Air Asia Hell Trip

[fezman]

Thought I would put this up here as been a few weeks and although they said they would respond in five days ,I have received nothing back from them . Just to let everyone know cheap flights don't end up cheap.

Dec 7th 2012 my wife my self and our four year old son with 90kg of check in baggage were to fly out of coolangatta at 9.05 am ,after a storm our plane was sent to Brisbane ,after a 4 hr delay we were told we would have to clear customs again and board a bus to Brisbane ,I had to collect my baggage and carry that to the bus .once we got to brisbane bags were checked in again .

by the time we boarded our flight we were about 8 hours late ,so we and many others were going to miss our connecting flight to Bangkok .

When we arrived at KL it was crazy and nobody knew what was going on ,we were eventually given new itinerary wich had us flying out the next morning at 6 am to not to BKK but to Phuket then wait 4 hours for conecting flight to Bangkok .

they said they would provide a hotel for us for the night ,but all staff disapeared and we could not find any one after an hour we found some other people from the plane and they said we had to collect our bags so I had to get back into the arrivals and find all our bags which nobody told us to collect .we then found on staff member that led us a long way to some busses ,had to carry the bags a long way by my self as the trolleys could not be used .

I put our 8 bags on as 3 staff memebers stood around smoking and never helped .30 minutes later we arrived at dingy hotel ,we there not enough rooms for the people on the bus ,some went back to the airport and slept in Mcdonalds as airport was shut .

we were lucky enough to get a few hours sleep at the hotel before heading back to the airport were we changed to 12.40 flight to Phuket and that was delayed and we were going to miss the next conecting flight to Bangkok again ,all the time staff gave us little info.

Everyone by this time was very stressed and tired .

we finally arrived in Phuket with half an hour before the next flight and this is were things changed ,the staff in Thailand could not have been better met us all at the baggage carousel and helped with the bags got our boarding passes for us and helped everyone to the gate .

the difference between the staff in the two countrys could not have been more different ,Malaysia staff did not comunicate with us and ran the other way ,the Thai staff were excellent .so in the end our trip that was going to be an 8 hour flight and then on to Bangkok with a short stop over took two whole days and one night and five airports all the time with a four year old kid and over 120 kg of bags ,it was the worst experience of my life .

S.

[arkom]

Had a similar experience with a while back in KL. Our flight back to Bangkok was delayed twice without any notification, only found out about it when checking in and again while boarding.

Our flight was originally supposed to depart at 1 pm and we finally ended up departing at 8 pm. Staff in Malaysia where worthless and didn't really care, and would not give updates, when passengers started asking questions they just disappeared.

On top of that we were stuck in the Low Cost Terminal which has absolutely nothing to do to pass the time.

Edited December 28, 2012 by arkom

[fezman]

Had a similar experience with a while back in KL. Our flight back to Bangkok was delayed twice without any notification, only found out about it when checking in and again while boarding.

Our flight was originally supposed to depart at 1 pm and we finally ended up departing at 8 pm. Staff in Malaysia where worthless and didn't really care, and would not give updates, when passengers started asking questions they just disappeared.

On top of that we were stuck in the Low Cost Terminal which has absolutely nothing to do to pass the time.

yer some of the people that could not get a room told us the next day the airport shut and had to sleep in Maccas ,and yes the staff were bad there but like i said the Thai staff were like a different airline ,great.

also did not mention after they changed us from COL to brisbane by bus they would not let us check in any more gear as they said they did not have the facilitys there and then going through customs again they said that my 3 carry on was to heavy and i could not take it on the plane .I said we had everything we own in these bags and had to take stuff out and carry in pockets etc .

all I am trying to say is yes you get what you pay for ,I paid xtra for 90kg check in and all the rest add ons and it cost near 500 bucks one way each ,and the only reason used them we were living on the Gold coast and didnt want to drive to Brisbane .

so just saying its cheaper and more conv to fly with full real airline and go direct .

[canman]

It's the old adage 'you get what you pay for'. I tried a couple 'budget' airlines in the past and for me I am quite happy to pay a bit more for a full service airline. I am sure there are plenty of people who have never had a problem on a budget airline but i know for a fact that the chances are much higher for delayed, canceled and f..cked up trips. Our company books around 40 flights a week and we occasionaly do have to resort to using a budget airline, the hit rate for some kind of problem is something like 10%.

[Mario2008]

If the flight was booked in Australia, it might be that you are entitled to compansation because of the delay. Just as you would be in the European Unity.

[arkom]

If the flight was booked in Australia, it might be that you are entitled to compansation because of the delay. Just as you would be in the European Unity.

For me I booked here in Thailand and AirAsia gave us a free roundtrip ticket but we had to pay for tax and fuel.

