Airasia Fake Prices

[Chalard]

AirAsia is great. They have good promotions with lots of avalability at the advertised prices for people who can understand their website.

A quick check is showing avalability at the advertised price for the route you want on June 4,5,7,8,9,10,11.........

The deals are there, you just need to read carefully.

AA is great for booking way ahead if you know your dates & if you virtually have no baggage.

Otherwise they are just a rip off & you are better off flying other airlines.

I avoid AA like the plague.

There false advertizing is just normal like everybody else nowadays.

[UbonOz]

I think you should telephone Apple and complain, they have an iPad "FROM" 13,500baht. Does that mean I can get a iPad2 Wi-Fi 3G 64GB for that price?

[endure]

From AirAsia's website:

Domestic All-in-fare from

Ubon Ratchathani THB 790

Hat Yai THB 790

Nakhon Phanom THB 790

Udon Thani THB 790

Nakhon Si Thammarat THB 790

Surat Thani THB 790

Trang THB 990

Chiang Mai THB 990

Krabi THB 1,090

Narathiwat THB 1,090

Plenty of 790bt fares - just not to the place you want to go to. Do you think you're going to pay the same for a 350 mile flight to Nakhon Phanom as you are for a 1500 mile flight to Colombo?

That's not the issue here. It's not just the place I want to go. I follow the ad. They calculate and promote what they want. It's their job and mine is to choose, pay and go. you guys take it for granted that everything is permissible when coming to promote an airline.

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you're saying. Their ad plainly states that there are fares FROM (that means starting at) 790bt which is true. Where's the scam in that?

Edited April 16, 2012 by endure

[blossombkk]

I think you should telephone Apple and complain, they have an iPad "FROM" 13,500baht. Does that mean I can get a iPad2 Wi-Fi 3G 64GB for that price?

That's not the same at all. if apple says "from" it means they have a product for that price and up. they don't mean every version you choose. airasia advertised a destination for X tb and don't have that price AT ALL!!!!!!!!

i know you all love airasia, me too. criticizing does not mean they are a lousy airline. it just means they got it wrong in that specific instance.

I can't believe how emotional this subject turned to be..

[WilliaminBKK]

I think you should telephone Apple and complain, they have an iPad "FROM" 13,500baht. Does that mean I can get a iPad2 Wi-Fi 3G 64GB for that price?

That's not the same at all. if apple says "from" it means they have a product for that price and up. they don't mean every version you choose. airasia advertised a destination for X tb and don't have that price AT ALL!!!!!!!!

i know you all love airasia, me too. criticizing does not mean they are a lousy airline. it just means they got it wrong in that specific instance.

I can't believe how emotional this subject turned to be..

The only emotion seems to be coming from you. It is NOT fake advertising it is how low cost airlines market themselves.

It is what it is......airlines have buckets of inventory and will advertise promotions and set fare levels. You have no idea how many thousands of people had the e-mail before you and simply bought the inventory bucket out. Folks doing a spoke and hub sector or originating in Sri Lanaka. Airline call centre staff will use the words - from, intro fare, draw in fare, advertised special etc, she merely mispoke in her communication with you.

[ysamui]

Has anyone heard the old saying; "any publicity is good publicity"?

Maybe this entire post is a scam?

A scam to get free advertising?

Did anyone think of that?

[kkerry]

blossombkk, most people get what 'from' means in the context of the e-mail you received but if you still don't want to get it...

[UbonOz]

Has anyone heard the old saying; "any publicity is good publicity"?

Maybe this entire post is a scam?

A scam to get free advertising?

Did anyone think of that?

You think blossombkk works for AA? Hope he is not at the sharp end of the plane in the left hand seat.

[Thailand]

You simply don't want to listen do you!

[endure]

[Gonsalviz]

AirAsia is great. They have good promotions with lots of avalability at the advertised prices for people who can understand their website.

A quick check is showing avalability at the advertised price for the route you want on June 4,5,7,8,9,10,11.........

The deals are there, you just need to read carefully.

Understanding their website is key. The person(s) that designed it are backward to say the least. It has gotten slightly better in the last 1.5 years. I still won't fly on them.

[rfukata]

hey guys. the advertised fares really do exist but sometimes they get booked up. you have to be fast.

for example, i got macau flights for 3 people in june for 11k baht. try looking at the rates now for 3 people it will be 20k baht.

the booth is always more expensive.

AA has very good rates but you want to look for promotion and to book several months ahead if not.

Good Luck.

I concur with the 'limited' seat offers on each AA promotions. Once the promo seats are sold, the next

available rate kicks in whatever it happens to be.

[yermanee]

AirAsia is great. They have good promotions with lots of avalability at the advertised prices for people who can understand their website.

