[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by navan49

Any one can recommend a budget hotel in Kulalumpur and Singapore and also budget travel from Kulalumpur to Singapore.

navan 1st of all what is your budget in INR for a day in KL or SG ? Both have good hotels to offer at budget rates but in Ringgits and SGD's :-) .
How many days do you intend to stay in KL and Singapore ? Also between KL and Singapore you can either take a bus or the air route.

I did the air route and since my tickets were booked much in advance worked out cheap. So let know what is that you are willing to spend for a day based on which we will help you.

[navan49]

Rjstyles,
It is nice of you to offer ur valuable services. I am in the initial stage of plan. My tentative plan is 2 days in Kul two days in Singapore and 2 to 3 days in Hk. When I checked in the net they give the quote for 2 persons. I am planning for a solo. I am retired and my budget is very limited. Total 30K Rs for travel food and lodge. If it is not working out I can drop one or two destination. Another 30K for shopping. Budget in KUl and Singapore per day is 1k to 1200 INR. Rest travel modes I am going to copy your travelogue. May be only buses. I am from Chennai will fly either from Chennai or Bangalore as per the lowest fare.May be from Trichy also but return to direct Chennai.This is my initial allocation and itinerary. Please suggest.

[woof]

Hi All,

I am planning a surprise trip for my parents to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand this October. They haven’t stepped out of India ever before. This is going to be their 1st international trip.

The Air Tickets have been booked – I got killer deals on Air Asia and Indigo Airlines. Below is going to be their itinerary:
• 03-Oct: Air Asia Flight from Delhi to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• 03-Oct to 07-Oct: Stay in Malaysia
• 07-Oct: Air Asia Flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore
• 07-Oct to 10-Oct: Stay in Singapore
• 10-Oct: Air Asia Flight from Singapore to Bangkok, Thailand
• 10-Oct to 14-Oct: Stay in Thailand (2 days in Pattaya, and 2 in Bangkok)
• 14-Oct: Indigo Airlines Flight from Bangkok to Delhi

That means, they are going to be there for 4 nights in Malaysia, 3 nights in Singapore and 4 nights in Thailand. The next part is to get their visa’s processed and hotels/tour packages booked.

So, I called up few of the popular travel agents like MakeMyTrip, DPauls, Yatra etc. For 11 nights, they are providing me a quotes of roughly Rs. 1.1 to 1.25 lakhs for a couple, which IMHO is too expensive. Their packages includes stay in 3 or 4 star properties, site seeing, entry tickets for major attractions like Sentosa, Genting, etc, hotel transfers, visa charges.. blah blah.

After getting their quotes, I did some home work and found that I can get good hotels (4 or 5 star properties) booked online on my own via sites like hotels.com for roughly 45k.

In this content, I need your help:
1. Can you please suggest any good hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Pattaya and Singapore that are nice, affordable, and centrally located (don’t want my parents to stay too far off from city centers)? My budget is about Rs 4-5k per night inclusive of breakfast.
2. Is it advisable to book through a travel agent (even though they are charging exorbitantly), because personally, I feel that for the cost they are charging, there does not seems to be any value addition??
3. If I book everything on my own, please suggest various attractions and suitable itinerary (keeping above flight bookings in mind) that should be must visit for my parents. How can I book entry tickets for these attractions online on my own? Is there any way? Or, will it better if they make these bookings when they reach there themselves?
4. Which is the best place to shop for clothes and electronics amongst these 3 countries?

Looking forward to your help and guidance. Thanks in advance!

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by navan49

Rjstyles,
It is nice of you to offer ur valuable services. I am in the initial stage of plan. My tentative plan is 2 days in Kul two days in Singapore and 2 to 3 days in Hk. When I checked in the net they give the quote for 2 persons. I am planning for a solo. I am retired and my budget is very limited. Total 30K Rs for travel food and lodge. If it is not working out I can drop one or two destination. Another 30K for shopping. Budget in KUl and Singapore per day is 1k to 1200 INR. Rest travel modes I am going to copy your travelogue. May be only buses. I am from Chennai will fly either from Chennai or Bangalore as per the lowest fare.May be from Trichy also but return to direct Chennai.This is my initial allocation and itinerary. Please suggest.

