travelgirlatl

My husband and I are thinking of a trip to Bali in April. I would prefer to fly business or first on such a long flight, but am not sure we really want to pay the fares to do so. Any opinions on the best (or least bad, as it were) airline options if flying coach?

TIA!

Kathie

And you are traveling from where to Bali?

scfphoto

We flew on Singapore air from LA stopping in Singapore for a few days before going to Bali. Singapore coach is better than most American based airlines business class. I wish I could fly them all the time.

cruisinred

It used to be that Eva airlines evergreen deluxe class was a great business class alternative from the States to Bali. However, their flight schedule has changed so that there is now a 12 hours connection in Taipei, when it used to be 2 hours. Might be worth checking their website in any case.

rkkwan

I assume the OP is flying from ATL, based on her name.

Now, ATL-DPS is a long trip, regardless of how she flies. But I'll concentrate on two factors:

- 1-stop vs 2-stop. The only 1-stop possibilities are ATL-ICN-DPS on Korean; or ATL-NRT on DL, then NRT-DPS on Garuda or JAL. I don't know about the NRT connection, but via ICN, total trip can be as short as 25:20. That's probably the fastest way to get there from Atlanta.

- Premium Economy. That's another option between regular coach and business class. Several Asian airlines now have such product, and may make sense for you.

Across the Atlantic:

Singapore Airlines (SQ) from Newark (EWR) to Singapore on its 340-500. Need a connection from ATL-EWR on DL/CO and another SQ flight SIN-DPS.

Thai (TG) from JFK-BKK, also on its 340-500. Similar situation as SQ.

Across the Pacific:

EVA (BR) from LAX, SFO, SEA or EWR (EWR is one-stop) to Taipei (TPE). Need connection to one of those gateway, and BR onwards from TPE to DPS.

ANA from JFK. Need ATL-JFK and NRT-DPS connection on different airlines.

rkkwan

cruisinred - A short connection in TPE is still possible with BR. It has a 10am TPE-DPS flight, and most US-TPE flight arrives early in the morning for about a 3.5-hour connection.

marmot

If you are coming from the East Coast I would fly Singapore airlines non-stop from Newark to Singapore then connect on Singapore on to Bali (Denpasar). SQ has wonderful service in all classes, even coach.

travelgirlatl

Thanks so much for all the advice We could fly from ATL, but are open to leaving from LAX, SFO, Newark, etc. as well if it means the major portion of the trip is made more pleasant by a "better" airline.

I am going to check out fares on Singapore Air--that sounds like a good option for us. Thanks again for all your help!

Guenmai

I did United to Singapore and then Singapore Air to Bali when I went.I was gone three weeks and had United ticket all of my destinations within Southeast Asia.It happened to be cheaper through United at that time. However, if you can do Singapore Air with the stopover in Singapore and on to Bali, that would be great. Happy Travels!

NoFlyZone

Being in Atlanta, Delta SkyMiles may be of interst, in which case you could consider Delta to the west coast and then Malaysia Airlines to Bali via Kuala Lumpur. Superb business and first classes, almost as good as Singapore.