Avoid Flying Air Asia If You Can

[klong]

Air Asia is not the best discount airline around. There are couple of reasons that I believe this to be an accurate statement. All the prices they show on their website go out of the window the minute you begin to book a flight. They charge for every conceivable feature including choosing a seat, meals, checked luggage and even water. Their website automatically charges you for checked baggage and you must click buttons to delete it rather than choosing it as would be the honest way to do it. Then they try try to trick you into paying extra for a seat they choose for you in their Hot Seat section. You must figure out how to opt out of this and it is somewhat difficult because you much change to the return flight section or you will be charged for that. Then they try to trick you into buying\ their insurance by having the site rigged so that you must click "cancel" rather than what is continue.

Trying to get a return of money they owe you is very difficult. They cancelled a flight I had bought from them to France over 3 months ago and they still have not refunded my money. Repeated calls just get an answer that "it is in the process." This is not chump change and I want my money back but they just keep putting it off. Not a particularly honest thing to do. I rate their business practices as despicable and now avoid them and use other discount airlines and have been much more happy. You will also.

Orient Thai is honest and straight forward. They give free water and soft drinks as well as free checked baggage and much cheaper than Air Asia. Their website is poor and they only fly to a few destinations but I fly with them anytime I can.

[joe552]

I've used Air Asia a couple of times, from BKK to Phnom Penh and haven't had a problem. I'm used to flying with Ryanair in Europe and it's the same deal - you get what you pay for and nothing more. Provided you read the terms and conditions, there shouldn't be a problem. I'd have no problem using Air Asia again.

[Neal]

Was about two years ago that I flew BKK to Chaing Mei and then back to BKK and then off to Phuket. I don't remember having any difficulties with the website and in some cases I thought they were attempting to make it easier for me so that I would not run into a problem at the airport, I could be wrong. As far as the flight? Well I felt it was ok for a budget airline.

What is the best discount airline in the region if not Air Asia?

[martin911]

LOL --

Its not as if we are FORCED to fly with any particular airline --we all have the ability to Choose --If you Dont Like the conditions --Dont press the button --SIMPLE
All Airlines have their own issues NO MATTER what class you choose to pay for your ticket --

I wonder what Cathy Pac /Thai Air etc along with the other "mainstream " carriers would be charging now if there was none of the so called "budget " airlines operating !!!

As a certain Mr O'Leary (Ryanair Chief Indian ) has quoted ---

"People say the customer is always right, but you know what - they're not. Sometimes they are wrong and they need to be told so."

This is the guy that has contemplated charging passengers 1euro for a piss /and talking about introducing standing seats so as lower fares further --


He cant be far wrong having helped created what is now bigger than the old BA numbers wise --numbers for 2011 is 76,000,000 people choose his budget style airline --

thats a hell of a lot of people that press the button --and choose to put up with the various devices that are employed to part you from your cash !!

Air A is not a bad airline to fly with --and much cheaper than Thai -- which service has gone down steadily downhill last 5/+ years INMHO

[klong]

This post is my opinion. If you don't agree or care then you will fly Air Asia or whichever airline you want to use. I'll stick with Orient Thai and Nok.

[vnman]

I agree with Klong that they are a bit tricky with all the extras, but these people have a business to run. It's up to us to make sure we get what we want and not pay for something we don't. IMHO Airasia is by far the best low cost airline in Asia: cheap, professional and most important of all - they are flying Asia. Not just a country in this big old continent.

[Thai Dyed]

I agree completely with klong in his original post which I can state is absolutely accurate from personal experience. Air Asia is one of the sleaziest airlines out there. When I started looking at alternatives I found cheaper prices with far better service.
It's no wonder that Australia brought a law suit against Air Asia for its deceptive advertising earlier this year.
http://my.news.yahoo.com/australian-reg ... 22187.html (http://my.news.yahoo.com/australian-regulator-files-lawsuit-against-airasia-023722187.html)

Here are 107 reviews for you to mull over before considering booking with this disgusting airline. Buyer beware, indeed!!! Fly them at your own peril.
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews95548.html

[cameroncat]

Even with all the extra charges, Air Asia still tends to be cheaper than most of it's competition. I will be flying in July from BKK to Singapore. Air Asia is much cheaper than anyone else, including Singapore's Tiger Airways.

[danny99]

What is the best discount airline in the region if not Air Asia?

