Direct Flight vs Budget Carrier, is the savings worth it?

lynx on 15/03/2013 - 22:44
Last edited 18/03/2013 - 16:41

Hi Guys, back ground is, im going to my brothers bucks in vietnam at the end of june and what i have found so far is that air asia have a special on, return flights for $700 vs direct flights with Qantas/Vietnam airlines for $1250 + 30 booking fee.

budget option:
air asia flights goes : syd (8 hour flight) > kuala lumpur (2 hour stop over) > VN (2 hour flight)
return leg : vn (2 hour flight) > kuala lumpur (4 hour wait) > sydney (8 hour flight)
+$82 check in baggage
+100 food and snacks for flight there and back

Direct flight option:
syd > VN (9 hour flight)
return VN > syd (8.5 hour flight)
includes check in baggage
includes 2 meals each way.

so savings is around $400 with the above inclusions.

do you think its worth going on air asia flight with those wait times? esp coming home from a bucks week?
or pay the $400, not deal with the wait times, the longer travel and get everything included?

thanks.

Edit:

hi guys, after reading all your comments, you have convinced me to go with AA!! and what a savings it is!! let me explain:

booking with qantas/vn air or though skyscanner they charge you a booking fee of 30$ per passanger + cc fees in addition, i found out later while going though the quote, if you want to book 2 seats for some reason they jack up the price anothe $50 per person!!! so in the end it comes to about $1300!!!

with AA, i was able to get the flight for $738 this includes check in luggage of 15kg, no flight food, but ill add that later, food is about 3.9$ for the short flights and $5 for the international flight and no credit card fees or stupid booking fees!!

that comes to a $562 savings over the direct flight flying on the same days

thanks fellow ozbarginers,i had lost my way for a while there, you showed me the light again, saving this much cash far outways the little inconvenience.

Travel

Comments

  • TheAviator on 15/03/2013 - 23:25

    If you book AirAsia are you booking two separate tickets or is it a single ticket with a connection through KL? If it is two separate tickets, it could become quite expensive if for whatever reason you miss your connecting flight.

    However I have never transited through KL myself and don't know how long is required to make a connecting flight so perhaps someone else who has done it before would be more helpful. Generally speaking, I would always go with the most direct flight provided that it still meets my budget.

    • lynx on 16/03/2013 - 21:22

      nope, you book the ticket from syd to vn and it automaticly gives you the stop in KUL.

  • plmko on 15/03/2013 - 23:27
    -4

    Why don't you check Jetstar, pretty much the exact same service of Qantas.

    • JROX20 on 16/03/2013 - 00:07
      +23

      Said no one ever.

    • lynx on 16/03/2013 - 21:24
      +1

      yup, i checked jet star and…. NO WAY.. haahha there are 2 stops!! one in melb then in singapore then over to VN. total of 22 to 29 hours.. WTF?? thats nuts AND it they wanted to charge 1100 for that experiance.. no thanks, thats nuts.

  • epicaricacy on 16/03/2013 - 00:13
    +1

    $400 buys yo a lot in Vietnam. $100 for food and snacks> Unless you are an absolute non-stop eater and gorger you shouldn;t need that. Air Asia feeds are a few bucks each. Just buy a couple for dinner, along with a bag of jelly snakes.

    During the stopover in KL, use some of the money for a foot massage. $20 for a 1 hour, about $35 for a 2 hour.

    And you're asking this question on Ozbargain??

    • FromAtoZ on 16/03/2013 - 07:54

      Agree. 100$ for food n snack .. That would make u a non-stop eater. A pre-order meal costs less than aud8

      • lynx on 16/03/2013 - 21:25

        ahhahah you guys are right, but my thoughts behind estimating tthat was 50$ each way, spending food on the plane 2 meals and also spending on food during the connecting flights, ie, drinks, maccas.. heheeh

  • retiredfeline on 16/03/2013 - 00:21

    C'mon 4 hours transit is nothing. You can easily amuse yourself at KLIA. Just make sure it's one booking so that AA is responsible for making you connect.

