AirAsia
Reviews and Complaints

My friends and I experiencing this funny scenario when booking air asia ticket for the trip to kuching (from singapore) in order to celebrate the lunar year 2009 with family (26 jan 09). we book early because this is the time when most east malaysia working in singapore will return home and the flights are very limited. today is 13 october 08, and we are 3 months ahead of jan 09. however, in the booking portal at airasia.com, we noticed that there is no flight available for singapore / jb to kuching from 21 - 25 jan and also no flight available from 25 jan to 3 feb for kuching to singapore/jb. the service of kch-sin-kch by air asia is on daily basis and the plane departed from kch at 630pm, arrive sin at 8pm then it will fly back kuching at 8.30pm to complete the kch-sin-kch service. the funny part is, there are lots seat available on kch-sin on 21 jan, but nil for sin-kch on the same day. same booking status for flights on following days till the 25 jan, the night before chinese new year. and, from 26 jan till 3 feb, no seats available for booking for kch-sin, but the flight return from sin-kch, lots seat available.
Do you think the seats mentioned above were sold out and fully booked? I dont think so. the booking for kch-sin-kch was only started only few days ago (26 sept) and all 1500 seats in that period already sold off, are you sure?
So, my friends and I concluded that: the airline must have blocked the booking for that extreme high period and only sell them when it is near to 2009. they could definately make a big big profit from there as jb/sin to kuching has always been a demanding sectors for mas/ak during chinese new year.
So, everyone will can fly at expensive tickets...

Well done, your business model is not ethical at all.

On the 1st week of sept, knowing that airasia (Them) would be discontinuing macau-kuching v. V for good effective end of oct, they still advertised their promotion over the media offering attractive prices travelling on this route.

Obviously, everybody flocked into their website buying tickets for the next 6 months or so. 2 weeks later, I was aware that they began to re-shuffle this route from daily to 3 times a week. A week after that, they decided to discontinue operating this route effective 25th oct.

I started making calls to their hotline, as I was holding more than 10 trips on this route (Tickets purchased without promotion price). To my dissapointment, I was put on hold for more than 30 mins each time. A total of 10 calls were made for the next 3 days. On 17th sep, 11am, since I was on my way to hong kong in klia, I approached their counter personally.

Nobody was manning their counter, as I stood there for more than 40 mins. The information counter reassured me that airasia counter was open, so I had no choice but to wait. Then katrina showed up followed by another girl. How could 2 person from that very same counter dissapear at the same time for more than 40 mins?

When I told katrina about my flight bookings, she said everything is still confirmed. I insisted that she double check, when she then made a call. She then reply " call our call centre, I cannot help you". I was given 2 numbers, one which is the same number, again on 'hold' and the other was a "wrong department!"quoted by the person answering the phone.

I don't have time to be kept waiting over the line ($ being spent) but katrina was not helpful and kept on telling me to call their call centre. She was impolite and was willing to give me her name so that I could write a feedback regarding her attitude back to her company.

Airasia had always being not one of my favourite no frills airline. They always re-time (Shuffling few flights to one if the loading is light) their flights not regarding if you have a connecting flight (In the same airline) , they will not be responsible and the word 'delay' is common. What pushes me to travel with them on this particular route is only the convenience which saves me time for a transit stop. With the attitude of their staff and the way they handle their operational disruption, my strong advice to fellow travellers is to avoid this airline by all means. Their price are not that cheap compared to other full service airline, sometimes they are more expensive due to hidden cost (Which cannot be refund if situation like this occurs). Most probably, they would re-route me at the end, giving me no choice but to transit in kl, because they operate mfm-kul v. V. 4 times a day (Daily) with exceptional light load.

They may be one of the most successful no frills in south east asia, that is because their passengers (Mostly malaysian) were not given much option to choose the airlines to fly. Besides, once tickets purchased, no after sales service even though if flights were disrupted. Probably, airasia tried to make passengers fed up from trying so hard to contact them thus giving up our paid trips. All my purchases were done using an user id, which I cannot see the reason why they cannot let me know that my flight had been cancelled. Until today, they did not issue a notice saying that they discontinue this route which I bet a lot of passengers would be furious during checking in on departure day.

This is my only channel to voice out and share this awful experience because negative feedbacks or comments were not welcome in malaysian papers, so as writing to them.