Provided you use their ASIAN web site and not their Australian one, JetStar.

As with all airlines now, not just budget ones, you must check forward dates constantly and be prepared to take instantly when available. A few months ago I saw $116 return Denpasar-Singapore-Denpasar, the following day when I booked it it had already gone up to $156. Just last week I booked same route for July at $212 [main airlines were all around $370] but different days different prices, it would have been $256 to book for a 2 days later departure, Was amazed that the $212 fare if booked on their OZ web site would have been $298, same flights, same days!

I always check all options when about to book, for instance flying Thai on their special deals [no points earned, no cancellation possible, etc] can be same price, or even cheaper, than Air Asia and other budget airlines PLUS you do get full service. Just check all forward dates. Back in January I was able to book a Singapore Airlines [normally the most expensive] March DPS-SIN-DPS for same price as budget carriers, last year I fluked something similar on Malaysian.

Worth spending 20 mins to check them all when you are ready to book with credit card in hand! I also register for all of their newsletters, occasionally there are amazing BOOK NOW prices for same day booking.

[Khor tose]

I agree completely with klong in his original post which I can state is absolutely accurate from personal experience. Air Asia is one of the sleaziest airlines out there. When I started looking at alternatives I found cheaper prices with far better service.

Don't need the reviews, been here three years and flown Air Asia all too often. Completely agree with you and Klong, and avoid flying with them whenever possible.
When all is said and done, they are not really that much cheaper. and if it does cost more it is well worth the difference to avoid flying with them.
From the man who brought you the turtle ass award for Jabba the butt, and bitchlover, I give you his award for Air Asia:

http://bangkokbois.wordpress.com/tag/turtle-ass-awards/

[Thai Dyed]

Spot on Khor tose.
Add to that a comment from a Malaysian Government official on AirAsia regarding safety issues:

http://weechookeong.wordpress.com/2011/ ... -year-out/ (http://weechookeong.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/dca-how-airasia-has-been-granted-certificate-of-airworthiness-year-in-year-out/)

I see a bigger picture here (i.e. it's not just an aviation issue).

Most consumers (not all) nowadays wish businesses to engage on a race to the bottom on price. This has been fuelled by the ability to shop on the internet where price is king - whether it be for a packet of cornflakes or a car - and by the media who constantly tell people to shop around, haggle, and generally be aggressive when buying anything - if they don't, well they are being "ripped off"- so the media tells them.

The result is that businesses across all sectors face a choice - compete on price alone (i.e. cut overheads and therefore service) or maintain service and try to appeal to a smaller, more discerning market.

Some consumers however, doesn't see it that way - they want to pay buttons for the product but receive the same service as if they had paid 2 or 3 times the price. These are they type of consumers who come on internet forums and bitch about service despite knowing full well that they shopped on price alone - or that a low-cost provider was all that was available (often because that provider has driven out the competition by cutting prices). These consumers are living in la-la land and need to radically adjust their mentality.

Other consumers are more realistic - if you pay peanuts then don't expect caviar. The "low-cost" businesses (Ryanair is the prime example in the aviation industry) often have a similar outlook "You can treat people like shit as long as they think they are getting a bargain - and if they think they're getting a bargain they'll come running back for more".

So basically, what I'm saying is that if you shop on price, you need to lower your expectations and not expect any kind of service. If you want service, don't shop on price. It's an old saying that "you don't get anything for nothing" but some people seem to have forgotten that. Sure, you'll find the odd low-cost provider with great service and some full-price providers with crap service, but generally you get what you pay for.

:occasion9:

[joe552]

well said, scottish-guy.

[fountainhall]

I have written extensively about Air Asia on other forums and will only repeat some of that here.

I fully accept that for millions of people, Air Asia and the lccs have probably helped them save a ton of time by flying instead of taking a bus at a pretty decent price.

However, for others, it has caused untold inconvenience and additional cost. Of about 20 flights that I booked with them, more than half were seriously delayed тАУ up to 12 hours in the case of a Penang/BKK flight. Five were cancelled outright. One was when my bf and I were flying to Chiang Mai for a long week-end to celebrate his birthday. We booked on a flight at around 5:00pm and I had arranged a special dinner at 8:00. When we arrived at Don Mueang at 4:15 (this was before Air Asia moved over to BKK), we checked in. Five minutes later we saw that our fight had suddenly been cancelled тАЬfor operational reasonsтАЭ. That means the flight was not well booked and would fail to be profitable. No advance sms! We were then automatically rebooked on a flight leaving around 7:00pm. And because we had been checked in, we could not тАЬcheck-outтАЭ and get on another airline.