    • ozAzn on 16/03/2013 - 08:43

      Have AA transferred to KLIA now? or are they still in LCCT? Because LCCT is one hole where 4 hours will bore the hell out of you.

      • retiredfeline on 16/03/2013 - 09:06

        LCCT is a terminal of KLIA. You can see that it's a subheading on the KLIA website. They use the same runways. Just as you would regard the DT and IT as both part of Sydney KSA.

        Just take along some music or video and amuse yourself. Or go to sleep. Travellers are used to doing this. Not every moment in a trip is filled with events. There is a lot of ennui that doesn't get into travelogues.

        • mskeggs on 16/03/2013 - 13:17

          Yes, but they are on opposite sides of the runway and it is a palaver to get from one to the other.

        • retiredfeline on 16/03/2013 - 19:09

          Yeah but if he's travelling AA all the way, he won't have to.

        • lynx on 16/03/2013 - 21:27

          no, i wont be organising the connecting flights, they are all done for you when you just put in SYD TO VN. it just stops over to KUL.

        • ozkiwi75 on 17/03/2013 - 02:22

          I agree, just take a movie or music to keep occupied. From memory, around the seats at the departure gates there is a building column which has about 10 electric sockets on it so travellers can charge up their mobile phones, tablets, mp3 players etc. But when they fit out the building they only installed Malaysian sockets. So you need to have a plug converter (they have 220v in Malaysia, so you won't need a transformer). For a terminal set up to have international travellers they are not very international! I suppose that's why it's a Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), BYO-plug converter!

          As for other things to keep you occupied at the gate waiting area, they have a duty free shop, a small cafe and bakery.

        • insular on 18/03/2013 - 14:32

          i never found a socket at the gates in the LCCT last time i travelled, at least not right at the gate. do what i did, unplug the plasma TV with boring ad loops on it if no-ones watching it and use that. their fault for not securing the power plugs. but don't be a bogan, plug it back in when you're done.

  • FromAtoZ on 16/03/2013 - 07:53

    I have always flied with airasia. Cheaper. Transit is boring but not so bad. They have free wifi in the crappie terminal.

    • ozkiwi75 on 17/03/2013 - 02:42

      Their free wifi was crappier than the terminal (if that's possible). When I tried it I could get a wifi connection, but I couldn't even check my e-mails, let alone read news!

  • FromAtoZ on 16/03/2013 - 07:56
    -1

    Deleted

  • Leeny57 on 16/03/2013 - 10:36
    +3

    As they said, this is Ozbargain !
    For what it is worth, yes terminal is crappy but my husband and i have been on a few flights with air asia and we were very impressed.
    For $400 I would definitely put up with the extra hours - after all the total travel hours is still way short of a flight to europe etc.
    If someone paid you to sit around reading magazines, listening to music at $40 per hour, for 10 hours are you telling me you wouldn't take it? That is effectively the same thing.

  • mskeggs on 16/03/2013 - 13:18

    Dude, you could buy an ultrabook with the savings? Doesn't that motivate you?

    • Daabido on 16/03/2013 - 14:08

      That wouldn't motivate me at all.

      • mskeggs on 16/03/2013 - 14:16
        +10

        A bottle of Grange Hermitage? A Hungry Jack's frozen Coke for every kid at your local Primary School. 579 pairs of Meritline tweezers? A Video Ezy weekly rental for 8 years? You could retire a fortnight earlier if you put it into super. HDMI cables to do 4 laps of an olympic swimming pool? You wouldn't have to get an ultrabook.

  • cno81 on 16/03/2013 - 16:53

    My wife and I are regular flyers of this route. When you add up all the optional extras including the outbound entertainment (inbound is overnight flight), even the blanket (which really riles me), it's never been as much as a $400 difference for us, closer to $250; VN/Qantas have a 30KG economy baggage allowance, 30KG on Air Asia is expensive.

    So comparing full-fare to full-fare (as you can get $600 returns, direct with Vietnam Airlines out of season), our opinion is that it's not worth suffering the extra discomfort of Air Asia + stop-over at the beginning and end of a holiday for this amount of savings. The last time we flew Air Asia they also lost (for 2 days) one of our bags in KL, a transfer only increases the risk of this.

