Should we fly Budget?

Why not?

They are by far the best budget airline in Asia.

I've booked with them many times and with all due respect, I fail to comprehend how you missed the baggage pricing menu on their website. It is in clear view below the section where you fill in your personal details.

This is how most budget airlines work. They keep ticket prices low by charging a premium for extras. Even despite the fact that they charge for baggage etc, try finding an airline that offers cheaper prices or the vast and extensive network of flights that they offer.

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I've just checked again, in case I was in error and yes, it is perfectly clear. You fill in your personal details and the prices are directly underneath including meals, comfort kits and a whole range of other extras (if you want them).

The price is in Thai Baht and the absolute worst you would have to pay for 2 bags weighing 30kg each is $22 which I think is real value. Getting a flight with any other airline between these two points for $102 would I believe be nigh on impossible. Reply to this

It's always been very clear to us on the website, that you have to pay extra for bags you want to check in when you book the ticket, as with most other budget airlines. The price at the airport is a lot more, because you didn't pay for your bags in advance. So it's like turning up at the airport with excess luggage.

Sometimes, if you factor in the extra costs for baggage, in flight meals etc. it's cheaper to take a 'normal' airline. You should calculate the costs of both before booking. If Air Asia works out the cheapest, it's a good airline.

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To us, flying Air Asia always was a pleasure. You get what you pay for - but it is incredably cheap, often cheaper than a bus ticket. On the website, when you book the flight, it has always been very clear what you get and for what you have to pay an extra fee. They do not have much service - but, hey, it is lowest budget. The planes are brand new, ground staff is helpful when you need help, it is clean. there is not much space which might be unpleasant on long flights. But we will definitely fly Air Asia again and again. A public bus in Thailand is often more expensive and by far not more comfortable. Reply to this

We were just stopped from entering our flight at Singapore airport for not having a return ticket to our destination in the Philippines.

The guy on the Cebu Pacific Air counter took great pleasure in seeing us run around trying to buy the needed ticket in the 10minutes he gave us before he would pull our bags off the flight. First I went to the Cebu Pacific ticket counter and asked them to sell me four tickets out of the Philippines to any destination. This took a while as the lady had a few calls on her mobile phone which she insisted on answering as my anxiety grew. She then quoted me a fair of S$823. I assumed that I could get most of this back if I subsequently cancelled the ticket, so I agreed and handed her my credit card. "We don't take credit cards" she said, "only cash". I tried to explain to her that I don't usually leave Singapore with $800 dollars of local currency in my back pocket. She pointed over towards some ATM Machines on the opposite side of the concourse. My daily limit is about US$500, but I tried anyway. THIS EXCEEDS YOUR DAILY LIMIT!

I went back to the guy at the check-in. Go to Tiger airways he said, they accept credit cards. So off I ran. The only ticket they could sell me was one that returned to Singapore. Ironic since under these rules I couldn't actually even use it since there was no ticket out from Singapore. She quoted $700 and said there were no refunds on the ticket.

I went back to the ticket counter. The guy said I could get a refund if I wrote a letter to Tiger Airways, but I sensed more than a little dishonesty in what he said. At this news I ran back over and asked the lady if this were the case. "Who told you that?" she said. Ryan. Ryan doesn't work for Tiger airways, these tickets are non-refundable. She then called Ryan on her mobile phone. Ryan eventually came. He didn't speak to the woman. he simply said "That's it! I've taken your bags off the flight".

As I walked back to the desk with Ryan to inform my wife, my three year old and one-yr old kids that we had been abandoned at the airport I said to Ryan, "You better get used to the sight of me Ryan cos I'm gonna be in this airport as long as it takes to get this put right, and the reason you can be sure of that is because we have nowhere else to go!"

When we got to the counter he ceremoniously tore the tags from our luggage and Jennifer began to weep. I asked him if he had a superior I could talk to. He said he didn't, that he was his own boss. I said in that case can I have his surname. He refused, storming off saying that our problem wasn't his problem.

We had a hotel booked for that night in Manila and an onward domestic flight the next day to the north of Luzon. We could just forget all that and change plans…head back into Malaysia and up into Thailand overland, or cross over into Sumatra.

But it was the principle. I couldn't walk away from this.

