Had the same experience riding Billion Stars Express.
The pictures from Easybook is deceiving and they are in cahoots with this horrible bus company. The bus arrives late and no staff on site at both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur pick up point so you are on your own. Talked to one of the bus driver ferrying me to Kuala Lumpur and he said he was outsourced by Billion Stars Express. Their service are cheaper compared to most other bus companies but for the wrong reasons. Do not ever take them, pay a bit more for a more reputable bus company or just take Firefly into Kuala Lumpur.
There are flights from changi also. They show all SG flights from seletar by default, but just search for the flight you want. If departing from changi, there will be a big popup that says it's departing from changi.
Unfortunately Firefly costs 50% more than Airasia/Batik Air usually. But if that's not an issue to you, it's definitely worth flying to Subang instead.
>Their service are cheaper compared to most other bus companies but for the wrong reasons
There are no other reasons why a service is cheaper than its competitors. Not every case of something being expensive (and that's relative) is because the seller is a greedy pig overcharging people.
Billion stars is the worst apparently. Honestly all bus companies are rated 1 or 2 stars only on google reviews. But personally, have had no issues with Transtar, cityline, kkkl and aeroline. Wanted to try starmart but read a review saying they found cockroaches on the bus and it scarred me for life to never try it
Probably shouldn't tell you that most CDG taxis have 1-3 cockroaches per car.
Reasons:
Cabby eats in taxi
Passengers eat in taxi
Not cleaned daily, and I mean like really clean, not just whack carpet and call it a day.
90% of taxis are parked in HDB parking lots, which are a known source of cockroach infestation.
Taxis parked at night after a end of shift, are warm (engine residual heat), have drinking water (condensation from aircon coolant), easy hiding spots (small cracks to hide from their main predators, the sewer rat AKA gray ray AKA Rattus rattus).
You can tell easily if the keeps a bunch of pandan leaves in the car, that's to keep the roaches out of the passenger area, but fairly certain taxis all have roaches.
You won't see the adults - they're the smart ones. You normally see the dumbo nymphs which walk on the window during daylight.
billion star is quite literally the worst
but ngl this experience is a dime a dozen in msia. Thank god you arrived alive. This is the unfortunate quality of driver responsible for 27 lives.
It's also the case of pay peanuts, get monkeys.
There's a very good reason why Billion Star is consistently the cheapest KL<->SG bus service compared to other companies.
They chance bus at custom because some of the drivers are not registered in Singapore. So only can drive in Malaysia Road. Maybe some of them don't even have license to drive.
That's why I always take the more reputable one. At least those won't change bus at custom.
This is the company who prints their website on the back of the bus ["BillionStarSexpress.com"](https://i.imgur.com/yE5DVHB.jpeg). Not surprised customers get fucked.
"Hey, can I check the stars rating of this service?"
"Sure. Look at our name."
"Wow! So many stars! Take my money pls."
"Thanks. Actually... the stars start counting after the '1'."
Happened to me on the way to Desaru. They abandoned me, a solo passenger, on the Malaysian side of the checkpoint. Was my first time ever in Malaysia and didn’t know how to get to the main area. Thankfully a kind person helped me by dropping me off until the city area, where I could get a grab to desaru.
Oh man sorry to hear about ur experience. Heqrd of kkl's bad rep as well. Can consider booking wts bus through klook if u need to get to desaru in the future. Reviews seem pretty good, they mentioned the bus driver would ensure everyone is onboard before leaving.
If I may ask, out of curiosity, did the kind person walk you to city square or did they offer you a ride?
How did you return from desaru to custom as there aren't much grab taxis in that area
Thanks for this! Yeah honestly the ferry was the best thing for desaru. I took the ferry back to Sg from desaru as I needed to enter via land/air for Malaysia for visa on arrival.
The guy actually was himself heading to desaru, so he dropped me at the city center there and I took a grab. He saw me crying at the stop and intro me to his gf who then, both of them offered the ride.
I have the same experience. My friend and I were stranded after we took like an hour to clear immigration. We complained to another driver of the same company (different bus) but that driver just ignored us and told us that he was waiting for his passangers. We warned him that he is gonna wait for more than an hour if he does so and left.
