Indeed, KLIA Expres is a speed/convenience vs. cost trade-off that I don't find too unreasonable under certain circumstances. Now that Air Asia and others are operating from the LCCT, though, you've got competing BUSES to Sentral from that terminal for as low as RM 7 each way. The walk to the monorail is only long if you've got all your bags. PUTRA can get to KLCC (Petronas Towers), but you can't go to the top (explaining in part why the Menara is popular). It's a good view from the Menara and kids can't help but like it; back in the 70s many cities thought about building Menara-like structures but not that many actually did.

KL's taxis can be a pain if supply/demand is against you or they try to overcharge (like leaving the Menara). Traffic at certain times can be a real pain, too.

For a good meal, would recommend Eden Village in the Golden Triangle.

Actual fare KUL-KLCC MYR180.40 (Kia Pregio van)

Highly misleading post !

You have not factored in the waiting time for the KLIA Express train which can take up to 20min, and the taxi/city-train ride from Sentral into the CBD. Even if you are staying at Sentral, it would take up to 10min to get to your hotel from the time you alight from the KLIA Express train.

Another point to note about the KLIA Express is that although they advertise the ride as 28min, its not unusual for them to substitute the service with the slower and more crowded KLIA Transit service which takes up to 40min.

No doubt I do feel safer in the KLIA Express train, and for a single traveller its still cheaper than the airport limo option. However, the airport limo wins for convenience and to a certain extent comfort. I have used both options regularly over the last few years, and for the time being the airport limo is the preferred option for me.

highly misleading??? i doubt it !
i have indeed factored in those items which you have noted, you paint a pretty picture for ground transportation...have you also noted that taxi drivers will charge 100 us dollars if they think that you are unaware of the correct standard fares?
i would be curious to hear how you get thru a KL two hour traffic jam, even a 40 minute train ride will beat that anytime.

as a citizen living in KL, you know the ropes...and the language....a tourist with a language barrier has a far more difficult time and is at the mercy of the standard airport cons encountered in so many country's.

enjoy your tried and true ways of travel for you.... just appreciate that others have perhaps found other ways that work for them.... on this forum we try to present options...not pass judgement on solutions developed by others.

for someone who actually lives in KL, you seem to hold in very low esteem your own rapid transit system.

You quoted 65min as your fastest journey on an airport-limo and 26min on the train. This seems to give the impression that the train is more than twice as fast which is not true. The airport-limo delivers you from door-to-door while the KLIA Ekpress drops you off at Sentral which is outside the CBD. While I do not doubt the KLIA Ekspress ride did make it in under 28min; you failed to mention the long walk to the platform, the wait time for the train, the long walk/queue up the escalator at Sentral and finally the city-taxi ride into the CBD, all of which could add up to an additional 30-60min.

Your point that foreign visitors risk being charged USD100 for an airport-taxi ride into town is also very misleading. The airport-limo is a prepaid service and in the 10 years I have been using this service, I have never heard of any passenger being rip off by the drivers (but frequent complaints about their driving habits). You pay at the counter and before you board the attendant would actually jot down the registration number of the vehicle on your receipt. Please do not confuse the airport-limos with city-taxis which often refuses to use the meter when demand is up (irrespective of whether you are local or foreign).

It is also a common misconception that when one takes the KLIA Ekpress you wont have to worry about KL's notorious traffic jam. The Sentral station is located outside the CBD, and the worse traffic is along the bottle-neck getting in/out of the CBD. If it took you 2hrs to get to KLIA in an airport-limo, I can assure you it will take you no less than 1hr just to get from the CBD to Sentral during the peak hours.

If ever anyone here is "passing judgement on solutions developed by others", may I suggest you reread the entire thread here especially your own posts (USD100 taxi fare ?)The only negative comment I made about the KLIA Ekpress was the fare which I felt is a "legalised" rip-off considering the cost of living here. I did however mention that its still cheaper for solo travellers to opt for the train, though it may not necessarily be the most convenient way to travel.

And you are correct that I hold in very low esteem on "my" own rapid transit system. I would be terribly ashamed if I had planned the train network system here and the network certainly does not belong to me. When the system was designed the primary consideration was not convenience to the travelling public, but the benefits it would bring to certain politicians and their cronies who were awarded the right to build and operate each line. For the record, I am not one of the cronies and hence its not "my" rapid transit system !

mario33

you miss the point, i only draw from my own experience, i was not trying to "mislead" anyone.

i bow to your obvious expertise.

There are 4 of us travelling (with no luggage) on Saturday July 14th. A tour company has quoted me RM 920 for a private car - pickup at Pasarakyat Bus Terminal at noon, visit Batu Caves, visit Menara (KL Tower), visit Suria KLCC, Chinatown and then drop off at the airport around 8:30pm.

Is this price reasonable?

NO, sounds like a rip-off to me (OK I do it for MYR800 :D )

Pasarakyat Bus Terminal is at the edge of the CBD and all your sites are within 3mile radius except for Batu Caves which is about 10miles north of the CBD. If you take a taxi all the way, there is no way your fare would exceed MYR200.