Air Asia 1 Million Free Seat Sale Until May 20

[Guest fountainhall]

Rather than tag this on to the low cost carrier thread, I'll open a new one - although I hope those who decide to book will still read that other thread.

 

Until May 20, Air Asia is giving away 1 million seats throughout much of the route network at Bt. 0 per seat. The main caveat is that travel must be between 4 January and 22 May 2013. And given that fact, there are several more points to consider before taking the plunge.

 

1. Only some seats on some flights are available. So you may have to spend quite a bit of time checking your preferred route before you get a free seat.

 

2. Beware of almost certain timetable changes! We are now in the summer schedule period. This ends in late October when a new schedule will be published. Some timings will change. Then in late March, a new summer schedule will be published, with yet more timings changing. If you wish to fly on popular routes, you should have little problem as times are unlikely to change by much. If you want flights on a route that has only one flight a day, make sure you build in plenty of time in your schedule for a major timing change.

 

3. Beware of route cancellations. Air Asia will cancel any route at short notice that fails to make profits fairly quickly. The same goes for reducing schedules.

 

4. Air Asia generally does not give refunds. It gives you credit for future flights, but that credit is usually for no more than three months following the cancelled date.

 

So, whilst many potential passengers will be able to take advantage of the offer, those flying in to Asia and making connections to Air Asia flights should be prepared for the worst - a cancelled flight at short notice and the possibility that you may have to cough up a full fare on another carrier to get to your final destination. Personally, with these sort of offers so far in advance, I would only consider them if you are on a point-to-point itinerary. The risk of transferring, even with several hours to spare, is way too great.

 

And all this is before you consider the likely possibility that Air Asia will be operating from Don Mueang by 2013!

 

You pays your money and you takes your choice!

 

http://www.airasia.com/th/en/home.page

 

PS: I just tried several dates for return flights from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Hong Kong, SIngapore, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi and Bali throughout each month of the sale period. Cannot find one free flight!! Several promo fares, but nothing free as advertised. I guess finding the freebies will be like the proverbial needle in a haystack. I wouldn't waste my time!

[Guest thaiworthy]

Air Asia will cancel any route at short notice that fails to make profits fairly quickly.

 

There must be some inescapable Malaysian logic at work here that I cannot begin to fathom. If some of the seats are free, and the airline can cancel because it is not making a profit, then why offer free seats in the first place? Answer: marketing. There are no free seats. It's a trap that should certainly be suspect from the start. Are there no local consumer watchdog entities like those in place in the West, or can they just claim what they want and walk willy-nilly all over a naive public? There are no free lunches, or free seats! And don't forget if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

4. Air Asia generally does not give refunds.

 

While I don't doubt you for a moment, FH-- there is a link on this page that says "My Refund Status." What's up with that?! Personally, I think it's there just to comfort people-- to keep them from worrying about their purchase, or to entice someone who has yet to buy.

 

http://booking.airasia.com/

 

I'd rather walk.

[Guest fountainhall]

1. Are there no local consumer watchdog entities like those in place in the West, or can they just claim what they want and walk willy-nilly all over a naive public?

 

2. While I don't doubt you for a moment, FH-- there is a link on this page that says "My Refund Status." What's up with that?!

 

1. The answer is first 'No' and then 'Yes'. There are no watchdogs, and the terms and conditions - remember that little box you click which confirms you agree to those terms and conditions just before you pay ? - make it clear that they can do what they like. Air Asia's business model is based very much on that of Easy Jet in the UK. But Easy Jet is bound by much tighter European regulations and its passengers have far more rights. On Air Asia, the passenger has no rights whatever!

 

2. No idea, I'm afraid, and you have to log in in order to find out what that means. Since I do not have a booking, I cannot do so. Apparently Khor Tose tried (see earlier post on the other lcc thread) with no success.

 

All I can tell you is that the Terms and Conditions give the airline carte blanche to do what they wish. And you as the passenger agree to these. So you haven't a proverbial leg to stand on when the airline doesn't do what you expect it to do. In that case, you fly solo! Since most passengers never bother reading these because they are very long and written in legalese, it might be useful now to read the relevant section -

 

Article 9

Schedules, Cancellations

9.1 Schedules: We will use our best efforts to avoid delay in carrying you and your baggage. We will endeavour to adhere to published schedules in effect on the date of travel. However, times shown in timetables, schedules or elsewhere are subject to change at any time and from time to time and we shall not be liable in any way whatsoever for any loss incurred by passengers as a result of such change.

 

9.2 Cancellation, Changes of Schedules: At any time after a booking has been made we may change our schedules and/or cancel, terminate, divert, postpone reschedule or delay any flight where we reasonably consider this to be justified by circumstances beyond our control or for reasons of safety or commercial reasons. In the event of such flight cancellation, we shall at our option, either:

 

a. carry you at the earliest opportunity on another of our scheduled services on which space is available (i.e. if it is a once a day flight, you could find yourself waiting 2 or more days) without additional charge and, where necessary, extend the validity of your booking; or

 

b. should you choose to travel at another time, retain the value of your fare in a credit account for your future travel provided that you must re-book within three (3) months therefrom.

