January 31st, 2015, 13:38
A fellow poster (a447) and I decided to take a tour of a handful of SE Asian countries using Air Asia (http://www.airasia.com). Partly this was a political decision as IтАЩd rather not give my money to Thailand as far as possible in view of the situation there.
a447 offered to play the role of Boswell to my Dr Johnston for this trip (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Journal_of_a_Tour_to_the_Hebrides). Sadly the task proved well beyond his powers of observation, let alone narration, so IтАЩve had to take it on myself.
The itinerary we chose largely depended on Air AsiaтАЩs point to point flights; we didnтАЩt want to hang around airports waiting for a transit. The route we chose eventually was Bangkok to Siem Reap to Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and back to Bangkok. For me thereтАЩd be a night in Bangkok either side before returning home.
For those of you who havenтАЩt flown Air Asia they have two fare levels for short hops, Low Fare and Premium Flex (their intra-Asia aircraft are usually Airbus A320s). What Premium Flex gives you is priority boarding and seating in the first 5 rows of the aircraft and the emergency exit rows.
Save your money. HereтАЩs why.
For a relatively nominal amount you can pre-select a seat in any other row. If you choose Row 6 the likelihood is you wonтАЩt have anyone in Row 5 so no bastard to recline their seat in your face (#1 reason for air rage, apparently). ThereтАЩs no difference at all between the size, comfort or pitch of the seats in Rows 1-5 and those from Row 6 onwards. Either way if you want to eat, you pay extra.
Priority boarding is more honoured in the breach because in two out of our four legs the aircraft was not boarded via an airbridge, and in the other two there were half a dozen passengers (if that) occupying the 30 seats at the front. Otherwise boarding is the usual Asian free-for-all, so get towards the front of the boarding area at the gate and be prepared to forget all that good breeding youтАЩve learned about queueing in an orderly fashion or standing aside for your elders and betters (unless itтАЩs me).
At Bangkok (Don Mueang тАУ DMK) boarding was by bus from the gate to the aircraft. ThereтАЩs a trick to this тАУ try to be one of the last ones onto the bus, so youтАЩll be right at the door and therefore one of the first off and into the aircraft. The Premium Flex passengers got their priority boarding all right тАУ first into the bus, seats up near the driver, sadly last off the bus. Had to laugh.
At Siem Reap you board the aircraft by walking across the tarmac behind one of the ground staff. Be close to the gate in the lounge тАУ there wasnтАЩt a PA announcement so it paid to be alert. We were the first onto the aircraft. There was no announcement for Premium Flex passengers who anyway were a family of three Germans тАУ in total.
At Kuala Lumpur and Singapore I was among the first onto the aircraft (there were aerobridges) as there were few Premium Flex passengers.
The one advantage I guess for Premium Flex is the ability to change a flight at no cost, but as our accommodation was all prepaid (thank you, Agoda (usually)) we had no plans or need to use that facility.
Baggage by the way was hand luggage. Apart from a shaver and toothpaste*, what more does anyone need than half-a-dozen shirts, underpants and socks? Maybe a spare pair of trousers and shoes? That has to be it. (Barely enough for one day in bucknawayтАЩs тАЬlookтАЭ I imagine, but then we know how adults should behave). Air Asia seemed entirely uninterested in enforcing cabin baggage weight. Ours was never weighed, and I saw passengers taking suitcases on board that were clearly the maximum size for cabin baggage, and which they struggled to lift into the overhead compartment (always a giveaway about their weight). This is the reason why itтАЩs always best to be among the first on board by the way тАУ so no other bastard grabs your overhead luggage space before you get there.
I seem to have picked up from a447 the Australian custom of referring to annoying others as тАЬbastardsтАЭ; apologies to the maiden aunts among our readers.
* Shaver and toothpaste. Neither of us stayed anywhere that didnтАЩt provide a toothbrush and toothpaste, gratis, except KL
For such a trip itтАЩs always useful to take some reading matter. As I was travelling with a447 in his guise as a fox terrier it seemed the most appropriate book I could take was Teach your dog 100 English words (http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Your-Dog-English-Words/dp/0979709105). I should point out that the photo on the cover is not actually a447, as I know Surfcrest is opposed to us posting or linking to real pictures of members. a447 himself I know struggled with the one-pager How to tell if someone is yanking your chain and never quite made it through to the advanced course How to tell if you have succeeded in yanking someone elseтАЩs chain тАУ bad news for Forum members indeed; youтАЩll have to continue to put up with those regular attempts by a447 to yank my chain by mentioning my long-forgotten post on Hugo Chavez and Argentina, and assorted other goodies. As a447 himself says (http://sawatdeenetwork.com/forum/eros-bar-t31267-30.html) тАЬThe facts are immaterial to the point being madeтАЭ.
