Tigerair

Denpasar (Bali Indonesia) - Singapore - Bangalore (India) May 2014. The departure time for my Bali-Singapore flight was advanced by a few hours with no prior intimation. They claimed that they had sent me an e-mail but no such thing was done. Second they put me on a later flight from Bali to Singapore. When I pointed out that this would leave me just 40 minutes to catch my connecting flight to Bangalore they assured me that that would be fine and they would have someone assist me at the airport. On reaching Singapore I practically ran to the Transfer Desk at Singapore only to be told that check-ins were closed for the Bangalore flight (which was running full) and I could only be accommodated in the next flight 24 hours later. My protests about what I was told at Bali fell on deaf ears. Tiger refused to provide me accommodation and I was invited to spend the night at the terminal. They did give me meal vouchers which are accepted in exactly two restaurants in the entire airport. As long as things go fine Tiger is OK after all my journey in the other direction (Bangalore - Singapore - Bali) had passed off without incident. However once something unusual happens you will feel the full impact of Tiger's service (the lack of it rather).

Singapore to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and Bangkok to Singapore. Tigerair has got a gem in the Straight to Gate service in Singapore - no queues no need to check in at airport if all you have is a carry on bag and for the period of time I was travelling I also got a complimentary cup of coffee at Changi T2! Singapore to Bangkok a full flight. Aircraft had old livery and old blue seats seat comfort was ok legroom was tight and no recline (I was placed in Row 11 in front of emergency exit rows). Cabin service was good on this flight. Bangkok to Singapore was a newer aircraft with slightly more comfortable black leather seats (same seat pitch as previous flight) and I was again assigned a seat in Row 11. Flight was completely full. Service on this flight was quicker than the last - meals were sold/served 10 minutes after take-off and duty free immediately after that. Arrival in Singapore was 20 minutes ahead of schedule gate to immigration in under 5 minutes. Tigerair is a pretty good experience and excellent value for money (I got my tickets in a web sale) but pay to select your seat if you can (lest you get assigned a really lousy row like mine).

I flew from Singapore to Penang with Tiger recently. At the boarding gate there was 1 hour delay for the flight where the airline didn't even make an announcement. The plane was an old A320 which had an old cabin with crammed seats. My tray table was broken and seats did not recline properly. After we took off I asked the stewardess for a soft drink but she just told me to ask later. The bathrooms were okay but the flush was not working and no water in the sink. From now on I will not fly Tiger again unless I have no choice.

Chennai-Spore-Jakarta on 22 Apr. I have taken 8 flights on TR in the India-Spore-Indonesia sector and all were on time. Clean planes and pleasant crew. I have only two comments. I always select a first row seat and pay around $ 25 for it. Normally the middle seat will be vacant (no one wants to pay for a middle seat) which gives you some elbow room. However on 3 occasions when the flight was full passengers who had not paid the extra were given free access to to the front row making the paying passengers regret their decision. I have taken lot more flights in AirAsia also in the first row but I have not encountered this situation there. My second complaint is about the "board me first" privilege which is charged at $ 5. This is never enforced at Chennai Jakarta and Bandung. It is announced at Spore but on my last flight passengers were bussed to the plane and the boarding order was how one got off the bus. I will not be paying for this useless privilege in future.

I flew from Singapore to Denpasar with a friend under the same booking. We didn't pay to select our seats when ordering online. The check-in staff assigned us separate seats blaming full flights and we were the last few to check in (although we arrived at the counter almost 2 hours before the flight). We boarded the plane and found both our individual seats had been occupied by 2 people from 2 different groups which like us had their seats assigned separately as well. What's worse is there are 2 empty unassigned seats adjacent to each other a few rows in front of us - thankfully we ended up in those seats. The feeling I get is this is a set-up to traumatise passengers and pay to select seats in future flights. I know it is innocent until proven guilty but consider yourself warned.

Flight DG7933 3 April that is now Hong Kong to Clark PHP. They continually cancel flights disregard your paid for premium seating supply you with the wrong terminal information advertise down town check in at Hong Kong but close it 5 hours before the flight. Have not boarded thr plane yet but everything else has been a mess.

The website is not exactly user friendly. The fares are really not all that cheap and had there been a reasonable legacy carrier flying to my destination I would have taken that. Ground staff was borderline rude and slow. The planes may be clean but the seats are cramped (esp. if you are tall) and there is hardly any leg room unless you pay (even more) and upgrade to an exit aisle seat. Cabin staff on the outbound leg were alright but on the return leg were not friendly or attentive. I've flown several budget airlines in Europe Australia and Asia and Tigerair is without a shade of doubt at the bottom of my list.

Manila - Singapore - Manila (March 7 2014). Check-in was flawless ground crew very friendly pushback on time. Landed at Changi ahead of the scheduled arrival. Flight crew friendly seats very comfortable. Flight crew uniform is horrible. Return flight to Manila excellent. I just wish the check-in agents at Changi were friendly.

Satisfactory flight from Singapore to Hong Kong. Good value for money and friendly staff.

Bangkok - Manila Clark - Bangkok. The flight was fine and on time (better than when SE Air operated the route). The problem now is that there is no bus connection from Clark to Manila late at night the only option to get to Manila being a ridiculously expensive Taxi (50% of the air ticket cost) or a Jeepney ride into town and a bus to Manila. Getting back to Clark for a 0800 Departure was just too much hassle so I threw my ticket in the bin and flew Cebu Pacific out of MNL.