OK. I called the restaurant and told them we hoped to be there around 9:00. No problem. Except at 6:30, the departure screen informed us that the 7:00 pm flight was suddenly delayed indefinitely. Enquiring at the Air Asia desk, I was told the earliest it would take off would be 9:00pm. Our evening ruined, we went to the airport hotel for their rather lackluster Thai buffet. We eventually reached our hotel in Chiang Mai at midnight.

On another occasion two years ago, Air Asia actually cancelled my flights to and from Hanoi тАУ without even telling me! It was only when I checked the website for any possible change to departure times that I discovered the flights had been cancelled and I was rebooked on flights 12 hours earlier. Not only had Air Asia failed to contact me 4 months in advance тАУ the date I discovered the flights had in fact been cancelled - I was in Singapore 12 hours earlier. I was there on a pre-paid non-refundable Cathay Pacific ticket and my hotel in Hanoi was pre-paid and non-refundable. That fiasco alone cost me more than Bt. 15,000 over over and above what I had already paid.

The whole point is, as martin911 refers to: be aware of the terms and conditions. They are all there for you to see, for you have to click a box agreeing to them before you actually part with your money. The problem is that most people never bother to check. Well, Air AsiaтАЩs Terms are very clear. They can change flight times and cancel flights for "any commercial reasonтАЭ. Also, it is their policy never to give refunds. They will put you on the next available flight (which can mean a couple of days or more if itтАЩs a route with one flight a day), or theyтАЩll give you a credit for another flight тАУ but this must be used within 3 months.

And what about all the departure taxes, fuel surcharges etc. that you the passenger paid for? The legacy carriers refund these to passengers. Air Asia does not.

Not only that, Air Asia encourages very early booking with very cheap fares. They just had an offer of cheap tickets for travel between January and May 2013!! Yet, we all know that schedules will change as much as twice in that time, so the departure time on your ticket is meaningless. Secondly, Air Asia cancels routes at short notice if they are unprofitable. Last year they opened BKK/Taipei. It lost money. It was cancelled at 2 months notice.

So the moral is very simple. If you are merely going from A to B and back, can take your luggage on board and have plenty of time at both ends, Air Asia may well be perfect for your needs at a good price. However, if time of arrival is important, of you are making an international connection to or from an Air Asia flight, or if you have pre-booked non-refundable accommodation at the other end, then be prepared to have your travel plans totally fucked up. You will end up having to pay a lot of extra cash to get to your destination. Want to contact Air Asia to complain? Forget it. You'll never get through.

I now refuse to travel Air Asia. IтАЩll book ahead and pay a little more for a legacy airline in the knowledge that I will not be similarly screwed if problems arise.


I always check all options when about to book . . . can be same price, or even cheaper, than Air Asia and other budget airlines PLUS you do get full service.
Agree 100%. If you check well in advance, you'll be surprised at how good some of the deals are on the legacy carriers.

[Hmmm]

I think I am correct in saying that there are effectively at least three "Air Asia's" that fly under the same banner and present themselves as if they are the same airline - "Air Asia" and "(Thai) Air Asia" and "Air Asia X". They look the same and are all booked through the same site, but they have different flight codes. Thai Air Asia is the one mostly flying in-out of BKK. I have flown them all, but not often enough to tell if they are different in quality or service. In general it seems that if you are willing to fly at 6am or book months ahead they are the cheapest. Later in the day or closer to the departure date they are similar in cost (esp for equivalent baggage weight) or more expesnsive than some non-LLCs.

Air Asia (AK)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirAsia
Thai Air Asia (FD)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_AirAsia
Air Asia X (D7)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirAsia_X

[martin911]

well said, scottish-guy.


I second that re scottish post -- you have to lower expectations with the budget airlines (the mainstream carrier will have probs too )

but i think this takes the piss !!
Only last week i noticed inc Cebu Pac 's onflight magazine that last months dep/arr flights ontime rate was 62 % --and they were boasting about that !!!
Having said that they are about half of Pal's prices and approx 1/3 rd of Thai's prices

[kittyboy]

I generally dislike when anyone tries to tell me what to do without having any knowledge of my particular situation.