    That being said, if it's really as much as $400 for you, VND 8,000,000 can go a long way in Vietnam, depending on how you travel and what you do, of course.

  • PissLUR on 16/03/2013 - 16:59

    Absolutely!

    I will always travel with budget airlines.. Save money!

    Used to spend ~900$ for perth-jakarta return. and ever since jetstar operates on this route.. I am only paying 300-400$ for a return ticket.

  • c64 on 16/03/2013 - 18:47
    +1

    if you haven't been to KL you could do an could do an overnight stopover in KL and have a poke around in KL.

    for a savings of $400 i'd go airasia

  • RockyRaccoon on 16/03/2013 - 19:21

    Having just booked a similar trip to Vietnam using Scoot and Jetstar Asia, in May, there are issues. Scoot cancelled their flight, and while I had an overnight in Singapore, I now need two. And I had to fight to get on an earlier flight. They defaulted to giving me a day after the original.

    Many travel insurance policies exempt delays due to the carrier cancelling, so you had better look at those policies carefully.

    Frankly any transiting with LC carriers really should include a stop over in the transiting city, especially for the flights out of Australia. For those out of other cities, if they have a number of flights during the day, then you are a little safer. (Australian flights are often only one a day, so you have no backup)

    Plus returning home, you dont have as many pre-booked accommodation/travel issues, which can compound if your outgoing flights get messed up. Like mine have (I had thought 17 hours transit would have covered me, but it didn't)

    As Mattgal suggests spend a night or two in KL on the way over.

    Also its a June flight, if you aren't getting a special with any of the airlines, I think you can wait.

    My Scoot fares to Singapore were $830 and Jetstar to Vietnam $168 which is for two giving it $500 return each, that included prebooked seats on Scoot, and 15kg Luggage each on JS and Scoot (return flights only). (Its a two hour flight on JS so I dont care about which seats)

    Also you can book your Visa to Vietnam on the web and show papers at arrival for cheaper Visa than via posting to Canberra. Search Cheapvietnam visa. I paid $US8 each and will need $US45 on entry. - BUT you apparently must have $US cash, which I have.

    Enjoy

    • lynx on 16/03/2013 - 21:31

      ohhh thanks for the tip on the visa!! ill have to look into that.

  • lynx on 16/03/2013 - 21:41
    +1

    hi guys, after reading all your comments, you have convinced me to go with AA!! and what a savings it is!! let me explain:

    booking with qantas/vn air or though skyscanner they charge you a booking fee of 30$ per passanger + cc fees in addition, i found out later while going though the quote, if you want to book 2 seats for some reason they jack up the price anothe $50 per person!!! so in the end it comes to about $1300!!!

    with AA, i was able to get the flight for $738 this includes check in luggage of 15kg, no flight food, but ill add that later, food is about 3.9$ for the short flights and $5 for the international flight and no credit card fees or stupid booking fees!!

    that comes to a $562 savings over the direct flight flying on the same days

    thanks fellow ozbarginers,i had lost my way for a while there, you showed me the light again, saving this much cash far outways the little inconvenience.

  • tko6070 on 16/03/2013 - 23:14

    I got return to Osaka for about $650 with Airasia, all the others started around $1050 with a stopover in Hong Kong or Singapore. I spend my savings on a weeks accommodation in Osaka. Why spend so much more for a short flight (relatively) when it can go so much further in different areas of your holiday budget. To be honest Airasia was far more comfortable that I expected I just took a neck pillow, eye mask and ear plugs with my tablet packed with movies and couldn't ask for more.

  • francis.tks on 16/03/2013 - 23:42

    Well for $400, and as a cheapskate student i would say that I will take budget anytime with that gap(probably no if its only 100). But if I am buying for my parents, it will be a hands down no(well, not that they want it too)

  • ssmith3104 on 17/03/2013 - 00:13
    +2

    When evaluating the question of taking an inferior but cheaper airline vs a better more expensive one for international trips, sometimes the duration of the journey is similar, but the comfort level is going to be different. In those cases, I almost always choose the cheap option because measured in $ per hour, I cannot justify the expensive carrier.

