Getting to Bali from the East Coast of the US

[DeanAK]

Hello — my wife and I are hoping to do our first dive trip to Indonesia in 2024, and are looking to focus on Bali in early Sept. (My wife doesn’t like liveaboards and also wants land-based sights to see when not diving.). At any rate, my question is, what would be the best way to fly to Bali from the East Coast (preferably the DC area)? Do a layover in Jakarta for a day? Layover in Singapore for a day? Fly straight through Dubai or Qatar? Do a different route for the return? Would appreciate any suggestions

 

[DeanAK]

Hello — my wife and I are hoping to do our first dive trip to Indonesia in 2024, and are looking to focus on Bali in early Sept. (My wife doesn’t like liveaboards and also wants land-based sights to see when not diving.). At any rate, my question is, what would be the best way to fly to Bali from the East Coast (preferably the DC area)? Do a layover in Jakarta for a day? Layover in Singapore for a day? Fly straight through Dubai or Qatar? Do a different route for the return? Would appreciate any suggestions.

Cathay Pacific. IAD to HKG to DPS. Book directly on CX website. Try multi city search if you want a stopover in Hong Kong (recommended). Novotel in Tung Chung is close to the airport and has easy access to MTR to get into downtown - nice hotel.

 

[nippurmagnum]

Yup if you time it right you can get some really good deals on Turkish Airlines. Also its really nice to split up the long haul flights and have a nice rest day in Istanbul. Flying back to back long haul flights is not ideal. I know some just want to rip the bandaid off and get the whole thing over with but I would much rather split up long haul flights. Same if you fly through Dubai. I always get my flights setup where I have a day or two in Dubai be for my next long haul flight.

You will really enjoy Istanbul, great city to just walk/roam around. Lots to do and see.

I just now booked my flights on Turkish Air, $1,100 from Washington to Bali with a 16 hour layover in Istanbul. Get into IST at 9:30 am, dont have to grt back to the airport until 11 pm, so full day to enjoy the city, plus the airline even has free tours. On the return flight it’s just a 3 hour layover. Perfect, thanks again for the suggestion.

 

[GF99/99]

I just now booked my flights on Turkish Air, $1,100 from Washington to Bali with a 16 hour layover in Istanbul. Get into IST at 9:30 am, dont have to grt back to the airport until 11 pm, so full day to enjoy the city, plus the airline even has free tours. On the return flight it’s just a 3 hour layover. Perfect, thanks again for the suggestion.

Nice one! Sounds like you got a great deal on flights. Plus having a long layover is really nice to split up the flight rather than have back to back long hauls. I just love walking around Istanbul. Head to Old Town see some of the tourist sights then walk across the bridge and head up Istiklal Street for some great people watching and food. Best way to spend a day/evening.

Oh yeah and if your Star Alliance gold don't forget to visit the Turkish Airlines lounge. The food in this lounge is epic!

 

[uncfnp]

So my head is spinning from all the options for getting to Lembeh on the first leg of my trip. It seems it will either be RDU to JFK booked through Delta, then Singapore Airline for JFK to Singapore Booked through Singapore air and lastly Scoot for the Lembeh leg. Because it is all booked separately I will have to collect and recheck all my luggage in Singapore. Can anyone tell me how this is handled in Singapore and how much layover time I need to plan for collecting and rescreening, checking my bags?

 

[cetacean]

@uncfnp

Scoot is by far the best connection to MDC (the airport for Lembeh) from Singapore. Everything else requires a stop in Jakarta, and will mean travel will take over twice as long.

Virtually everyone flying in to Singapore (and transiting) will have to recheck their bags if they are flying on Scoot (they offer very limited baggage transit services, and only for Singapore Airlines flights booked on the same ticket).

The process is simple. You will clear immigration in Singapore (very fast), lines are often non-existent, collect your luggage (also very fast), and then potentially have to change terminals using the skytrain (Scoot departs out of terminal 1). This can take ~10 min... recheck your bags with Scoot... (done)

SQ uses terminals 1, 2, and 3 and they vary the terminals for the same flight across days, so you're not going to be guaranteed to know which terminal your landing at until there are only few hours left in your flight (there is a chance you will land at terminal 1 and the transit gets even simpler)

If you are on the direct JFK-SIN flight you are going to have a couple hours to spare (easily). If you are on the flight that goes JFK-FRA-SIN you should have 2.5 hours to make this transit. That should be no issue...

Last comment:
Scoot is a nice airline, but it is "no frills" - you pay extra for everything. Either plan to get some food in the airport or plan on paying onboard (food is decent - I prefer to bring something with me). The flight to MDC is easy (often ~3.5 hours).

 

[Wookie]

So my head is spinning from all the options for getting to Lembeh on the first leg of my trip. It seems it will either be RDU to JFK booked through Delta, then Singapore Airline for JFK to Singapore Booked through Singapore air and lastly Scoot for the Lembeh leg. Because it is all booked separately I will have to collect and recheck all my luggage in Singapore. Can anyone tell me how this is handled in Singapore and how much layover time I need to plan for collecting and rescreening, checking my bags?

No matter how you go through Singapore, it’s a long ass walk. It took me 1.5 hours to clear customs and collect baggage, and I’m staying here. I’d give it 2.5 to rest easy. Where are you staying to acclimate and shift time zones? I’m too old for jumping in the water when my body rhythm says it’s the middle of the night.

 

[Centrals]

@uncfnp
Scoot does NOT fly to Manado everyday.
Please schedule the schedule first.
The time difference between USA and Singapore is huge.

 

[cetacean]

No matter how you go through Singapore, it’s a long ass walk. It took me 1.5 hours to clear customs and collect baggage, and I’m staying here. I’d give it 2.5 to rest easy. Where are you staying to acclimate and shift time zones? I’m too old for jumping in the water when my body rhythm says it’s the middle of the night.

@Wookie

Hmm... it's 15 minutes from the farthest gate to the closest immigration hall (regardless of terminal in Changi -that was one of the design points). Did they close down one of the immigration halls?

90 minutes to clear immigration (customs is the greed/red lanes you likely just walked through) and collect baggage is an extremely long time for Changi (I fly through this aiport about 10 times a year).

Spending the night in SIngapore makes a lot of sense. I hope you enjoy it

 

[cetacean]

@uncfnp
Scoot does NOT fly to Manado everyday.
Please schedule the schedule first.
The time difference between USA and Singapore is huge.

@Centrals

I don't think anyone suggested that Scoot flies every day. The original poster mentioned they were booking separate tickets, so you assume they would be looking at flights to Manado the day they land in Singapore.

But sure... it's good to make sure your connections are on the same day if you want to transit in Singapore vs. stay a night (or two) in Singapore.

Time difference is significant, however some people have limited vacation time...

I usually spend a night both on the way in and on the way out, but I like good Chilli Crab in Singapore...