We are planning a trip for this fall to Surabaya (SUB), and while hopping all over Asia with 18 and 24-hour layovers was fun a few years ago, we have a toddler now.

If anyone has done this specific route, I'd love to hear what you've hobbled together. I'm weaving together information from the wikipedia pages from the 2 airports trying to maximize our time there, keep it affordable, and get at least part of it on Skyteam. If anyone knows of a possible future Indonesia route out of Kunming that would be great too. Thanks!

i have not done that route before, but i did long layovers in korea and japan. i booked a bus tour in korea through the airport and had a blast. i went through a travel agency near green lake hotel. it was cheaper than anything i found online. check out some travel agents in the area for quotes. if you message me the route, layover times, and your expectations i can help you out through my friends travel agency.

I once flew from Manila (Clark) to Kota Kinabalu for a day and a half (booked a national park tour), then to Bangkok for 8 hours (found a DIY itinerary) then to somewhere in northern Thailand where I could take a bus to the Laos border. It was a fun 3 days of transit, but not something we want to do this time. I'll definitely message you if we aren't able to figure something out. Thanks!

Check out AirAsia. They have some direct flights from Chengdu or Chongqing I think. Though it's a budget carrier, so more restrictions.

Layovers in Seoul are fine; plenty of free amenities and kid play area. The pay lounges are excellent. But Seoul isn't exactly on the way to Indonesia.

I had looked at Air Asia and was hitting dead ends because the only routes from Kunming are to Kuala Lumpur (their hub) and Bangkok. Booking 2 separate itineraries is nbd, but the arrival time was later than I was hoping for. So from Chengdu, yes they fly to Surabaya...transferring in Kuala Lumpur and arriving at the same time. Why is it possible to book it from Chengdu straight through but not Kunming?! So weird.