So it begins.
a447 offered to play the role of Boswell to my Dr Johnston for this trip (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Journal_of_a_Tour_to_the_Hebrides). Sadly the task proved well beyond his powers of observation, let alone narration, so IтАЩve had to take it on myself.
The itinerary we chose largely depended on Air AsiaтАЩs point to point flights; we didnтАЩt want to hang around airports waiting for a transit. The route we chose eventually was Bangkok to Siem Reap to Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and back to Bangkok. For me thereтАЩd be a night in Bangkok either side before returning home.
For those of you who havenтАЩt flown Air Asia they have two fare levels for short hops, Low Fare and Premium Flex (their intra-Asia aircraft are usually Airbus A320s). What Premium Flex gives you is priority boarding and seating in the first 5 rows of the aircraft and the emergency exit rows.
Save your money. HereтАЩs why.
For a relatively nominal amount you can pre-select a seat in any other row. If you choose Row 6 the likelihood is you wonтАЩt have anyone in Row 5 so no bastard to recline their seat in your face (#1 reason for air rage, apparently). ThereтАЩs no difference at all between the size, comfort or pitch of the seats in Rows 1-5 and those from Row 6 onwards. Either way if you want to eat, you pay extra.
Priority boarding is more honoured in the breach because in two out of our four legs the aircraft was not boarded via an airbridge, and in the other two there were half a dozen passengers (if that) occupying the 30 seats at the front. Otherwise boarding is the usual Asian free-for-all, so get towards the front of the boarding area at the gate and be prepared to forget all that good breeding youтАЩve learned about queueing in an orderly fashion or standing aside for your elders and betters (unless itтАЩs me).
At Bangkok (Don Mueang тАУ DMK) boarding was by bus from the gate to the aircraft. ThereтАЩs a trick to this тАУ try to be one of the last ones onto the bus, so youтАЩll be right at the door and therefore one of the first off and into the aircraft. The Premium Flex passengers got their priority boarding all right тАУ first into the bus, seats up near the driver, sadly last off the bus. Had to laugh.
At Siem Reap you board the aircraft by walking across the tarmac behind one of the ground staff. Be close to the gate in the lounge тАУ there wasnтАЩt a PA announcement so it paid to be alert. We were the first onto the aircraft. There was no announcement for Premium Flex passengers who anyway were a family of three Germans тАУ in total.
At Kuala Lumpur and Singapore I was among the first onto the aircraft (there were aerobridges) as there were few Premium Flex passengers.
The one advantage I guess for Premium Flex is the ability to change a flight at no cost, but as our accommodation was all prepaid (thank you, Agoda (usually)) we had no plans or need to use that facility.
Baggage by the way was hand luggage. Apart from a shaver and toothpaste*, what more does anyone need than half-a-dozen shirts, underpants and socks? Maybe a spare pair of trousers and shoes? That has to be it. (Barely enough for one day in bucknawayтАЩs тАЬlookтАЭ I imagine, but then we know how adults should behave). Air Asia seemed entirely uninterested in enforcing cabin baggage weight. Ours was never weighed, and I saw passengers taking suitcases on board that were clearly the maximum size for cabin baggage, and which they struggled to lift into the overhead compartment (always a giveaway about their weight). This is the reason why itтАЩs always best to be among the first on board by the way тАУ so no other bastard grabs your overhead luggage space before you get there.
I seem to have picked up from a447 the Australian custom of referring to annoying others as тАЬbastardsтАЭ; apologies to the maiden aunts among our readers.
* Shaver and toothpaste. Neither of us stayed anywhere that didnтАЩt provide a toothbrush and toothpaste, gratis, except KL
For such a trip itтАЩs always useful to take some reading matter. As I was travelling with a447 in his guise as a fox terrier it seemed the most appropriate book I could take was Teach your dog 100 English words (http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Your-Dog-English-Words/dp/0979709105). I should point out that the photo on the cover is not actually a447, as I know Surfcrest is opposed to us posting or linking to real pictures of members. a447 himself I know struggled with the one-pager How to tell if someone is yanking your chain and never quite made it through to the advanced course How to tell if you have succeeded in yanking someone elseтАЩs chain тАУ bad news for Forum members indeed; youтАЩll have to continue to put up with those regular attempts by a447 to yank my chain by mentioning my long-forgotten post on Hugo Chavez and Argentina, and assorted other goodies. As a447 himself says (http://sawatdeenetwork.com/forum/eros-bar-t31267-30.html) тАЬThe facts are immaterial to the point being madeтАЭ.
So it begins.