Have you ever been on a trip that you have loved so much that you want to do it all over again? Like, checking Google flights before your flight home has even left the runway? I don’t mean heading back to the same holiday home you’ve visited with your family every year since you were a kid. Or hitting the same Mediterranean island you’ve been to over and over because you know you’ll have an amazing time (like taking 12 trips to Ibiza. Who would do something THAT crazy?!!). No, I mean that big , bucket list adventure that is supposed to be a once in a lifetime, but…wasn’t. Well, not six months after my trip around the world, I found myself confronted by an INSANE deal to re-run it, in reverse, with a few tweaks. What was I supposed to do, your honour?!
What? Why? Where? How?
So what am I talking about? The longest (current) non-stop flight in the world of course! Looking back at my post from last year, my bougie self practically sneered at the idea of taking this flight in the ‘cheap’ seats after experiencing it in business class. Which is why when it saw premium economy seats from JFK – SIN posted online for around £400, I firmly swiped left. I checked back a couple of times. The fare went away. One seat came back… F**k it.
I’m an AV Geek. That’s my why. And in the interests of being thorough, why wouldn’t I want to experience this iconic flight in both directions and all available classes?
A few posts back and forth on Flyer Talk, a couple of YouTube videos watched and next thing I knew I was on the Singapore Air website clicking ‘book now’. I didn’t even bother to clear time off work first.
Singapore, here I come. Again.
Building (another) around the world trip
Yes Singapore. Again. And New York. Again. Given that I had completed a trip that featured both cities just six months previously, I needed to build an itinerary that was sufficiently different and offered enough new experiences to justify the time and effort. Also, after ticking off my bucket list baller-style – business class flights and all – I was going to have to make this trip happen on a much, much smaller budget.
Challenge accepted.
Stop #1
My main flight, Singapore Air SQ23, was leaving JFK at 22:30 on Sunday 28 April – and landing at Singapore Changi at 05:30 on Tuesday 30 April. Yes really. You don’t often think about how much time you can lose travelling West to East around the world. A few hours, maybe. But a whole day??! Yes, I would ‘regain’ some of that time on the way back, but this would have a big impact on my schedule. And the jetlag…
I had to be back by Bank Holiday Monday (6 May), so depending on when I booked my initial positioning flights, I’d be away about a week, give or take. I didn’t want to hang around too long in NYC. Though it is one of my favourite cities, I was shocked by how much everything cost last October. My hotel was a s**thole and cost nearly $200 a night. Cocktails were $20-25 a pop (+ tip!), brunch with my aunties about $180 (it was my treat). Even the bags of Reeses I brought back for the office cost me bloody $8. There was no way I could do that again, even if I wanted to, so I booked the first flight of the day (for safety in case of delays/cancellations) on the Sunday, just opting for the long layover. Once again, I burned some Virgin points, paying only the (criminal) LHR taxes and an additional £28 to pre-book my seat. The flight was looking full and I didn’t want to get the dreaded middle seat (swear there was no fee last time?).
Stops #2 and #3
But where to from Singapore? Really easy decision. An old colleague had been posting on IG about her trip home to Malaysia just weeks before and I remembered thinking it looked amazing: I most go there one day. Quicker than I could have ever dreamed, here was my chance. An hour’s flight from Singapore via a choice of airlines – including low cost, a cheaper cost of living (bonus) and a ton of places to explore over my week.
Always up for an opportunity to score more KrisFlyer miles, I chose Scoot over Air Asia for about £50. I didn’t bother with pre-booking a seat because even I can suck up a middle seat for an hour (ended up with a window – literally the last seat, right at the back!). I did, however, stump up about £3 for early boarding. Even though Scoot’s baggage allowance is generous for an LCC (10kg vs 7kg on Air Asia), I was paranoid because I knew I’d be a little over and I wanted to improve my chances of not having to gate-check my bag. Too much of a risk travelling on a short trip, around the world, hand-luggage only.
I am a city girl, so I knew I wanted to spend some time in the capital Kuala Lumpur. Beyond that, once I fell down my usual IG-YouTube-blog research rabbit hole, I decided that Penang would be the perfect companion destination. Again, I could fly there in about an hour – and pretty cheaply too – but thanks again to YouTube, I was determined to travel overland. More time, yes, but more eco-friendly – it is not lost on me how much flying contributes to my carbon footprint – no luggage worries and bonus scenery. I booked a seat on a ‘business class’ Aeroline coach for 84MYR (about £15) to Penang and the ‘Platinum’ train service from Butterworth (on the Penang mainland – a short ferry ride from George Town where I’d be staying) back to KL for the same price. Note: I think I might have had an equipment alteration as, though absolutely fine, this was not the ‘fancy’ train service I’d been led to expect (damn you, YouTube!). I booked a solo seat, but there were only doubles on board. Also no comp meal/drinks. Possibly I went wrong along the way (there was nothing better than platinum!), but no biggie.
