Your calls always answered within 5 rings.
Craig and team are amazing. Never let's us down. We have again given DialAFlight recommendation to people who we met whilst travelling
Air India, despite its quite recent privatisation, is simply awful in every way. I was at Gatwick for 11 hours , with zero information about what was happening. Apparently the previous two Air India flights to Kochi were cancelled. All very stressful, but no fault of DAF!
There is a great deal of reassurance in knowing that your trip has been arranged by people who really know what they are doing. And that you are not just abandoned to the anonymous machinery of an airline that doesn't really care, in spite of all their rubbish claims about caring! Also that if something goes wrong you can get advice with a telephone call that is actually answered!
Although my baggage was lost from Dubai to London Gatwick I was able to speak to DialAFlight and ask for guidance on how to process the forms to reclaim my baggage. This they did readily which was a comfort at the time. You'll be glad to hear I now have my lost baggage!
Archie was brilliant - sorted everything out. Will definitely be using you guys and recommending to friends
Great service, especially from Ray Taylor.
Zoe Lane is an excellent travel agent.
It's not until something goes wrong with your travel plans that you realise the benefits of booking with them. After sitting on the plane at Gatwick for a couple of hours our flight was cancelled due to a technical issue. At 11pm there aren't that many people in the airport to help. Fortunately a call to DialAFlight's emergency phone line had me talking to Korinna within seconds. She was able to see there were no flights from Gatwick the following morning but there were spaces on the Heathrow flight and she changed our booking to this flight. She also re-arranged our connecting flight for Dubai to Delhi. All this whilst my husband was trying to talk to the airline's customer call centre who were saying they couldn't do anything as the flight hadn't been officially cancelled! A big thanks to Korinna for her help.
Efficient and helpful
No hitches on the way despite the potential for this to happen. Radisson Blue Hotel in Connaught Place excellent service and very convenient for shopping and restaurants.
Always very helpful and a pleasure to book with.
Other than the changes with the flights everything else was great
Amazing customer care
Excellent service
None. Good service
Alfie was very helpful, as usual and ensured all went smoothly
You didn't have to rearrange a flight home for me after a last minute international flight cancellation on this holiday, as you did on the last, but it was so good to know that - far from home - you were there to help me should I find myself stranded. Thank you so much for being there.
Excellent service and they were there for me when I needed assistance. Will definitely use again.
Always had good customer service from Michelle
Flight suggestions worked really well
All perfect!
Everything was handled promptly, professionally and it delivered an experience in India that was everything we hoped for. Great to have a team that were readily available to support us in both the planning and execution! Particular call-out for Brody Letchfield who was our main contact and ensured that, through liaison with Tamarind Global on the ground in India, everything ran smoothly
Connecting flight from Heathrow was delayed because of fog in Delhi, causing us to miss the connection to Goa. Seven hour wait for the next flight.
Great service yet again
Brody once again has provided excellent service and planned our holiday to perfection
Edward Scudder is a star - above and beyond. Quality service
Absolutely seamless holiday to Goa with all the flights booked with Rosie at DialAFlight Thanks again
As always, excellent service especially by Gino. If only BA could learn a thing or two from you about customer service.
Raphael was very helpful throughout the entire process, from initial booking to just before departure
Aiden is great and always most helpful as are all your team!
Kuala Lumpur is often over-looked in favour of a stopover in a more high profile Asian metropolis such as Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok. But the Malaysian capital is a city on the up, packed with fascinating art and architecture, top shopping - and some of the best street food in Asia.
From the airport the air-conditioned, wi-fi-enabled KLIA Ekspres Train whisks you to the city centre for you to check in to your hotel. If you're not too jetlagged you can try the sensational street-food scene straightaway.
Strung with red lanterns, pedestrian-ised Jalan Alor is noisy and tremendous fun. Start with sweet-spicy, perfectly charred chicken wings from Wong Ah Wah, then work your way down the street, finishing with a red-hot bowl of curry mee at Alor Corner Curry Noodle, on the corner with Changkat Bukit Bintang. Every dish is incredibly cheap.
Next morning fuel up with a back-straightening cup of Malaysian kopi (coffee) and kaya (thickly sliced toast smeared with butter and coconut jam) from a stall at Imbi Market. Download taxi app Grab – Southeast Asia's answer to Uber – and book a cab to the Batu Caves, an incense-cloaked Hindu temple complex on the outskirts of town (free). You'll see its 140ft gold statue of Murugan, Hindu god of war, long before you arrive at the limestone caves, which house murals, shrines and families of macaques. Don't get too close – they'll steal your phone/food/anything shiny.
Authentic Indian cuisine
Indians are the third-largest ethnic group in Malaysia, behind Malays and Chinese, and while you'll find reasonably good Indian restaurants outside Batu, there are more authentic foodie offerings in Brickfields – KL's Little India. So cab back over to canteen-like Vishal Food & Catering, at 22, Jalan Scott, which serves southern Indian cuisine on banana leaves, and order chicken biryani or mutton varuval. Leave room for extra poppadoms.
Escape the afternoon heat at the air-conditioned Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia. It's set on a hillside and its numerous rooms are treasure troves, filled with 1,000-year-old gold-inscribed Korans, rare compendiums of astronomy and astrology, Mogul daggers with jade hilts, and enough diamonds, rubies and sapphires to sink a pirate ship.
Indonesian flavours
Imagine a cuisine that combines piquant Indonesian flavours with Chinese cooking techniques; that would be Peranakan, gastronomic legacy of Chinese migrants who settled in Java and on the Malay peninsula. Precious Old China, in Central Market, serves some of the best and is one of the town's most charming spots – full of crystal chandeliers, carved rosewood furniture and antiques.
Standout dishes include flaky pastry 'top hats' filled with prawns and shredded vegetables, 'devil curry'chicken and sago gula melaka – palm sugar tapioca.
Ten minutes away is Omakase + Appreciate, the first Malaysian entry to make it onto Asia's 50 Best Bars list, and the size of a shoebox. Order a rum, pineapple, orange and coconut cream Painkiller.
Varied cultural history
Next day explore some more - have a city overview from the 12-metre by 15-metre scale model at the City Gallery, snap a selfie in front of the I Love KL sign, then check out Merdeka Square, the old Royal Selangor cricket ground, the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, with its magical-looking Mogul turrets and domes; and gothic St Mary's Cathedral.
Malaysia's national dish is nasi lemak, coconut milk rice served with sambal, salad, peanuts and egg. You'll find fragrant plates of it for sale on every corner, or try the hipster version – nasi lemak pancakes – at Merchant's Lane, on a fern-filled terrace in the heart of Chinatown.
The neighbourhood is one of the oldest in the city, with garish Taoist temples, colonial-era architecture and souvenir stalls touting faux-silk pyjamas.
Nearby Central Market is the place for smart handicrafts such as batik cushion covers and beaded slippers.
You can't leave KL without visiting 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers - beat the queues by buying a ticket online and sunset's the best time to go.
Take a walk through KLCC Park (take a photo of the towers framed between palm trees) for an aperitif in the SkyBar at Traders Hotel. Happy hour here runs from 5pm to 9pm.
For dinner, move onwards and upwards to the 57th floor of Petronas Tower 3 and Marini's on 57, a low-lit Italian restaurant. Book a table by the window.
Where to stay? The whitewashed Hotel Majestic has a calm atmosphere, with a delightful afternoon tea – white jackets, curry puffs and mango jam – an orchid conservatory and a Charles Rennie Mackintosh-inspired spa.
First published in the Sunday Times - June 2019
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