At one minute past midnight on Friday 6th May, Malaysia Airlines launches a range of very short-term deals designed to stimulate the British appetite to visit South East Asia. With a whole range of places that you probably want to go to on sale for under £350, here's the lowdown you need on how it works- or, possibly, doesn't.
Q. When can I travel?
From 15 August to 11 December 2011, and 16 January to 31 March 2012.
Q. What's the best bargain?
£305 return for a non-stop from Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur is unprecedented, especially since £85 of this goes straight to the Chancellor in Air Passenger Duty. And if you change planes to one of the frequent short-haul services on Malaysia Airlines, the deals look even better. Lots of places that are normally expensive to reach are on offer for absurdly low fares: Bali for £340 return; Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) for £350; Manila for £343. The last time I travelled to these locations - via Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore respectively - I paid around twice as much.
Q. What's the catch?
It's a big one. There's a cap of 10,000 on the number of ex-UK economy seats. That works out at just 50 seats per day on the current twice-daily schedule from Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur.
The more popular the travel date, the less likely it is that you will be able to secure a ticket. Midweek dates in November, and during the last three weeks in January, are likely to prove fruitful – but experience suggests that weekends and anywhere near a school holiday will be problematic. You will be able to combine fares, eg get a really cheap deal outbound and a 'normal' priced ticket inbound. Before the deal went live, I tested the prevailing fares, and a standard Heathrow-Kuala Lumpur return was £780. So you could expect to pay £543 for a London-KL return. Q. Why are they doing this?
To stimulate business from the UK - and it's working. Before I got wind of the deal, I had no intention of visiting the region in the coming winter. But the bargains are so good, that I'll decide to go. The last similar promotion was in June 2009 by Singapore Airlines; even though I didn't get one of the really cheap tickets, I happily flew to Singapore for £420 return.
Q. I've already booked a much more expensive trip on Malaysia Airlines. Will I get a refund on the difference?
Sadly, no. The evening before the deal 'went live', there was no clue of the deals to come. And, as with everything in travel, if you agree a price at a particular time, you're usually locked into it.
Q. Can we expect any more like this?
Yes, but not predictably. Last week, Lufthansa came out with some brilliant deals to China for travel in the next few months; Etihad of the UAE has a short-term promotion this week with excellent deals to the Gulf. It all depends on how desperate the airlines are with Brits - who, famously, will help to fill up planes, but only at the right price.
If this is too late, try Air Asia, even cheaper.
No comments:
Post a Comment