The flights are completely full of people I don't necessarily want to sit next to.
Surely that has nothing to do with the airline, and more your personal views and opinions?
The fact that MH flights are packed during and after the Hajj is a function of the said event, not the airline
per se.
Yes I've been on those flights, where every Hajj passenger seems to be carrying at least 1.5 - 3 times their weight allowance (hopefully for their sake for free), and about 1 in 3 of them are hacking and coughing.
In fact, one time I was connecting KUL-KBR on a flight that was very full. Not surprising since KBR is the capital of one of the most pro-Muslim conservative states of Malaysia. What
was surprising was that amongst all the multiple striped bags, strung up boxes and bottles of what I presume is the Muslim equivalent of holy water, my bag didn't turn up. Yep, due to the Hajj passengers' artifacts, the plane was too heavy, so some bags had to be left behind. It was mine and another passenger's who had also come from Australia. (Seemed like we were the only ones because no one else went to the baggage services counter).
Just like Christmas, war repatriation, Easter, Chinese New Year, festivals in Japan, Thanksgiving in the USA etc. if you travel in those times you're sure to come up against a crowd you may not like to hang around, or things will have a higher risk of going FUBAR compared to usual.
Sure can. I certainly would not regard any airline as a 5 star airline. Flown or not flown. They will need to earn their 5 stars from me and so far not one airline has even come close.
And I won't be using the recommendation of a total stranger. We all have different needs and we all see things differently....
Here's my different view: we and all our children will be our cold, cold, cold, cold, cold graves before any airline gets the
JohnK 5 Star Approval Rating.