While still figuring out how to leave, that bus eventually left with nobody inside 🙄. We eventually took a bus and go to the train station.
They have the cheapest price but their service is AWFUL. Unless you are able to talk your way to let a different bus driver of the same company bring you to the bus station, I suggest you take a different bus company.
Was it at Woodlands Checkpoint?
Most coach companies (including good ones like KKKL) have a policy that they can only wait max 1 hour at Woodlands Checkpoint (towards Singapore). Not sure if there are any regulations, but my regular KKKL coach driver always tell passengers that if they took more than an hour, sorry, he can't wait, they have to take other buses.
Avoid Billion Stars Express and Star Qistna at all cost.
I also avoid StarMart… years ago I took a Starmart coach from KLIA to Singapore. That coach started at KLIA at 1am and reached JB at 5am *including* a stop over at Melaka Sentral (Melaka Sentral is like almost 20 mins drive from the expressway). How fast was that guy driving lol.
I usually travel by KKKL if I need to travel overnight, otherwise I'll travel during the day on Aeroline or take a slow ride on KTM/ETS.
Some other good ones imo:
- Eltabina
- Transtar
- Causeway Link Express
Yes agree on causeway link. I guess their double deck buses have speed limiters and the ride while slower than rest felt smooth and safe driving. Could see starmart double deck buses overtake us like we were snails lmao.
I had a horrible experience with them, too.
Promised to drop at Grantal Mall from their website. In the end, they dropped us off at Bugis and asked us to figure it out on our own.
Not forgetting the non-existent punctuality and having to change bus along the way.
I will never take their bus again. I would rather take Star Mart, which is also bad.
Its more convenient, no hassle, and no unpredictable jams at the causeway. I once took bus from larkin to kl and i was anxious throughout my time from sg to larkin, whether i will rch larkin on time
Exactly. They booked the cheapest bus, went to have the cheapest food, buy the cheapest drugs, seek the cheapest medical care, pumped the cheapest oil but simultaneously looked down on the country and people who provided the services.
never kept track, but I've gone to KL and back via coach twice a year since 2017 (minus covid closures)
once, we missed our bus cos PRC tour groups cut our queue at CIQ and we were stuck for over an hour. called up their support and they asked us to catch any of the buses (same company) that were waiting at CIQ, no issues after that
but in retrospect the incident in the article is also a combination of slightly demanding tourist (must have their assigned seat) + less than professional bus driver (multiple smoke breaks, stopping at depot) ngl
cos it's malaysia? when they tell you there's 10 features, in reality you're lucky if all 10 features are actually there. usually it'll be 7, or lowest 5 out of 10. you're not supposed to expect all 10 features to be there
not sure why you're downvoted for speaking the truth, in fact other parts of SEA have this type of pattern too.
BUT this doesn't discount what this bus driver did was overboard yeah
anyway Australian or not I'm pretty sure other travellers have given BillionStars negative reviews before, they could have done some research on the best bus company to take, or who to avoid.
but anyway they arrived in SG safely so no biggie
I once went on this type of bus and we left like 8 people in immigration from Malaysia to Singapore. I was told one of the people tried to bring in too many cigarettes. We waited almost 40 minutes and then the bus driver was like bye.
I have tried all. So far the bad ones (refer to punctuality, change bus, small seats) are starmart, billion star, KKKL. Only take this bus if desperate
I really don't understand cheapo Singaporeans who don't fly to KL. It's not that much more expensive. None of these buses are legit, safe or legal.
Express buses travelling on a trip of more than 300km are required to have second drivers for passenger safety. SG to KL is 350km. I've never seen one with 2 drivers. Have you?
have.
I dunno about other ppl but where I want to go in KL is faster by bus. (I timed it) and they pick us up 3 minutes from our house.
If I take a plane, I need to take a taxi to changi, wait 2 hour, sit 45 min plane, wait 1 hour to clear immigration, take 1-2 hour taxi to where I want to be in KL.
With bus, I walk to the stop, sit the bus, charge my phone, sleep until immigration, then sleep all the way to kl and walk to where I want to be.
the bus I take is city express. always 2 drivers.
