Has anyone had any problems with these airlines? Any problems with online bookings?
Last month I booked my flights online with AirAsia to Oz was very easy and so far no problems
In a word YES with all of them:
Air Asia are usually running way behind schedule. Their planes are dirty, staff are ok but there is no service at all. It is a budget airline after all and you get what you pay for.
Silk Air usually on time, but when things go wrong they go very wrong. They are impossible to deal with, there is NO customer service you can speak to. Planes are clean and as its owned by Singapore Airlines they are the safest of the LCC (Low Cost Carriers) in the region. One recent experience with them saw us being delayed by 9 hours with no explanation, no estimates, no updates and a refusal to let us check out and come back the next day.
Tiger: Probably the best of the lot. Problems will include if you try to check in more than you have allowed for in kgs, they will charge you excess baggage and its very expensive. Always opt for your estimated baggage allowance when buying your ticket, spending $20 up front will save you $200 or $300 at checking in. Staff are ok but again there in NO customer service.
JetStar is the worst of the lot. There is not enough room here to tell all the sad and sorry tales of JetStar in Asia, but if you check out the stories from Australia's JetStar then you'll get an idea of how it is here. Do not ever book JetStar if you have a connecting flight to make, you wont make it.
Good luck
Aegisint, how often do you fly Air Asia? We booked all our flights using Air Asia for next month but this is the first time I hear that there are major issues schedule wise and also cleanliness of the plane. The former sounded no different than any other online from what I've read or heard from others
[ 02-Aug-2009, at 09:18 by andy_d ]
We have flown countless times with Air Asia over the last two years we have spent in Asia and the only times we have been delayed were on two internal Thai flights. All our other flights have been on time or ahead of schedule - Air Asia used to have a bad reputation for delays but they have really got their act together and are actually bvery reliable now. Their planes are new and the staff are professional.
Tiger Airlines we have never been delayed with either and also have new planes and professional staff. Jet Star well we have flown them a couple of times but their prices tend to be higher than the other low cost carriers so we tend to avoid them anyway.
As with all low cost carriers, you get what you pay for...make sure you select the correct amount of luggage amount you will need at the time of booking and remember if anything does go wrong, you are not going to get your money back.
I have no hesitation in recommending both Air Asia and Tiger for flights within Asia.
Hi Vickim, I've taken all the airlines u mentioned and also Jetstar. Frankly, I've never had a problem with any of these airlines.. yet.
The truth is I've always thought that the budget airlines aren't really budget and a little bit of top-up will get you a better experience with SilkAir. Especially now with the fantastic promos that Silk Air is having, some of the flights e.g. to HK are even cheaper than the budget airline. In terms of cleanliness, quality of food, seat space and overall services, I think Silk Air wins hands down.
I'm rather picky about the carriers I fly on. On two recent trips from N. America to SE Asia I've flown transpacific twice on Asiana Airlines (Korean) - excellent in all respects/rated 5*, and shorter hops on Vietnam Airlines, Thai Air Asia and Jetstar Pacific (Vietnam). This is how I would rate these last 3 carriers:
Vietnam Air - very good in flight, good equipment, website needs great deal of work - I would not hesitate to fly again/moderate pricing - full priced airline
Thai Air Asia - very good in flight, good equipment, excellent website shared w/other Air Asia companies - I would not hesitate to fly again/LCC pricing
Jetstar Pacific - fair in flight, old equipment and many delays, excellent website shared w/other Jetstar companies - you would have to pay me to fly them again/LCC pricing
Thanks everyone for your advice. It was all very helpful. I have been onall sorts of discount Europe airlines so I know you get what you pay for but I was mostly concerned about cancellations, delays and the customer experience in dealing with those things. Taking everything into consideration though, all these comments are hugely helpful.
Cheers
[ 10-Aug-2009, at 20:54 by vickim ]
I had a disastrous experience with SilkAir last Tuesday 12-06-2012. On my return trip home to Singapore from Bandung, the flight MI 191 supposed to depart from Bandung at 9am never came. Delayed for one hour due to bad weather. Then came 3 more 1 hr delay announcement before eventually we were told that the flight was cancelled wif no apparent reason. Stranded at Bandung for 5hrs we were told to board a bus to travel for 4hrs to Jakarta in order to change the flight by ourselves to SQ. Utterly dissapointed with the management of Silkair for abandoning about 100 plus passengers including elders and infants in this absurd mess. To those who plan in using SilkAir to travel,my advice is please use Extreme Caution. I have lost faith with them.
All the budget airlines tend to have more delays and worse customer service than the full service airlines. However I've flown all of these airlines with minimal problems.
Biggest problem has always been delays. Wouldn't hesitate to use any of them.
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