Also considered a sidetrip to Langkawi island which is supposed to be gorgeous – but I just couldn’t make the timings work to do it justice. Less is more!
A quick note on KL, for logistical reasons, I ended up splitting my time there in two – one night before travelling up to Penang and two nights on my way back. I really do spend a lot of time debating the practicalities of these trips around the world and how I can sensibly piece things together in a way that maximises my ‘holiday’ time while not killing myself. The sticking point was the KUL – DOH flight which left pretty early in the morning, with later options costing £200+ more. My original plan was two nights in KL, two nights in Penang, but all the combinations I tried to get me back from Penang in good time for the flight seriously cut down the time I could spend in each city. Even if you fly rather than travel overland, you can easily lose the best part of a day travelling between cities. You have to make the effort worth your time and money. However, splitting my trip and shifting the flight a day later allowed me to spend more time being a tourist and still make it home by my deadline.
Lots of creative thinking needed, bit it definitely paid off.
Stop #4
For the way home the best value flight I could find back from Kuala Lumpur was actually via Qatar. This surprised me as it is a Skytrax 5-star rated airline and, depending on who you ask, the best in the world. Regardless, I was able to book a multi-stop KUL – DOH – LHR in economy for only £300. Yes really. I definitely expected it to cost more as a friend had just booked flights back from Bali that cost considerably more, so colour me shocked. I built in a 20 hour stop in Doha (because I could) with my flight home on my favourite A380. Had a change of heart with my second flight and actually wanted to try for a later DOH – LHR return to avoid having to check out of my hotel at 5am, but the airline made this IMPOSSIBLE. I was permitted a free change per my fare rules, but could not do this online, via live chat or via phone. The call centre kept giving me conflicting reasons, then conflicting prices before finally just cutting me off. 5-star eh? Hmmm…
It was proving more trouble than it was worth to pursue, so I stuck with my original plan. At least I was on the A380.
A note on this itinerary, I had planned it as the ‘partner’ to the around the world trip I took last October. Making similar stops – New York, Singapore, Philippines/Malaysia, Oman/Qatar – I figured I would be able to claim it as such. However, My JFK – SIN flight ended up taking the route back over Europe, rather than favouring the Pacific as with my last trip. The flight is that long that they can really go either way around the world. Annoying as it meant I doubled-back on myself rather than completing a ‘circumnavigation’, thus messing with my trip series. Never mind, it was an ‘around the world trip’ in spirit.
The final details
With the flights and ground transportation sorted, all that was left was work out where my budget would allow me to stay. And what the hell I was going to do once I got to each location of course.
Where to stay
I know I said I was going to be frugal, but I did go a little off-script…
In New York, my hotel actually pulled double-duty as a place to chill during my ten-hour layover without the need to head into the city…and tick-off another bucket list experience. I booked a ‘daytripper’ rate at the iconic TWA Hotel to feed my inner plane geek. Originally built as the TWA Flight Centre at JFK (then Idlewild) Airport, the legendary building was converted to a hotel that opened in 2019. Preserving many original features and sixties vibes, you can stay in a room facing the runway, plane-spot from the rooftop infinity pool, go full ‘Mad Men’ day-drinking in one of the many bars or even check out the various museum exhibits.
You don’t need to stay there – it is open to the public – but a room buys you a place to nap and shower, and also guarantees you access to the coolest rooftop pool ever. $155 (+tax) for a four-hour ‘slot’, i hung around the property long after checkout – and bought nothing but one cocktail (I had a stash of airplane snacks to sustain me). Got my money’s worth.
Did you know Kuala Lumpur has some of the best value 5-star hotels you’ll find anywhere? About 3 weeks out, I was able to snag a room at The Traders with a view of the Petronas Towers for only £68 via booking.com (perks of travelling in rainy season?). I also had credit on my account so it was even cheaper. Then, because I am a complete mark, I totally caved when I was upsold on check-in to a 31st floor clubroom with lounge access, happy hour drinks and an insane breakfast buffet for about £20 extra. I’ll def call this a bargain, though.
