Flying with Air Asia: A Review
Flying on cheap airlines is one of my favorite ways to stretch my dollar. In Southeast Asia, I recently flew with the region’s biggest budget carrier, AirAsia, from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur (and then onward via a domestic flight to Borneo) for a music festival.
It’s a budget airline, which is trending these days. So that means most things come at an additional cost (read: everything except your butt in a seat and sometimes, if you’re lucky, a bag to bring along). But to better help you decide what’s worth adding on, here’s a bit more information about the airline and what you can expect from the experience:
AirAsia Quiet Zone: A
I was lucky enough to get upgraded to the quiet zone, a unique idea that AirAsia came up with as a solution to avoid crying babies. (#win) The only rule of this part of the plane is that children are not allowed — so no one kicked my seat and I was able to sleep in peace.
I found it to genuinely be quiet. I couldn’t hear the flight attendants handing out food after they passed through to the rest of economy. Also, not sure if it’s because I flew on a Wednesday night, but the quiet zone was less than 25% full. So the sheer absence of other passengers made it extra quiet.
Comfort Level: B+
In the Quiet Zone on their long haul aircraft (and in the rest of economy) AirAsia squeezes 9 seats across in groups of 3.
It was good and bad being in the front row. Bad because the seats had the arm rests built in. They were the kind you couldn’t fumble around with if you were lucky enough to be next to an empty seat. There were 2 empty seats next to me (#winagain) but I couldn’t lie down flat, or even put my legs up, due to the permanent arm rests.
The good part was that I actually had enough space to stretch out my legs in front of me.
To request a seat with that much leg room, surprise, it’s another additional cost. This is called a Hot Seat and upgrading to one costs MRY 180 (or $60).
Sorry in advance if all my plane pics are dark. I took them at about 5 AM local time.
Comfort level goes down a few points because I was freezing the whole time and didn’t get a free blanket or pillow.
Lie Down Flatbeds: TBD
I tried to push my luck and get a free upgrade to this level of luxury to no avail. It’s essentially first class seating (well, sleeping) at budget airline prices. It looked pretty cool and I think I’ll throw in a bid to upgrade the next time I fly AirAsia. I’m not sure any other budget airlines even offer seats that recline that far back.
Food: B
This is not unique to AirAsia, but expect to pay extra for food and drinks. The prices fluctuated quite a lot — snacks were a lot cheaper than their Western airline equivalents (candy bars, Pringles and chips were only $2). So were coffees (even specialty Vietnamese iced coffee cost $2).
Yet proper meals were missing enough options for vegetarians (there was only one) and honestly cost more than they would in Sydney or NYC (at $16 a pop). I opted for the broke backpacker meal of $2 ramen and some potato chips (#healthy).
On the way home, I did have the vegetarian option and I honestly didn’t think it tasted very good. The meals were all variations of rices and curries, standard SouthEast Asian fare (which I usually love). Their only Western option looked like a sad Chef Boyardee Ravioli. (If you don’t know what that is, it comes in a can from the super market and you eat it when you’re 5-years-old).
Amenities: C-
Don’t expect to find a pair of headphones at your seat, free WiFi on board or even in-flight entertainment (The horror. I know. What are you supposed to do on a 9 hour long haul?!)
I didn’t see any Western movies listed in the entertainment magazine, and even if I were to find one, it was unclear to me how or where I’d be able to watch it as we didn’t have TVs (even the communal kind).
Service: B+
I didn’t really interact with the flight attendants that much, but they seemed nice enough. They’ve won quite a few awards for best service for a budget airline (But don’t take my word for it. That’s just what they say in their own magazine). One did come by and turn on my reading light without me having to ask. And they seemed more like a full service fleet than the rude budget stewardesses of those European budget airlines.
Experience: B
Two things that really annoyed me which I couldn’t seem to fit in any of the above were that 1) I couldn’t pay for my cheap food using coins. I don’t know why they won’t take coins. And consequently, if you hand them big bills, they’ll return your change in Malaysian Ringgit. Fine for your way in, but no one wants to deal with that on your way out of the country.
And 2) I had to check my bag again in Kuala Lumpur for my domestic flight. It wasn’t even at a different terminal. I don’t mind the enhanced security part. Even Seoul airport makes you go through security again. But why must I check my bag a second time? We were also about 45 minutes late landing in KL for no apparent reason, which cut into my layover time.
AirAsia Overall: B
Final Thoughts
All in all, if you think about the distances you can cover on an AirAsia flight (they’re often far greater than RyanAir and SouthWest to name a few), you get a pretty good value for your money. It’s a standard, average experience, but I bet the splurge on lie-down seats would be worth it for a long haul AirAsiaX flight (if you can afford it).
Not that I surf, but it’s a pretty cool thing that they just made surfboards a free item for check in if anyone’s flying from Australia (cue the national stereotypes). They seem to be paving the way in their region for streamlined customer experiences, with the lie-down seats and the Quiet Zone, for starters. Plus they also fly to dozens of cities I’ve never heard of in China, the Phllipines and other parts of Asia, opening up these smaller areas to the outside world at affordable prices for everyone.
Have you flown with AirAsia before? What did you think?
