Asia - Getting to Siem Reap from Singapore

Hi,

I will be in Singapore in early September and am considering a side trip to visit Angkor Wat for 2 -3 nights. To make this work I need a reasonably priced direct flight for SIN-REP (and return).

The airline choices I'm aware of seem to be limited to Silkair or Jetstar. Of those 2 which would you pick? Are there other options?

Thanks,

Steve

Yes, those are presently your only options, and I've flown SIN-REP on both. Silkair's full-service but expensive, although they sometimes have attractive promos (I snagged one-way tickets for S$100 a few years back). JetStar's no-frills but cheap and better than most (assigned seating, new planes, tolerable pitch, etc). At any rate, it's a fairly short flight (~2 hours), so I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it, just pick based on price and schedules.

Or you may try Malaysia Airlines ... via KUL. Or THAI via Bangkok. Though transit times may not be the best.

Or you may try Malaysia Airlines ... via KUL. Or THAI via Bangkok. Though transit times may not be the best.

I don't think Thai serves REP. I thought Bangkok Airways had a monopoly on the BKK-REP route.

yycworldtraveler is right. TG does not fly BKK-REP. Bangkok Airways, reknowned monopolist, has BKK-REP tied up, complete with extortionate fares.

Thank you for your responses. I'll work with the existing direct flight options.

Never flown Silkair from Singapore to Siem Reap, but I flew Jetstar last year and find the departure time horrible. It leaves Singapore at 6 in the morning and returns from Siem Reap at 7:50. You basically had to stay up the day of departure, and had to spend an extra night for hotel on the return date.

All things being equal, I will go with Silkair. But if the price difference is substantial, go with Jetstar and pocket the extra money.

I flew on SilkAir from Singapore to Siem Reap back in 2004. Flight was OK. It left on time. A boxed snack was served. Nothing too memorable about the flight.

Mrs. Billygoat and I took the JetStar flight about a month ago. JetStar is Qantas' low-cost subsidiary, and JetStar Asia is partially owned by Singapore Airlines (who performs the maintenance on the A320s). Its a low-cost carrier, no meals/pillows or anything on the early morning flight (want to say 7am), but they do flight out of the nice terminal at Changi.

Bottom line: Low cost, clean and safe.

MegatopLover...you can get "discovery airpass" from Bangkok airways and it really isn't that expensive to fly BKK-REP...

MegatopLover...you can get "discovery airpass" from Bangkok airways and it really isn't that expensive to fly BKK-REP...

But how do you get one? I called my TA here in the US and she reported back that she can't even get anyone at PG on the phone. :confused:

You have to use one of PG's representative offices. Luckily for me, there's one (or was) in Vancouver/YVR where I went in with cash to buy the passes.

See: http://www.bangkokair.com/contact/?id=us

I took the REP-SIN JetStar flight in December. It seems like a very solidly run operation. ^

I cant help on flights, I went there from BKK on Bangkok Air and out to Hanoi in Vietnam Air. But I did want to say that if at all possible do go. It is an absolutely stunning destination.

MegatopLover...you can get "discovery airpass" from Bangkok airways and it really isn't that expensive to fly BKK-REP...

I beg to differ. $330 per r/t ticket for a 35-minute flight in the low season is over the top. I watched fares for months and never saw it get so much as one baht cheaper. Two-to-go and four-to-go fares never offered. This was the fare for direct purchase from PG at the airport or online. From TA's, it was a bit more expensive still.

To top it off, PG didn't even use contact gates at Suvarnabhumi. Had to take busses to and from the aircraft, which was pretty irritating. I know all about the construction issues at BKK; I'm just making a point that Asia's boutique airline is taking advantage of the opportunity to save a few $$$ and inconvenience passengers.

I will allow, however, that service was pretty good (check-in agents at BKK and REP were both bad but FAs were quite good) and they did serve us food on board. We got Airbus aircraft both ways, and they were certainly nice airplanes.

I beg to differ. $330 per r/t ticket for a 35-minute flight in the low season is over the top. I watched fares for months and never saw it get so much as one baht cheaper. Two-to-go and four-to-go fares never offered. This was the fare for direct purchase from PG at the airport or online. From TA's, it was a bit more expensive still.

BKK-REP is USD 90 OW using the PG Discovery Pass. You have to buy 3 so you could buy a domestic BKK-??? ticket for $55 and throw it away or go to somewhere else in Thailand. Back in 2004, we did BKK-THS-BKK-REP-BKK for $260 + taxes when the segments were $80 and $50 respectively.

See http://www.bangkokair.com/discoveryairpass/?id=2

There's also currently a 2fer offer for Amex card holders currently. THB 9,920 for 2 R/T BKK-REP.

http://www.bangkokair.com/amex/

There's also currently a 2fer offer for Amex card holders currently. THB 9,920 for 2 R/T BKK-REP.

http://www.bangkokair.com/amex/

That's certainly a new one. When I bought my tix a coupla months ago, PG wasn't taking Amex at all, at least on the website, which meant no SkyMiles for me. That's a deal that would have made me happy, although I suspect it's 9,920++, meaning plus BKK airport taxes (you have to pay at REP in cash) and fuel and insurance surcharges, which adds nearly 2000 baht.

Buying the airpass and throwing away the last segment is a good idea. Wish I'd thought of it. I stand by my point, however, that PG charges a monopolist's fares on the BKK-REP route and that the monopoly should be broken. Competition is always good for consumers.