Airasia Flight 101

I am a frequent flyer of Airasia (QZ and AK). I fly with Airasia at least twice a month. So far I am satisfied with their service, although some cabin crews may not be friendly nor service oriented (once I saw a rude cabin crew in an AK flights-operated by Malaysia Airasia). But mostly the crews are fine. I once saw how the  cabin crews were so patiently handling a very annoying passenger, and could still manage to serve the passengers nicely afterward (thumbs up for these two QZ cabin crews-I forgot their names).  

They don’t delay often (sometimes they do but not for long. The longest delay time I experienced was 90 minutes because the previous flight was not permitted to landing due to weather reason, and they gave snacks after 1 hour delay while we were at the waiting room).

Based on my personal experiences, here are several tips to fly comfortably with Airasia:

1. Check the websites frequently to get best price, they have special price at unexpected times. If for the dates you need to travel Aisasia no longer have promo price, you might want to check other airlines. Sometimes non low cost airlines can offer lower price than regular price ticket of a low cost airline. Sometimes, annoyingly, the ticket fare can be more expensive if you buy months in advanced than if you buy only a few days in advanced.
   
2. Apply for BigshotID. The application process is simple, only by filling a form. By applying for BigshotID, for every purchase you make, you will get points which can be redeemed with flight ticket.
   
3. If you don’t plan to bring a lot of baggage, you don’t have to pay for a check-in baggage. Cabin baggage is restricted to maximum 7kg of a bag (dimension around 56 cm x 45 cm x 25 cm ) plus one laptop bag/handbag.
   
4. Unless you need more space, it is not quite necessarily needed to choose your seat. Seat number 1 to 5, 12 and 14 are hot seats. When you are on board after takeoff, you can move to other empty seat from your regular seat if you find it more comfortable, except those hot seats. Seats on row 11 (and maybe 12) cannot be reclined due to the emergency exit location.
   
5. If the travel time is more than two hours, maybe you want to consider buying a prebook meal. It is cheaper (up to 20%) than buying on board, has more variety, and comes with a cup of mineral water (about 100ml only). My favourite meal is Nasi Padang Combo (only available in QZ flights operated by Indonesia Air Asia). My other favourite menus are Chicken Satay and Asian Fried Rice (served with chicken satay). Nasi lemak Pak Nasser is so so, if you like nasi lemak you can try it. For non-rice menu, Blackpepper chicken is also a fine selection. The pizza is too small, and the pancake’s texture is too crumbled so I don’t recommend those two. If you order a prebook meal, place your boarding pass in your pocket or in places that are easy to reach, because the crew will need to stamp your boarding pass before hand over the meal to you.
   
6. If you don’t have check-in baggage, use web check-in facility or self check-in machine at the airport to avoid long queue of the check-in counter. You can check-in at the airport or using your smartphone and then use the check-in machine to scan the barcode sent to your phone and have your boarding pass printed.
   
7. On board before takeoff, always pay full attention to the aircrew when they are showing the safety procedure. Ask for infant life-vest if you travel with an infant. Remember that all the electronic devices are supposed to be off (not on flight mode) when takeoff and landing. If you are planning to use your mobile phone after takeoff, switch it to flight mode before turning the phone off.
   
8. Read ‘travel 3sixty’ magazine to kill time if you find it difficult to sleep on board. It is located on your seat pocket. They have new edition every month. My favourite article is ‘Pilot’s Perspective’ by Captain Lim Khoy Hing.

LCCT Kuala Lumpur International Airport 101

First time travelling abroad with Airasia to/from Kuala Lumpur? Know what to expect here!

If you’re travelling to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia using low cost airplane, such as Airasia, you will be landing in LCC Terminal (low cost carrier terminal) KLIA. It is located about 15-20 minutes from the main KLIA terminal building. To transfer from/to main terminal to LCCT, there are buses every 20 or 30 minutes, the bus fare is 1.5 RM. From LCCT, the bus departs from in front of domestic arrival. From main terminal KLIA, the bus departs from bottom level (bus terminal). 

International Arrival

Until further notice, international tourists coming to Malaysia don’t need to fill any immigration form. Once disembark from the aircraft, just follow the aircrew (or just follow the crowd) to the terminal building. If you just transit in Malaysia and will continue your flight elsewhere, just turn left once you’re inside the terminal building. But if you’re going to enter Malaysia or need to get your baggage first, you will need to pass the immigration on the second floor. The escalator up is right in front of the terminal building’s door.