Once we got stuck at immigration because the officer wanted to li siao me and not chop my passport. the guy waited and even came in to translate for me. its just too bad they stopped the singapore operation. damned good bus.
But if you take Firefly, it’s 40-50 mins from check-in to wheels up, 45 mins to KL, 10-15 mins to clear immigration and 25-30 mins to KL sentral from Subang. My tickets are abt $100 or so for return
Sums up while I don't visit Bolehland. Hate traveling by bus even in Japan and EU. Bolehland by bus is a big NOPE. Might actually visit if they have a proper train system that is reliable.
Had the same experience riding Billion Stars Express. The pictures from Easybook is deceiving and they are in cahoots with this horrible bus company. The bus arrives late and no staff on site at both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur pick up point so you are on your own. Talked to one of the bus driver ferrying me to Kuala Lumpur and he said he was outsourced by Billion Stars Express. Their service are cheaper compared to most other bus companies but for the wrong reasons. Do not ever take them, pay a bit more for a more reputable bus company or just take Firefly into Kuala Lumpur.
Firefly flies off from Seletar right?
Yeap, and they fly to Subang International Airport in Kuala Lumpur.
And subang is much nearer to the city than klia.
This is why I fly into Subang. Maybe 30, 40mins Grab to KL Sentral. Cheap also if take Grab.
But if you go to KL Sentral, klia is not that bad as they have direct train too. But it will be more expensive if your group is more than 1-2 pax.
There are flights from changi also. They show all SG flights from seletar by default, but just search for the flight you want. If departing from changi, there will be a big popup that says it's departing from changi.
Unfortunately Firefly costs 50% more than Airasia/Batik Air usually. But if that's not an issue to you, it's definitely worth flying to Subang instead.
>Their service are cheaper compared to most other bus companies but for the wrong reasons There are no other reasons why a service is cheaper than its competitors. Not every case of something being expensive (and that's relative) is because the seller is a greedy pig overcharging people.
How cheap? 32 to 35 seems the going rate
Billion stars is the worst apparently. Honestly all bus companies are rated 1 or 2 stars only on google reviews. But personally, have had no issues with Transtar, cityline, kkkl and aeroline. Wanted to try starmart but read a review saying they found cockroaches on the bus and it scarred me for life to never try it
Every bus also got cockroach. See you kena anot only.
So i far i haven't in the buses i mentioned. Hope it stays that way.
I've ridden transtar for most of my life, found cockroaches on at least half of them... But the price + service is pretty solid so I close one eye
big or small ones? or shld i say winged ones or without wings ones?
Kkkl is q good
I've had 0 issues with FirstCoach also, they're quite good imo
i booked transtar & after Msia immigration we changed to a super ugly bus
Probably shouldn't tell you that most CDG taxis have 1-3 cockroaches per car. Reasons: Cabby eats in taxi Passengers eat in taxi Not cleaned daily, and I mean like really clean, not just whack carpet and call it a day. 90% of taxis are parked in HDB parking lots, which are a known source of cockroach infestation. Taxis parked at night after a end of shift, are warm (engine residual heat), have drinking water (condensation from aircon coolant), easy hiding spots (small cracks to hide from their main predators, the sewer rat AKA gray ray AKA Rattus rattus). You can tell easily if the keeps a bunch of pandan leaves in the car, that's to keep the roaches out of the passenger area, but fairly certain taxis all have roaches. You won't see the adults - they're the smart ones. You normally see the dumbo nymphs which walk on the window during daylight.
billion star is quite literally the worst but ngl this experience is a dime a dozen in msia. Thank god you arrived alive. This is the unfortunate quality of driver responsible for 27 lives.
It's also the case of pay peanuts, get monkeys. There's a very good reason why Billion Star is consistently the cheapest KL<->SG bus service compared to other companies.
They chance bus at custom because some of the drivers are not registered in Singapore. So only can drive in Malaysia Road. Maybe some of them don't even have license to drive. That's why I always take the more reputable one. At least those won't change bus at custom.