I ordered some coffee, got the kids installed in the McDonalds play area and went to work. I talked to many people and eventually found out who the boss was. After an hour or so I eventually got to speak to her. She didn’t work for the airline, none of the check-in staff did. They were employed by the airport. Ryan was from the Philippines so that meant that he had a supervisory role over the flights on Cebu Pacific. I began my pitch with “I know the reason we weren’t allowed on the plane is because we didn’t have a return ticket and those are the rules…”

I spoke to her for about fifteen minutes. She never said a word. Then she said she would come back in 10mins after talking to some people. After twenty she returned and said she had convinced Cebu Pacific to put us on the next flight in two hours and that in the meantime could we go online and book a ticket out of the country to satisfy the policy.

We decided that we would fly to Thailand in December. We spent an hour trying to book a flight online with Tigerairways and then enlisted the help of two very friendly individuals who work for the airport to assist in such matters. They couldn’t get the payment to go through either. They questioned whether both our credit cards functioned. Then one of them approached the Tigerairways sales desk. Apparently the flight we were booking was a code share and couldn’t be booked online. Nowhere online had it stated this. We had wasted an hour.

We didn’t even consider booking with AirAsia as I know from previous experience that AirAisa does NOT accept US Credit or Debit cards. This I know because I spent an afternoon back in June on the website failing to buy tickets. I then spent an eternity on hold after calling AirAsia to book the same tickets over the phone. This again failed leading the salesperson to question the validity of my credit cards and who then told me to contact my bank(s) and ask them why the payment wasn’t going through. The banks said no payment had been requested. I then called AirAsia back and eventually was able to speak to someone in a senior position who said “Oh Yeah, AirAsia doesn’t accept US Credit Cards”. Nowhere on the website DID it say this. I said it might be a good idea for them to put this information on their website. I have no idea if they have.

Anyway, we eventually booked a ticket online to Thailand with Cebu Pacific and boarded the plane.

The next day at the Cebu Pacific Air desk the check-in lady said our luggage was overweight. We had paid for 30kilos online - she said and the scales were at 33. I seriously thought she was joking. But no, she said I would have to pay the equivalent of $30. I took out my rain jacket and put it on, Jennifer put on her hiking shoes and I gave the check-in lady a New Zealand guidebook, for which she seemed rather happy. Upon seeing this my three year old son broke down and started weeping hysterically, “I want our book!” he said. The book was awkwardly returned to my son as all eyes in the checkin queues turned to the check-in lady.

Incidentally, our flight was delayed by 3 hours. Ten minutes after it was due to depart I asked someone about the flight. They told me it was delayed. I asked if they planned to make an announcement to this affect. "We're busy" the guy said as he stood and chatted with four of the check-in girls.

For the record, the flight from Singapore to Manila with Cebu Pacific was booked online back in June. It had been a promotional fare. It was advertised as FREE ($0.00). After all the additional costs (which if you look closely, ARE RIGHT THERE ON THE WEBSITE – some printed in font larger than others) the free flight actually cost us S$156.

Sometimes you get what you don't pay for!

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ha, Nick - we remember flying Dan Air when we were kids going on our holidays with our families...we are lucky it didn't put us off flying forever. Donna's Dad still jokes about Dan Air and outside toilets 😉

We aren't quite sure why people have such a problem with budget airlines - you pay for what you want. It just so happens it suits us as we never travel with checked-in luggage and never want food. If you want all the extras then budget airlines are definitely not for you!

Agree that Air Asia cabin temps (well most airlines cabin temps) are way too cold, we just make sure we have our jumpers ready.

the free flight actually cost us S$156

Jason, you are right about the special offers on budget airlines, this is one thing we miss about the UK. If you advertise a flight in the UK it has to include everything, here in Asia they advertise it at 0 fare, you go through the booking and it ends up £100! The other thing that annoys us - actually, within Asia, Tiger are the worst - are the convenience fees added on for paying by credit/debit card. On Tiger flights these sometimes come to over £15 on a return flight for two - and this is only added at the very last stage of the booking process. Reply to this

I´ve done 7 flights with them, including 14 hours from KL to London. I have no complaints, their website is well designed unlike Ryan Air or Spirit Air and various other budget airlines. I never found that there was anything hidden to be confusing or to drop a sneaky charge.

Their food is decent and well priced if you book it in advance. None of my flights ever departed late.

Obviously I recommend them.

I have also flown with Ryan Air several times, I would think hard before doing a flight more than a few hours with them, even though the prices are amazing. I also flew with Cebu Pacific a couple of times with good experiences, no problems or complaints. Reply to this