The OP tells me I should avoid AirAsia because he has had a bad experience and it seems the subtext is that the world is going to be a better place if we all just do not patronize that bad airline. My response if FUCK OFF.

I wait for the deep discounts that are offered and book my flights months in advance. The flights are the most accessible for me flying out of Macau. The times are better and access to the airport is easier. Comparable flights on other airlines are 2 to 3 times as expensive. I have flown 30 plus times on Airasia and have never had a problem.

So tell me how is my life better if I follow your advice? Other than your own personal disappointment, why should I change my airline purchasing pattern? How is my life better for doing that?

[fountainhall]

kittyboy is, as I stated at the start of my post, one of the millions who have found that Air Asia and its subsidiaries work well for them. But he is being oversensitive in not accepting that several others on this forum (which means how many region-wide, I wonder?) have had quite a number of bad - and ultimately very expensive - experiences with the airline. When 15 out of my 20 flights were either re-timed, delayed by more than several hours, and outright cancelled (in two cases without any advance notice despite the airline admitting to having cancelled the flights a full 4 months earlier), there is something very wrong with the airline that passengers should be made aware of - at the very least. If everyone reads the text in the terms and conditions box prior to booking (which, I admit, I had not until my Hanoi flights were withdrawn with no notification to me as fare-paying passenger), then I would not bother wasting my time posting and drawing possible passengers' attention to them.

kittyboy is lucky in living in or near Macau. He has four daily Air Asia flights to BKK. If Air Asia cancels one for any reason, he'll likely be rebooked on another within a few hours. But when there is only one flight a day (or where the timetable is changed after you have bought your ticket well in advance and a service is either cancelled outright - like Taipei last year - or reduced from two flights to one per day - like Hanoi in mid-2010), passengers can be - and seemingly often are - caught in a situation where they both lose money already spent - by missing connections and/or missing a night in a pre-paid non-refundable hotel and/or getting no refund from the airline - and also have to spend more on a new ticket on another airline.

Those who happily accept these conditions of carriage - fine. Enjoy your flying. Those for whom they represent too much risk, however, should consider if Air Asia is the airline for them. If it is, then they should make sure they have sufficient insurance to cover possible losses and additional costs (although I am not aware of any travel policy which will cover all these contingencies).

[kittyboy]

kittyboy is, as I stated at the start of my post, one of the millions who have found that Air Asia and its subsidiaries work well for them. But he is being oversensitive in not accepting that several others on this forum (which means how many region-wide, I wonder?) have had quite a number of bad - and ultimately very expensive - experiences with the airline. .

I almost cried when I read your post Fountan..Finally, someone can see my true sensitive nature....sob.

Serious thanks for the posts. Sharing your experiences is helpful information that can help other people avoid mistakes or understand the risks they are taking.

My only issue with the OP is his trying to dictate my behavior - You should do this because I have had a bad experience - when I am some what capable of evaluating the risks of flying a discount airline.

To the OP...I do have anger management issues..so F... O..!

[thaiguest]

Air Asia is not the best discount airline around. There are couple of reasons that I believe this to be an accurate statement. All the prices they show on their website go out of the window the minute you begin to book a flight. They charge for every conceivable feature including choosing a seat, meals, checked luggage and even water. Their website automatically charges you for checked baggage and you must click buttons to delete it rather than choosing it as would be the honest way to do it. Then they try try to trick you into paying extra for a seat they choose for you in their Hot Seat section. You must figure out how to opt out of this and it is somewhat difficult because you much change to the return flight section or you will be charged for that. Then they try to trick you into buying\ their insurance by having the site rigged so that you must click "cancel" rather than what is continue.

Trying to get a return of money they owe you is very difficult. They cancelled a flight I had bought from them to France over 3 months ago and they still have not refunded my money. Repeated calls just get an answer that "it is in the process." This is not chump change and I want my money back but they just keep putting it off. Not a particularly honest thing to do. I rate their business practices as despicable and now avoid them and use other discount airlines and have been much more happy. You will also.

Orient Thai is honest and straight forward. They give free water and soft drinks as well as free checked baggage and much cheaper than Air Asia. Their website is poor and they only fly to a few destinations but I fly with them anytime I can.

