Driven by an expiring British Airways Cabin Upgrade voucher, a respectable haul of Avios, and fabulous memories from our trip to north Vietnam in 2023, Miss ID90_J and I decided to book our next South East Asian adventure: 18 days in Singapore, Malaysia, and Borneo.

Given that BA's operations in the region are limited (and travelling on BA metal is a prerequisite for application of our Cabin Upgrade voucher) we've decided our best option is to create a Singapore sandwich, with a circular itinerary of Malaysia and Borneo as the tasty filling. Here's the plan:



London, UK - Singapore (fly)
Singapore - Melaka, Malaysia (bus)
Melaka - Kuala Kumpur (bus)
Kuala Lumpur - George Town, Penang (train)
Penang - Kota Kinabalu, island of Borneo (fly)
Kota Kinabalu - Singapore (fly)
Singapore - London, UK (fly)

With the plan agreed, the first challenge was finding award availability on the LHR-SIN route. Not easy at the best of times, and especially two months out. Fortunately, thanks to a third-party tool, an alert was set up and within 10 days I received a ping informing me that seats were available. I jumped in, and with the BA IT gods on my side, managed to secure them. The BA Cabin Upgrade voucher essentially allows a one-cabin upgrade on a reward booking, e.g. Economy to Premium Economy, or PE to Club World (BA's long-haul business class product), so naturally, the most effective way to utilise this voucher is on a long-haul PE to Club World upgrade, and so that is exactly what I did!

Next up was the figuring out of transport logistics and timings, plus hotel research and reservations. For accommodation, we've booked Marriott properties all the way (except Singapore, as it's out of budget), mainly because I recently received complimentary Gold Elite status through a promotion at work. Many tend to look down on this tier of status (with there being 3 tiers above 'Gold' in the program), but I've had some good experiences in continental Europe with room upgrades and other treats, so I'm willing to give it a whirl in Malaysia!

In terms of activities, restaurants and excursions, we've booked nothing. I'm sure we'll figure it out along the way, but if you have any must-do recommendations and tips, feel free to drop a comment!

The trip starts tomorrow with an early coach service from Bournemouth to Terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport, where I'm planning to tour the BA Galleries lounges and do a bit of work for a few hours, before snapping the laptop shut and meeting Miss ID90_J for a glass of something fizzy.

My first ever trip report, let's go!