 

9.2.1 FLY-THRU: If a delay or cancellation/reschedule of our flight causes you to miss a FLY-THRU flight on which you hold a confirmed booking, you are entitled to the following:


 

If your flight is delayed at the point of origin:

i. a free move to the next available flight that connects to the final destination within our Connecting Time.

 

If your subsequent flight is delayed

i. a free move to the next available flight within our Connecting Time.

 

If your new flight does not meet our Connecting Time or if the next available flight falls on the next day, we will not provide the following:

i. Day or overnight accommodation

ii. Surface transfers

iii. Storage of your checked baggage. You are required to collect your bags at the transit point and recheck-in for new subsequent flight.

 

9.3 Sole remedies: Upon the occurrence of any of the events set out in Article 9.2, the options outlined in Article 9.2 [a] to are the sole and exclusive remedies available to you and we shall have no further liability to you.

 



OK? That's it! Finis! End of Discussion! That is the extent of all Air Asia passengers' rights!

 

No mention whatever of refunds.

 



Incidentally, a Fly-thru means a connecting flight Air Asia to Air Asia. It definitely does not mean Air Asia to/from another carrier. If you miss a connecting flight to/from another carrier, to sort that mess out you are totally on your own!

 

Happy flying!

[Guest]

4. Air Asia generally does not give refunds. It gives you credit for future flights, but that credit is usually for no more than three months following the cancelled date.

 

If I understand you correctly, one could book a flight & find Air Asia cancel the entire route and will give credit against another flight, rather than a refund?

That would be outrageous!

[Guest fountainhall]

That is precisely what the booking terms and conditions say!

 

Let's assume you were flying Bangkok/Taipei return last summer. As happened, Air Asia decided that new route was not in fact profitable, and so cancelled it only months after opening it up.

 

If you had booked on flights six months in advance to take advantage of promotional fares and these were cancelled at, say, 3 weeks notice, you were absolutely up shit creek! No refund, only credit for future flights. The chances are you had already pre-booked a hotel. But now you have no airline. And as that Air Asia credit is only valid for three months, if you happened to be based in Asia, the chances of your getting good promotional fares on some routes during that period would have been minimal! If you lived overseas and were on a fixed period vacation, bye bye credit!

 

Back to the example. Either you lost your full air fare and your pre-paid Taipei hotel, or you kept your hotel and booked on another carrier by coughing up a lot of extra cash.

 

That's precisely what happened to me on my trip to Hanoi 2 years ago - except Air Asia never in fact told me my flight had been cancelled! It was unbelievable! If I had not checked myself, I could have turned up at BKK for non-existent flights! So, complete loss of Air Asia flight costs, plus the cost of more expensive new tickets on Air France, plus I lost half a day in Hanoi because of Air France's schedule. More than Bt. 15,000 in extra costs and losses for a simple 3-day trip. Because of my work schedule, I could not use the Air Asia credit.

 

And that's not all - believe it or not. If you are on a flight which is cancelled, the airline does not incur the fuel surcharge, the airport passenger taxes, the passenger insurance costs etc. on your ticket. At the very least, if your flight is cancelled, these costs should be refunded to you in full - which is what the legacy carriers do without any questions asked. Expect to get that from Air Asia? Be prepared for a long and costly fight! Like most passengers, you'll just give up and Air Asia's profits will increase yet again at your expense.

 

I fully realise that many people fly the lccs and are perfectly happy with the experience. In Europe, I have flown Easy Jet several times and been delighted with them. In Asia, I'll never fly Air Asia again. I'll book early and pay the extra for a legacy carrier which will give me a decent baggage allowance, free drinks and a meal, plus will look after me if anything happens to the flight schedule.

[Guest]

That's an astonishing way to run a business, permanently driving away certain customers.

 

Also I would also imagine that in most western markets, the consumer would be entitled to a full refund if the company cannot provide the service purchased.

If Thai & Malaysian law allows Air Asia to behave that way, it's one more area where the respective governments need to act.

[Guest fountainhall]

If Thai & Malaysian law allows Air Asia to behave that way, it's one more area where the respective governments need to act.

 

After my Hanoi experience, I wrote seven long letters to Air Asia's mega-rich CEO Tony Fernandes (who now owns the soccer team Queens Park Rangers in the English Premiership - I was keeping my fingers crossed they'd be relegated last Saturday, but they just stayed up ). I expected no replies - and got none, but it made me feel that I was at least trying to do something. In my last on 21 June 2010, I wrote this -

 

"I will therefore obtain my satisfaction by pursuing a different course. I will now do everything in my power to lobby the civil servants and legislators in Hong Kong, many of whom I know personally, and Thailand to introduce the sort of regulations in their territories which exist for low cost carriers in Europe, and further to ensure that low cost carriers are made to provide proper and reasonable compensation for passengers who are treated in such a cavalier manner."