On 10th October 2008, I received an email from Airasia informing me that my flight Kuching-Macau (23rd October 2008) would be departing earlier at 9am. Which is 6hours 25mins earlier from the same flt that used to depart a month ago. I had no idea that this flight had been re-timed, only upon receiving their email. Thus, knowing that I was not able to depart that early due to meeting constraints, I had to call up their call centre to re-book myself on a flight which departs later than that.

On 12th October, I called their call centre (long distance) and I was put on hold for more than 30mins(normal practice) before Amy Leong answered. I told her about my situation, she told me that I was not able to change my flight to a later date, because that is the only flight (KCH-MFM) left in the century. AK had discontinue to operate this route.

She told me that I cannot change the destination either as stated in the Terms and Conditions, eventhough I agreed to forge out the difference. She also informed me that I cannot refund this ticket and the only option they gave me was either travel on this date or change to a flight earlier than this date. I told her, I was on another booking which I will arrive Kuching on 19th October, which is 4 days earlier, and how could I possible leave earlier than that. If I could, I would not have to go thru all the fuss of scrambling to get a later flight after my original booked flight.

This means that since I cannot travel on my original flight, cannot change my destination (by paying the difference), cannot refund, AK had no other flights for me to change my date of travel, I would just have to throw away this ticket(costing more than USD200) and buy a new one to travel on a later date. This is pure STRIPPING out of their so called ‘valued customer’.

Items were stolen from my bag while it was checked with the airline.
All efforts to inform air asia of the theft proved useless; I was repeatedly put on hold, disconnected, given incorrect information, etc. Over the phone. Every time that I requested to speak to a manager (Over the phone and in person at the airport) they were conveniently out of the office.in all, I spent 9 hours of my time trying to report the theft - and I still haven't gotten through! - very frustrating. They don't even care; it is clear that their policies are intended to actively deter customers from filing complaints or helping them with their problems. They don't care about their customers, and they don't care that they are employing thieves.

Do not fly air asia - there are plenty of other budget carriers out there. Terrible, terrible company.

Dear Sir / Madam,

As per title, the flight schedule has delay about 5 hours without advance information

Experienced the change of flight schedule not only depart, but also return

This is a very disappointed experience where this is the 1st time we join Air Asia, a company with service improving version

We spending a lot of time and facing lost of money due to vacancy booking in tourism, accommodation & lost in biz

Hopefully, with Air Asia go insure return cover (Cert no : 8F995563 ), some expenses are covered,

Flight Details :

Depart : Kuala Lumpur LCCT (KUL) to Bali (DPS) Economy

Saturday, 23 Aug 08 Flight AK 904

Origin depart : 16:45 Actual depart : 21:30 ( Arrived Hotel : 0100am)

Return : Bali (DPS) to Kuala Lumpur LCCI (KUL) Economy

Wednesday, 27 Aug 08 Flight QZ 9002

Origin depart Bali 07:50 Actual depart :6:00

Hope to hear Air Asia immediate response pertaining this issue

** Hotline is not reachable

The 1st letter written on 6th Sep 08, until today no reply received yet

I am writing on behalf of my sister and many other guests scheduled to travel on AirAsia X FLIGHT D72702 bound from Kuala Lumpur to Gold Coast today 31st August 2008 at 10.20am. I was informed by a friend that AirAsia has been experiencing technical problems with its vessel traveling this long haul route for the past week or so and that they are directing its passengers to board a different flight from KLIA instead of LCCT. Her husband went through the same problem a few days back and has advised me to check my sister's flight arrangement with AirAsia since she is traveling soon.

I acknowledge the fact that when it comes to technical problems of an aircraft, that there is not much that can be done. It is fully understandable and i congratulate AirAsia for taking prompt action by diverting its services using another airline's fleet. Nevertheless, did I speak too soon?

My main disappointment that has led to the intention of writing this letter is the way things are communicated to its passengers with regards to this issue. Being a communication practitioner myself, it is devastated my to see that AirAsia does not take the very essence of communication seriously, especially in times of crisis like this. Rule of Thumb, KEEP STAKEHOLDERS INFORMED.

My sister has been booked on this flight to Gold Coast. One week prior to this date, AirAsia X has sent a reminder via email of the confirmation of this flight and its details. For that, I thank you. However, 1 day before date of departure, she receives a simple SMS on her mobile that reads the following:

"FLIGHT D72707 to GoldCoast on Sun 31AUG08 Will Operated From Main Terminal KLIA (Not Low Cost Terminal). Pls Proceed To AirAsia Sales Counter in KLIA By 4.30PM Sun." Here's some communication "gaps" that I was able to pick up instantly from the first sight of this problem. Listed also are my complaints with regards to this situation.

