Dr Lei in London

A recent photograph of myself when I was in London at the Holborn Tube Station.

FLYING FROM MALAYSIA TO LONDON, STANSTED AIRPORT
By Dr Clarence Lei, 25.4.2011

With 2 children studying in the U.K., I have now become a frequent flyer using Air Asia
X to London Stansted ! The returning trip is just over RM3,000 and if one can afford
to upgrade to premier class, the trip is more than comfortable. If you take a 1.15 am
flight from Kuala Lumpur, it will arrive London at 8 am., after a good night sleep and 2
Malaysian meals.

IMMIGRATION:

There is usually not much queue compared to other international airports, especially
when I used to fly into Heathrow. The immigration officers are more friendly and hardly
ask any questions. Before Air Asia lets you board, it would have already checked that
you have a return ticket of some sort. The immigration boarding card would require you
to state where you are staying in the U.K.

CUSTOMS:

There is usually no custom officer if you arrive before 9 am. I had been stopped only
once and they asked simple questions.

STANSTED AIRPORT TO CENTRAL LONDON:

It is advertised that the cheapest way to London is to use a bus, for ₤8. However, I
usually prefer the “fastest way, 45 mins.” using a Stansted Express by train. However, it
does cost ₤21. However, there is free internet and power supply on the train and there
is hardly any people using the train. The train goes to Liverpool Street Station and you
can take a tube to any part of London from there. However, if you are travelling with a
few people with many bags, it is cheaper to take the Checker taxi which is a large MPV
and takes you to the destination for about ₤100.

BUDGET ACCOMMODATION IN LONDON:

If you book online earlier (may be 2 weeks), you can find a number of good B&Bs for
about ₤80 per night. Most also comes with a free internet and the facilities for you to
keep your bags and to take a shower, if your flight is in the evening. I had stayed at
reservations@goodenough.ac.uk ( a postgraduate hall, 5 mins from Russell Square
tube station) and info@fitzroy-hotel.net (B&B, 3 mins from Warren Street station).

POWER SUPPLY AND INTERNET AT THE AIRPORT:

KLIA is one of the few airports in the world that has a good free wi-fi for 2 hours. It
would be handy to keep some ₤1 coins when you are at the London airports as you
need the ₤1 coins to get a baggage trolley and also to use about 10 mins of internet.
The internet would be useful for you to retrieve the emails upon arrival and also before
departure. There are very limited power points in the airport and some of them would
require you to put in coins as well. Fortunately, there are a number of ATM machines
throughout the airport and they allow you to have “free cash withdrawals”.

Departure Checks: Air Asia allows you to carry 1 bag of 7 kgs and a small laptop bag.

Nowadays, they threaten to weigh all the hand luggage as well!

You can also do an online check-in and send the boarding pass through the hotel
reception by email for them to print out the boarding pass for you. I find this very useful
because the queue for the baggage drop and document check is very short, compared
to the otherwise very long queues at check-in.

There is not much queue at the security screening but they do still require us to take out
the laptop to be screened separately.

TRAVELLING AROUND LONDON:

I find that the underground (or tube) is the most convenient. It is a little bit cheaper if
you start after the rush hours, i.e. after 9.30 am. If you intend to stay for a few days
and make a number of journeys, the most convenient ways is to buy a travel credit card
called Oyster Card. One usually finds that ₤20 would be sufficient for a few days travel.
The card is quite an intelligent card and therefore, you should remember to touch the
machine in and out at each trip, otherwise, the system will deduct ₤4.1 automatically if
you forget to touch out. There are plenty of cheap food and simple meals sold in the
supermarket, e.g. Sainsbury, Marks &Spencer.

CONCLUSION:

It need not be expensive to be a frequent traveller to London and it is generally safe.