I totally agree with this post. Air Asia cannot be compared with other low cost airlines like Ryan Air. Air Asia sets out to deceive right through the booking process. Unless you're wide awake the booking process will trick you into opting for all kinds of things you don't need or want. You have to get involved in the process before you fully grasp how sly and slimy they are; if you don't believe me or the above poster try booking with them.

Im planning to fly from Bangkok to Pnom Penh thaiguest can you recommend a good budget airline thats not Air Asia I cant see that Ryanair fly that root?

Ryanair is the most deceptive (and rubbish) airline in the industry (don't take my word for it - go check the reviews on Skytrax) and they have dragged many of the budget airlines down to their level.

The latest scam is to charge for CHECKING IN!!
Now I don't mean checking in at a desk - I can see where the additional cost is in that - I mean checking in either at a desk - or ONLINE!!
How can that charge possibly be avoided - it's a total scam.

Recently, Ryanair was taken to task by the regulatory authorities for imposing disproportionate fees for using a payment card to pay for the flights (bear in mind of course that Ryanair offer no other way of paying other than by card - so you're forced to pay the charges) - and chargng a payment card feeper person, per sector!

So a family of 4 on a single booking were being forced to pay 8 credit/debit card fees at ┬г5/6 a throw = ┬г40/48 - only avoidable by using a single obscure type of card that practically no-one had (and they changed that every so often to make it even more confusing).
When they were forced to change that they simply added an unavoidable Admin Fee to each booking.

Naturally, a lot of other budget airlines think "if Ryanair can get away with these hidden charges, let's do the same"

The best and most honest European budget carrier is (imho) Easyjet.
In Asia I have flown with Air Asia and Nok Air budget airlines and found them both a pleasure compared to Ryanair.

[fountainhall]

I mentioned in an earlier post that one of my beefs with Air Asia and its subsidiaries is they can - and do - cancel routes and the number of flights on a route with virtually no notice. It's happened again.

Anyone flying Thai Air Asia from Bangkok to Columbo better check their travel dates. It started a daily service on March 1st. A few days ago, it announced it will reduce capacity to 3 flights a week - from today! The reason?


lower-than-expected traffic demand
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/avi ... ka-flights (http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/aviation/297267/taa-pares-sri-lanka-flights)

And what if you are on one of the cancelled flights? You'll qualify for a flight on another day at no cost or a full refund - and thus you'll have to repurchase at a much higher cost on one of the other 3 airlines serving the two cities! Happy flying!

[lexusgs]

Ryanair is the most deceptive (and rubbish) airline in the industry (don't take my word for it - go check the reviews on Skytrax) and they have dragged many of the budget airlines down to their level.

The latest scam is to charge for CHECKING IN!!
Now I don't mean checking in at a desk - I can see where the additional cost is in that - I mean checking in either at a desk - or ONLINE!!
How can that charge possibly be avoided - it's a total scam.

Recently, Ryanair was taken to task by the regulatory authorities for imposing disproportionate fees for using a payment card to pay for the flights (bear in mind of course that Ryanair offer no other way of paying other than by card - so you're forced to pay the charges) - and chargng a payment card feeper person, per sector!

So a family of 4 on a single booking were being forced to pay 8 credit/debit card fees at ┬г5/6 a throw = ┬г40/48 - only avoidable by using a single obscure type of card that practically no-one had (and they changed that every so often to make it even more confusing).
When they were forced to change that they simply added an unavoidable Admin Fee to each booking.

Naturally, a lot of other budget airlines think "if Ryanair can get away with these hidden charges, let's do the same"

I agree with you SG. Problem is no frills cheap fares sell. Ryanair made profits of $700 million last year. That's a performance many airlines can only dream of.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/494c3b1c ... z1xmFBd7HK (http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/494c3b1c-a319-11e1-8f34-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1xmFBd7HK)





The best and most honest European budget carrier is (imho) Easyjet.
In Asia I have flown with Air Asia and Nok Air budget airlines and found them both a pleasure compared to Ryanair.

Lexusgs - it only goes to show (as I've said before) that you can treat people like shit as long as they think they are getting a bargain, and as long as they think they are getting a bargain they'll return for extra shit each time.

Or as Goebbels said "the bigger the lie, the more it will be believed"

I just used Nok Air...for return flight for 2..from Don mueang to Udon thani for 4000 bhat..great value and very good service and very easy to book..with no hidden extras to pay..would recomend to anyone