Air Asia: point-to-point means u MUST enter country u fly to
it's a decent carrier, i like the ala carte idea. wanna carry a heavy bag? pay. want to drink bottled water or eat? pay. don't want? don't pay.
as the big carriers make their frequent-flyer schemes less attractive and cut back on most things, i see the appeal of these no-frills airlines. Air Asia even offers premium-class seating on their long-haul flights to London, although i've not had any reason to leave Asia of late.
however, there is ONE thing you must know about Air Asia--they spell it out, but you need the details. they are a POINT-TO-POINT carrier. what this means is that if u fly them to Cobra Swamp Airport in Bangkok, you MUST enter Thailand even if you have a connecting flight at the same airport.
that's right. u can book HK-BKK and a connecting flight onwards. but forget getting on yr connecting flight until u have entered Thailand. once you are there, get in the line to exit Thailand. of course this takes time. miss your connecting flight, even if it was on Air Asia? read the fine print: point-to-point, no refunds.
if you have hours between flights, you can spend it in immigration queues...with of course all your baggage. it's not unheard of for individuals to experience difficulties entering Thailand--maybe the Immigration Officer inspecting your passport is having a bad day. this is all YOUR problem, not Air Asia's.
of course, if you're just making a one-leg journey, it's as good as any other carrier. but if planning on connecting flights, re-read the above. this happened to me, fortunately i was traveling light and did make my connection, but had to do the same thing again on the way back. this isn't exactly spelled out, but there is NO TRANSIT LOUNGE with this carrier, not even the airport floor. fill out that Immig card on the plane, and move fast if u wanna ensure that connection.
on the positive side, although they limit carry-on to 7 kgs, i've never seen them weigh a carry-on bag. of course they weigh the checked baggage, so if yr planning on checking in baggage, buy that service when u book the ticket is my advice.
JtB
[ Last edited by JackTheBat at 21-4-2011 23:19 ] | |