* Firstly, there was a simple grammatical error in the message as underlined. (Please proof read. It may sound tiny, but it isn't)

* Secondly, I personally feel that this SMS has no sufficient details that is much needed for passengers bound to travel on the said carrier. Shouldn't it include the following?

1. The date and time of the new flight
2. Which airport it will arrive in (Brisbane Airport or Gold Coast Airport?

* Thirdly, why was this SMS sent only 1 day prior to the flight when AirAsia knew for quite sometime that passengers will be diverted to use another service? If notification was sent earlier, passengers could have ample time to make adjustments to their travel plans (i.e airport pickup, connecting flights, accommodation etc).

* Fourthly, wouldn't a courteous email be an easier way to communicate clear and concise details instead of only sending this inadequate SMS? Emails would give AirAsia room to explain the situation and give proper details of the situation and also refer passengers to the designated person(s) or department that is in-charge of handling this specific case. I was surprised that AirAsia did not choose this excellent communication tool which is FREE but rather subscribe to send instant text message that I believe would incur cost to the company.

* No information what so ever was made available through AirAsia's website. No announcement, no press release and no proper links. This is the fastest way to reach stakeholders involved, in this case the passengers. Furthermore, when I tried to check the status of this flight using the service provided on the website, it still states the previous bookings with no alteration at all. I am aware that this might be a computer generated information system BUT it could have been altered given that this problem have been going on for a week or so. IF under any circumstances that passengers' mobile phone were missing or they had problems receiving SMS, what is then AirAsia's contingency plans?

* My sister reached KLIA airport by 3.30pm today and made her way to the AirAsia counter. When she got there, the ground staff told her that she had to wait for the arrival of a certain AirAsia personnel, whom will turn up only at 5pm to brief passengers about their flight journey. Another 1 and a half hour of the day gone just like that!

* To make matters worse, she only got details of her flight at 6.30pm! We might not have paid a lot for the flight, but our time must mean something, right?

* Not enough with all that, she is then directed on a flight to Sydney, departing at 10pm Malaysian time, arriving Sydney at 7.50am Australian time, where she has to check her self out, go to another airline counter and arrange for the next flight out to Gold Coast. It didn't stop here, she has to now wait for 4 hours in Sydney Airport before the flight departs to Gold Coast at 12pm.How ridiculous is this? So much for a first experience on AirAsia.

I would greatly appreciate that AirAsia look into this matter seriously at the soonest. This may seem like just another letter of complaint but this also is an opportunity for AirAsia to see itself from an outsider's point of view. In this case, a communication practitioner's point of view. I may not be a professional in this field yet, but if I as a "nobody" could see into these tiny little details, why can't an international airline giant who has an army of professionals working for them see this coming?

Once again, I must stress that it is not the technical problem of the vessel that has led to this mail but rather the "crisis communication management" that this company puts into resolving this matter.

I'd appreciate a feedback on this matter as I, myself is a frequent flyer on AirAsia. It is things like these that hinders AirAsia's reputation, and this is what is at stake at the moment.

Regards!

Very hard to get thru air asia phone included toll free, there no body pick-up or engaged only. I call since 11.30am until 4pm. Very bad...

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to inform you of my concern and displeasure on my 2 most recent flights with Air Asia.

The flight detals are:
1) AK55 on 19th August
2) AK46 on 25th August

On 19th August, the plane was about to land in LCCT and it just a few metres above the runway when suddenly the plane pick up speed and took off again. It has caused great anxiety to the passengers and only later the captain said they had to take off again and wait for another 10 minutes as they did not get clearance from the airport to land yet. I believe this should not have happened at all. If the plane was not given clearance in the first place, it should not even attempt landing on the runway and call off the landing out of the sudden. No word of apology was issued. Needless to explain further, the safety of all the passengers in the plane has been compromised.

On 25th August, the plane took off from LCCT and after 20 minutes of air travel, it turned back and landed back in LCCT. Again, this has caused great anxiety to the passengers and it was delayed by an hour before it finally took off. There is no explanation until when it has taken off again, the pilot says there is some technical issues so the plane has to come back to LCCT. As I was seated infront, I can only observe a new crew member coming on board and suspected that the plane has intially left with 3 crew members instead of 4. Again, this should not have happened if procedures were followed closely. I would only assume that safety of the passengers has been compromised here, otherwise it would not return flight to pick up an additional crew member.