Edited December 28, 2012 by arkom

[fezman]

If the flight was booked in Australia, it might be that you are entitled to compansation because of the delay. Just as you would be in the European Unity.

For me I booked here in Thailand and AirAsia gave us a free roundtrip ticket but we had to pay for tax and fuel.

well have to say they may do something for us ,they finally sent an email and want to get in contact now ,so fingers crossed .

I would have to say if you were travelling alone and only had carry on it would not be so bad ,but with a family and heaps of bags uh uh.and like I said the Thai service was great .

[PattayaPhom]

Not a difference between two contries but three, you didnt get help or service in Oz either!

[ThaiRich]

But the flight was cheap, right? Cheaper is not always a good thing. There are reasons they are cheap!!

[Rancid]

My AA connections have always been OK, flights fine, mainly the BS promotions that annoy me, Mind you on my first flight to Oz only had Thai money and me and the kids were dying of thirst, so they wouldn't sell me anything to drink as only accepted Aussie and Malaysian money, gave me a couple of glasses of water from the planes tank which tasted revolting, after that I learned they just regard you as a low paying loser. The fact I tried to board with a bottle of water and they took it off me didn't help.

I reckon if AA had a sudden drop in altitude they would charge you for the oxygen masks, no Ringet, then die.

[Minnehaha]

I fly AirAsia all the time and, thankfully have never had such an experience. I always buy insurance from a travel agency that has coverage for extreme delays, cancelations, hotels etc. Of course I want the theft coverage and health coverage as well.

[steve down under]

Dec 7th 2012 my wife my self and our four year old son with 90kg of check in baggage were to fly out of coolangatta at 9.05 am

all the time with a four year old kid and over 120 kg of bags ,it was the worst experience of my life .

Somehow the OP's luggage managed to put on weight on the trip as well !

[PattayaPhom]

Dec 7th 2012 my wife my self and our four year old son with 90kg of check in baggage were to fly out of coolangatta at 9.05 am

all the time with a four year old kid and over 120 kg of bags ,it was the worst experience of my life .

Somehow the OP's luggage managed to put on weight on the trip as well !

He was allowed 30kg carryon initially but when transferred and checked in again was refused this carryon allowance, so baggage was the same.

[krisb]

Makes you wonder these multi million dollar air companies stuffing customers around. Dont they realise word spreads.

Nah, Id rather pay the extra and get the quality service. Singapore Air is the only lot I fly with. Simply fantastic company with the best understanding for customer service.

Theres a show on Aussie telly called Airport I think. Its a whole show dedicated to almost un happy customers on low budget air carriers. Just not worth it when things go wrong. Can ruin a holiday.

Edited December 28, 2012 by krisb

[el jefe]

If the flight was booked in Australia, it might be that you are entitled to compansation because of the delay. Just as you would be in the European Unity.

For me I booked here in Thailand and AirAsia gave us a free roundtrip ticket but we had to pay for tax and fuel.

well have to say they may do something for us ,they finally sent an email and want to get in contact now ,so fingers crossed .

I would have to say if you were travelling alone and only had carry on it would not be so bad ,but with a family and heaps of bags uh uh.and like I said the Thai service was great .

Let's summarize the complaints:

Australian weather causes delays

Australian staff does not help

Malaysian staff is useless

traveling with "heaps of bags" is a problem.

Traveling with family sucks.

I don't see how Air Asia could help with 3 of the 5 problems. The last one is especially bad.

[473geo]

I brought a football for my son from the UK, on the transfer to my Nok air flight I was asked to deflate it.....I had nothing to complete such a task....

The Nok air team spent 20 minutes using a paperclip to release enough air to let my son fly with his football......what a lovely bunch of people they were

Thank you Nok Air....the flight was good too...I will not hesitste to book with you again

[iluvbeaches]

Air Asia and budget airlines are generally only good for single or couples flying short haul and/or with little luggage. Otherwise your likely better off with full fare airlines who will likely accommodate more if things go wrong.

120 kg of luggage? Dear lord. That's like dragging around two dead bodies.

[xen]

The difference in cost to fly Emirates ,Thai or Singapore is about the same price , but better value , as Jet Star, Air Asia or the other cheap fares by time you add on the extra costs such as meals, entertainment credit card charges, luggage charges and so on without the drama, the runarounds, the frustrations and the discomforts . I have flown Air Asia quite a few times and had no problems but it was basic service at best . God help us if all the airlines follow the no frills template .

