Air Asia Free Tickets Scam

[elektrified]

In the Wednesday November 12 Bangkok Post on page 2 there was a 1/2 page ad that stated:

"No More Fuel Surcharge Absolute FREE SEATS". Furthermore the ad went on to state "Booking Period: 12-16 November 2008 Travel Period: 22 June - 24 October 2009. 65,000 seats Internet only Net fares inclusive of taxes, fees, and surcharges range from THB 177 to THB 231 for domestic round-trip flights, Net fares inclusive of taxes, fees, and surcharges range from THB 235 to THB 1,093 for International flights".

I thought this sounded pretty darn good and decided I would purchase 2 RT tickets to Kuala Lumpur and 2 tickets to Ho Chi Minh for travel during the stated period.

I tried numerous times to make the bookings and purchase the tickets on the Internet. Each time the total for each pair of the tickets ranged from 7600 THB to 8300 THB, a far cry from "THB 235 to THB 1,093" as stated in the ad. I read the ad numerous times to see where the catch was but it was quite clear. I finally called the Air Asia office in Bangkok. After waiting for over over an hour for a representitive, I was finally connected with a woman whose English was good. When I explained the situation she said that she had never heard of the promotion and "could I scan the ad and email it to her?" Come on... I don't have a scanner here. Then she said to me "those prices are only in the marketing and advertising", whatever that means. This conversation went on for more than 40 minutes during which time I started to get very uptight which I seldom ever do in Thailand. While on the phone with her I again tried numerous times to secure some tickets over the Internet but every time the total was in the range above. Then the woman said to me "Airport Tax has to be paid and that is what is making the total higher." Come on... Airport Tax to fly out of Bangkok is only 700 Baht. Then she said maybe there are no more seats. I said "maybe?". "You don't know?" Come on. The website says there are seats available for every destination except Hong Kong and Macau.

Finally after 40 or so minutes, my g/f got on the phone and talked with her in Thai - all to no avail. She didn't know anything. We pointed out to her that there was a promotion on the website (which did not have the same language as in the Bangkok Post), at which she replied "that is no fuel surcharge only, you still have to pay all fees".

We got very frustrated and yesterday we decided to go to Chiang Mai Airport and talk with someone at the sales office since the promotion was over at 24:00. We took the ad with us. When we got there there was a Thai man arguing with the representative about the same promotion. This went on for a while as we stood there. Finally, the man stormed off. Then the very feminine representative who spoke perfect English told me that he didn't know anything about the promotion. When I handed him the Bangkok Post ad, he refused to look at it! I was about to lose control when my g/f jumped in and talked with him. He went on to say that the matter could only be addressed over the Internet and that "their system did not have the promotion." When she urged him to try and do something to help us, he smiled and said "sorry, now the system is down completely". Of course we emailed them but never received a response.

What a joke! In all the years of coming to Thailand and now after living here for a year, that was the most frustrating experience I have ever encountered. Not to mention that I wasted a good 3-4 hours of time on the Internet, driving all the way to the Airport, etc.

What a joke. Anyone else have a similar experience?

I'm so angry I couldn't sleep well last night. I wish I could raise this issue with someone at Air Asia. I don't know if it will result in more hours of wasted time. Come on...... a 1/2 page ad in the Bangkok Post that no one at Air Asia knows anything about? Yeah, right!

Edited November 17, 2008 by elektrified

[clausewitz]

They are loathsome.

[ovenman]

Anyone else have a similar experience?

No. I booked several trips during the stated travel period at the promotional price.

[angiud]

What a joke. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Yes, with every low-cost airline company in the world

[Journalist]

I'm afraid these offers are nearly always bogus.

I don't waste my time on them. Best place for the cheapest airfares is Guy at Thaivisa Travel.

[tominchaam]

Anyone else have a similar experience?

No. I booked several trips during the stated travel period at the promotional price.

So did I and it worked out very well. If I had found nothing no way I would complain anyway.

[junkofdavid2]

Definitely a scam!

I booked BKK-SIN-BKK yesterday with the same promo...

Cost 1,075 + 700 Suvarnabumi charge... 1,775. 700 Baht is really a "far cry" from 1,093!

It busts the bank!

[elektrified]

Hard to figure why it worked for some and not others. Randomly picked IP addresses?

