I'm planning a family visit in Singapore this Christmas. Due to recent ilness I won't be able to travel for 11:30 hour straight and would like to make a stopover for one or two nights both ways. I have been looking at Dubai and Delhi so far. Dubai sounds ok but the good hotels in Delhi are defintly over my budget.
So far I have been looking at flights from Ams-Sin with stop-over in either places however it seems to be cheaper to buy separate tickets for each destination. Even Emirates is cheaper if you buy ams-dxb-ams and dxb-sin-dxb instead of ams-dxb-sin-dxb-ams .

Do you have any advice on other destinations to stop-over (not Afganisstan, Iraq or Iran) and how to book the best tickets for the trip?

paul_nl,

while the price of the trip is related to cost, this really isn't a Budget Travel post, so I am moving it to TravelBuzz! Forum. You will probably find more people who may be able to help you as well.

One thought I have is travel via Moscow, though the last leg may still be a little long for you. Well that, and when I talked to a couple of travelers in BKK a year and a half ago, they said the Aeroflot was on an Ilyushin or some other dodgy older Soviet Union era jet. Of course, Moscow can also be a very expensive city to spend the night in.

Now if you decide for Air India, you may well have an unscheduled stop for a day or two Just read a little in the Other Asian Airlines Forum

EmailKid
Budget Travel Moderator

I wasn't really sure where to post it, since of course I would like to have advice on cheap fares aswell.

Thanks for the other info. I don't think so Moscow is really an option (is to cold in december anyway).
I'm more thinking of two flights of aprox 6 hours each or maybe even 3 four hour flights. The problem is that I can't think of many attractive place's in that area.

Delhi never makes for a very good stopover as it's a pain in the neck to navigate that airport (though a great city to visit). If you post your dates you'd get better ifnormation on the options.

I don't have exact dates as long as I am in Sin for x-mass and back home in Ams for New Year

Moscow is expensive to overnight in, cold, and a hassle. Unless the flights are cheap, don't bother.

Beirut?

I once flew the whole thing non-stop on Singapore Airlines, noticing in the wee hours on "flight plan" that they were flying right over Afghanistan. (This was pre-9/11, but the U.S. was cautioning airlines against doing that).

I'd probably go with Dubai, assuming the visa wasn't an issue. Might get a good day or two out of it. Singapore is such an LCC hub, though, that if you plan far enough ahead you can do sidetrips out of there very cheaply. Tickets to BKK, for example, have been as low as US$70 RT out of SIN on carriers like Tiger Airways.

People from the Netherlands probably don't have to pay as much, but someone from the U.S. would be looking at $100 or so just for a visa on a place like India. Given that or a $70 RT I'd take the RT every time.

Have you checked out flying from London to Singapore on Emirates ?

I looked at a few dates over the time you mention and the fare is
appr. 670 GBP return all in. You probably won't find a much better fare travelling over the Christmas season. And the Emirates fare allows free stopovers in Dubai in both directions.

You may have to play with the dates a bit as I don't think Emirates has a direct flight from DXB to SIN every day.

There are any number of economical ways to get from Amsterdam to London and back.

QR and GF are other airlines that serve LON-SIN via Doha, Qatar or Dubai which have decent fare and a good service. Yes - all stops are in the middle East.

I would say in terms of a decent stop-over, Dubai would be the best bet.

The other alternative is a long routing via Johannesburg, South Africa which would not really work for you as it involved 2 long flights.

Bombay is the alternative to Delhi but BOM is far more chaotic than DEL for international arrivals and departures. It is also a long drive into town given the traffic.

Thanks for all the advice ^ . I decided to indeed stick to Dubai and found a good fare DUS-DXB-KUL-DXB-DUS for 645 euro pp. on Emirates (if only their bookingsite wasn't down right now )
From Kul we might take the train the day after arrival to go into Sin

Book hotel rooms early for Dubai before rooms disappear and/or prices go through the roof. Enjoy your travels, your holidays and your stay in Dubai.

Check emirates topover packages - but also check hotel prices yourself to get a good deal. Also, even cheap budget hotels are often excellent in Dubai.

Depends if there is anything specific you to go to Singapore for.

KUL has all the hotels, food and shops for half the price of Singapore. Where else can you get a 5* suite (the Ritz Carlton) for US$ 200 per night. Just imagine what you can get a 3* or 4* hotel for. You should do some hotel comparisons.

In any case, the train from KUL to SIN rather cheap.

Thanks for the info. Singapore is the anual family visit, so I now the region very well and am always happy with the first class train rides. I do wish my in-laws were living in Kul because of the cheap hotels (had the penthuis suite at the KL hilton for 10k points last year ) but I'm afraid it's going to be the IC Sin with free minibar in a junior suite again

The Holiday Inn has decent prices, any advice on this or other hotels in Dubai?