Comments on: How China Airlines Saved My Honeymoon

By: Orangutans in Borneo — Camels & Chocolate

Orangutans in Borneo — Camels & Chocolate — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:58:56 +0000

[...] Getting There: You can’t fly directly to Kota Kinabalu, the main hub in Sabah (the Malaysian state in northern Borneo), from anywhere in the United States. You can, however, get there with just one easy connection from San Francisco or LAX. We flew China Airlines from SFO to Taipei, then caught low-cost carrier Malaysia Air from Taipei to KK. That’s probably the more difficult route (but we used SkyMiles); instead, you might want to look into sticking to one airline such as Cathay Pacific, which travels the whole route. If you have miles to use on the long leg as we did, you can fly into one of the many Asian cities that have direct flights onto KK, such as Hong Kong, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh and Kuala Lumpur, then book a cheap connection on Malaysia Air and Air Asia once you’re in Asia. (Just don’t forget your transit visa if you fly through Vietnam!) [...]

By: Indulging in Paradise at Borneo's Rasa Ria — Camels & Chocolate

Indulging in Paradise at Borneo's Rasa Ria — Camels & Chocolate — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:52:00 +0000

[...] Tour de Asia. Normally, you’d think it would be better to save the last, but actually after the chaos in reaching Borneo, it was just the escape we [...]

By: In 2010 — Camels & Chocolate

In 2010 — Camels & Chocolate — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 23:15:08 +0000

[...] left for our honeymoon in Borneo after nearly not making it on the plane, and spent the early part of June bouncing between Malaysia and [...]

By: Nomadic Matt

Nomadic Matt — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:27:46 +0000

I’m glad you made it safe and sound. Can’t wait to see pictures from the honeymoon.

By: Caitlin @ Roaming Tales

Caitlin @ Roaming Tales — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:40:19 +0000

I’m glad it all worked out in the end!

By the way, the US requires transit visas. The visa waiver program applies for many nationalities but for people who need a visa to visit the US, they also need a visa to transit. Before the visa waiver program was introduced in the 1990s, my aunt and uncle and 3-year-old son spent a few hours being herded around Los Angeles Airport at gun point while en route from Sydney to London. They’d been told they didn’t need a visa because they were only transiting, but the border guards at LAX evidently thought otherwise. The main reason it’s faster to travel from Sydney to London via Asia rather than North America is not distance but the palaver of clearing US Immigration and Customs with bags in tow, which most countries don’t do for transit passengers. And Singapore Airport is so much nicer than LAX!

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:29:06 +0000

I love great customer service stories. I’m so glad everything worked out, that must have been a nightmare.

By: Katrin

Katrin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:55:12 +0000

Oh no! I’m so glad it worked out in the end. I have to get visas all the time for my bosses, it drives me nuts. Especially some that take up to 2 weeks to obtain and my bosses are hardly ever here so many days in total as they’re constantly traveling and need their passports.

By: Kavita

Kavita — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:30:07 +0000

Anyway, it’s good to know that it worked out in the end. I did hear of the transit visa a couple of years ago. My parents needed one for the UK as the connecting flight was from Heathrow. I really don’t see the point though.

By: Orion

Orion — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:36:52 +0000

Everything happens as it should, which I’ve adopted as my travelling mantra. I’ve had great reps and no so great reps, glad Francisco was on your side.
And even though I love America? Usually can’t stand domestic airlines.

By: geogypsy

geogypsy — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:10:03 +0000

What a nightmare, almost. You do seem to have occasional adventures when you travel.