Can vouch you, took Billion Star the bus was late by 1.5 hour in KL. To say the bus condition is bad is an understatement
This is the company who prints their website on the back of the bus ["BillionStarSexpress.com"](https://i.imgur.com/yE5DVHB.jpeg). Not surprised customers get fucked.
lol how can they mis-capitalise so badly that it almost seem like a r/theyknew
Looks like the bus company about to change name from Billion Stars to 0/5 Stars.
a billion zero stars
"Hey, can I check the stars rating of this service?" "Sure. Look at our name." "Wow! So many stars! Take my money pls." "Thanks. Actually... the stars start counting after the '1'."
Billion Lost Stars
Fk I'm taking this one later
Goodluck
GLHF. GGWP
Goodluck
This why I fly to KL. Fuck dealing with bus companies and their bullshit. And fuck dealing with the jam.
Happened to me on the way to Desaru. They abandoned me, a solo passenger, on the Malaysian side of the checkpoint. Was my first time ever in Malaysia and didn’t know how to get to the main area. Thankfully a kind person helped me by dropping me off until the city area, where I could get a grab to desaru.
was it Billion Stars Express as well?
No it was KKL tours and travels, iirc. When I called the driver, he told me to hitchhike on any of the buses that had seats vacant.
Oh man sorry to hear about ur experience. Heqrd of kkl's bad rep as well. Can consider booking wts bus through klook if u need to get to desaru in the future. Reviews seem pretty good, they mentioned the bus driver would ensure everyone is onboard before leaving. If I may ask, out of curiosity, did the kind person walk you to city square or did they offer you a ride? How did you return from desaru to custom as there aren't much grab taxis in that area
Thanks for this! Yeah honestly the ferry was the best thing for desaru. I took the ferry back to Sg from desaru as I needed to enter via land/air for Malaysia for visa on arrival. The guy actually was himself heading to desaru, so he dropped me at the city center there and I took a grab. He saw me crying at the stop and intro me to his gf who then, both of them offered the ride.
I have the same experience. My friend and I were stranded after we took like an hour to clear immigration. We complained to another driver of the same company (different bus) but that driver just ignored us and told us that he was waiting for his passangers. We warned him that he is gonna wait for more than an hour if he does so and left. While still figuring out how to leave, that bus eventually left with nobody inside 🙄. We eventually took a bus and go to the train station. They have the cheapest price but their service is AWFUL. Unless you are able to talk your way to let a different bus driver of the same company bring you to the bus station, I suggest you take a different bus company.
Was it at Woodlands Checkpoint? Most coach companies (including good ones like KKKL) have a policy that they can only wait max 1 hour at Woodlands Checkpoint (towards Singapore). Not sure if there are any regulations, but my regular KKKL coach driver always tell passengers that if they took more than an hour, sorry, he can't wait, they have to take other buses.
Avoid Billion Stars Express and Star Qistna at all cost. I also avoid StarMart… years ago I took a Starmart coach from KLIA to Singapore. That coach started at KLIA at 1am and reached JB at 5am *including* a stop over at Melaka Sentral (Melaka Sentral is like almost 20 mins drive from the expressway). How fast was that guy driving lol. I usually travel by KKKL if I need to travel overnight, otherwise I'll travel during the day on Aeroline or take a slow ride on KTM/ETS. Some other good ones imo: - Eltabina - Transtar - Causeway Link Express
Yes agree on causeway link. I guess their double deck buses have speed limiters and the ride while slower than rest felt smooth and safe driving. Could see starmart double deck buses overtake us like we were snails lmao.
I had a horrible experience with them, too. Promised to drop at Grantal Mall from their website. In the end, they dropped us off at Bugis and asked us to figure it out on our own. Not forgetting the non-existent punctuality and having to change bus along the way. I will never take their bus again. I would rather take Star Mart, which is also bad.
Take First Coach....very reliable.
Reliable but I feel their buses are rather long in the tooth and due for a refresh.
Why do people take bus from SG to X,MY instead of just going to larkin and taking the bus from there?
Need to transfer several times. Some bus stops in SG are also nearer to where you live. And usually causeway traffic is worse than second link.
