Cheapest way to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan?

[tdimdad]

Asking from the wise & experienced ones if there are any tricks to know of when attempting to minimise the cost of transits from SYD to Kota Kinabalu (BKI) & Sandakan (SDK) and back? E.g. any frequently repeated packages, "Explore the region" discounts or passes on any airline or local travel organiser, to look for outside of the standard fares I can find on the airline websites.

What I can easily figure out is that I could Scoot (TR) myself to SIN and then use Scoot, Air Asia, etc for the local flights. But is that it or are there other ways to push the price of the transits further down? I don't need to care about alliances, statuses, or other handcuffs as long as I can get an extra legroom seat / decent seat comfort and something to eat on the longer flights.

Once at the destinations, I'll roam around to the sights and my two main attractions, climbing Mount Kinabalu and saying hello to orangutans.

 

[ecst]

Would you consider a transit via Manila? you could crunch the numbers to make the cost/travel time work in your favour

 

[aikman]

From Sydney I expect Scoot to SIN and AirAsia to KUL will be the cheapest. Domestic flights in Malaysia are cheap so I expect KUL could be cheaper to transit through. There are no flights from Sandakan to SIN anyway.

If an overnight transit is necessary I would avoid SIN. Accommodation there is not budget friendly. It is tied with Zurich as the most expensive city in the world after all.

 

[kpc]

I suspect the easiest and possibly the cheapest is to fly to Kul and then use AK for the flights to BKI and SDK eg KUl-->SDK-->BKI-->KUL on AK

 

[ecst]

To further add to the mix, MH has a seasonal direct flight from PER-BKI which may be more cost-effective on the way back. (once a week run?)

Many ways to skin a cat... but as @aikman rightly mentioned above, you'd probably want to skip an overnighter in SIN which can be tricky to align with the SIN-BKI AirAsia flight, assuming no delays for both incoming & outbound.... ... and all luggage is present at your various SIN terminals

 

[OZDUCK]

To further add to the mix, MH has a seasonal direct flight from PER-BKI which may be more cost-effective on the way back. (once a week run?)

Many ways to skin a cat... but as @aikman rightly mentioned above, you'd probably want to skip an overnighter in SIN which can be tricky to align with the SIN-BKI AirAsia flight, assuming no delays for both incoming & outbound.... ... and all luggage is present at your various SIN terminals

I thought those direct flights were dropped years ago? A quick hunt couldn't find any direct flights over a few weeks in summer or winter.

 

[drron]

Definitely via KL is quicker and cheaper. When we flew to Kuching we flew MH as virtually the same price as Air asia. I believe some of the consolidators do give a discount if you book accom + airfare together.

 

[Pushka]

We flew via Singapore. The resort near the Orangutan sanctuary was fabulous.

 

[ecst]

Odd, saw the direct flights about a month ago & they've disappeared again!

 

[OZDUCK]

Odd, saw the direct flights about a month ago & they've disappeared again!

We are catching up with a friend tomorrow, another of my wife's distant cousins, who is from KK. She goes back to see family every year or so. I will ask her if she has heard anything.

 

[p--and--t]

Don't know whether it still applies but on one of my trips to Malaysia I was told by an ex-pat to wait until I was in Malaysia to book my MH flights (or somehow spoof my IP address) as the flights via the in-country Malaysia site are charged in local currency and don’t include a substantial “Australia” tax that applies if booked from an Australian IP address.

 

[sap1l]

Don't know whether it still applies but on one of my trips to Malaysia I was told by an ex-pat to wait until I was in Malaysia to book my MH flights (or somehow spoof my IP address) as the flights via the in-country Malaysia site are charged in local currency and don’t include a substantial “Australia” tax that applies if booked from an Australian IP address.

Is this for flights ex-AU? I can check the difference in price, but I believe ex-AU flights are priced the same whether you book in Malaysia or in Australia.

If this is for inter-Malaysia flights, I booked KUL-LGK return a couple of weeks ago from Australia. Was charged in MYR, and the cost was the same as my mum booking the exact same flights from Malaysia.

 

[p--and--t]

Is this for flights ex-AU? I can check the difference in price, but I believe ex-AU flights are priced the same whether you book in Malaysia or in Australia.

If this is for inter-Malaysia flights, I booked KUL-LGK return a couple of weeks ago from Australia. Was charged in MYR, and the cost was the same as my mum booking the exact same flights from Malaysia.

It was for ex Malaysia flights.

As I posted, may no longer apply.

Worked for me once a several years back for flights KUL-PEN and PEN-SIN where the flights were significantly cheaper, i checked prices before leaving Australia and then booked while staying in KL.

 

[sap1l]

It was for ex Malaysia flights.

As I posted, may no longer apply.

Worked for me once a several years back for flights KUL-PEN and PEN-SIN where the flights were significantly cheaper, i checked prices before leaving Australia and then booked while staying in KL.

Yep, just wanted to confirm what you meant before spreading false info.

Can confirm that ex-Malaysia (both domestic and international) flights are the same price now when buying from Malaysia or Australia!