    However when the difference becomes one of TIME difference, I usually make the opposite choice. I highly value my vacation time as a scarce commodity, and I won't squander that time to an inefficient set of connections easily. Pick a price per hour that you reckon your time is worth and figure that into your calculations.

    Another important "time" matter to take into account is not only the duration of the journey, but what time of day is your departure and arrival vs the other airline. I recently considered connections from MEL back and forth to China. Travelling on Singapore Airlines takes a tad longer but is worth it, even at a higher price, because I got to leave Melbourne at the end of a business day (saving a day) and got to leave China to come home in the early evening, thus gaining an extra 2/3 of a day in China! The Chinese airline, who flew in the middle of the day both directions, pricing was $400 less but cost me, effectively, two days of time, even though the duration of travel+connections was slightly in their favour. Easy choice; Singapore Airlines.

    So, bottom lines for me is that I regard air journeys as inherently uncomfortable and therefore I won't pay much of a premium to be somewhat less uncomfortable on one versus another. BUT, I highly value my vacation time and therefore I WILL pay a premium where necessary to gain more effective vacation time.

    • sama on 17/03/2013 - 01:12

      Very true. Time is money, and vacation time is a precious commodity. I wouldn't necessarily trade extra cost for comfort level, but I might for time.

      • [Deactivated] on 17/03/2013 - 14:23

        Yeh and holiday time is even more important.

  • paulaus on 17/03/2013 - 03:53

    Mate your stop over times are not long, I fly budget airlines always and never pay over 400 return Gold Coast to Manila. I travel there every 6 weeks to see my gf sometimes wait 12 hours between flights but I can do 3 trips for the price of 1 on the expensive carriers.

  • [Deactivated] on 18/03/2013 - 01:42

    Be a brave OZBARGAINER and swim to Vietnam! You will save a lot of money!

    Seriously -> go for the direct flight, it is worth it.

  • voteoften on 18/03/2013 - 02:32
    +1

    Consider red carpet treatment for about $30 for your stop in KL. You get lounge access with shitty food and crappy beer, but you avoid the mess in the terminal. You do not wait in any lines. AA rep comes and gets you and takes you past all lines. If your flight is delayed, you get parked in the VIP lounge until they are truly boarding. For your 4 hour transfer it will definitely be worth it!

    • retiredfeline on 18/03/2013 - 10:51

      Interesting.

      http://www.airasia.com/au/en/at-the-airport/red-carpet.page

      Access to the lounge (Maximum 2 hours)

      Do they turf you out after 2 hours? I'm wondering about a layover which is 6 hours. Also

      Buggy service

      That's not good. :) (Yes, I know it's a ride in a buggy.)

      • voteoften on 19/03/2013 - 01:33
        +1

        I have spent 6 or 7 hours there.

        If overnight, they will know it and you cut a deal with the lounge people for the extra time. Might as well stay at Tune, but book ahead, Tune at LCCT has always been booked out when I was flying through.

        It is a van in my opinion. Not a buggy - out across the tarmac to the plane. They make everyone else wait on the tarmac until you board.

        I can not stress this enough. The beer in the lounge is DREADFUL. Muslim produced beer. Deliberately crap. You have to drink about 10 of the very small beers to stop noticing how crap they are.

        • retiredfeline on 19/03/2013 - 15:01

          Thanks, got it. Will either not touch the beer or drink lots of it. :)

  • leiiv on 18/03/2013 - 10:35

    Hi lynx, SYD to SGN return with Qantas is $1078 now:
    http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/international-fligh…

    You can avoid the booking fee by price matching the Qantas online with flight centre, assuming that they quote a higher price.
    With that price, I am not sure if the difference is still worth it.

    EDIT: A quick search in zuji reveals $809 with China Southern and $1056 with SQ, even cheaper than Qantas!

    • RockyRaccoon on 19/03/2013 - 16:55

      Why would you go China Southern, its nota direct flight and flight time in total is 18+ hours. AAX with stop over in KL is shorter.

      Just lower fares isnt just what you need to check :)

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