In Reply to: Adelaide posted by Balibabe on Friday, 2. February 2007 at 18:26 Bali Time:
Very much looking forward to reading a few reviews on the experience of Bali via Singapore. Like all the other Adelaide based people the whole concept of Bali suddenly became a great deal more difficult and expensive for me when Garuda pulled the pin on direct flights. I think it added $500-$600 to my last trip and all I got for the expense was an overnight view of Melbourne airport. Not very exciting and hardly value for money. Not that you could blame Garuda though. In the end the costs to service Adelaide simply became unsustainable. I'm not 100% of my facts here - so I'd love to hear the accurate version if I'm wrong - but I believe the landing fees that airports charge airlines are loosely based on an equation of passengers on board, aircraft weight and freight weight, etc. This means that even if GA 715 Denpasar to Melbourne via Adelaide, has 350 people on board, Garuda will be charged a landing fee based on how many were on board at the time of arrival - not how many get on or off in Adelaide. The airline is then hit up with another landing fee based on the same equation when it arrives in Melbourne. What's really galling about all this is the fact that as travellers we are also slugged with a bunch of Aiport handling fees! Little wonder the airports are reporting such healthy annual reports now. Great for airport profits...lousy for anyone living in Adelaide or Brisbane!
But I digress. Back to Singapore. A little side-trip to Singapore sounds like a sensational addition to Bali touring. And from what I read here, the transit delays are not really that painful. There is plnety to see and do in singapore, although I believe it's not a cheap place to visit. Has anybody done a JBR that involved a Singapore stopover?