Hi Guys, I'm not a big traveller so was hoping to take some advice. My mom , dad and brother are visiting me from India to celebrate dads bday !! Obviously Air Asia is the cheapest so tempted to consider it. What has your past experience been travelling with them please ? Is it like Tiger and will probably cancel etc ? Thanks for your help in advance .
Ditto, AA has been fine for me so far.
I've flown with them a number of times.
They are actually one of the better carriers to go with to Australia due to the high frequency of flights.
If you compare them to a carrier like Air India, you're comparing one flight a day to multiple flights a day (generally two flights a day to most capital cities).
If things go pearshaped and they cancel a flight then its easy to get on the next one.
AirAsia as an airline are great. Just obey their luggage restrictions and there will be no problem - like any airline..
Food is cheap and actually quite decent. But yeah, really quite good. I have never had a majorly delayed flight or cancelled flight with them, but as stated above the world doesn't end when their flights are cancelled when compared to other airlines.
I find that budget airlines are on time much more often due to the simplicity of their operations when compared to full service. But thats my experience…
Good no frills service. Quite new aircraft.
I have flown with them…………let me take a 'stab in the dark' - 150 times. Food is good for the price, seating is ok, and if I give Emirates economy seating 8/10, then I would give AirAsia 7/10. Pay a small price for seat selection. You don't get free water unless on AirAsia X in the Business Class (Closer to Premium Economy but at least the seats lay down a fair way), no free entertainment - except for the safety demonstration!!
The only gamble that I see with AirAsia is if you book a flight on a new route. And that is because, if they find it uneconomical, then they will cancel the route, and you will suffer the consequences. But this is rare.
I don't get too wound up over safety, although I would be prefer to be flying Emirates. I never preorder food, as then I have the flexibility to change seats in empty space.
I'd hate to think how many time I've flown with AirAsia, maybe 40 times just last year?
They're always my go to carrier.
I usually get a hot seat, exit row, those have power plugs for charging stuff.
Food is awesome! And so so cheap! I order online which has a wider variety.
The only times I fly someone else, is if I have to be somewhere at a particular time and their schedule doesn't suit.
If you've never flown a full-service airline before then you won't know what you're missing so it will be fine. Compared with almost any customer service environment, you are much more likely to get say an appearance-obsessed narcissist as a flight steward than a grumpy soul-sucker in retail. I illegally smuggle my own food since I'm stingy but AirAsia is very affordable compared to Australian standards. I managed to survive 8 hours a day from what I had in my lunch box growing up so I rationalise that my seated body can survive 8 hours or so in the air with similar preparation.
Regarding on-time performance, you can't argue with statistics…last month Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur was 100%. You can see last month's statistics here (plug in Air Asia X (D7), flight number 213): http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightRating/flightRatingByFli…. In Asia it's a different story, so booking separate legs yourself from Melbourne to KL to India (or vice versa) the same day may be risky. In Asia, 2 hr+ delays are rare but not unusual.
I agree with Peter, don't make connection times too tight, although, if you book 'fly-thru' bookings, then some of the liability may be borne by AirAisa.
Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur has always arrived early for me, their domestic flights have never been more than 10 minutes late for me.
Why bother smugling food when their dishes are delicious and only a few dollars (literally a few dollars)
India isn't a domestic flight but perhaps you're just reassuring OP? You can see recent statistics from the link I posted so there's no need to speculate based on personal experience, though there is seasonal variation for obvious reasons. I use AirAsia a lot and unlike my friends have only been delayed "significantly" once, but the website tells me that last month there was a 4 hour delay between KL and Kochi, for example. And another 4 hour delay in the opposite direction. Of course 90% of flights arrive on time, or nearly 100% within a reasonable time for anyone not a grinch (hence my phrase "rare but not unusual"), but admittedly I'm not as cool as others that can live on the edge and book back-to-back flights.
And yeah, $5 is really cheap for a meal. But when I leave Australia I like to finish all my food anyway so as not to waste anything. And nothing personal, but what's with all the budget-shaming on OzBargain lately? A lot of people fly for very sad, personal reasons (that I won't get into) and didn't have the $400 to spend in the first place…
Where did you get the budget-shaming from? And what brought up the very sad personal reasons?
They have delays like 100% of other airlines in the world. Air Canada I was delayed 4 hours once, Qantas 3 days, Virgin a bunch of cancelled flights, Aeroflot 13 hours, etc.
Have flown with AirAsia many times. Never never had a problem.
They're a LCC (low cost carrier) and they do a fine job.
Thanks a lot for the comment folks !! I made an emotional decision and booked Cathay Pacific but now reading this I should have consider it more seriously !! Well next time ….
You may have to book fly- thru because there may be visa restrictions if you have to go through immigration to collect luggage and re-enter in Kuala Lumpur.
Oops…just realised that you have booked with Cathay. Info may be helpful for someone else though.
does air asia asia offer discounts for multi city stops. I'm looking at going from per-ktm-ktm-syd in sep/oct
Do a trail booking and compare with booking the 2 legs separately. I know that return bookings are often a little more than 2 one way bookings, and so you probably will have nothing to lose by booking each leg separately. I would book separately and not via their multicity, because you then have the flexibilty of cancelling one leg, without losing the other leg.
thanks mate, I'm hoping some discount codes come into play on thursday
I've flown with them a few times (flying with them to Vietnam next week). they are a low cost carrier. pre-order your own food. you have to pay for a baggage allowance, BYO entertainment unless you want to pay for it, you have to pay for everything.
basically your ticket will get you a seat and that it is.
they have been fine.
Top tip: preorder vegetarian meals.