Being a passenger, I wish to ask for an explanation on the above incidents and if Airasia will undertake to compensate the passengers for the above incidents where safety has been clearly compromised and it is causing unnecessary over-anxiety of the passengers without any explanation offered by the pilots.

Last but not least, my baggage damage claim has submitted but not been processed, and i have emailed a Mr Yusrie at [protected]@airasia.com after 2 months from the date of its first report on March 26, 2008 but there is no reply. Please let me know the status and if Airasia is looking in ways to improve the safety of our baggages since this is the 3rd time that my different baggages have been pried open from the side.

I await your reply before making any further decision. Thank you

Yours sincerely,

Wong

My wife and I went for a short visit to Bankok to visit familly. We were in Singapore at the time so it was just a quick flight over. The way there went smoothly, but the way back we had a 2.5 hour delay. Every half an hour the ground crew would report an extra half hour delay. Why couldn't they just inform the customers how long the total delay would be from the start! I went to the counter to ask wat the delay was to get a gauge of how long it would really take. There one lady told me they were waiting on the engineer (WORRYING!). The next one told me they were waiting on the captain (THE WHOLE CREW WERE SITTING IN THE LOBBY A COUPLE OF SEATS AWAY FROM US)! Also, the quality of the planes was a bit shocking. They looked like 4th hand planes from an Spanish company! Loose bits, outdated technology, etc.. I really was surprised to see that they advertise themselves on posters saying "We gaurentee to be on time..."! Wat, yeah right! Personally, I shall never travel with Air Asia & EasyJet (thats a whole different story) ever again!

I had fly with Air Asia a few times to Kota Kinabalu and last night when I arrived from Kota Kinabalu, I have a terrible experience with the wheel chair service personal. His name is Adaly. I arrived via AK5121 which touch down at about 1145pm. I had earlier book 2 wheel chair while I was in KK airport and paid the sum of RM12. When I arrived at KL, LCCT, the wheel chair personal said I have to pay extra RM12. What is this going on? We had an argument and want to put on the phone with the boss. When I ask I want to see the boss personally and he told me that the boss is not around. How would I know if he is cheating me? He also had become aggressive and even shouted at me and pointing finger at me. How can you have such person working for you? It will tarnish your image !

When I go to KK a few days earlier, KK side did not even asked me for any extra. Even your staff at KK check in counter did not even mention to me anything that I need to pay extra when I checked in.

And furthermore that guy (Adaly) said that he is from Caravan. But as far as I know, I am dealing with Air Asia and Air Asia at KK issued me a receipt, 1381596 and 1381595. He even very rude to me saying that if I don’t pay he cannot service me and just push the wheel chair like that. And on that wheel chair have 2 old passengers and one of them having walking difficulty. What if they fall down? Are YOU going to be responsible for it? Luckily I have friends with me and they helped me to push the wheel chair.

What kind of service of this that Air Asia is providing which is rude and also unsystematic on the wheelchair arrangement? As stated at your website ‘Yes, it will be provided upon request at the point of your check in at the counter before departure. Please note that a nominal fee of RM12 will be levied upon departure and only upon arrival to LCCT or Johor Bahru.’ From my understanding that I only need to pay once but why he ask for more?

Recently I booked a Go Holiday package via Airasia to Siem Reap. I made the booking in August 18th. Unfortunately, Airasia changed the time of flight from KL to Siem Reap. Hence, we have decided to cancel the package and get the refund back.
We lodge the cancellation on 27th December 2007. They informed us that we shall get our refund back after 30 days of working days. On the 27th of Jan, we gave an e-mail to them but they didn't give us any prompt reply. We tried to call them but the call was either dead or engaged, and for your information, no answering machine was set up to attend to the customer. With my perseverance, finally I got to speak to a customer service there. They tried to put me away by telling me that the supervisor is not around and even give me 'fake' name which I found out when I ask for the same person the second time. On 29th January, I received an e-mail from Normah Rahmat (The supervisor) confirming the amount of my refund which is rm3244.32. She promised me that I will get my refund as they have banked in to my account and also, she told me that she will check with the finance institute and give me a call back. Unfortunately, the refund did not happen and no
call was received. For the past few days, I have tried to call Airasia and Go Holiday but the calls were either engaged or no one attend to it after 10 minutes putting me on hold. I think I'm not the only one suffer from this and hope that this will bring attention to you and other consumers. I also hope to get my money back as soon as possible as it's a big sum to me. Thanks!