In case you haven’t been here yet, you might be under the impression that this popular island paradise has a huge airport and incoming flights from around the world, but that’s not really the case. Finding cheap flights into Bali can often be challenging as a result.
When you get here you’ll see that it’s a simple airport and probably much more basic than you were expecting. The runways and such are impressive, but the buildings and facilities remind you that this really is a small island, regardless of its popularity.
Finding cheap flights to Bali
When you first get started you are probably in for a bit of confusion. The airport itself is officially called Ngurah Rai International Airport but it’s more commonly known as Denpasar International Airport, for the capital of the island, Denpasar, which isn’t far from the airport. If you begin typing B-A-L-I into an airfare search engine, it probably won’t even know what you are after. The airport code is DPS, so just type that and you’ll be set.
There are definitely a handful of “discount airlines” who fly daily into Bali, but the way the aviation industry works these days that doesn’t mean those will have the best fares. Most of these so-called discount airlines are listed on the same airfare search engines anyway, so the best thing to do is put in your dates and see what comes up.
Still, here are the ones you should be aware of, and where they fly into Bali from.
Discount airlines flying into Bali
- Air Asia – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- China Airlines – Taipei, Taiwan
- China Eastern – Shanghai, China
- EVA Air – Taipei, Taiwan
- Hong Kong Express Airways – Hong Kong
- Indonesia AirAsia – Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Perth
- Jetstar Airways – Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, Singapore, and Sydney
- Malaysia Airlines – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Thai Air Asia – Bangkok
You can see by the list above that unless you are in Australia, you are probably going to have to change planes somewhere in Asia if you want a cheap flight here. Fortunately, most of the airfare search engines can now put together an itinerary using different airlines that have the lowest total cost. So, for example, you might fly on American Airlines from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, and then on Hong Kong Express (or even Cathay Pacific) to Bali, without even having to check your baggage in again.
Cheapest Asian cities to reach Bali from
In case you happen to be traveling around Asia, or even on a round the world trip, you may be curious which is your best city from which to get to Bali cheapest. Well, it’s not always in this order, but when a good promotional fare is around then Kuala Lumpur can be the cheapest, with fares starting around US$138 each way.
Here’s the list in order from cheapest to most expensive:
- Kuala Lumpur
- Jakarta
- Bangkok
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
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{ 4 comments }
Thanks Roger, always find very helpful info here; the recent pix of Candi reminded me of our favorite part of our 91 vacation. Any discount options involving Stateside legs? We used Garuda once and Singapore another time flying out of LAX on packages by Roe Gruber at Escapes Unlimited, and the pricing was very good–package lower than airfare alone. Do you see any airlines that offer a stateside component?
Thanks!
great article about the ‘cheapie flights’ , can i just add, regarding air asia in and out of Bali. if you buy your tickets in the air asia shops (whichever city) you will only ever get the standard discount price.
but if you book online and well in advance you can drop on some ‘super promo’ prices . i’ve just done Bali-KL for 480,000 rph return !! but i booked almost 3 months prior to flight date . Air Asia website is always worth a look !
regards Dave
Roger,
These are really tips. When you mentioned cheapest flights from other countries to Bali, do you recommend using the same airline (planning a long layover in the country) or buying separate tickets?
Purvi,
I’d recommend first trying to book the whole set of flights at once. These days every flight booking site will mix and match all the airlines they have access to, and sell you a cheap combination ticket to your final destination. But especially in Asia, there are some smaller regional or discount airlines that aren’t in all the major systems, so there are some cases where you can save money by booking a ticket into a major city and then another ticket from there to Bali.
In particular I found excellent deals from Kuala Lumpur to Bali, so it could be worth checking for prices from your home to that city, and then looking for a cheap ticket on a discount airline from KL to Bali. You don’t need to have a layover in that hub city to pull this off, but it’s a great excuse to spend a couple days in a new place if you can.
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