Be aware of the extras on Air Aisa

[Guest topjohn5]

Just a note to be very aware that on Air Asia you will pay for each Kilo over 15 kilo total (not per bag). They also keep you to 7 kilos on the one and I mean one carry on. You also pay for each checked bag as a service charge but can get a discount by prepaying on line with your ticket purchase.

You sometimes can prepay the excess baggage charge online as well at a discount but I was unable to do this on my Kuala Lumpur to Phuket leg and was then nicked $100 overage. I prepaid my checked baggage charge but was not given the choice of the prepaid weight overage.

Then from Phuket to Samui and from Samui to Pattaya I took BKK Air and had NO overage charge. BKK Air gives you 20 kilos plus another 10 kilos free (30 total) if you are a member of their free frequent flyer club.

To be honest I was closer to 40 kilos but they just said it was okay!!!

So, if you have a lot of baggage and a choice pick BKK Air.........

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Just a note to be very aware that on Air Asia you will pay for each Kilo over 15 kilo total (not per bag).

I fly Air Asia fairly often and keep my baggage to a minimum. I also pay for 1 checked bag for 150 baht. I don't pay for Express Boarding since I am over 60 and get to board right after the Express people.

 

[Guest Astrrro]

Just a note to be very aware that on Air Asia you will pay for each Kilo over 15 kilo total (not per bag). They also keep you to 7 kilos on the one and I mean one carry on. You also pay for each checked bag as a service charge but can get a discount by prepaying on line with your ticket purchase.

You sometimes can prepay the excess baggage charge online as well at a discount but I was unable to do this on my Kuala Lumpur to Phuket leg and was then nicked $100 overage. I prepaid my checked baggage charge but was not given the choice of the prepaid weight overage.

Then from Phuket to Samui and from Samui to Pattaya I took BKK Air and had NO overage charge. BKK Air gives you 20 kilos plus another 10 kilos free (30 total) if you are a member of their free frequent flyer club.

To be honest I was closer to 40 kilos but they just said it was okay!!!

So, if you have a lot of baggage and a choice pick BKK Air.........

 

Are you saying the overage charge is more than 100 baht per kilo? (40-15)= 25 times 100 baht = 2500 baht.

 

If so one needs to be verrrrry careful.

 

[PattayaMale]

Topjohn5 makes a really good point. Checking airfares is not easy anymore because of all the extra fees which do not show until you go to the web site and search.

 

However, in comparing Bangkok Air and Air Asia, Air Asia usually wins since they fly to many more places and do have significantly lower fees (but extra fees can add a lot to what you pay).

 

I did this comparison. Jan 8 - Jan 11 return: Bangkok Air 10,100, Air Asia 6,400. If you need to travel with extra baggage extra charges can eat up the savings quickly

[Gaybutton]

I did this comparison. Jan 8 - Jan 11 return: Bangkok Air 10,100, Air Asia 6,400.

From where to where?

[PattayaMale]

From where to where?

 

Sorry GB, I left out that it was from Bangkok - Saigon (Ho Chi min).

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Sorry GB, I left out that it was from Bangkok - Saigon (Ho Chi min).

We are going to HCMH in April (during Songkran) and airfare for 2 of us is 14,300 baht.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

I have flown Air Asia several times over the last two years, and found it satisfactory. Thre are added charges, but the starting cost is often so much cheaper, that you can afford to add some charges to the base.

 

I too am going to Saigon, only in January. The cost was 13,598 Thai Baht, and that includes one bag each way for each of the two of us. Bangkok air was about double that, and Thai was very close to double.

[Bob]

When using Air Asia, be mindful of their weight limitation with respect to your main suitcase. If you're overweight, they'll tell you that when you check in and then you're required to go to the Air Asia ticketing office to pay your "fine" and then return to the check-in desk to retrieve your tickets. I'm usually 4-6 kilos over and that usually costs me 300-400 baht per flight. The bigger problem, though, is the time it takes sometime to stand in line at the ticket office to pay your overweight charge.

 

But, regardless, I regularly use Air Asia (4-6 times per year or more) because their schedule is more convenient and the cost is usually far below that of Thai Air or Bangkok Airways.

 

The "all aboard at once" manner in getting on the plane is rather crude at times but you can avoid that by paying an extra $5 and you'll get to board first (allowing you to select the seat you want and avoid being trampled).

[Guest MonkeySee]

But, regardless, I regularly use Air Asia (4-6 times per year or more) because their schedule is more convenient and the cost is usually far below that of Thai Air or Bangkok Airways.

I love Air Asia because they have such great fares. They have so many destinations, it is nice to be able to see the region without spending a lot of money. As far as baggage charges, I try to pack lightly anyway and so 15 kilos is my limit.

