Nicolemp

Can someone give me some insight on using Air Asia?
We will be using them for quite a few flights in April to travel btwn Hong Kong-Malaysia-Thailand. Is it worth the extra price when booking to select seats in advance? Is there really much difference in leg room on various parts of the plane?
Also, are they quite strict with luggage weight allowance, and if you are over the weight you booked, do they make you pay the difference at check in?

HappyTrvlr

We decided to pay for the seat selection s the seats they give you to select from are in the first few several rows. You also get early boarding with it.
We can't exceed 25 pounds when our sutuitcases are full so didn't have any problem. The flights were on time, new aircraft. We didn't order any food.We were very pleased with Air Asia.

Kathie

They are very strict about luggage weight limits. If you go over the amount you paid for when you booked, you'll be charged extra - it's cheaper to pay for it in advance (it will cost your more per kilo at the airport).

Hanuman

Leg rooms are the same throughout the plane with exception to the first row of seats where there are more space. I believe the front few rows are classify as having "Hot Seats" and you will have to pay extra for them. IMO unless you want the front row seats I would choose those seats outside the "Hot Seats" area but as far front as possible. Getting on the plane is no big deal but getting off quickly is better!

As Kathie have said, they are strict with luggage and weight.

kuluk

I travel on Air Asia quite a lot and never book the hot seats, but then I am small so leg room or boarding early is not an issue for me.

About the luggage, they are pretty strict about it, since they are a low-cost airline. You get one 7 kilo carry on plus purse or other bag, and are sometimes quite strict about the size. A friend once got caught at the gate with an oversize bag and had to go back and check it in and pay quite a bit.

AA has a few luggage categories...no check in, I think 15 kilos, 20 or 25 kilos, and 30 kilos. I shop quite a lot so always book the 30 kilos automatically. If, however, you accidentally booked a too-light baggage allowance, you can check in up to about 24 hours before your flight and book and pay for an extra allowance. It's actually quite reasonable, especially compared to the per-kilo feee you will pay for any kilos overweight.

yestravel

The exit row seats have more keg room and you pay for them. We just flew with them for three flights and they were fine. One flt was close to two hours late, but the others left on time. They charge you for water.

Gabi7

My husband and I have travelled a lot on AirAsia and never paid the surcharge for the reserved seats.

Only once were we seated apart and, when we spoke to the airline personnel, they reseated us so we could sit together. We've never had a problem with space (particularly since most of our flights have been less than three hours).

rhkkmk

i always pay the extra for advance sweating (about $7 per leg). i always pick a&C or D&F in row 2. usually no one ends up in between you.

i also take the medium upgrade for luggage too about 44 lbs total (maybe 20 kilos??).

there are two lines for exiting the terminal, one for reg passengers and one for reserved seat passengers who get to enter the plane early...

we have been very happy with all our flts on AA. only once have they weighed our hand luggage, but they are very very strict with the checked luggage... they might allow one lb. over but no more... we now bring a carry all in case we have to rearrange the weights of our luggage and i take that on as my "purse".

rhkkmk

also get on as early as you can as over-heads fill up quickly

zainib

"they are very very strict with the checked luggage"

Bob or anyone else: Do they aggregate your checked bags for purposes of the weight limit, as most airlines seem to do? For example, if 2 bags at 10 kg limit come to under 20 kg in total but one is just under 12 and the other is just under 8, is that okay? Or are they so strict that each bag must itself be under the limit?

Nicolemp

Thanks for the last few posts....great information!

yestravel

They aggregated the baggage weight of passengers on the same reservation. We upped our weight online a day before the flight when we thought we might go over the lowest limit which we purchased when getting our tickets originally.

rhkkmk

no they do not average out the weight in my experience... each bag stands on its own, but they do allow you to shuffle things, bag to bag

yestravel

On all three Air Asia flights we recently took they did average the weight and I believe I even read that on their website somewhere. Of course it could depend on the mood of the agent that day...

kuluk

Another note: your baggage and weight allowance isn't limited to the number of bags or boxes. I frequently don't have enough room in my 2 suitcases for my stuff and have to add a third...usually a cardboard box! (What we call a Hawaiian suitcase)

zainib

yestravel: I think you're right. Here's what I found on their website:

"If your actual baggage weight is less than the pre-booked weight, fees paid are non-refundable. However, baggage weight is transferable from one guest to another, if they are travelling on the same itinerary."

kmkrnn

I think it depends on where you are flying out of. We have noticed that in some places they are stricter than others. In BKK we had a problem with hand luggage, that on 2 previous flights on AA had not been a problem. Just know the rules.

jilliankay

I'd avoid this airline at all costs.

Because I didn't pre-pay my checked luggage, they slapped a huge charge on me at the ticket counter just to board the plane. (My ticket cost $150. My luggage? $300. Wish I'd just bought it a seat.)

The worst part was, I had carry-on bags to take out excess weight. But by the time they informed me of the $300 charge, my luggage was already gone.

Staff was entirely unhelpful, and no managers were on call. Worst flight of my life.

Hanuman

Common error especially when you did not pay attention to the booking instruction. Don't blame the airline!

Smeagol

Agree with Pook, it's all very obvious on the website