysia. The market is important to us. It's close to Singapore and it suits our model of high frequency services. With a budget terminal here, we can offer low fares. There'll be a lot of demand."

No matter where the destinations are going to be, two things are certain – budget carriers said it would be cheaper to fly to Malaysia from Singapore and there would be more options for travellers.

Desaru

Some pics of the Pulai Desaru Beach Hotel and the beach there. Drove there and stayed for 1 night in early February, had a great time.