UncleDude

Heads Up...Now if there are 2 Traveling to Downtown KL.. UBER from KLIA is Cheaper Than the Express Train..also of course its Door to Door with better Luggage Arrangement.. However Rush Hour can be a Challenge with the Traffic on Weekdays but so can the Regular Taxi journey from Sentral to many Hotels.

NewbieRunner

Since the thread is about KLIA rather than Malaysia Airlines, I am moving it to the Asia forum.

NewbieRunner, Senior Moderator

invisible

It really depends on time/convince factors. While Uber might be cheap, please count to if you get stuck into traffic ride price might get high due to surge pricing. And if traffic is really bad it might take 90 min to get to your destination.

SilverChris

I've been actively avoiding the KLIA express since the fare hike

wolf72

Yes, it is cheaper to use Grab a car or Uber from KLIA 1 or KLIA 2 to downtown KL but it depends where you are going compared to using the train.

If you have been on a 13 hour flight, the last thing you want is another 1 hour 15 minute journey in a cab when you can take a 28 minute train to Sentral and then a 15 minute-20 minute taxi ride to your hotel in downtown KL or Bangsar. Or less.

Traffic at peak rush hour is leaving the city, not going into the city and traffic jams within downtown KL are not as bad as some people would think in comparison to Bangkok or the world famous Jakarta jams.

But from a budget standpoint, RM60-70 bucks in an uber for 3 pax to their hotel from KLIA 1 or KLIA 2 is massive savings.

What is bad about the train service and the cost per person is, passengers already pay airport tax to Malaysia Airports from which, a portion is paid to the YTL group who run the train service.

So, we pay twice to use the train service. Something the government either agreed to just to get the service up and running or a fixed set up whereby someone or some people are profiting from the whole exercise.

Flying into KL used to be cheap...not anymore.

A new hotel tourism tax takes effect on 1st August 2017. An extra RM25 per room per night for a 4 star/5 star hotel.

Utterly ridicioulous.

SilverChris

One thing to note about Grab/Uber Malaysia is that some of the cars can be quite small (like a subcompact hatchback), so if you have a few pieces of luggage and multiple people, you might have a problem.

IAN-UK

RM25 is quite a chunky amount. But there again, they don't want it to be spread too thinly across the various beneficiaries ...

I'm currently in Lisbon, where I think city tax is a more modest single euro per night.

wolf72

The money is meant supposedly for tourism marketing at the federal level since the Ministry of Tourism has had their budget slashed due to national budget cuts.

But very very vague and very little is known as to how and what the budget will be spent on.

They passed the law allowing this tax but have no idea as to the mechanics and purpose of the tax.

[Moderator edit.]

TravelDream

Is there any reason with the express train is so expensive?

Malaysia is generally a cheap country, so to have an express train more expensive than Hong Kong is pretty crazy.
It's even crazier to think the Bangkok or Singapore metro train takes about the same time but are a fraction of the cost.

SilverChris

KLIA is a lot further from the city than Suvarnabhumi and Changi. The KLIA express takes about the same time despite the greater distance because it's a high-speed train service whereas the BKK Airport Rail Link and Singapore MRT are not.

Hence, it's reasonable to expect the KLIA express to be a bit more pricey than the examples you mentioned. I'm not saying I agree with the pricing, but I don't expect subway fares for the ~60km journey.

TravelDream

Yes, but to be more expensive than Hong Kong - one of the world's most expensive cities is strange.
Do normal Malaysians make use of the route? I imagine not when the bus is a fraction of the price.

Also, while BKK is closer to the city, a ticket costs just 45 baht (5.65 Ringgit). I realise I am using road figures, but Google Maps says KLIA to Sentral station is 56.6km while BKK to Bangkok to Phaya Thai station 30.1km. Is the ticket worth 10x Bangkok's cost.

SilverChris

A one-way ticket between HKIA and HK station is ~MYR55. That's about the same as a non-promo one-way ticket on the KLIA express. Of course, MYR55 is a lot more expensive to an average Malaysian than HKD100 is to an average HKer. And yes, average Malaysians do make use of the train. There used to be more before the increase

The Airport Rail Link is basically a subway with standing room only during peak hours, not a dedicated high-speed express train like the KLIA express. Can you really not see the unfairness of this comparison?

IAN-UK

The train fare is serious money to many Malaysians

And you're right, a lot use the bus. I'm with them on that - MR10-12 for a comfortable ride into town.

OK, I'll use the train if i'm pressed for time, but that's rarely the case.

wolf72

Nobody really knows how the company that run's the service justifies the high price (and I agree RM55 is expensive for a 28 minute journey). It is all hush hush (which is typical Malaysian government style).

seavisionburma

The KLIA Ekspres and Bangkok's ARL are like apples and oranges.

The ARL in Bangkok might only cost 45 baht from Suvanabhumi to Phaya Thai, but this is a low speed commuter train with 9 stops en route. It is packed with Thais commuting along the way, and at peak morning and evening rush hour it is always full and not uncommon that you need to wait for the next train. It is now only the "City Line" service that runs from the airport in to town. The Express service was axed several years ago due to poor utilization - the in-city check-in station at Makassan was always dead quiet, and it was often that I saw only a few other passengers when it was in operation

The KLIA Ekspres is luxury in comparison, comfortable seating, high-speed non-stop service and free wifi on board.

Yes, the price for the KLIA Ekspres was jacked up last year - but if you book with a Mastercard online you still get 20% off which helps

No comparison between the two..