MAS fair and Airasia free tickets – who to go for?
When I saw that MAS and Airasia were going head to head with promotions, I knew it was a good time to get my bearings right and book a ticket for an upcoming holiday. Nevermind to where – whats important is that you get a cheap air ticket.
Here’s a site that shows a quick comparison between the two airlines and how they fair in the airfare wars.
As I expected, there is a catch to both airlines’ fares. One requires you to book far far ahead while another offers immediate departure. One offers no fuel surcharge while the other does charge the fuel surcharge.
In the end, it comes down to where you want to go and when. If you plan to go during the MAS travel period, go with MAS – even if its a few dollars more expensive, the comfort makes up for it. If you are planning to fly outside the MAS travel period, go with Airasia – its cheaper.
Which did I choose? SIA!
HAha….
Do you want to subscribe to a time share?
This is purely my view only so if you have had a bad experience with time shares I sympathise. Thus far, mine are fairly decent ones. I am a member of a time share where essentially, we pay RMX and get Y nights a year to stay at any hotel or resorts locally and worldwide. I actually got my package at a good price so I won’t complain too much.
I have used the time share nights allocation both locally and internationally and both times, I have no complaints. In fact, its saved me a ton of money on hotel rooms and vacation rentals which I would otherwise have to pay anyway!
If you are looking for a time share, you might want to bear these points in mind:-
- There are usually annual fees payable which aren’t that high but can add up.
- If you don’t use up your allocated nights within a certain period they are forfeited which means you end up losing money on them.
- If you don’t book early you risk not having any space available at your chosen hotel or resort or having to pay extra surcharges for an upgraded room
- You have to plan your holidays well in advance.
- You won’t be able to use your allocations in all hotels – some hotels might require a surcharge.
As I have said above, I have had decent experiences with my time share company (I will not name them) and my savings from overseas accommodation has far surpassed whatever I paid to join. So, for me, I would recommend it for those who plan their vacations in advance. Otherwise you might just want to stick to booking your hotels online.
Great Singapore Sale 2008 – Was it?
I was down in Singapore last weekend and hit up the Great Singapore Sale 2008. Most stores were on sale which was to be expected. The big departmental stores were also open till late on Saturday (till 11pm) for late night shopping with special offers thrown in for purchases made during that time.
The sale started in late May 2008 but I found that the discounts were not as wonderful as I had thought they might be. Fair enough, the choices and brands available in Singapore far surpass those found in Malaysia but with the not very hefty discounts, I found that most items were about the same price here in Malaysia anyway.
One exception would be the branded stuff – queues were found outside Gucci and Prada but discounts were only a maximum of 30%. That said, selection was good and I found that there were many other designs available there. The stores were actually crowded to the point that crowd control was necessary! You don’t see these sorts of things happening here.
Ended up with a couple of dresses which I haven’t had the time to take photos of and some shower gels from The Body Shop which were only S$9.90 (but free for me because of a $10 voucher I got from spending over $100 on a dress 
) so yeah it was a decent shopping trip overall, but is it worth making a trip down just for the sale?
I don’t really think so.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Free Tickets
Taking a leaf from AirAsia’s book, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is now offering FREE TICKETS! Granted, its only for domestic flights within Malaysia and only the ticket is free. You still have to pay for taxes and administration costs.
You can only get them by booking online at the Malaysia Airlines Website. The booking period is May 5-19 2008 and you must book at least 30 days before your intended flight. The tickets are non refundable nor exchangeable so you better be very sure you want to fly then.
The site is jamming up due to high traffic I suspect, so best to try later in the day or early in the morning. If you are planning a local holiday, now would be a good time to fly on a proper commercial airline without the hassle of a low budget airline.
So, got your MAS free tickets yet?