Air Asia: Do They Really Want My Money?

[chanchao]

First their website just produced an error after making the booking and entering my credit card details. So I call their callcenter. Lots of trouble spelling out flights and dates and names over the phone. They charge a little extra for the joy of using their callcenter because their website doesn't work. Then:

-Sorry sir, we don't accept Amex

-Ok, I have Visa too

-Sorry it has to be a Thai issued Visa card

-It is! I have one from Krung Thai and one from Bank of Asia.

-And is it credit card or debit card?

-Huh.. Don't know, it's Visa Electron, that's what everybody else accepts from Thai Airways to the PTT gas station?

-Sorry sir, that's a debit card, not credit card.

AAARGH! AND they are being difficult because I'm travelling with a Thai national and flying into KL without a return ticket. "What? We book with YOUR airline back from Had Yai remember? We visit Penang and then Had Yai after KL but you don't fly between Penang and Thailand remember?! You know how close Had Yai is to Malaysia?! Ever heard of railways?

AND they're being difficult because there's ONE AND A HALF hour between the arrival of the Had Yai->BKK flight and the departure BKK-CNX flight! Should be 3 hours. Are they KIDDING?? This is a domestic connection in the same terminal on the SAME airline?!

- "Ok, let's do it differently. Let's pretend that *WE* want to fly to KL from Chiang Mai and *you* are an airline that flies there. Now what do we do?"

- <silence> "... Try visit the AIS mobile office to make a booking? And then pay cash."

Sorry but if their basic operational procudures are THIS thick then it really makes me doubt their flight & maintenance procedures..

Anyway, I will be going to the AIS mobile office with 15,000 baht cash in hand and see if I can get it sorted. If not then **** THEM!

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Scalawag]

I have flown six times from Hat Yai to BKK using a Visa DEBIT card with no problem. Maybe they are going through "growing pains". Let's hope their maintenance procedures are a little more effective........

[chanchao]

And STILL it gets WORSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unvbelievable....

Just went to the AIS office, money in hand, where they told me that unfortunately they could not help me because their computer system was down! "No problem, mai pen rai, but I hope your airplanes work better?? Tell me: How can I give you money?"

I could go to the Air Asia counter at the Airport.

So I drive over to the Airport....

Guess what!!!

Closed!!! They open only from 9:30 to 11am (!) and then one hour in the evening between 7 and 8pm!

You know what? "#### them." I think by now it's blatantly obvious my guardian angel is trying to protect me from something.

I'm perfectly happy to play by their rules, but giving someone money for their product or service should NOT be this difficult!

Anyway, I'll spend some of my FF miles and get a couple of reward tickets BKK-KUL on Thai Airways.

[Guest Sales Director]

General view, and I agree is, use Orient Thai. They also have teethng problems but they aren't owned by Kim Il Taxing II. That in itself is a good thing.

[plachon]

Cheers! Chanchao, you've just persuaded me that i have made the right choice in choosing Thai for my upcoming jaunt to Malaysia, rather than the cheap and not-so-cheerful AirAsia. Being a very discerning customer of all products I purchase, buying an airline ticket from a mafia boss, is not one of the preferable resting places of my hard earned baht, no matter how low the price may appear to be and slick the adverstising.

[PREM-R]

I too have had a problem with paying for an Air Asia ticket 'on-line' I have a Mastercard payment card from SCB which is always declined for payment over the internet.

The answer is not to contact Air Asia by phone but to walk to the nearest travel agency and they will issue you with a flight confirmation number within a few minutes. (you can pay cash or with a payment card at a travel agent)

I did this to purchase a one-way flight from Khon Kaen to Bangkok, price on the internet 300 baht plus 181 baht tax.(total 481 baht) the travel agent charged me 100 baht "admin fee" so flight cost 581 baht in total.

This is very competative when compared with Thai prices on the same route (upto 1500 baht one-way) I have a frequent flier card with Thai but I am happy to give up the 500 'airmiles' for the 45 minute trip to Bangkok for a saving of almost 1000 baht.

[britmaveric]

I recently booked tickets via the web for singapore. No problems what so ever- pretty hassle free actually. I'll reserve judgement until I fly them- though to be quite honest the flight times are very short barring an unfortunate safety problem I can't see me not using them again since the price is really dirt cheap.