A quick check is showing avalability at the advertised price for the route you want on June 4,5,7,8,9,10,11.........

The deals are there, you just need to read carefully.

Understanding their website is key. The person(s) that designed it are backward to say the least. It has gotten slightly better in the last 1.5 years. I still won't fly on them.

I won't fly with them either, but that doesn't mean that the designers of the website are backward. I would say on the contrary, it is carefully constructed to make it as difficult as possible to navigate without incurring additional charges.

The worm on the fishhook comes to mind.

To those that know how to get the " good " deals please bear in mind that for every one of you there are dozens or even hundreds of people who get scammed.

Just my 2 cents

Yermanee

Edited April 17, 2012 by yermanee

[chrisboyo]

Hi guys, newbie here.

I work in the travel industry my self and deal with airlines and their sale prices with the words ''FROM'' in. My own company uses the very same tactic to draw in attention to special fares. We call it the lead in price.

I aint saying that the airlines or my own company don’t have these fares available to book as they are there, but, these fares are limited in amount available. You might only have 10 of these special fares available book before the price to the said destination increases. When this fare sells out, the cycle is repeated with the price of the fare increasing again.

Looking at the advertisement on AA website, it quite clearly states a number of destination with a lead in fare 790THB. This fare being applied to the shortest distance fare. There is nothing misleading about the marketing of the airline as it got your attention. People who really want to go to these destinations, need to pay the advertised price.

There, that wasn’t as terrifying as I thought it would be. Go easy, i am new to this game.

Chris.

[marinediscoking]

I have tried for years to get those special prices when I see the advertisements but to no avail. To me it seems to be a scam, just look who owns the airline. I though they got in trouble over this not so long ago in thailand for this kind of deceptive advertising.

[pomchop]

AirAsia is great. They have good promotions with lots of avalability at the advertised prices for people who can understand their website.

A quick check is showing avalability at the advertised price for the route you want on June 4,5,7,8,9,10,11.........

The deals are there, you just need to read carefully.

Understanding their website is key. The person(s) that designed it are backward to say the least. It has gotten slightly better in the last 1.5 years. I still won't fly on them.

I won't fly with them either, but that doesn't mean that the designers of the website are backward. I would say on the contrary, it is carefully constructed to make it as difficult as possible to navigate without incurring additional charges.

The worm on the fishhook comes to mind.

To those that know how to get the " good " deals please bear in mind that for every one of you there are dozens or even hundreds of people who get scammed.

Just my 2 cents

Yermanee

I think it's great that so many seem to think that AA has "scammed' them that they swear not to ever fly AA again....that will leave more seats available for the rest of us who don't feel "scammed" because we are clearly capapble of understanding that the prices "FROM" xxx don't mean that you are guaranteed to get the "from " price.....i have enjoyed many many AA flights for close to free and never once thought i was scammed.....

[samran]

The email which I received said "from 790B", the clue is the word "from", sadly.

Sadly also, it requires the reader to have a 'clue'....

[bangkokburning]

I had AA offer us free tickets and super discounted tickets. We booked, they yanked the route away. Pretty much a scam to me. Was a real hassle to get them to admit they were pulling the route and then a real hassle to get the refund ball rolling. Refund did come - 3 weeks.

GFs brother had bag not sent to Phuket but to KUL - oh sorry. No compensation.

[Baloo22]

Never flown with them before (not yet) but a did book a round-trip from Chiang Mai to Phuket a few weeks ago for a little vacation in July. To get the cheap "promo" fare, you may need to be flexible on the dates and times you fly. When you go to their website you can plug in your origin, destination, and travel dates. The "promo fare" may not be available on the date/time that you wanted but at that point you can scan forward and backward to find dates/times with the "promo fare". That is exactly what I did for my booking. As you step through the booking process, there will be more charges if you want to eat on the plane, pre-select your seat, check-in luggage, etc. It's transparent so there is nothing necessarily wrong with it. Just be aware and choose no if you don't want it.

I'm retired and flexible with dates and times, don't need in-flight meals, etc, etc, so I can get the cheap "promo fare". If you want to fly exactly when you want to and need in-flight meals, checked baggage, etc, you may very well need to pay more.

A few days ago I checked the date that I booked (1310 flight) with the "promo fare" and to get the same "promo fare" now I'd have to fly at 2245. I guess the 1310 flight is now full! As far as their perfomance for the trip, I'll let you know after my vacation!

[PattayaParent]

Still surprised with the responses.

When an airline or any other commercial agency advertises from 790tb that means prices start from 790tb and up, It should include this low price and could include many other prices.