[JeffreyMcCollum]

why would you fly with that much luggage as well as your young child ?

and why do you expect them to help carry your luggage ?

and your a mind reader to as you know what "Everyone" was feeling and thinking

Stay home

[fezman]

why would you fly with that much luggage as well as your young child ?

and why do you expect them to help carry your luggage ?

and your a mind reader to as you know what "Everyone" was feeling and thinking

Stay home

well we live in Thailand and were moving back ,so reducing everything down to that for 3 people isn't bad after living away for few years ,books ,paperwork ,computers etc etc. , next time we will just leave the kid maybe huh ?

And didn't expect them to carry our luggage just at least tell us were to go at 4 am and have busses pull up within 30 metres of were trolleys can be pushed . That's all .

And unlike YOU I am not a mind reader ,just listening to the same people for 48 + hr kinda gives you an idea of what's going on .

Crawl back under that computer table Jeff ,

[fezman]

Dec 7th 2012 my wife my self and our four year old son with 90kg of check in baggage were to fly out of coolangatta at 9.05 am

all the time with a four year old kid and over 120 kg of bags ,it was the worst experience of my life .

Somehow the OP's luggage managed to put on weight on the trip as well !

He was allowed 30kg carryon initially but when transferred and checked in again was refused this carryon allowance, so baggage was the same.

thats dead right , checked in 90 we paid for had 30 carry on .

[robblok]

why would you fly with that much luggage as well as your young child ?

and why do you expect them to help carry your luggage ?

and your a mind reader to as you know what "Everyone" was feeling and thinking

Stay home

well we live in Thailand and were moving back ,so reducing everything down to that for 3 people isn't bad after living away for few years ,books ,paperwork ,computers etc etc. , next time we will just leave the kid maybe huh ?

And didn't expect them to carry our luggage just at least tell us were to go at 4 am and have busses pull up within 30 metres of were trolleys can be pushed . That's all .

And unlike YOU I am not a mind reader ,just listening to the same people for 48 + hr kinda gives you an idea of what's going on .

Crawl back under that computer table Jeff ,

Its still a shitload of baggage and only you can carry it, i don't see why others would have to help you with it. Its not their job to carry the baggage of their clients. Its never wise to travel that heavy, every time i go on a holiday with mom she takes too much guess who can carry it dad and me.

Sure they could have put the buses closer but there might have been reasons for that it could not be done. In the end your responsible not them.

But i grant you this if they give out no or wrong information id be pissed too, and id be pissed if no accommodation was arranged. But sometimes shit happens and you have to accept that budget airlines are worse at handling it.

Edited December 29, 2012 by robblok

[robblok]

You messed up the quote a bit but i get your message, anyway i can understand why you traveled heavy, you just had some bad luck and sometimes writing it down helps.

I hate the lack of information when things go wrong and such, and arranging accommodation That is their job and i would get pissed off for that and to add that you had to carry the bags (not their mistake but it certainly feels that way) Yes i do see how it would make you real angry.

[fezman]

You messed up the quote a bit but i get your message, anyway i can understand why you traveled heavy, you just had some bad luck and sometimes writing it down helps.

I hate the lack of information when things go wrong and such, and arranging accommodation That is their job and i would get pissed off for that and to add that you had to carry the bags (not their mistake but it certainly feels that way) Yes i do see how it would make you real angry.

yer sorry bout that ,looks like I edited your post, IPad .

Like I said just thought putting it out there may help someone to not make the same mistakes I made .

[robblok]

@phonesis,

The guy wont take it all back as part of the stuff is for relocation that was his reason to travel heavy, better read what is written.

I do agree about traveling light though.

[FergusMPower]

Commiserations. We all hate it when long, gruelling trips become a bit of a nightmare. However, I and my family have flown with AirAsia at least 30 times, with nothing but the best experiences. On two occasions or so, there have been delays of around 2 hours. My approach is to assume that when you are flying on a low cost carrier that there is bound to be a problem. Hence - I always allow longer than usual for flight connections, just 'wearing' the extra couple of hours in-transit, and carrying a laptop with an earphone 'splitter' so that my partner and I can entertain ourselves watching movies while waiting for connections. If your flight gets diverted because of weather - well, probably ANY flight would have been diverted anyway. World Nomads travel insurance (for example) is not only (ridiculously) cheap - it's available within seconds through internet purchase prior to commencement of your journey (Tip: if purchasing, state your address as your REPATRIATION country address (e.g. if Australian - state 'Australia', rather than your Thai address (assuming that if you were badly injured you would want to be repatriated to your country of origin). Travelling anywhere at all with heaps of baggage/children without basic travel insurance is not really advisable. If it's just you in your 2 shoes - no problem - but if you have a partner/child/120 kgs of baggage??? I am always surprised to see stories from travellers who say they have had a nightmare experience with Air Asia. I presume that you are in a very small (unfortunate) minority. How else does Air Asia win the 'Low Cost Carrier' best airline award year after year (after year)? And, as I mentioned, I have flown with them many many times and really never had a bad experience to report, at all ......

