Air Asia experiences

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Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 53 total)

  • VintageKrug
    Participant

    But you are not prepared to say how much you paid for the ticket.


    TominScotland
    Participant

    Just completed my first round trip on Air Asia, BKK-KUL-BKK which was a hasty add on to a long-time booked trip to Vientiane with TH via BKK. some interesting lessons, especially after experiencing LCCs in Europe.

    I pre-printed my boarding cards (this can be done up to 15 days in advance and, unless you buy a seat allocation in advance, you are given no choice of seat but do get a seat number) so avoided immigration in BKK as I had hand luggage only. However, Air Asia in BK were religiously applying their 7 kg rule to the main piece of hand luggage to had to do some reorganisation to put all books etc into my backpack!! Outbound LOOKED fine – incoming aircraft on time but it then went technical with no clear indication of likely resolution. A vague offer over the tannoy to transfer some passengers (those who heard) to the next Air Asia flight (a Thai based aircraft) was taken up by some of us so had a rush to another gate and limited check regarding who we were. Free seating for all of us interloppers. Therefore arrived about 3 hours late but could have been much worse.

    KUL Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) is interesting – a temporary structure while they build Terminal 2 at KLIA. Limited control over arriviong and departing passengers – I THINK I could have elected to go to Domestic arrivals instead of International without any form of check or, indeed, boared one of the departing aircraft there. Immigration queues are long…..

    Return was fine – no queues and early departure and arrival. Clueless me thought I could go to the Thai transfer desk to pick up my boarding pass – could not print it beforehand for some reason – for my onward flight to Vientiane. No way! “You travelled on a LCC therefore there is no connection!” I had to go through immigratioon, upstairs to Departures and start over again with the queues etc. So I was in Thailand for 15 minutes!!.

    I guess LCCs in Europe do not really interface in major airports with what Thai staff at the transfer desk called “real airlines” so this transfer issue does not really arise.

    Overall Air Asia assessment? Not bad – staff do not have the fine service touch of most Asian carriers – its almost as if some of them are trained to be assertive. Catering looked good – its paid for in advance for hot meals or onboard payment for snacks. Security issues at KUL LCCT and in the (very helpful) transfer process to the alternative flight in BKK.


    Deleted User
    Participant

    Are there many budget carriers that have stepped into the long haul market?

    I have used Air Asia in Asia, it works, but am not sure I would use Air Asia longhaul. A bit like Ryan Air or Easy Jet flying to New York, it just doesnt seem right!!


    TominScotland
    Participant

    The only other one I can think of is Jetstar.


    Binman62
    Participant

    I have flown with Air Asia from Macau to Kuching and did so as full service carriers were 5 times the price. 2 days before travel they altered the departure time by 12 hours ….earlier. This was not an issue and given what I paid I put it down to a case of “you get what you pay for” However it made me think about future travel plans, and since that experience I have avoided almost all travel on low cost carriers anywhere. Caveat Emptor must be the watch words and whilst I have, and will continue to be, critical of BA and other full service carriers; the fact is you get what you pay for. Yes BA have cancelled flights on me this year, they have lost my bags and delayed me, but I have never been abandoned and have been properly compensated when things have gone wrong. Between them and Amex I have survived the outrageous fortunes of air travel this year.
    As a foot note, Air Asia could not behave like this on flights from Europe which are covered by regulation 261/2004


    bmidcfan
    Participant

    Having had one very bad experience with Air Asia, I would never consider flying it again. Had the choice recently as a last minute booking from Colombo, but chose Sri Lankan Airlines and the flights were on time and the service excellent. As it was just an overnight stay for me in Kuala Lumpur, it was the same crew and it was good to know they recognised me and very professional and pleasant. You get what you pay for. Since it was only an overnight trip I could not risk the uncertainty of Air Asia! Try Sri Lankan website for hot deals and you will be surprised at the low price they charge.


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    Sorry to disappoint you binman62 …..

    EU regulation 261/2004 covers only EU-based carriers when the flight is bound for the EU. So it would apply when flying STN-KUL with Air Asia but not when flying KUL-STN.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_261/2004


    Binman62
    Participant

    Londoncity…You are of course correct and post has been edited.


    VintageKrug
    Participant

    I took my Air Asia flights recently (all £15 of them!) and was impressed.

    On time boarding, clean aircraft, professional crew and on board safety-consciousness seemed good.

    For the price, I couldn’t fault them.

    http://www.airasia.com


    EU_Flyer
    Participant

    The moral of the story is…. you don’t book Air Asia and expect Singapore Airlines.

    True, there is a level of ‘respect’ a company is best advised to treat its customers with, but what most travellers need to appreciate is that these new low cost cheap airlines work on a business model that is diametrically opposed to the full service legacy carriers, such as SQ and yes BMI! Theoretically, you pay a price premium to fly on these airlines for their comfortable terminals, lounges, and flexible customer service/refund policies ect.

    Air Asia, Jetstar, Tiger ect are a new breed and passenger expectations need to be adjusted to reflect that what they are offering, not what we wish they were offering for the discounted prices they charge.

    Interestingly, Jetstar had some high profile delays/cancellations when they first started both domestic and international ops and they handled it in a traditional LCC low-service manner. UNTIL Qantas started feeling a backlash from it’s FF who were flying JQ. AirAsia has no such parent to look after. They do as they please and make a lot of money doing it.

    My suggestion….think before you buy.


    Flytoomuch
    Participant

    I had to pay for my in-laws to visit last summer. I got them tickets on Air Asia X. Unfortunately, they arrived alright. No complaints either.

    As an aside, VK, your detractors on anything BA-related should really read your posts on here. A healthy perspective which I’m in total agreement with.


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    Flytoomuch – please dont start on the in-laws subject. I would gladly pay for my in laws flights as long as the aircraft was pointing away from me and that the flight wasnt long enough for them to reach me!!


    OzTraveller
    Participant

    VintageKrug, please forget this bullshit about “how much did you pay?” The price you pay should not equate to the professionalism and business principles you expect from an international airline. Just because you pay a much lower fare should not mean a total disregard for the passenger.


    ivornomates
    Participant

    I flew business class from Taipei to KUL and back a few weeks ago. Cant fault the seat its superb to be honest, way better than CI or BR at a fraction of the price. You actually get a meal and drinks and a blanket but they actually try to get you to pay for this when booking.Staff seem to think they are the beauty queens of Malaysia but in fact seem pretty clueless when it comes to being cabin crew. They give the impression that having spent 3 hrs putting their make up and wearing a skirt so tight you can see the pimples on their bum, that no service is required as you want to do is admire their so called beauty. Cant fault the price or the seat and frankly thats really what you want.


    Deleted User
    Participant

    Does anyone have a solution to booking an Air Asia BKK-KUL-BKK ticket off web site but at web site fares, I ve been trying for a couple of hours to make a booking and am getting nowhere. Either the website is not accepting my data or all my credit cards have been stopped.

    Very frustrating, there is a recoreded message saying that I should try again in the morning as the web site is very busy. Quite bizzare.

    I shall look at other options but the Air Asia fare was really good at £123 return.

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 53 total)
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