In my case, I received the mail this morning, tried to book it 30 minutes after receiving it. instructions said specifically book april 16th and on. couldn't book it any earlier.

even the agent i spoke to didn't pretend the price ever existed.

any lawyer would see it as a scam. sorry you all.

This is common marketing practice and is used worldwide, the airline could have only one seat on the plane selling for 790Bt and still comply with the rules. As pointed out the 'get out clause' is FROM and I for one never believe any of these 'promotions'.

Exactly like every other airline does to "draw attention" to itself and its routes.

[PattayaParent]

The promo flyer I recieved on 12 April says Colombo is 2,109 Baht

[blossombkk]

The promo flyer I recieved on 12 April says Colombo is 2,109 Baht

Like you said! you got it on april 12. at that time the price was probably as you quoted.

I received mine on April 16th, and as I already mentioned it was start from 790tb.

[chrisboyo]

The promo flyer I recieved on 12 April says Colombo is 2,109 Baht

Like you said! you got it on april 12. at that time the price was probably as you quoted.

I received mine on April 16th, and as I already mentioned it was start from 790tb.

Does your email just single out Colombo from 790THB? or does the email have a number of destinations advertised from 790THB?

If its the latter, then the shortest distanced destination is the cheapest option. Its the lead in price that marketing teams use.There is nothing misleading about this. On AA's website now, they have Colombo for 1990THB so still a bargain.

Chris.

[bendix]

The promo flyer I recieved on 12 April says Colombo is 2,109 Baht

Like you said! you got it on april 12. at that time the price was probably as you quoted.

I received mine on April 16th, and as I already mentioned it was start from 790tb.

Does your email just single out Colombo from 790THB? or does the email have a number of destinations advertised from 790THB?

If its the latter, then the shortest distanced destination is the cheapest option. Its the lead in price that marketing teams use.There is nothing misleading about this. On AA's website now, they have Colombo for 1990THB so still a bargain.

Chris.

It was the latter. That much is very clear to anyone with an ounce of common sense, an attribute in which blossom seems to be sadly lacking.

[KED]

I would like to hijack this thread just a little. I don't want to get into the fray about Air Asia's advertising; however, I do want to question why Air Asia feels the need to present add-on after add-on to their booking website.

When I am booking a flight, I always check many websites (e.g. Kayak / Air Asia / ITA / etc) to find the best price for what I am looking for. If I am booking far enough in advance, Air Asia is often the best bargain. I am not so foolish to just look at the initial price, I also go through the booking and verify the Air Asia price after all the add-ons.

My question is, does Air Asia really need to present it's product in such a negaive way - I don't mind the baggage fee or food fee as a separate charge because some people don't need these amenities when traveling. However, I do find their insurance option to be counter-intuititve for those who don't want to purchase this product. Also, I really don't like the final add-on when using a credit card of a "convenience" fee.

My point is, Air Asia has a fairly good product and their prices are often lower than Thai AIr and Bangkok Airways, but I do feel that they detract from their product when they have page after page of internet gymnastics add-ons throughout the booking.

I think they could do a better job of representing what they offer and people would feel bettter about booking with them.

Clear as mud?

[PattayaParent]

The convenience fee per person per sector annoys me, I am paying for 3 passengers for all sectors at 1 time with 1 card, how can they want 6 convenience fees when it is a convenience for them.

Sometime I feel like making all bookings separately so they have 6 bookings to process instead of 1.

[phuketrichard]

I just looked at this sale, wanted to book BKK to Penang but Penang wasn't part of the sale.

BKK - Colombo isn't 790, it's listed at 1990. 790 is only for certain domestic destinations. It is pretty clear on the air asia website.

Just looked at the mail again. It lists all destination for the low fare. Colombo IS one of them. It's true that when you get in to book your flight, fares start at 1990tb. Looks to me like a scam though.

The air fare is FROM 790 BUT u need add on departure tax ( 700 right there) and surcharge

Deception perhaps, scam NO, Its only a scam if u they tell ya before u enter cc details its 790 and charge u more.

Is it any dif than Agoda which gives u one price at the start an than adds in tax's and all when u go to book?

Edited April 22, 2012 by phuketrichard

[Roel]

I would like to hear the OP's opinion on shoe sales. Shoe stores tend to advertise with huge sign boards saying "Shoes FROM 499 Baht" and it inevitably turns out that shoes for the advertised low price only come in very small sizes whereas the sizes that 99% of the customers require are higher priced. Scam or not?

[blazes]

This whole topic is another reminder of why it is always better to pay full price with Thai Air (or whoever) than deal with these airlines whose founders are no better than London barrow boys.

Whether it's RyanAir or Easyjet or all the other cheapo airlines, buying cheap is buying dear.

[how241]

You have to hunt the site and find the exact date that offers that price. It might only be one day.