[deptrai]

I bought 2 1-ways KUL-BKK:

Flight

2 Guest 0.00 MY

Airport Tax 50.00 MY

Administration Fee 45.00 MY

Sub Total 95.00 MY

Services & Fees

GoInsure 16.00 MY

Checked Baggage 10.00 MY

Sub Total 26.00 MY

Total Amount 121.00 MY

Also bought 2 1-ways DPS-KUL:

2 Guest 0.00 RP

Administration Fee 140,000.00 RP

Sub Total 140,000.00 RP

Services & Fees

GoInsure 40,000.00 RP

Checked Baggage 30,000.00 RP

Sub Total 70,000.00 RP

Total Amount 210,000.00 RP

Total for 4 1-way tickets charged to my credit card was US$54.11.

[pichai]

C'mon, its a true promotion. I had always been able to booked via internet without problem. You pay airport taxes, insurance and admin fee plus a credit card fee charge (if any) with baggage fee per sector and VAT for domestic flight only.

[Chan_inbangkok]

On Saturday booked

BKK-PHUKET-BKK FOR 4 round trip total 1840 Baht

BKK-SIN-BKK FOR 1 round trip total 1780 Baht [ usually would cost around 6000 ]

BKK-SURAT THANI - BKK FOR 1 round trip total 406 Baht

I think that's too cheap ! don't you think and yes we have to complain !

[apetley]

Booked a couple of return flights BKK-KL for next July with Air Asia only yesterday.

Came to 3k bht for the pair of us which I think is very cheap.

Tried the same dates today and have to pay full price so there is definite limited availability on the zero price seats.

[jdinasia]

I got tix too ... the deal was real (and this is not the first time I have had success with these deals from Air Asia) It is worth noting that you have to book fast when the promotion starts AND try several routes or times. Yes it is possible that they sell out on the promotion very fast and crying about it will not help.

[junkofdavid2]

Hard to figure why it worked for some and not others. Randomly picked IP addresses?

Has nothing to do with IP addresses. They just didn't see the fine print qualifier (*) on the promo price.

*People who are angry at the world are not qualified for this promo.

Edited November 17, 2008 by junkofdavid2

[junkofdavid2]

double post

Edited November 17, 2008 by junkofdavid2

[toptuan]

I got tix too ... the deal was real (and this is not the first time I have had success with these deals from Air Asia) It is worth noting that you have to book fast when the promotion starts AND try several routes or times. Yes it is possible that they sell out on the promotion very fast and crying about it will not help.

Exactly. These tickets are snapped up pretty quickly.

When certain popular routes are sold out, then you'll only see the regular air fares offered when you go to buy online. The "free" or reduced fare will only show up if seats are available. That's your only clue as to whether the promotion is sold out or not.

Of course, all this is not crystal clear in their advertising, operations, or PR people, so you have to learn by trial and error (and experience). In fact, the in-person and telephone customer service people are "greatly disconnected" from the online customer service protocol and procedures, so don't expect a lot of help from them. When it comes to claiming internet promotions with AirAsia, you're really on your own.

This seems to be a uniquely "Thai" thing in the marketplace. Same problem with the internet promotions of Nakorn Chai Air (premium bus company in Thailand). In-person or on-telephone customer service people haven't a clue how to operate or use the internet sites, and can't help you when you run into problems or need any other kind of website help.

Been through this before, done that, got the T-shirt.

[ovenman]

Been through this before, done that, got the T-shirt.

Or in this instance, got the free ticket.

[elektrified]

Hard to figure why it worked for some and not others. Randomly picked IP addresses?

Has nothing to do with IP addresses. They just didn't see the fine print qualifier (*) on the promo price.

*People who are angry at the world are not qualified for this promo.

I'm not at all angry with the world. I enjoy my life here. It was just very frustrating. Hours of time were spent and I ended up with nothing and everyone at Air Asia not knowing anything.

[jfchandler]

Apart from the newspaper ad, as a registered Air Asia passenger, I always get their e-mail promotions, and received the one on this in my email last week. Same details as discussed above.

I would have liked to book something, but now is November, and trying to anticipate my non-essential air travel plans for a ticketing period past the middle of next year seemed to be a bit dicey....even for a good deal. Just too far off into the future to work for me.

But their promotions like this always have the same catch: the quoted prices don't include general taxes or the hefty airport surcharge at Suvarnabhumi on the outbound leg. So depending on your destination, you can figure to start at 1000+ baht per ticket and work upwards from there.

[CuttySark]

I got quick a few tickets at very low price. You may need to be flexible and play around with the date. Zero price for week end is almost impossible. I suppose people in AirAsia have to make a living too.

[Mosha]

Sky Bandits (Ryanair) in Europe advertise them all the time. Thay have to declare how many are on offer per flight I think