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Wonderful Malaysia

Tips for your holiday in Malaysia

Even though you can perfectly organize and book your trip when you are in Malaysia, it is usually more pleasant if you can sort out a few things in advance. Book your airplane tickets (international and domestic) beforehand to get the best rates (last-minute tickets and complete holiday packages do not exist for Malaysia). The rates you get when booking locally are not even that much cheaper, often even more expensive. The travel tips on this website are based on years of experience of traveling to and through Malaysia. Every year we receive hundreds of questions from the website visitors. Do you have questions on planning and organizing a trip to Malaysia? Contact us at Wonderful Malaysia.

Organize your own trip to Malaysia

If you are planning to put together your own trip to Malaysia, you can use the following steps:

1) International airplane tickets

When organizing your own trip, you start by booking your international tickets to Kuala Lumpur. You can make the booking on one of the famous airline ticket websites, but also directly with the airlines which is sometimes cheaper. Singapore Airlines is a good example, they often offer good deals, Malaysia Airlines does not always offer great prices, but they have the advantage of flying straight to Kuala Lumpur (no stopovers). If you want to fly extra cheap from Europe, then you book your tickets with the Malaysian low cost carrier Air Asia. Air Asia X leaves from London or Paris and the airplane tickets are very cheap if you purchase them long in advance. However, the actual flight is quite basic, so do not expect extensive service on board. Other luxurious, but yet reasonable airlines flying from Europe or the States are Cathay Pacific, Asia Airlines, Thai Airways, Qatar , Etihad and Emirates .

2) Accommodation

Once you know your departure date, you can start to book the separate hotels. You can do this very easily via Booking.com , Agoda.com , Hotels.com and Expedia.com . These sites often have great deals. The options to directly book on the hotel’s website or to walk into the hotel at the time of your Malaysia trip is generally (a lot more) expensive in case of 4 or 5 star accommodation. Backpackers can go ahead without making a booking, even at the most popular places in Malaysia. There will always be a guesthouse with a room available. In general, the advice is to book in advance to ensure the best prices. Comparing those prices will pay off!

3) Domestic flights

As soon as you have booked your international flights, you can start booking accommodation for the actual holiday. Malaysia is wonderful and especially reasonable when it comes to domestic flights between destinations and therefore it is in most cases the preferred method to travel around. Domestic flights are sometimes not even more than a few dollars of euro per person for a single trip. Again it is important to book as early as possible, because the tickets will then be much cheaper. If you decide to book only a week in advance, then it will cost you a lot more than booking months prior to your flights. The most popular budget airline in Malaysia is Air Asia. Due to the strong competition, other airlines such as Malaysia Airlines, Firefly and even Singapore Airlines are also cheaper within Malaysia. Please note that Air Asia will always have hidden costs. You will pay extra for a lot of things which is not included in the price and it is not always clearly stated on the tickets.

4) Rental car

If you have organized all the flights and accommodation, then you can start thinking about car rental. It is possible to discover Malaysia by rental car in a safe and reasonably priced manner. It will take just a little bit of effort to get used to driving on the left, but after a few kilometers you will feel as if you have not driven any other way. A standard modern car including radio and air-conditioning is already available from RM100 per day. Pay a little bit more and you can also rent a GPS system, which is very practical in Malaysia. The internationally known car rental companies are mostly very expensive compared to the good quality local rentals. Most popular rentals in Malaysia are Hawk Malaysia and Iprac.

5) separate tours and components

You have international tickets, hotel bookings are partially sorted out, domestic flights are also arranged and you have decided on a car rental. There are some amazing tours that you can book separately in Malaysia. There are various travel agencies where you can do this or you can do it beforehand via the internet. However, many tourists only book a ticket and a couple of hotels. Wonderful Malaysia regularly receives questions from travelers with regards to the many beautiful tours that you can do in Malaysia. They always ask where they can best make reservations in the country once they are there. Even though there are enough travel agencies in Malaysia, many travelers prefer to book some parts of their trip in advance.

Viator is one of the biggest and most popular websites in the world where you can make a booking and for that they work together with Lonely Planet Publications. You will find magnificent separate tours in Malaysia for a very good price. Even though it may still be cheaper to organize a tour through Malaysia yourself, you are not always sure if you made a good deal at the local travel agency. In total, Viator offers 86 tours in Malaysia alone. The total offer of tours is divided into four sections: Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Penang and Borneo. You can book on the website and directly pay with a credit card. After completing your order, you will receive an email with a link to your voucher(s). You take these vouchers with on the specific tour. You can also visit the attractions with your own transport (bus, taxi or car rental).

Below is a short summary of tours that you do not have to book (online) in advance, because you can easily organize them locally or because there are better alternatives.

  • Penang Butterfly Farm and Botanical Gardens
  • Pulau Payar daytrip when you are already visiting the island on the eastside of the peninsula (Perhentian, Redang or Tioman)
  • Penang Trishaw tour
  • Langkawi Cable Car
  • Penang Hill and Kek Lok Si temple
  • Tropical Fruit Farm tour on Penang (rather rent your own motorbike to get there by yourself)
  • Kuala Gandah elephant sanctuary (car rental to drive there by yourself)
  • Tours in and around Kuala Lumpur are easy to organize yourself.
  • Tour around Langkawi island is easily organized yourself.
  • Sandakan city tour is also easy to organize yourself.

