Air Asia Experience

I’ve been receiving emails from AirAsia for the past few years about their upcoming promos, but I never booked any flights because the location of the airport discouraged me. However, their ₱100 promo last year changed my mind, so I eagerly booked our flight from Clark – Kota Kinabalu – Clark. The total airfare was ₱2,145 for three people—₱715 per person, which is really a steal.

AirAsia is a low-cost airline, so meals and baggage allowance are not included. Two weeks before our flight, I pre-booked baggage allowance and meals for an additional ₱1,623.46 so I could save more. I ordered the Chicken Satay Combo and the Roast Chicken Combo. The roast chicken was too spicy for me, so I didn’t enjoy it. The Chicken Satay was okay and not too spicy. 

Chicken Satay Combo

Roast Chicken Combo

If you want to be seated together, you need to avail yourself of their “Pick a Seat” option. Even though I was traveling with my two-year-old son, we were not seated together. Fortunately, the seats next to him were empty, so I just moved there. The same thing happened on our flight back to Clark—we weren’t seated together, but a Chinese passenger was kind enough to offer a seat exchange.

I didn’t pre-order any meals on our way back because I wanted to use up my excess ringgit. I knew the money changer wouldn’t accept smaller bills. I had RM28 left, so I ordered a Tuna Sandwich, a can of Coke, and Uncle Chin’s Chicken Rice—exactly RM28. Lol. However, it's really better to pre-book your meals because it’s cheaper and they serve pre-booked meals first. Choices are also limited, and sometimes certain items are not available on your flight.

Uncle Chin's Chicken Rice RM13, Coke in can RM6, Tuna Sandwich RM9

We enjoyed our overall experience in Air Asia, and if there is another promo, I will not hesitate to fly with Air Asia.

Update: March 14, 2014 Air Asia Experience

Whenever I book a seat sale, I don’t usually include a baggage allowance because the trip is often scheduled several months before the flight. What if there’s an emergency or a valid reason that forces us to cancel the trip? As far as I know, I wouldn’t be able to refund it anymore.

So I usually purchase a baggage allowance only once our trip is 90–100% confirmed. In August last year, I booked a Kuala Lumpur to Singapore flight via AirAsia because I dislike long land travel and, of course, to save time. I took advantage of the low fare and paid ₱2,322.42 for three persons for a flight of less than an hour.

In January this year, I tried to purchase a baggage allowance, but I kept getting a “declined” error message. I tried again, and the credit card transaction was still declined. I didn’t know why because I had just purchased a baggage allowance via Cebu Pacific for our Manila to Kuala Lumpur flight, and that transaction went smoothly. When I checked my credit card account online, I saw a floating charge of RM44. I got really nervous because it felt like the payment might have gone through. I didn’t do anything after that and planned to just pay for the baggage at the airport, even though it cost triple the price.

After a few weeks, I checked my credit card account again and saw that the floating charge had disappeared and there was no RM44 charge. So I tried my luck again, hoping the payment would go through. Fortunately, I no longer received a declined error, and I was able to purchase our baggage allowance for RM44 or ₱580—cheaper than my first attempt.

Read: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Singapore via Air Asia