[fezman]

Commiserations. We all hate it when long, gruelling trips become a bit of a nightmare. However, I and my family have flown with AirAsia at least 30 times, with nothing but the best experiences. On two occasions or so, there have been delays of around 2 hours. My approach is to assume that when you are flying on a low cost carrier that there is bound to be a problem. Hence - I always allow longer than usual for flight connections, just 'wearing' the extra couple of hours in-transit, and carrying a laptop with an earphone 'splitter' so that my partner and I can entertain ourselves watching movies while waiting for connections. If your flight gets diverted because of weather - well, probably ANY flight would have been diverted anyway. World Nomads travel insurance (for example) is not only (ridiculously) cheap - it's available within seconds through internet purchase prior to commencement of your journey (Tip: if purchasing, state your address as your REPATRIATION country address (e.g. if Australian - state 'Australia', rather than your Thai address (assuming that if you were badly injured you would want to be repatriated to your country of origin). Travelling anywhere at all with heaps of baggage/children without basic travel insurance is not really advisable. If it's just you in your 2 shoes - no problem - but if you have a partner/child/120 kgs of baggage??? I am always surprised to see stories from travellers who say they have had a nightmare experience with Air Asia. I presume that you are in a very small (unfortunate) minority. How else does Air Asia win the 'Low Cost Carrier' best airline award year after year (after year)? And, as I mentioned, I have flown with them many many times and really never had a bad experience to report, at all ......

yer there were a lot of folks that were like you and had flown many times in the past with no probs , maybe there getting to big ,slack or just the Xmas rush . But yes they called me yesterday and say they will get back to me again , I don't want a free trip or anything ,like I said just wanted to put it out there in case anyone else was thinking of doing this crazyness. Don't think I will look at this anymore ,as always to many dickheads that can't read and just want to piss on everyone from there high horse . Not talking about you mate . Happy new year .

[USNret]

Believe it or not, I had an almost identical experience in the States. Just trying to get from Seattle to San Diego, a non-stop 5 hour flight. It turned into a 36-hour marathon which included a night's stay in LA. It was horrible! I won't give all the nasty details but the worst thing they did, when all the pax were sitting in an abandoned boarding area in LA at 1:00, they said "Go get your bags & come back, then we'll give you a room & bus to San Diego."

All those who left never came back, until I figured out... they CAN'T come back; we're in a secure area and we have no boarding pass, so anyone who leaves won't be able to come back for the room or onward transportation. Out of 40 pax, about 12 of us figured this out; we stayed & got our free room. It was very despicable behavior on the part of the airline staff. They were so resentful to the 12 of us for not falling for their trick that when we returned in the morning for our onward flight, all 12 of us got a full pat-down search.

It was my worst-ever travel experience, but yours clearly tops this!

[songhklasid]

A true horror story,Ah well, as long as you learn from expierience, Never do a planned family trip with half the house on a budget airline. Only travel budget with 1 bag you can carry yourself, this is the market they target, the TRAVELLER, NOT the family guy with 100 KILOS, your'e asking for trouble from the word go, you could have flown emarites from syd-bkk direct, with 30 kilo's luggage allowance for free, sometimes on special for $840.Yes there not my preferred airline, even domestic in thailand if you want to change dates, the original online price just about doubles (T A A )

regards songhklasid

[xen]

Ahhhhh

Next time you will remember the golden rule...TRAVEL LIGHT.

The best strategy with budget airlines is to take carry on only.

I see it on a daily basis here in Thailand...young back packer girls struggling down the road with a massive back pack AND a front pack. Can't get a taxi, or can't afford it because of the Tuk Tuk mafia prices.

Or the budget family travellers...with poor old dad wrestling with a mountain of samsonites....ridiculous.

TRAVEL LIGHT...if you travel with 120kg of luggage you deserve everything that budget carriers dish out to you.

This time of year in Thailand all you need is a pair of flip flops, a long shirt, a pair of jeans, some shorts, one pair of shoes, some t-shirts and some underwear. Toiletries and grooming products can be purchased for a fraction of what they cost in Australia. And even the t-shirts, underwear and shorts can be purchased cheaply anywhere here at a drop of a hat.

BRACE YOURSELF, the trip back is going to be even more problematic as you will have 120kg of luggage PLUS all the extra stuff your wife buys...

You obviously have never done a trip back Thailand with a Thai wife who has presents and gifts for all the family plus the boxes of cherries and cold season fruit and the cheese and the shoes and clothes for all the young nephews and nieces and so on.120 kg with my ex wife would be the minimum and that would be broken down to 10 kg of clothes for us and the rest is gifts and supplies for the family. We would regularly go back with less than what we came with.