AirAsia no longer cheap - Baggage fees $150 return but $35 each way on Jetstar

[ethernet]

AirAsia is no longer cheap. Unless you are a cheap charlie without baggage - ok on measly carry on and take the flights with a longer stop-over. I wanted to say the annoyance factor has kicked in and I am reverting to Legacy carriers instead unless they fix their problems.

In saying this JetStar had one cracker of a sale recently where 20Kg of baggage was $35 each way to Asia against AirAsia's AUD $75 each way. If I remove the AUD $96 taxes, this makes baggage more costly than flying the passenger in some instances!

My other beef with AirAsia is their push for Mobile smartphone bookings that can get 20% MORE off. As a baby boomer I wont use a mobile to book when there is a desktop available. The discrimination is a real turn off.

So thats my opinion - AirAsia has hit my frustration level, and their nickel and diming is too visible.
It is also cheaper using a Malaysian server and originating in KUL - Scoot does something similar. In all it is good to see Jetstar re-inventing (excluding the fact that upgrades go to QF Staff - always).

 

[JohnK]

I forget what I paid last year on AirAsia and AirAsiaX for 30kg luggage including golf clubs (extra for sports equipment) but it wasn't cheap. I travelled one-way CNX-KUL-SYD on 2 separate bookings.

 

[dajop]

Yes that does seem a lot for checked baggage. I travel light, but even for carry on, the 10kg allowance that Scoot offers is much less stressful than the 7kg of Jetstar and Air Asia. Travelling with a laptop (even a light one) makes 7kg difficult.

 

[ethernet]

I opened a 'case' on this one to see what sort of reply I got.

The paraphrase the reply 'We are a budget airline - we have notified..
What a failing response - nothing about using points or such or prebook discount.

Rather than enjoy my trip - I will just survive it on a scabby 7kgs and not tour Malaysia.
The Malaysia tourism dept needs a kick up the bum - AirAsia is betting on stupid Aussies caught with excess luggage at check-in - and not before the sting operation starts. A fail at operations research 101.

My next trip is Jetstar. Talk about blowing internet presence. Note their own website is not open to posts - they decide which nice ones to publish.

I do know AirAsia is sometimes easy about carry on baggage - other times cough. I cant afford the risk of chancing it.
They need to get clever and have fees that increase closer to D day - and lower for well in advance changes - not a one size fits all.

 

[RoMambai]

I flew with AirAsia from KL to SYD a few weeks back and saw folks hauling what looked to be all their earthly possessions and it went completely unpoliced. You should try your luck!?

 

[kpc]

In all my years of travelling with Air Asia, I have never seen them weighing carry on....it is cheaper to book Syd-Kul as 2 one way tickets than as a return as ex Kul is much cheaper