Trip Report: Join the Lo-Co Revolution, Part 1!

[Joe Frampton]

01/08/10 Air Asia X D7 2703 OOL-KUL 0840/1510 A330-343X Rego 9M-XXE
Our first experience on Air Asia X was somewhat of a revelation - BUY THE HOT SEATS! We have the front row of economy (bulkhead) in 7F & 7G with excellent legroom. Coolangatta Airport was smooth and relaxed having checked in online from home, and the peace of mind of having your chosen seat allocation well in advance is worth the small cost. We have a spare seat between us, we got our "comfort" pack with plush red blanket, neck pillow and eyeshades and just enjoyed our "Nasi Lemak" getting us in the spirit for yummy Malaysian food! The legroom on Air Asia is surprisingly good, however the seats are definitely narrower on the A330-300, as they have 9 seats across as opposed to 8 across on legacy carriers. We lined up at Coolangatta with a southbound departure followed by a sharp left turn, traveling up the Gold Coast with great views from the left side of the aircraft, now flying at 38,000ft across Central Australia tracking for Bali, then onto Kuala Lumpur.
POSITIVES: 100% online, GREAT price ($119 each including taxes for this sector, plus some extras), awesome legroom, on-time departure, excellent food & service throughout the flight (Clare just had her second Nasi Lemak!), no heavy sales pitch onboard.
NEGATIVES: narrow seats, no IFE, flying from Coolangatta might be a hassle for some Brisbanites.
Will post some photos shortly, onto London tomorrow...

[Joe Frampton]

Clare reading the papers on Air Asia from Coolangatta to Kuala Lumpur


Nice bulkhead legroom, Seats 7F & 7G


Nice bulkhead legroom, Seats 7F & 7G


Just 2 rows of premium seating on the Air Asia A330-300


Enjoying the views as we fly across Malaysia


Air Asia X insignia, Airbus A330-300 9M-XXE


View over the KLIA LCCT carpark, and towards KLIA, from the Tune Hotel


Tune Hotel, KLIA LCCT

[Anthony T]

Nice photo's

The Tune hotel is ok for a nights transit, buy a beer from the Cafe place outside the lobby and get a frosted glass, then get your subsequent beers from the 7-11 and use the same glass.

Get to LCCT check in early for long hauls as a big queue forms before check in opens. DO NOT BUY A BEER FROM THE AIRSIDE BAR, the prices make a London pub seem a bargain.

Air Asia X is a great airline and even the normal economy seats had plenty of legroom. (I'm 6ft 1in) even the sandwiches are among the best I have had on an LCC.

Cheers
Anthony

[Joe Frampton]

02/08/10 Air Asia X D7 2008 KUL-STN 0900/1600 A340-313X Rego 9M-XAB

After our restful night at the Tune Hotel, we were back at the KUL LCCT early for our flight to London Stansted. We’d already checked in online, but we still had to ask for directions to the bag drop queue. The busy & chaotic KUL LCCT represents one of the major differences between low cost and legacy carriers with their smooth & seamless connections at Singapore & Hong Kong, etc. You just need a sense of adventure about you! Boarding was slightly late for some reason, and we ended up leaving about ½ hour after the scheduled time. Flight time was about 12 ½ hours – up Malaysia, overhead Penang, Thailand, very cloudy conditions all the way across the Bay of Bengal, India, overhead New Delhi, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Caspian Sea, Georgia, Black Sea, Eastern Europe and finally across the English Channel with a few turns above very dry looking English countryside into Stansted. I’m sure previous Qantas flights have taken a more northerly route, and this flight was all in daylight although there wasn’t much to look at along the way. Flight level was 38,000ft most of the way. Our hotseats on this flight were 16A & 16B – in the 3-3-3 configuration the “A” seats are pretty snug against the cabin wall, but the legroom was excellent again. We had 2 Malaysian meals on this sector – Pak Nasser’s Nasi Lemak & Bukhara Chicken Biryani about 3 hours out of London. Pre-booking the hot meals for this flight was pretty essential if you wanted something substantial, as they had no extras for sale and had run out of sandwiches & Pringles by halfway to London. Some passengers resorted to the pot noodles for something to eat! We had 2 airbridges connected at Stansted, arriving into Gate 6 which required a short (& crappy) train ride to the main terminal building. We stayed at the Hilton London Stansted, and had a pub meal in the countryside nearby – nice.

03/08/10 Ryanair FR 205 STN-DUB 0810/0925 B737-8AS(WL) Rego EI-EFW

Stansted is a fairly organised British Airport, really, after the low ceilings and sticky carpets of Heathrow. You walk past the calm check-in areas for Air Berlin, Germanwings, EasyJet, then you hear the sounds of the woeful bunfight that is the Ryanair check-in area, with staff screaming for flights leaving soon, people trying to sneak into the lines, and some poor Italian guy trying to check an extra case, which would cost literally hundreds of pounds. You just feel lucky if you’re in the line that keeps moving. And this is JUST the bagdrop queue, as you’ve already checked-in at home, or face massive extra fees again. Ryanair is truly the epitome & market leader of low cost flying, promising you a horrible experience that may or may not be a bargain, dependent on how early you booked and whether you’re checking in luggage or not. Apart from that, the plane loaded and took off quickly, the usual flogging of soggy sandwiches & scratch cards and into Dublin with the bugle sounds of “another on-time Ryanair flight”. Flight time was less than 1 hour – it’s like a bus ride really. Came into Ireland on my Aussie Passport with no questions at all.

11/08/10 Ryanair FR 206 DUB-STN 0810/0925 B737-8AS(WL) Rego EI-EKO

Another quick Ryanair flight from Dublin back to Stansted – about 55 mins flight time, short, sweet and not much to report. Stansted has a good express train service to Liverpool St in London, although at about £26 return, it’s not particularly cheap. Add the 1 day travelcard for tube & buses into that, and it becomes about £36. Yikes.

More pics to be added shortly...