Organized package, tour or customized trip to Malaysia

Do you prefer your travel agency to organize your trip? In that case, rather book your whole trip to Malaysia with a travel agent in one of the many travel agencies around.
Whatever trip to Malaysia or Borneo you choose; it will always be a marvelous holiday. Travel agencies usually make a distinction between organized packages, tours and customized trips to Malaysia. The last two usually offer the most beautiful parts of the trip, but are often also more expensive than the standard organized packages. If you want security on the one hand, but you would like to arrange a few things yourself on the other hand, then book a take-off package. You will only buy your flight plus hotel (1 or more overnight stays) and you can fill in the rest of the holiday yourself.

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All Malaysia Info

Virtual Travel Fair: Seven reasons why you should get your travel deals online

The Virtual Travel Fair brings the fair to you.

Virtual Travel Fair

Virtual Travel Fair 2012 (September 7 – 30).

So, you’re looking for a travel bargain. If that’s the case, you’d probably do what most Malaysians do – wait for a travel fair.

You brave the crowds, jostle through narrow walkways in a cramped hall to talk to harried-looking travel agent reps, and finally end up purchasing a travel package, the details of which you’re not entirely clear about.

Well, you don’t have to do that any longer: allMalaysia.info, in collaboration with the folks behind it all, SOTA (Smart Online Travel Assistant), present the Virtual Travel Fair, a different kind of travel fair.

Our tagline promises “no traffic jam, no jostling crowds, no hassle”, and we certainly deliver; have done so ever since we started the online fair back in March 2011.

The latest edition – the fourth – starts today (Sept 7) and will run till Sept 30, 2012. Now, here are seven reasons why you ought to consider ‘going’ to the Virtual Travel Fair:

Convenience

The most obvious reason why you should make your travel bargain purchases online is of course, the convenience of it all.

With the Virtual Travel Fair, you’ll only need an Internet connection to start shopping – yep, fire up the computer, laptop or tablet, and let your fingers do the walking. Heck, you can make your purchases while you’re in your PJs if you’re so inclined!

Incentives/Rewards

When you make a purchase at the Virtual Travel Fair, more likely than not you’ll find that it comes with a mouth-watering incentive or reward, in the form of  instant rebates, attractive gifts and cash prizes. It has been a hallmark of the Virtual Travel Fair, of sorts.

This time around we’re offering buyers with packages that come with Lowest- Price-Guarantee (LPG) tags. What that means is, if you can find a better deal for the same package elsewhere, we’ll pay the difference in pricing, so that you don’t lose out.

Add to that the e-Auction, bids of which start at a cool, low RM10, and you’re very likely to end up with a sweet deal.

Variety and Value For Money

The variety of travel packages offered and the value for money for the same were responsible for the success of the first two fairs held in 2011.

Using the same formula, the team behind the Virtual Travel Fair has refined and improved the variety of offerings to satisfy all age and income groups and provide them with more incentives and rewards. This can be seen from what’s on offer for the fourth edition.

The devil’s in the details

There’s no confusion as to what you’ll get when you purchase a package. Just click on the ‘Get Details’ button, and you’ll find all the details you’d require: where you’d stay, what you’d do, what your purchases cover etc.

And if you’re still not satisfied, just use the live chat function to talk with a sales rep.

Safe and Secure Online Shopping

The VTF is well known for safe and secure online travel shopping. Known secure payment gateways such as PayPal and iPay88 have been onboard since the first fair.

On top of that those who have Maybank2u and CIMB Clicks online banking accounts will find it a breeze to safely and securely purchase travel packages at the VTF.

Virtual Travel Fair: The Biggest Online Fair?

It’s no hyperbole to say that the Virtual Travel Fair may indeed be the biggest online travel fair in the world. If it isn’t it certainly is one of the biggest.

Consider this: While there are some sites running online travel fairs, they are mostly limited to offering an aggregation of travel packages offered in brick- and-mortar travel fairs.

What sets the Virtual Travel Fair apart is the travel deals offered are available online from multiple operators, among the 1400+ travel agents and hotels worldwide who are using the SOTA platform.

Go Green

Virtual Travel Fair aims to create more environmentally-conscious travellers by promoting the concept of online purchase of travel products. If more consumers use online travel platforms to buy travel, it will cut the need to drive to travel fairs or meet travel agents. This means less consumption of petrol and the reduction of exhaust fumes released into the environment.

It would also dispense with the need for having physical promotional materials like printed flyers and brochures, which usually  get collected and littered.  There’s also no need to print plastic bags and buntings or banners which ultimately gets disposed and add more waste material  to the environment.

So, be a responsible holidaymaker and Go Green by visiting the Virtual Travel Fair at allmalaysia.info/virtualtravelfair now.

