Right. Where to start?
The idea of an extended trip to Europe or the United States had been floating among my family for quite some time, but it never went anywhere for some very good reasons. For starters, it is quite cost prohibitive, tour agencies were retailing week long/10-day packages in excess of RM 10,000. Also, to truly benefit from going all the way there, the trip ought to be more than a couple weeks long. To clear your schedule and commitments for such a long trip isn’t going to be easy as well. So, what gives?
It is more of an impulsive purchase. Really.
I happened to chance upon an ad for a Malaysia Airlines promotion, and after checking it out I thought: Hey, here’s a good fare for KUL-LHR, and the travel period covers 2 of my semester breaks, I can finally make the trip happen!
All of this was back in September 2016, mind you. And as mentioned earlier, the travel period covers 2 of my semester breaks, the T1-2016/17 break from 31 Oct to 13 Nov and the T2-2016/17 break from 13 Mar 17 to 2 Apr. The first break is only 14 days long, and it is way too close to be comfortable. Plus, the T2 break offers almost 3 full weeks and that is only the official duration; the breaks start once I finished my final paper and since in T2 I’m only taking 2 subjects, the finals were pretty much over within a week. T2 break it is.
I checked my calendar and the airline’s fares. 12 Mar is a Sunday, so there’s no way that there’s an exam on that date. And thus, I have my earliest possible travel date. For the return leg, my new semester is starting officially on 3 Apr, and I have to be back at least 2 days in advance to sleep off the jet lag and handle subject registration. So, 1st is my last possible return date. Now, I pulled up the fare table, and the price of return tickets on 31st Mar and 1st Apr are almost twice of that on 30th or earlier. So again, it is a no brainer decision and there I have it: departing 12 Mar, returning 30th Mar.
Feeling curious, I went ahead and built a similar itinerary on Emirates to compare the prices and timings. Both Malaysia Airlines and Emirates operate the route using A380s, with Malaysia having and advantage of operating it as a nearly 14-hour non-stop flight instead of Emirates which has a change in Dubai about halfway through.
Malaysia Airlines still came out cheaper, and with non-stop flights available it was pretty much a no-brainer. So I got my data compiled and made my case to my parents. And voila, they agreed! And guess who they put in charge of planning the whole trip?
Yes, ladies and gents, it is I, who have absolutely no experience in planning this sort, or any sort of vacation to be honest, but… *shrugs*
We’ll see how it goes.
The PuTTY Club 