Int'l To Int'l Transit At Klia Lcc (air Asia)

[Soju]

Hi, my wife and I are planning a vacation and bringing her parents along, but my wife insists we save some money and have her parents fly Air Asia. They will depart from BKK on Air Asia and arrive at the KLIA LCC and then get on another international Air Asia flight. Has anyone done this transit, and do you need to go through immigration or does Air Asia have check-in facilities whereby you don't need to clear immigration? They can probably just travel with carry-on baggage if that helps any. If you clear immigration, is there any fee for getting a visa-on-arrival for Thai nationals? Or can they get a transit visa and is there a fee for that? Thanks for your help.

[ovenman]

AirAsia has no check-in facilities airside, or a transit desk if you prefer that terminology. Thai nationals will get stamed in to Malaysia for thirty days, gratis.

[Boca]

Ah, the LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) at KLIA (Kuala Lumpur Int'l Airport)! Wonderful!

Let me try and explain how it works. There is no transit facility at LCCT so on arrival, they will have to clear immigration then proceed to check-in for the next flight. Thai nationals will get 30 days on arrival.

The LCCT is so small so you cant really get lost, but it is very chaotic with people all over the place, and it's not a place you'd want to spend a great deal of time. It shouldn't take long to collect bags, clear immigration and check-in for the next flight but your biggest worry will be trusting Air Asia if you have connecting flights to make.

To transfer from the main terminal at KLIA to LCCT terminal, will take about 20 mins by bus or taxi. There are buses linking the two leaving every 20 or 30 mins.

[Bakuteh]

Hi, my wife and I are planning a vacation and bringing her parents along, but my wife insists we save some money and have her parents fly Air Asia. They will depart from BKK on Air Asia and arrive at the KLIA LCC and then get on another international Air Asia flight. Has anyone done this transit, and do you need to go through immigration or does Air Asia have check-in facilities whereby you don't need to clear immigration? They can probably just travel with carry-on baggage if that helps any. If you clear immigration, is there any fee for getting a visa-on-arrival for Thai nationals? Or can they get a transit visa and is there a fee for that? Thanks for your help.

To add on to Boca's excellent advice, you might want do consider doing the following:

(1) When booking tickets for your in-laws online at Airasia.com, you can opt to purchase travel insurance from Air Asia when you are on their website so that in the event there is a delay on AirAsia's part, the costs caused by any missed connections will be covered by insurance;

(2) If there is a long interval before the onward Air Asia flight at KL LCC terminal, it might be a good idea to check in for the onward flight and then take a coach which connects the LCCT to the KLIA main terminal to while away the time although there isn't much to see or do there other than a better choice of food outlets, check out the perfume/fragrance store and pay for a quick massage on the pre-programmed chair.

Hope you and your folks have a pleasant trip.