Slightly less flashy, I booked two nights in a single room at Muntri Maison, a very cute boutique hotel in Penang. I paid about £25 a night and it really was in a great location in central George Town, walking distance from Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion and a ton of cool spots. For my final two nights in KL, I pinched my pennies at The Bed Bukit Bintang, a super-modern capsule hostel above a mall slap-bang in the city centre. I paid about £14 per night for a premium capsule in a female dorm – did the trick.
Finally, in Doha, I took advantage of the Qatar Airways stopover deal that makes it cheap to stick around- even if only for 20 hours, like me. If you are travelling on a QR ticket, the Discover programme has hotels from £12pp/pn and, though I STARTED, looking at the cheaper 4 star options, my eye ‘wandered’ and I ended up booking the super glam 5 star Mondrian instead. My hand slipped, promise…
The hotel was GORGEOUS, my room was flawless and, as it was my last night, I deserved it. I ended up paying 459 QAR (≈£100) for a standard room, with a bathroom bigger than my flat which had a shower AND a bath with its own chandelier. A step-up from the hostel but, like I said, I deserved it.
What to do
I actually relied on a lot more ‘DIY’ touring than expected as, when I started adding up prices on the tours I’d shortlisted on Airbnb, Get Your Guide and Pelago, it would have cost me a fortune. In the end, I booked only one organised tour, Hidden Bar Hopping With A Local via Airbnb. A crawl around some of the coolest hidden bars in Chinatown with a fab group of people and a legendary tour guide? Yes please! Loved it and def worth the £20 I paid (drinks extra).
I relied heavily on Grab taxis in Malaysia and Uber in Doha because they were just so affordable. Getting my own private taxi to and from the Batu Caves in KL or Batu Ferringhi Beach in Penang was cheap: cheaper than organised tours and so much less faff than negotiating public transport. When you are only in town for a short time and the weather is kind of unpredictable, speed and convenience is invaluable.
In George Town, I took a one hour trishaw ride around town to view the street art. About 70MYR negotiated directly with the driver, I was probably overcharged but it was great fun and decent value regardless as the driver doubled as a decent guide. I also paid 25MYR on the door for one of the daily guided tours of the historical Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion.
For everything else I took trams or metros or walked – along The Corniche and around the Souq in Doha, for example. Or I was just bar hopping – I conveniently was in town for KL Cocktail Week where I managed to get connects and recommendations for the rest of my trip. Result!
Obviously there was so much more than this to be done, but I made really good use of my time – even allowing for a mini monsoon that hit just as I arrived in KL. I think I did pretty well, if I do say so myself!
MY FINAL AROUND THE WORLD ITINERARY
My final itinerary was as follows:
| 28 April | LHR – JFK | Virgin Atlantic | Economy |
| NYC – SIN | Singapore Air | Premium Economy | |
| 30 April | SIN – KUL | Scoot (LCC) | Economy |
| 1 May | KUL – PEN | Aeroline (bus) | Business / luxury |
| 3 May | PEN – KUL | KTMB ETS/Intercity (train) | Platinum Class |
| 5 May | KUL – DOH | Qatar Airways | Economy |
| 6 May | DOH – LHR | Qatar Airways | Economy |
Conclusion
A little less mileage covered versus last time – 21,751 miles / 35,005 kms per my calculations. And, of course, I got screwed out of my circumnavigation thanks to how the pilot happened to be feeling that day (actually, I did look this up and SQ23 often does fly eastward, across the Atlantic to take advantage of favourable jet streams. The more you know…).
Once again it was a whistle-stop tour around the world (…ish). A sample plate of tasty morsels from a global buffet, if you please. And I LOVED it. I really feel that I got to have some great experiences, with the theme of this trip being amazing people. Almost by accident I did stumble upon and have the chance to hang around with some of the coolest people I’ve ever run into, fantastic vibes. However, I did get a little frustrated by the fact that I didn’t feel I got to ‘see’ as much as I would have liked. I love this around the world concept. It’s fun, it’s a rush, I’m addicted. But despite visiting twice, KL was kind of a blur and I feel I barely scratched the surface. Also, I really would really like to see more of Penang. And make it to Langkawi. Then I heard great things about Ipoh. Kuching too…
Maybe I am craving some slow travel?
Regardless, it was an epic, epic trip. I’d take this over a week lounging on a beach any day, am so glad I took the chance and pulled the trigger. On to the next one…?