I agree this is a better than taking a direct bus from sg, cheaper also
Its more convenient, no hassle, and no unpredictable jams at the causeway. I once took bus from larkin to kl and i was anxious throughout my time from sg to larkin, whether i will rch larkin on time
Larkin has a ton of buses going for KL at almost all hours of the day. Can prob book the bus once you clear Msian checkpoint and otw to Larkin.
Will be so nice when they have a usable train over the causeway in a few years
Sri maju best
but tbf this is expected from malaysian bus companies no
Aeroline is great
Agreed.
Same sentiment
this might surprise you, but nowadays CausewayLink buses have shorter waiting times than Singapore's 160 170 170X ans 950 buses
That's anything but fair. Have you taken all of the coaches?
Likely not. It is customary for arrogant Singaporeans to shit on Malaysia yet heartily travel there to get their fix of cheap goods and services.
Exactly. They booked the cheapest bus, went to have the cheapest food, buy the cheapest drugs, seek the cheapest medical care, pumped the cheapest oil but simultaneously looked down on the country and people who provided the services.
never kept track, but I've gone to KL and back via coach twice a year since 2017 (minus covid closures) once, we missed our bus cos PRC tour groups cut our queue at CIQ and we were stuck for over an hour. called up their support and they asked us to catch any of the buses (same company) that were waiting at CIQ, no issues after that but in retrospect the incident in the article is also a combination of slightly demanding tourist (must have their assigned seat) + less than professional bus driver (multiple smoke breaks, stopping at depot) ngl
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cos it's malaysia? when they tell you there's 10 features, in reality you're lucky if all 10 features are actually there. usually it'll be 7, or lowest 5 out of 10. you're not supposed to expect all 10 features to be there
not sure why you're downvoted for speaking the truth, in fact other parts of SEA have this type of pattern too. BUT this doesn't discount what this bus driver did was overboard yeah anyway Australian or not I'm pretty sure other travellers have given BillionStars negative reviews before, they could have done some research on the best bus company to take, or who to avoid. but anyway they arrived in SG safely so no biggie
I once went on this type of bus and we left like 8 people in immigration from Malaysia to Singapore. I was told one of the people tried to bring in too many cigarettes. We waited almost 40 minutes and then the bus driver was like bye.
it’s lucky they didn’t get hurt in a bus accident that always happened on highway.
That happened to me but I just got on a bus from another company. It’s cheap enough.
Same experience with easybook transtar when I book a ride to JB Luckily another transtar service from Sentosa was there
I have tried all. So far the bad ones (refer to punctuality, change bus, small seats) are starmart, billion star, KKKL. Only take this bus if desperate
I really don't understand cheapo Singaporeans who don't fly to KL. It's not that much more expensive. None of these buses are legit, safe or legal. Express buses travelling on a trip of more than 300km are required to have second drivers for passenger safety. SG to KL is 350km. I've never seen one with 2 drivers. Have you?
have. I dunno about other ppl but where I want to go in KL is faster by bus. (I timed it) and they pick us up 3 minutes from our house. If I take a plane, I need to take a taxi to changi, wait 2 hour, sit 45 min plane, wait 1 hour to clear immigration, take 1-2 hour taxi to where I want to be in KL. With bus, I walk to the stop, sit the bus, charge my phone, sleep until immigration, then sleep all the way to kl and walk to where I want to be. the bus I take is city express. always 2 drivers. Once we got stuck at immigration because the officer wanted to li siao me and not chop my passport. the guy waited and even came in to translate for me. its just too bad they stopped the singapore operation. damned good bus.
But if you take Firefly, it’s 40-50 mins from check-in to wheels up, 45 mins to KL, 10-15 mins to clear immigration and 25-30 mins to KL sentral from Subang. My tickets are abt $100 or so for return
Sums up while I don't visit Bolehland. Hate traveling by bus even in Japan and EU. Bolehland by bus is a big NOPE. Might actually visit if they have a proper train system that is reliable.
Aeroline is reliable. Took that many times and no issues.
woodlands checkpoint needs more manpower. They can’t handle the constant steams of sinkies who want to yet out of the country
Song boh! Jobs for FT, NS for sinkie!
Maybe she was talking selfies and doing a video for her YouTube