Flight cancellation and rebooking
Today, we fly to Kuala Lumpur at 0600. It doesn’t sound too bad except that we would need to wake at 0145 to get to the airport.
This flight wasn’t our original choice but we had booked a flight 19h later at 0100 (whereby we would leave Wuzhen for the airport in the evening after a relaxing day). It wasn’t exactly an ideal time either but I was using vouchers left over from the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the fuel crisis caused by the US attack on Iran, many flights have been cancelled including our original 0100 flight. This was notified a few weeks in advance and the rebooking efficiently handled by their chatbot.
Flying to Kuala Lumpur
So, here we are, waking at 0145 and taking a Didi car to the airport at 0200. We got to Pudong around 0250 to find a surprisingly short queue at the check-in desk.
Check-in was swift but they were strict in ensuring that wheelie bags fit into the sizing gauge.
Getting through security and immigration were easy as well, except that the passport scanners at the latter were a bit temperamental.
We had a couple of hours in the lounge before getting to the gate 50 mins before our AirAsia X flight. Boarding had already commenced and about half the plane was seated!
We closed up 20 mins before schedule and were airborne a few minutes after our scheduled departure.
As most people appear to be sleeping, the crew didn’t commence the meal service till over 2h after take-off, which suited us well as we had eaten in the lounge. There was no need for us to request them to put aside our pre-booked meals for later.
Arriving in Kuala Lumpur
Arriving in Kuala Lumpur 35 mins early at 1105, I treated ourselves to the train into the city at three times the price of the bus which I normally take. When travelling with Kim, I tend not to rough it as much, for his sake. Or maybe, it is for my sake, so I don’t have to hear anything about it.
Despite my vigilance, we hopped on the KLIA Transit train (with 4 stops along the way) instead of the non-stop KLIA Ekspres. It took only 7 minutes longer.
It was a largely indoor walk from the station to the NU Hotel. Checking-in at 1230, I didn’t have enough cash for the deposit but we sorted that after a light Indian lunch right underneath our corner room.
In the evening
After a rest, we headed out to the nearby NU Sentral mall for a walk and some dinner.
Kim wanted a foot massage outside the hotel, right underneath the monorail line. He returned with a good review and I went down immediately and snapped up the same masseuse.
Kim having a foot massage under the monorail line.