[PREM-R]

Flew to Bangkok from Khon Kaen last saturday, flight right on time, plane (Boeing 737 300) clean, seats comfortable (leather), boarding was a bit 'fraught' as there are no seat allocations and ofcourse the Thai passengers adopted their normal 'get out of my way here I come' attitude they use when driving motor vehicles.

Just checked the Air Asia web site and they are offering Khon Kaen-Bangkok for 99baht one way (plus tax) which makes it about 250 baht, this is cheaper than the bus!

I would certainly recomend Air Asia and I will be flying with them again very soon.

[chanchao]

I posted the original message, sorry to not report back earlier:

I did finally get tickets by showing up at the airport exactly between 7pm and 8pm in the evening. Paid for tickets in cash.

The flights were excellent, both internationally to KL (STUNNINGLY beautiful flight attendants too.. ;-) as well as domestic. On may Hat Yai - BKK flight, the plane arrived in Hai Yai a tad late, but they turned the thing around in absolutely record time, and we were on hour way with only a slight 10 minute delay.

Now that I figured out how to get tickets (in person, cash) I would use them again.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[seykota]

Hi, we flew with them Tuesday & Wednesday [to & from Udon Thani @ 300 baht plus tax each way] no problems with net payment, checkin or flight.

My only gripe is the stewards did not throttle the 2 passengers whose mobile phones rang while landing!!

On a previous Qantas flight, a steward was very straight forward with a passenger who had not switched off their mobile.

pete

[Dario]

I flew with them once to Phuket and once to Singapore and already booked again for Phuket --> no problems. Easy. One thing you have to do is to register on their website and then you're able to even book one way flights.

As someone else noted, sometimes a bit late departure, but arriving on time, will have an impact on their fuel bills, not the customer's.

I give AirAsia good marks, the people behind are real professionals.

[chanchao]

> My only gripe is the stewards did not throttle the 2 passengers

> whose mobile phones rang while landing!!

Hopefully this was because they knew that them getting up from their seat and having a word with these people would be far more dangerous than mobile phone use!

(It's quite well documented that GSM phones have no influence whatsover on aircraft systems. The original law of 'no phones' came about mostly because the mobile operators networks didn't deal very well with units that were crossing into a different cell every 5 seconds or so. But even that was pre-digital GSM age, so right now there's actually not much reason to get overly worried. Getting up during landing would definitely be more hazardous!! (To the flight attendants health in this case)

Anyway, don't mean to thread-jack this discussion, go look it up in the aviation forums. :-)

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Pink Mist]

very interesing chanchao, but why do the airlines still insist on that policy?

[chanchao]

I'm tempted to say it's because of their in-flight phone service, but just as likely would just be inertia, conservatism, playing it safe, etc, etc, etc.

Another thing is mobile phones (actually smart-phones) that have a 'flight-mode' built in. This completely shuts down the phone-part of the phone, so that airlines absolutely have no reason whatsoever to object to it's use. (It also saves the battery by the way). Anyway, in flight mode you can still read your (previously downloaded) email, play a game, etc.

Now guess what: Airlines mostly don't allow this because the piece of plastic you're holding looks like a phone. They may give a reason like 'it disturbs other passengers' (who think that phones crash planes). I DON'T even have a particlary big problem with this, rules are rules after all. BUT, the dude next to me who perhaps was so scared about me using something that looks like a phone to play Pac Man, quite possibly has a laptop or PDA that even has things like WiFi and Bluetooth built in and is transmitting continuously during flight!

It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but I think potentially dangerous objects should be banned on flights OR kept in safe storage by flight attendants for the duration of the flight. Either a phone is dangerous or it isn't. If it is, then security should lift them out, remove the battery, seal them in a bag and put them in a shielded box during the flight. Why would you rely on just any auntie with a mobile phone to actually turn the thing off before she puts it in her suitcase?

Anyway, I don't have a problem with this. Besides a phone I also own a PDA (with WiFi and Bluetooth and EVEN a GSM mobile phone GPRS card, so EVERY BIT THE SAME AS A PHONE) for playing pac man or reading emails on flights. ;-) (Yes I do switch off the network stuff, rules are rules.)

CHeers,

Chanchao