[Guest fountainhall]

Air Asia's great give-away sales sound just that - great. But apart from the hidden extras there's another potential pitfall you might have to navigate. A couple of years ago when they announced a 2 million seat 'giveaway', I felt lucky to pick up 8 return tickets to a variety of places, including 1 to KL, 3 to Chiang Mai and 1 to Ubon Ratchasima.

 

The return flight from KL was delayed by more than 4 hours. 5 - yes 5! - out of 6 of the BKK/Chiang Mai/BKK sectors were either cancelled or delayed by more than 4 hours. The reason for the cancellations was never given and I was offered other flights. But when you have deliberately booked mid-morning fights because you don't want to troll out to the airport at 5 in the morning, it's a real pain when that is what you actually find you have to do. I eventually discovered that due to low load factors, they were merging a lot of flights.

 

Not even the Ubon flight was immune to delay. On the return, a major rainstorm started 5 minutes before the incoming flight was due to land. TG managed to land their flight around the same time, but not Air Asia. It announced the plane was unable to land and had therefore returned to Bangkok!! I asked an Air Asia rep why it could not simply land at a much closer airport which it serves - like Udon - only to be told that Air Asia's only maintenance facilities were in Bangkok and it was necessary to return there in case anything happened on landing. So we were stuck in that airport for another 4 hours before finally getting off the ground.

 

As if that was not bad enough, it took a full hour for the bags to reach the carousel. I asked the supervisor why so long. She replied the weather was bad and unloading was taking longer than usual. I invited her walk over to the terminal window and look at the array of Air Asia planes on the ground. "Where's the bad weather?" I asked. It was a lovely, perfectly dry summer evening. She smiled and walked away.

 

Perhaps it was coincidence that I just picked a lot of flights with problems. But it highlights the need when travelling Air Asia to allow at least 4 hours either side of your scheduled flight times in case flights are cancelled and/or merged.

[Gaybutton]

I have never flown on Air Asia, but I am inclined to believe that the troubles you experienced were more bad luck than anything else. Certainly flight delays are common on any airline. Sometimes it's the fault of the airline and sometimes it isn't. When flying on a discount carrier I don't expect everything to operate as smoothly as on major air carriers.

 

My personal worst horror story happened this time of year, about 8 or 9 years ago by now. I was coming to Thailand on Northwest Airlines via Minneapolis and Tokyo. I was going to arrive on Christmas Eve. I had reservations at a nice hotel in Bangkok. My boyfriend was going to meet me at the airport. We looked forward to spending Christmas Day in Bangkok.

 

When I arrived in Minneapolis everything seemed to be fine. The 747 was sitting there at the departure gate. About an hour before flight time the crew started showing up and boarding.

 

I knew something was wrong when the crew members started coming off the plane and milling around the entrance door. Not very long after that an announcement was made that there will be a 45 minute delay. They said they had the wrong plane at the gate and they're bringing another one over from the hanger. My first reaction was 'yeah, right.' Wrong plane? You've got to be kidding. I figured this was probably airline bullshit in place of telling us this plane had a serious problem. At least they discovered the problem while the plane was on the ground.

 

Minneapolis is a Northwest hub airport, so they did have other planes available. They brought over another 747, exactly the same model. The crew boarded and about 20 minutes later so did the passengers.

 

After we had boarded and settled into our seats, then came an announcement that there's something wrong with this plane too! One of the lavatories sprung a leak and it needed to be fixed before the plane could depart. There would be a 20 minute delay.

 

Nearly an hour later came the announcement that the repair is going to take longer than they thought and we should be ready to go in about 20 more minutes.

 

Then came the next announcement. They don't know how long this will take. Meanwhile we were all stuck sitting there on the plane, already over 2 hours late and a flight of nearly 11 hours facing us. They would not let us off the plane.

 

We sat there for a good 4 hours before the plane was finally ready to go. They pushed back the plane, cranked up the engines, and the captain announced that before takeoff he wants to have the plane de-iced. The plane taxied over to the de-icing area and the de-icing trucks hosed down the plane immediately. We still didn't go. We sat there for a full hour after the de-icing before the plane finally took off. There was never an announcement of any kind as to why there was another long delay like that.

 

We were on that plane, after already being delayed by nearly an hour before even boarding, for 5 hours before even leaving the airport!

 

By the time the plane arrived in Tokyo all the outbound flights were already long gone. They were going to have to put the entire planeload of ongoing passengers in a hotel overnight. I have to hand it to the Japanese. They had everything done very efficiently. When we got off the plane they had several booths set up, each with a sign on it for different destinations. About a dozen people lined up at the booth marked 'Bangkok.' They gave us boarding passes for the flight for the next day and a compensation booklet with meal vouchers, etc.