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Tourism Malaysia

Independent Vacationing for the Novice

Arranging your own vacation can be a little daunting if you’ve always placed your annual trip in the hands of a competent travel agent. Before, all you had to do was to select the country and resort, get yourself to the airport on the right date and at the right time, and the rest was taken care of for you. You were probably met at your destination airport by the tour operator’s representative who then escorted you to your resort, and, at the end of your vacation, you just needed to be ready and waiting for the return coach journey to the airport. The sense of reassurance this can give has always gone some way to help vacationers enjoy their trip: there’s never been any worry about how to get from the airport to the hotel, how to cope with a broken toilet once there, or how to buy tickets for a boat excursion.

However, over the years, it seems that technology has helped the average vacationer to develop a somewhat more adventurous spirit. They’ve found that not only are they capable of arranging their own travel — and making substantial savings in the process — but that the flexibility and choice independent travel offers provide a greater chance of experiencing much more than they would otherwise do with a vacation package.

While all of this is true for the majority of travelers, there are however a few who will tell you that they wish they’d carried out a little more research before heading off with only a guidebook and their return flight ticket. While independent travel offers an abundance of opportunities, it needs a little preparation and organization. This way you can enjoy your vacation, as well as get back home at your scheduled return time!

Transfers

One of the biggest issues the independent traveler has to contend with is how to get from the airport to the hotel (or apartment, or hostel). While many will just jump in the first taxi that comes along, others prefer to do it a little differently. There are those travelers who want to keep costs down and therefore look for a cheaper alternative; others who believe that local transport is perfectly adequate for their needs; and those who want to experience the local transport system as part of the whole “vacation experience.” If you prefer to take public transport, then you’ll need to research not only the schedules, but whether it will actually be operating when you arrive. Many an independent traveler, arriving at his or her destination when the locals have been enjoying a day off, has been forced to take a taxi instead of public transport as originally intended. While this shouldn’t cause too many problems — apart from depriving those who want the experience of traveling on local transport — if you’re on a tight budget, it could very well mean the difference between dinner and just a beer!

On a similar note, always pay particular attention to the arrival time of your flight at your destination airport. Remember that you won’t be whisked away in a tour operator’s nice big comfortable air-conditioned coach. Ensure that you can get to your hotel and that you won’t be left hanging around for hours. This also applies to your return journey, especially if it’s imperative that you don’t miss your return flight home. It’s always prudent to avoid scheduling important commitments the day immediately following your return from vacation, especially if you’re traveling independently for the first time!

Accommodation

In order to get the best possible deal on your accommodation, ask if there are any membership discounts available when booking (e.g. AAA, seniors, family, or hotel membership). Most hotels have some or other promotion running so it’s worth trying to negotiate a cheaper rate than that advertised. Most accommodation bookings can be made online; however, if you want to negotiate on price, it’s probably easier done over the telephone. If you can be flexible with your dates, you stand more chance of negotiating a discount on the cost (this also applies to buying your airline tickets).

When choosing your hotel, don’t be content only with the information provided on the hotel’s website. This will show the hotel in the best possible light and some of the details (e.g. its location in relation to the local attractions) may be a little vague: “a short walk to the beach” is always worth further investigation! Check the hotel’s location in respect of amenities and attractions depending on what’s important to you: Is it close to the beach? Is it close to the bus station so you can take trips out of the city/resort? Is it close to the local sights?

If you’re on a tight budget, transfer fees from the airport to your hotel may dictate where you eventually decide to stay. While public transport costs will undoubtedly be cheaper than taxi fares, you could still end up paying more than you bargained for. Again, try to find out how much you’ll need to pay in public transport costs.

If you’ve been advised that the hotel or apartment is particularly difficult to find — this sort of information can be obtained from reading previous guests’ reviews online — then make sure you have a good map of the local area. While most local taxi drivers should be able to find your hotel, there’s no guarantee that they will. Always carry a contact number for your hotel just in case you run into any problems en route. Most times, if you get into difficulty, there will be someone you can call who can help you with directions.

Necessities

It always pays to learn a few words of the local lingo, regardless of whether or not you travel independently. However, without access to a tour guide, and the comfort of an “all-inclusive” resort, you may find that a few words of the local language come in very handy. Attempting to communicate with the locals can sometimes be the difference between receiving acceptable and very good service in a restaurant or café. Invest in a small phrase book. If you’re going to be eating out often then make sure it includes translations for food and beverages, especially if you have special dietary requirements (e.g. vegetarian, food allergy).

Find out whether you’ll be able to access your money while on vacation or whether you need to take cash or travelers’ checks with you.

As you won’t have a travel agent to remind you about necessities such as vaccines, and visas, research what’s needed in this respect for the country you’ll be visiting.

The same applies to travel insurance. Carry out the necessary research to see which package best suits your travel needs.

Research the resort or city where you’ll be staying to know which spots you should visit — and which you should avoid. Again, there may not be anyone on hand to advise you about this aspect of your vacation so find out what you can before leaving home.

And finally, regardless of how independently you travel, remember that we all need to consider our impact on the places we’re visiting and how we can be responsible travelers: take only photographs and leave nothing but footprints.

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