AirAsia

November 26th Chiang Mai to Hong Kong. Early morning flight (departure time 06.00) and while the standard check- in for international flights is 3 hours prior to departure time the counter failed to be staffed until 04.20. A small irritant yes but it was a harbinger of things to come. Ticketing and luggage handling pretty typical of any other airlines with the exception of dealing with excess baggage. Each bag is weighed and there is no leeway whatsoever. Every increment of one kilo was billed as excess baggage. They do not make this easy. The passenger must leave the queue walk across the terminal to the Air Asia cashier process the necessary transaction and then return to the ticket agent to complete the process. We knew we had excess weight we had pre-purchased an additional 20 kilos of sporting equipment. The agent unilaterally decided that trekking equipment was not sporting equipment therefore it was to be classified as excess baggage. We were forced to pay an additional 5575 baht (approximately 175.00 USD) simply based on his arbitrary determination. We pre-ordered and prepaid for an inflight meal. Their idea of a breakfast meal is a small tin of rice or noodles and a 4 oz. cup of water. It was the worst attempt at a meal I have ever witnessed. On this trip we used 10 different airlines. Did Air Asia get us to Hong Kong on time? Yes. Was the plane clean? Yes. Did we receive value for the money spent? Not even close. Of all the airline companies we flew was AirAsia at least average? Not even close! Would we ever fly this company again knowing now how they treat their customers? I hope we never are faced with that decision.

I needed to get to Bangkok Chiang Mai and Krabi. To do this within my allotted time span I had no alternative but to fly between these cities. The price differential is quite marked so I elected to try Air Asia which would allow me to compare it with Bangkok Airways who I had flown with before. The aircraft was configured as a single cabin. The first few rows sported cotton covers over the seat headrest and were reserved for passengers willing to pay a premium. The other seats were so close together that for any person over five feet six inches (like myself) were forced into a painful contortion to avoid digging their knees into the seat-back in front. Minutes after the aircraft departed the four cabin crew members wasted no time in blocking the aisles with trolleys flogging drinks and snacks followed quickly by the same four trying their best to get passengers to buy mementoes of Air Asia. My next flight (Chiang Mai to Krabi) due to depart at 12 noon was cancelled. Its replacement was rescheduled to depart at 5.30pm. This meant a totally wasted day for me and meant arriving at my pre-booked hotel at 9pm instead of 3pm. No apologies – no explanations from Air Asia. The only consistency being the aircraft seating configurations and 2 hours of discomfort instead of one. More of the same on my last flight so there is little point in relating it. All in all my experiences were certainly negative ones.

We were a group of five who took CGK - DMK - CGK flight (QZ 252 and QZ 255) both stints were pretty much on time efficient check in process at both airports. As expected we were seated at distant rows which was alright for us. Overall very satisfactory.

AK384 KUL-CGK / BDO-KUL. Both flight departed on time and arrived a few minutes earlier than scheduled. Cabin crew for KUL-CGK - seemed friendlier and approachable. Luggage drop were fast as I did web check in.

My family and I (group of 5) flew PNH-KLIA2-PNH in November 2014. The PNH-KLIA2 flight was almost full and the KLIA2-PNH flight was completely full. Having been a regular AA and AAX flyer since 2006 we knew what to expect - value for money. Our expectations were kept at a reasonable level and once again we were not disappointed. Cabin service was good. I have found AA and AAX cabin staff to be at least as good as those of full-service airlines but some of the ground staff at the old LCCT and on the Gold Coast have been abrupt if now downright rude. A few ground staff at the old LCCT had a poor command of English. On balance though in my 8 years of flying on AA and AAX I have found AA and AAX to be good to excellent.

12th Nov 2014. Flight: AK139 Hong Kong (1050 dep) to Kuala Lumpur (KLIA2). This is the third airline review I am adding - the previous two I have literally just submitted using a 'minus points plus points' format. I'm not sure that I can think of any minus points for this flight. There was nothing amazing about it but it ticked the boxes that this low-cost airline pledged to tick. I have scored 3/5 for "Food and Beverages" because I am required to score but I did not have any as I chose to bring my own on-board. However what the airline offers is more substantial and far better-priced and I would pre-book meals with them in future. As for "Inflight Entertainment" that is non-existent as would be expected.

I frequently fly Air Asia and like the cleanliness and modern aircraft. This flight was Perth to Kuala Lumpur. The seat business class seating is okay and almost lie flat enabling a couple of hours sleep on the flight. The airline policy for quiet areas at the front on the plane is very good.

We flew from KLIA2 to Bangkok Don Muang return at the end of October. I bought the tickets during a promo sale so paid very little. All went well. Flights were on time. It was a holiday weekend on the way out so the flight was full. Coming back things were less hectic as it was a normal weekday. I chose a lunch time flight so we could use a taxi to the airport easily. Check in was quick and the flight went on time. The pre-booked meals were all as expected. Seats were free up the back and we were allowed to use them and spread out. Arrival at KLIA2 was easy as we'd used the airport before. Air Asia offers a great product. You know what you'll get and so long as you buy during a promo period you'll pay very little.

Business class to and from Australia was well up to expectations. Flights on time comfortable seating clean and modern aircraft edible food polite helpful and welcoming crew. Likewise the 3 internal Malaysian flights in a single-class aircraft.

Business class was wonderful except for the meals and any drinks had to be brought including water. The inflight entertainment was limited and if you didn't book it with your flight you could not request it once you got to the plane as they only allow enough for the pre booked entertainment. The seating and value for money was wonderful and the 8 hour flight went very quickly. I would recommend that you eat well before going on the flight and you will be very happy with everything else.