 

Then we were all taken to a very good hotel. When we got there, the Japanese already had our names and rooms ready. We didn't even have to go through a check-in process. I said to one of the Japanese hotel staff members, "You people really know what you're doing. You have this down to an art form. This must happen often."

 

The response was, "Happen every day! Every day! Some time two time every day! Always Northwest!" I believed him. I have yet to ever be on a Northwest flight that went smoothly.

 

As I was headed toward my room I saw a sign on the restaurant door. "Gala Christmas Buffet." Well, I thought, at least I'll get a buffet out of it with all that fabulous Japanese food.

 

One of the coupons in Northwest's compensation package was for a 3 minute call to anywhere in the world to let people know about the delay. I picked up the phone in the room. Dead as a doornail. After all I had already been through, I was in no mood for this. I took the phone down to the hotel front desk and told them it isn't working. The desk clerk actually said, "Why didn't you call us from your room? We would bring another phone."

 

"How could I call from the room?" was my response. "The phone is dead!"

 

Once they replaced the phone I was going to call my boyfriend to let him know. I dialed the access number on the voucher. Then I got a voice that said to enter the number I wish to dial. Then the voice asked for a PIN number. I kept that voucher booklet for nearly 2 years. If there was a PIN number anywhere, I never found it! I ended up paying for the call myself.

 

Ok, now I could at least go and enjoy the Japanese buffet. I walked in and what was it? Turkey, ham, and everything Grandma might make. I didn't even bother to eat. I just gave up, returned to my room, and went to sleep.

 

I finally arrived in Bangkok the next day around noon.

 

My luggage arrived the next day!

 

A few hours delay once in a while on Air Asia? Piece of cake!

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Several years ago I had a horrible experience with AMERICAN AIRLINES. I was flying from Shannon Airport in Ireland to Chicago. The plane was delayed and delayed again and again. Finally after being in the airport for more than 8 hours they gave us meal vouchers worth $3 USD. Then after another 4-5 hours they put us up in a hotel for the night. The next day we had to be at the airport at 0600. Again the plane was delayed repeatedly. After another 8 hours we finally took off. There was no one from AMERICAN AIRLINES present who could or would answer any questions and no explanation was ever given. One woman on the flight said her daughter was scheduled on the same flight 2 days before our flight and she experienced the same problems as we did. There was a guy on the flight who was some kind of Ralph Nader type. He had us all sign a letter of complaint which he sent to AMERICAN AIRLINES. When I got home I also sent a separate letter. I never received a reply and I contacted the guy who had us sign the letter and he said he never got a reply either. Needless to say, I never flew AMERICAN AIRLINES again.

[Bob]

I've flown Air Asia a fair amount - maybe a dozen times or more internally in Thailand, once to and from Hanoi and Bangkok, and once to and from Chiangmai and Kuala Lumpur. Once the departure was delayed an hour (without any explanation, of course) and maybe the departures were late a couple of other times for 10-15 minutes. Actually not too bad given the rather inexpensive tickets.

 

What really irritates me, though, is the habit of airlines flying into Suvarnabhumi and then busing you to the terminal - rather than paying to use one of the 20 or so open chutes. Air Asia does this all the time. Once, I flew in a loaded Thai 747 (yep, that's right, a 747) from Chiangmai to Suvarnabhumi and, in spite of the fact I counted 22 open gateways, they took us out in the middle of nowhere and took us in by bus. You'd think the nation's #1 carrier might have been able to afford offloading a 747 at one of the open chutes. That really pissed me off.

[Guest fountainhall]

There's one thing about Air Asia I loathe. Even though I have not flown with them for almost 18 months, I am now being bombarded with emails and sms messages. Try replying to ask them to take my name off their lists? Impossible since they are 'not-reply' mailboxes and numbers. Try calling the booking line and they will not handle it. Try calling the official 'contact' lines and you can never get through. No other airline does this to me - and I have booked on-line with at least a dozen in the last couple of years.

[Guest MonkeySee]

There's one thing about Air Asia I loathe. Even though I have not flown with them for almost 18 months, I am now being bombarded with emails and sms messages. Try replying to ask them to take my name off their lists? Impossible since they are 'not-reply' mailboxes and numbers. Try calling the booking line and they will not handle it. Try calling the official 'contact' lines and you can never get through. No other airline does this to me - and I have booked on-line with at least a dozen in the last couple of years.

You might try going to their websight to see if you can disable the "send me adds" button. When I log into the websight with my user name and password, I think there is a place to check under "accounts" that asks you if you want to be sent information. Not sure, but give it a try.

[Guest Astrrro]

Although delays are certainly frustrating, especially if you're sitting on the plane, I'd rather put up with the delay rather than fly in an unsafe plane.

 

As for unloading on the tarmac, that's OK with me if the ticket is cheaper as a result.

