Review of Air Asia flight Jakarta → Kuala Lumpur in Economy

Hello friends! Welcome to my report.

Firstly, as usual, please apologize for my bad English, and also bad photo quality as I took all shots by my cellphone.

BRIEF BACKGROUND

Actually this flight was out of my initial itinerary.

On July 6th, I'd bought a ticket for my KL-Jakarta flight in July 27th, as you would get cheapest price for only around IDR 500,000 (USD 37.00) if you buy the ticket at least 21 days before your trip.

After buying that ticket, I've planned to go to Pontianak, then do an overland journey to Kuching (Sarawak) and fly from Kuching to KL.

But before buying other tickets for my planned itinerary, a bad news came. My final test was "re-scheduled" from July 19th to July 26th. Hearing that news, I was almost to faint. I didn't know what I have to do.

But then I still decided to go to KL, as I had to buy an important book there (only available in Malaysia). It was also better than losing your KLM flight.

The test was at night, and it was scheduled to finish at 8.30 p.m. So? I did not have any other choice but the midnight flight from Jakarta to KL by Malaysian AirAsia (AK) which was scheduled to depart at 1.30 a.m. The ticket costed around IDR 350,000 (USD 26.00), including seat selection. I didn't buy any pre-booked meals, as I chose to sleep during the flight.

July 26th, 2017

After finishing the test at my college, not too far from Gambir Railway Station, I walked to the railway station to catch an express bus to Soekarno-Hatta Airport. It was operated by DAMRI, a government-owned transport company.



The traffic to the airport was good, without any jam.



Entering the airport area. The express buses to the airport always go to the Terminal 3 first, then to the Terminal 1 and finally Terminal 2.



Terminal 1 (domestic terminal) dominated by Indonesia's largest airline, Lion Air.



Reaching Terminal 2.



Some international airlines, especially Skyteam members, had moved to the new Terminal 3. KLM, my favorite European carrier, will also move there soon.



The flight timetable.


I reached the airport at 9.30 p.m. while my flight was scheduled to depart at 1.30 a.m. There were still 3.5 hours before boarding. I decided to spend my time at A&W Restaurant and have a glass of root bear topped with floating ice cream. The drink was A&W's signature. The airport's A&W is operating 24 hours and equipped with power plugs.



After drinking the root beer and re-charging my cellphone, I left the restaurant and entered the check-in counters.



AirAsia's counter, filled with passengers making a queue to check-in for this midnight flight. The flight was suitable for passengers continuing their journey by AirAsia X to Korea and Japan that left KL in the morning.



But I did not join the queue, as I had done the online check-in. I just had to print my boarding pass on the self-check-in computer.



Then I proceed straightly to the airside, after having my passport stamped at the immigration counter. There were still 1.30 hours, and I decided to see some sights at terminal 2D. More carriers are operating in this terminal.



Time to enter the boarding gate.



From the gate I could see a 767 of Japan Airlines, waiting for its return to Tokyo (Narita) in the morning. The morning flight from Jakarta to Narita was suitable for transit flights to USA, as Japan Airlines has codeshare flights with American Airlines. There was also a 787 of ANA, leaving Jakarta in the morning.



Then the AirAsia plane arrived. It was painted in special livery. I would take the "better" picture later in KL.



Time for boarding.



I proceed straightly to my seat.



While waiting for boarding process completed, I checked all stuffs inside the seat pocket.



"Santan" (Malay/Indonesian word for "coconut milk") inflight meals menu and duty free shopping catalogue on the same book.


Boarding process was completed at 1.30 a.m. (UTC+7), and 2 seats beside me were vacant. Thanks God, I could sleep better.

Cabin crew then started the safety instructions as usual, while the plane was proceeding to the runway.

Some shots outside the window before take-off.


Then the plane started to fly.



Seatbelt sign was turned off, and I could move freely. I then checked the toilet. Very clean.



Cabin situation.


Back to my seat, I explored the IFE web portal which could be accessed by our own cellphones through the Wi-fi network. Internet service was also available, but of course, it was very expensive and quite useless for this short flight.


Then I adjusted the most comfortable position for me to sleep.

About an hour and some minutes later, the plane's speaker woke me up, reminding us to prepare for landing.

Then the plane landed safely in Kuala Lumpur International Airport at around 4.20 a.m. (UTC+8).



Entering the KLIA2 terminal building. The KLIA2 was dedicated for LCCs.



Final shots of the aircraft. Its registration code was 9M-AHE, painted in special livery promoting "Honghe Nativeland", a tourist sight in Yunnan, China.



Most of AK 383 passengers continued their flights to other cities, especially to Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Korea.

How about me? My final destination was KL, so I proceed to the immigration counters and baggage belts.



The sights outside, dominated by AirAsia.


Baggage belt.


Adjacent to the KLIA2 was a shopping mall named "Gateway @klia2". As it was 04.30 a.m., majority of shops and kiosks were closed.



I then decided to spend my time before sunrise at the mall's foodcourt with a glass of "Teh Tarik", a popular Malaysian milk tea.



Then I bought the ticket for express bus from KLIA2 to KL Sentral, KL's main transport hub.



I spent around 10 hours in KL before returning to Jakarta by KLM. You can read the report here.