At 30k you should be able to find good deals. I would say try and club KL and Singapore and spend time shopping and seeing these places. Instead of doing a cramped trip on a tight schedule do it at leisure and make the best use of it. You need atleast 3 days at KL if you place to see the places I have listed in my triplog.

At KL I think it was Bintang Warisan which was the best budget hotel. However you can look up this link for hotels in KL : Bukit Bintang Hotels - Where to Stay in Bukit Bintang .

Try and stay around Bukit Bintang itself since its the city center. My trip log is here (They say " Selamat Datang " ::My Singapore and Malaysian séjour) and we stayed at the Grand Millenium, it was around 4500 bucks a night after bargaining with them.

Cant comment on singapore coz I stayed with my family there. So I really dint bother about my stay rather spent most of that money on shopping.

Originally Posted by woof

Hi All,

I am planning a surprise trip for my parents to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand this October. They haven’t stepped out of India ever before. This is going to be their 1st international trip.

Are you traveling with them ? If yes then please don't go to any of these travel agents, book everything all by yourself and take them around.

For hotels in KL please check the link that I have posted in response to navans post. Shopping I would say keep it limited when it comes to electronics. You might find one off good deals at Sgp, otherwise not worth the money you spend.Usually its the womenfolk who come back with big shopping bags after a stroll.

The best part is that if you plan and do the trip all by yourself you have a lot of flexibility . When in a group with other travelers its always time bound. So think about it.

[navan49]

It is a tiresome job booking Airasia. They have introduced the offer wef 21.30 Hours yesterday. I tried and tried almost 22 Hours the Airasia site keep me waiting in the websites waiting room and never transferred for booking.So finally getting decided to go for Tiger airs February offer from Chennai. So almost finalized the trip for 12 to 14 days. 9th Feb Chennai- Singapore-Hongkong 15th February to Singapore 15th to 18th February Singapore. 18th to KL and may 22nd Feb to Chennai Either from KL or Singapore.depends on the airfare.

[navan49]

KL HK SG Tour update.
My tour has been finalized and the cost from Chennai to Kl 6th Feb. Halt till 9th in KL 9th feb leaving to Hongkong and will put up with my friends family till 13th February and visit the places.14th to Singapore and leaving to Chennai on 17th Valetine day till evening in Hongkong and night in Singapore..Airways booked MAA-KL-HK By Airasia HK to Singapore by jetstar and SG to MAA By tiger airways. Package 22700. Booked by us only. Accommadation arranged in Singapore and Hongkong. KL not yet finalised.

[vinukm]

I am resurrecting a old thread as I was not able to get the correct one.

Planning for a surprise trip with my better half for this valentines day for Thailand. Honestly this will be my first international trip and no plans. We have passports which are fresh and not stamped yet :(

I am exploring if we can plan one in such a short notice if yes some pointers will be helpful.

[arun_kun]

Originally Posted by vinukm

I am resurrecting a old thread as I was not able to get the correct one.

Planning for a surprise trip with my better half for this valentines day for Thailand. Honestly this will be my first international trip and no plans. We have passports which are fresh and not stamped yet :(

I am exploring if we can plan one in such a short notice if yes some pointers will be helpful.

Hi Vinukm, Thailand has on arrival visa, so that takes care of surprise part of your requirement. Thai people are very friendly and courteous and we can spot lot of Indian tourists also. And you can find very good resorts/hotels at decent prices(almost same as Indian hotels). So this would be very good first international trip to do. If you are beach bum and your ideal vacation is enjoying the one of the best beaches, then head to Phuket/Krabi. If you are clubbing and partying which you are aiming for then you can visit Bangkok and Pataya.