The worst ground staff I have ever encountered. Rude, arrogant, unfriendly and unhelpful. Never any announcements for delayed flights and disinterested employees if you ask why you have been sitting in the departure lounge for 20 minutes with no information. Its a shame because the flight crew are OK. Very poor punctuality and the LCC terminal in Kuala Lumpur is a disaster. I will not use them again. They are cheap, but the hassle is worth more than the dollars you save.
They dont refund tickets even when they cnl the flight,
Jul 23, 2009
reviewer: Johan
from Sweden
Waring - this airline is a bunch of croocks, they cancelled my flight 4 days before departure (actully closed down the whole line from Bali to Johor Bahru) - had to buy new tickets for four people and that I can live with, but the refuse to refund my tickets on the cancelled flight.
Average,
Aug 21, 2008
reviewer: Sparkly
from UK
Clean, cheap and relatively OK food.
One of my planes took off from Langkawi to KL (after a 1 1/2 hour delay due to a fault with the plane and a replacement having to be found) with a passenger missing!! No bags were removed from the hold! I hope they only had hand luggage but I doubt it.
The flight from KL to Lanagkawi had A LOT of turbulence. I don't tknow whether or not this could have been avoided but an ex pilot that I met said that a budget airline like Air Asia would nornally fly through turbulence to save on the costs that flying around it would incur!
PREYS ON UNSUSPECTING TRAVELLERS,
Jan 26, 2008
reviewer: D.Law
from SE Asia
AIR ASIA REVIEW
Malaysia's "budget" Air Asia operates on a PREDATORY Business Model because they exploit unwary travellers' inattention to the fineprints. It's motto is: "now everybody can fly." It's low-price bait has allowed many who otherwise could not afford to fly. They even run promotions which offer FREE airtickets. Air Asia is suitable for :-
* those whose time is not a factor
* who do not have connecting flights
* who will not change their original flight plans
* who do not have much to check-in or carry-on
* who do not mind long delays up to 4 hours or more
I believe the locals love it because they have become used to tolerating sub-standards common in many asian countries. It is ideal for getaways & visiting the folks.
The fact that Air Asia gives away free airtickets or charges nominal prices, in itself should raise suspicion. So how do they do it? By zapping unfortunate travellers with the EXTRA charges, betting that they have to alter their original plans or somehow have to buy a new ticket on the spot.
There are many CAVEATS such as:-
1) "free" or low price tickets only if you book far far in advance. Only the airfare is free; you still pay the Fuel Surchage, Airport Tax, Security, Admin Cost....which together cost FAR MORE than the airfare. that's OK if you can plan 2 months ahead and stick to plans. If your plans change, kiss your ticket goodbye. Since you usually become aware of the change in plans sometime close to the original travel date, you'd have to pay a pretty high price. It looks like Air Asia's profit doesn't come from air fares.
2) You must check-in 45 minutes before departure. Air Asia does not care why you did not check-in ontime, but it's OK for them to delay your flight 4 hours. There is absolutely no flexibility there. They do not even care if your connecting Air Asia flight arrived late. Their attitude is: "Not My Problem!" I was even denied boarding even though i had nothing to check-in and was at the counter more than 30 minutes before departure. Needless to say, i had to purchase another ticket at punitive WALK-IN prices. Point is: if you have to abandon your ticket, they keep the Fuel Surchage, Airport Tax, Security, Admin Cost. For the record, after having flown 20+ times on Air Asia, i felt i have paid more than buying from a major airline either due to rebooking charges or voided tickets plus the aggravation. Understand that if your ticket becomes invalid for whatever reason, you will pay "WALK-IN" fares to catch a flight in the next few days. This is because their prices rise as it draws closer to departure date.
3) Air Asia's counter staff must have been trained in its method of profiteering. I find them totally unhelpful & apathetic to my dilemma. Again, it's the "Your Dilemma Is Not My Problem" attitude. I view Air Asia as the "Caveat Emptor" (buyer beware) airline of last resort.
4) Baggage limits are an uncompromisingly rigid 15kg checked-in and 7kg carry-on, even for international flights. They have a staff monitoring carry-ons as you enter the boarding area. I have seen many (myself included), get caught having to pay hefty per-kg rates, especially unsuspecting foreigners who expect all international flights to abide by a common standard. I have even witnessed a staff send baggages into the interior handling section and only then notify the entire family of foreigners that they had to pay a whopping excess baggage charge, after it was too late to retrieve their luggages. The staff got the lambasting she deserved.
5) it's free seating so you might find others pushing & shoving to get a "good" seat. They do however, sell you "express boarding" privilege.
6) When booking online, they automatically add-on insurance charges, and make it confusing to decline the insurance. After you click to decline, a dialog box says that Air Asia recommends that you keep the insurance. in most other websites, it would ask if you are sure and hence and "OK" would mean "go ahead with the decline." However, with Air Asia "OK" means you rescind your request to decline. To confirm your decline, you would have to click "Cancel" instead. In most other instances, a "Cancel" would refer to cancelling an earlier instruction (to decline).
Incidents such as this makes me suspect that Air Asia's PREDATORY Business Model is to exploit travellers' mistakes, change in plans & inattention to the fineprints.
Very Poor Legroom,
Aug 31, 2007
reviewer: HS Tan
from Malaysia
AirAsia is not suitable for tall passengers. With the exception of one or two planes, most of them are just too painful to bear even for an hour's flight.
Recommended,
Nov 06, 2006
reviewer: Chris
from UK
Although I was initially concerned about flying on a low cost Asian airline, having flown with them several times now I can certainly recommend them to anyone on a budget who is travelling the region.
The prices are often very cheap, and the best deals seem to be available if you can book more than 3 weeks in advance.
If only they could do something about the rough skies during rainy season...
Excellent,
Aug 02, 2006
reviewer: A. Guténius
from Sweden
Our round-trip Bangkok-Kota Kinabalu (Borneo) was excellent value. On this 3 hour flight there was food and non alcohol drinks for sale at a low cost. Plane was clean,leathersets with good legroom even for my over 6 feet tall husband.
Ticketprice was unbelivably low 100 USD per person round-trip.
Air Asia will be our first choice in future asian travelling!
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No Service at All,
Jun 08, 2010
Average,
Aug 21, 2008
Very Poor Legroom,
Aug 31, 2007
Recommended,
Nov 06, 2006