[Guest MonkeySee]

Although delays are certainly frustrating, especially if you're sitting on the plane, I'd rather put up with the delay rather than fly in an unsafe plane.

 

As for unloading on the tarmac, that's OK with me if the ticket is cheaper as a result.

I do not mind unloading on the tarmac, just so long as the weather is OK. I need the exercise, anyway. On these short trips around the region, it is the price that concerns me.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

What really irritates me, though, is the habit of airlines flying into Suvarnabhumi and then busing you to the terminal - rather than paying to use one of the 20 or so open chutes. Air Asia does this all the time. Once, I flew in a loaded Thai 747 (yep, that's right, a 747) from Chiangmai to Suvarnabhumi and, in spite of the fact I counted 22 open gateways, they took us out in the middle of nowhere and took us in by bus. You'd think the nation's #1 carrier might have been able to afford offloading a 747 at one of the open chutes. That really pissed me off.

 

Bob, I am not about to justify anything for the airlines, I would point out that only certain gates can handle the 747 because of it's size. Also, the gate must be in the correct area...that is domestic or international.

 

As to Air Asia, I have flown many times. I bought some seats nearly a year in advance on one of their sales/give-aways. There were flight for two from BKK to Chaing Mai, and BKK to Ubon Ratchathani. All four flights were nearly on time, no problems, and the total cost for all eight flight was less than $90 US.

[Guest TOQ]

Last week when we flew back from Phuket Air Asia put us on a bus and off to the terminal we went. They dropped us off right at baggage claim.. I didnt complain. I would have had to of walked a lot further if they pulled up to the terminal.

 

I dont mind the little addons for luggage with AA because the starting price is so much cheaper than Bangkok Air. So I pay 300 Baht more of luggage.. The flight difference between AA and Bangkok Air was almost 8000B for two.. For me being the cheapskate that I am, It was a no brainer

 

 

john

[Guest fountainhall]

As for unloading on the tarmac, that's OK with me if the ticket is cheaper as a result.

 

I sometimes forget that there are bound to be little niggles when flying low-cost carriers. And whilst I may moan about having to wait an hour for baggage and so on, I made the choice of airline and saved a wad of cash in doing so. So I'll try and get in to the mai pen rai spirit the next time.

 

When I log into the websight with my user name and password, I think there is a place to check under "accounts" that asks you if you want to be sent information. Not sure, but give it a try.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, Unfortunately, I have never registered. I am just someone who has booked an occasional flight and input my data every time. But I'll still try.

 

 

 

[Guest MonkeySee]

I sometimes forget that there are bound to be little niggles when flying low-cost carriers. And whilst I may moan about having to wait an hour for baggage and so on, I made the choice of airline and saved a wad of cash in doing so. So I'll try and get in to the mai pen rai spirit the next time.

Air Asia does save a wad of cash, if you stay away from all the add-ons and abide by their rules. I like it that they have so many destinations. The big drawback, in my book, is the no refund policy. You have to be very sure about your travel dates. They do allow for changing flights and dates for a fee of about 500-600 baht, and then you also pay the difference in the fare.

Thanks for the suggestion, Unfortunately, I have never registered. I am just someone who has booked an occasional flight and input my data every time. But I'll still try.

There must be a way. Good luck in your effort. I find it hard to believe that they use your email address and phone number for advertising without your consent. I guess the laws here are a little different.

[Gaybutton]

I find it hard to believe that they use your email address and phone number for advertising without your consent.

They don't. I'm registered and all I ever get is an occasional Email from them with an ad specifying what kinds of promotions and specials they have available. Even then, I only get those Emails because I checked a box requesting those Emails. Other than that, if I'm getting any kind of Email from other advertisers, fine with me. I never see any of them. I don't know about other Email services, but on Gmail those kinds of ads never make it to my Inbox. They all end up in the Spam folder and I enjoy deleting the contents of that folder without reading any of the Emails there. I also never receive phone calls or text messages from anyone advertising air travel, or any other kind of travel for that matter. So I'm pretty well convinced that they don't sell any of your personal information to anybody.

[Guest fountainhall]

I find it hard to believe that they use your email address and phone number for advertising without your consent

 

The emails I don't mind. It's the constant sms messaging that is driving me up the wall. I travel a lot and book at least 80% of my flights and hotels on line. I religiously make sure that I do not tick the box permitting mails etc. - but Air Asia keeps sending them. I will go down to their Bangkok office soon and insist it stops.

[Guest Steve1903]

Its an old bugbear of mine that I do stick to the weight and baggage limits ie 'one carry on bag which fits in the little slot at check in only to take my seat and watch any number of people wander along with two or even three bags which often look like there is no way they would fit it the slot at the desk.

It piddles me off so it does.