Air Asia & Lion Air Review

[Brickleberry]

I had the displeasure of making a booking with Air Asia this week for a local flight. Unfortunately, they were the only airline flying at the specific time I needed, so there were no other options. They didn't have a good time available for me to return with them, so I had to book with another airline, Lion Air. The experience was much better. 

 

Let's start with pricing. When I searched for a suitable time and date for the Air Asia flight, a very reasonable price was displayed: 980THB for a one way journey. Clicked the 'book now' button and amazingly, the price jumped to 1,170THB on the next page. OK, fair enough, there are some taxes & fuel duty to pay, and they sneakily stuck them in after the fact.

 

I click another button to confirm the booking, and the price rises again - this time baggage and travel insurance fees are added. I cannot remove the insurance, only the extra baggage. Insurance appears to be mandatory and the price goes up to 1,289THB.

 

I'm quite irritated at this point, but there are no other options. I proceed to the payment page. The cheeky bastards added 189THB baht to process my payment using a local debit card. 1,478THB total. 

 

For the return leg, I was determined not to book with Air Asia and went to Lion Air's website. Managed to find a suitable time to return (same day) and the cost: 850THB.

 

I click to confirm the booking, and the price goes up to include insurance and baggage. However, it was very easy to remove both, and the price returned to 850THB.

 

I click the next button to pay, and there are no further charges. Taxes and fuel duty etc. were already included in the original price. There were no processing fees either. 850THB was what I saw on the first page, and 850THB is what I ended up paying. A very good service, with clear pricing.

Edited May 23, 2023 by Brickleberry

[KannikaP]

Did Lion Air get you back safely, comfortably & on time?

Edited May 23, 2023 by KannikaP

[Brickleberry]

12 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Did Lion Air get you back safely, comfortably & on time?

Yes, they did!

[freedomnow]

Yip, I got torpedo'd by Air Asia 3x last year...with lost connecting flight issues domestic/int to Laos.

Eventually took a bus overnight as it was that critical finally that no internal connecting flight got nuked again...now I'm sitting with a stack of refunds in airasia credits that I need to use by a certain point.

 

Lion Air is giving them a run for their money.

[JBChiangRai]

Air Asia is my least favourite airline, but sometimes there's little choice. you also have to be darn sure you will fly as getting a refund is nigh on impossible.  I have a friend still awaiting his promised refund from early Covid days.

 

You get better prices for Air Asia with Booking.com than their own website/app.

[Lacessit]

Air Asia has a well-deserved reputation for dudding customers by various subterfuges, it's why I have not flown with them for at least ten years.