This is my first Flight Report, feedback is most welcome!
Firstly some quick background about me. I'm a student based in Melbourne, making on average a handful of trips every year. I have no airline status, and choose flights based almost purely on price. Any comfort is a bonus! I use a Fuji XF1 and its portability makes it is many respects a better camera than my DSLR.
This trip involves a week in Istanbul then a month in the UK. Friends and family think flying on four airlines for one trip is bizarre, but it makes sense to me. The flights: MEL - KUL (AirAsia X) KUL - IST (Turkish) IST - MAN (Turkish) LHR - BKK (Thai) BKK - MEL (Jetstar)
Check in was quick and easy. I only used 16kg of my pre-booked 20kg.
Security was easy enough, but the queue for immigration was a bit of a nightmare. The area was simply understaffed.
Airside at MEL was relatively uneventful. I tasted a Talisker Dark Storm - very tasty even early in the morning!
The international terminal was busy. GA and QF A330s.
NZ, JQ, QF, VN and possibly EK from behind (I can't remember!).
SQ A380.
I've never seen Shanghai Airlines in Australia.
Here was our A330 heading to KUL.
Seating is a cozy 3-3-3.
I am however more concerned with leg room and AirAsia X really isn't too bad (much better than 'standard' AirAsia).
Apart from paid tablets, in-flight 'entertainment' consisted of Malaysia tourism advertising.
Boarding seemed to be on time, however we departed close to one hour late. I was dozing and didn't take much notice, knowing I had a long layover ahead anyway.
Pre-ordered meals were served, and I received my teriyaki chicken, chocolate cake, apple juice and water. The quantity is pretty small, but the meal was quite tasty.
Heading across the dry centre of Australia.
Crossing the Western Australian coast.
I was hungry and ordered some cup noodles. Verging on too spicy for my tastes.
There was enough space for my realistically oversized 15-inch laptop. I can recommend the hilarious 'Silicon Valley' series.
The flight made up time and landed only 15 minutes late. There was however a lot of stress from some with connecting flights!
We landed at the brand new KLIA2 terminal. I have mixed feelings about this new building. Obviously, the presentation is a big improvement on the slightly comical old LCCT 'shed'. An aerobridge is a big step up for D7 in KUL!
There was however a very long walk from the gate to immigration and the whole building felt slightly unpolished, such as the unclean windows. No major complaints but plenty of room for improvement.
My next review will see the transfer to the main KUL terminal and next flight.
See more
Verdict
Air Asia X
6.3/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Buy-on-board menu6.0
Melbourne - MEL
7.8/10
Efficiency5.0
Access9.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness9.0
Kuala Lumpur - KUL
7.8/10
Efficiency9.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness6.0
Conclusion
AirAsia X is a consistently good product for its price. Even with extras such as baggage and food, the price is often an incredible fraction of the legacy carriers. The flight made up major time, so only minor marks can be lost for punctuality. In-flight service was acceptable but perhaps could have been a little friendlier. There is room for improvement at MEL and KLIA2 at KUL needs some polish. I really can't ask for much more from D7 as long as they keep their fares down.
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Welcome on Board! This is a nice report :) and the pictures are very nice! Looking forward to read the next reports! I think that AirAsia X should improve their on board entertainment...
Thanks for sharing this first report with us! Looks like an interesting itinerary ahead with a good mix of different airlines to try out. MEL and indeed other large Australian airports have a wide variety of airlines serving them which makes for diversity in planespotting. The 3-3-3 configuration on an A330 is definitely tight but this is to be expected for a low-cost carrier, especially when considering the very reasonable prices offered by Air Asia X. All of the advertisements on the overhead bins and tray tables is an eyesore, but again, compensated by the good prices offered by the airline. Thanks again for sharing this interesting and well-written report with good pics!
It’s great that you had a good experience. I have flown airasia x only once and I would say it is an ok airline which is good but still has some issues to improve. The inflight experience was great but I can’t say the same thing about the ground service. We had a connecting flight with Etihad Airways but we couldn’t check in for that flight, while we usually would, as airasia X does not transfer baggage between any other airline which is not part of airasia while most airlines would, but that’s not a big issue just a little struggle.
Welcome and thanks for the report on this LCC carrier. Air Asia has certainly played an important role in the democratization of air travel in Asia.
The meals looks decent, although I would have preferred to see more vegetables instead of a big lump of starch. However, this is an Asian carrier and rice takes a center stage in meals. As Eminere has mentioned above, the shape of the carrot garnish adds a nice touch.
Thank you for sharing your first report here, and welcome.
If you're flying quite often, you should try to manage something to obtain a status in any alliance. ;)
Well, after reading your FR it seems that Air Asia longh haul flights are not as valuable as short and medium haul ones IMO. As KévinDC said, the 3-3-3 configuration in an A333 is definitely tight but it is expected as D7 is a LCC.
Thank you for sharing this experience and welcome on board.
If flying D7 is very cheap, why not... but the adverts everywhere around, the absence of catering and IFE and tke lack of some real drink are very negative issues.
Thank you for this FR on a long-haul-low-cost flight. You write the legroom was fine for you, but how tall are you ? ^^ I noticed some premium flatbeds and hot seat card under your meal-tray, what are they ?
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21 reviews
9 Comments
This is a nice report :) and the pictures are very nice!
Looking forward to read the next reports! I think that AirAsia X should improve their on board entertainment...
Welcome to Flight-Report!
KevinDC
Community Manager & Mod
The meals looks decent, although I would have preferred to see more vegetables instead of a big lump of starch. However, this is an Asian carrier and rice takes a center stage in meals. As Eminere has mentioned above, the shape of the carrot garnish adds a nice touch.
I don't have full reviews, but here are some more meal pictures from Asian LCCs:
http://imgur.com/a/abulU
If you're flying quite often, you should try to manage something to obtain a status in any alliance. ;)
Well, after reading your FR it seems that Air Asia longh haul flights are not as valuable as short and medium haul ones IMO.
As KévinDC said, the 3-3-3 configuration in an A333 is definitely tight but it is expected as D7 is a LCC.
If flying D7 is very cheap, why not... but the adverts everywhere around, the absence of catering and IFE and tke lack of some real drink are very negative issues.
You write the legroom was fine for you, but how tall are you ? ^^
I noticed some premium flatbeds and hot seat card under your meal-tray, what are they ?
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