After the immigration, turn right and take the escalator down. You will see several  kiosks offering SIM card. Turn right if you have check-in baggage, go straight ahead if you only bring your cabin luggage with you. The officers randomly ask to scan the passengers’ baggage. If they don’t ask and you don’t have anything to declare, just walk on. Then you will see the kiosks to buy taxi ticket or to rent cars. If you want to take taxi from the airport, you need to buy the ticket here. They have fix rate for each destination zone. They offer different types of taxi: the budget/regular one (for up to 3-4 persons), premium taxi (up to 4-5 persons), and van (up to 8 persons). The budget taxi fare is ranging from 60-150RM, depending of the destination zone. On the left side, there are kiosks selling bus ticket. Actually the ticket can also be bought inside the bus, so it’s not necessary to buy it there. The cheapest way to reach Kuala Lumpur is by using bus to KL Sentral. KL Sentral is a terminal hub where you can continue your journey using MRT, LRT, monorail, bus, taxi, etc.

Outside the departure hall, if you are using taxi, go left to the front of domestic departure hall to find the taxi queue. Budget taxi is the red-white color, premium is black or blue. Give your ticket to the officer and he will show you which taxi you will use. If you want to use bus, you will find the busses a few steps after the passing the domestic arrival. Find the bus that goes to KL sentral. The red bus (skybus) is owned by Airasia, the bus fare is 9RM to KL Sentral. You can ask the driver about the payment. Usually he will let all the passengers have a seat first and then he will approach the passengers one by one to collect the money. The yellow bus (aerobus) is usually parked in front of Skybus. The rate is 10RM to go to KL Sentral. IMO, this yellow bus is more spacious. But either bus is comfortable.

If someone is supposed to pick you up on the airport but he/she is not arrived yet, there are a lot of chairs in the international arrival hall. If you’re hungry, there are a lot of food stall (kopi tiam, McDonalds, Marrybrown, Dunkin Donuts, vegetarian Indian food, etc). Toilets and praying room is located near Starbucks. Phone booths are also available there if you need to make phone calls.

International Departure

To get to LCC Terminal, you can use bus from KL Sentral. Skybus fare to LCCT is 10 RM. The journey takes about 75 minutes. It is recommended to take the bus 4 hours before departure time. If you prefer to take taxi, the fare is about 75RM from KL. If you are close to Nilai, you can take KTM to Nilai station and continue to the airport using a feeder bus, this probably is the cheapest way to get to the airport.

In the airport, if you want to eat before you go, there are several choices such as Nasi Lemak (in Taste of Asia) or fastfood (McDonald’s or Marybrown). I prefer Marybrown because its menu is similar with McDonalds with cheaper price and sometimes less queue.

In the international departure hall, there are a lot of Airasia Machines if you need to do self check-in or print your boarding pass. There is Airasia sales counter as well if you need any assistant. You can find several weight scale if you need to measure you baggage weight before check-in. If you have check-in baggage, you need to pass the scanner to get to the check-in counters. If you only have cabin baggage, just walk to the left and you will find document check counter, after that you can continue to immigration on second floor (Make sure your flight is from gate T. I found that some flights to Singapore are from gate Y which is in the domestic departure area). Some officers will check your ticket and passport before letting you take the escalator up to the immigration.

After the immigration, there are several duty free shopping stalls. You can also use massage chairs for 1RM/3 minutes. The departure gate is on the ground floor so you need to take escalator down. The toilets and praying room are located between chocolate and perfume shop. The recommended cheap halal meals in the area are Hot n Roll (3-6RM for roti pita/paratha/crispy wrap), bread in Baker’s Cottage(3-5 RM for bread, 9RM for tuna/chicken croissant), or instant noodles in Pusrawi minimarket behind the Baker’s Cottage (only 3RM, add hot water, and voila!), or Chicken Pao. All the food stalls are selling mineral water above 2RM per bottle (500mL), except 2 places which sells it for ‘only’ 1,5RM: Pusrawi minimarket (behind Baker’s Cottage) and Pau/dimsum stall (next to Baker’s Cottage).

While waiting, you can also find place for charging your phone/laptop, ATM, money changer, bookstore, etc.

Travel 101

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" - Ben Franklin

Some people think it's more interesting just to go and improvise their trip. I'm not that kind of person. I always plan before going anywhere, because I only have limited time to travel in each place and may not have another chance to revisit the place. It would be a pity if I missed anything interesting. So far I never travel with tour agent because it's usually more expensive.

I'm not always the one making the itinerary for our trip, but when I do,  I plan in detail. I have to choose a comfortable (good value-for-money) place to stay, know which places are worth visiting and which can be skipped, what famous local culinary I can try, etc.

More or less, this is what I do. Homework before travelling:

1. Google things to do and where to go in that city. Make selection of the places you will be visiting, since you might not have time to visit all. Read people’s blogs to get more objective insights. Know what to expect in each area and what to bring, wear, or prepare.
2. Choose a place to stay nearby the most visited area, or in location with easy public transportation access. Trip advisor or booking.com and many other websites provide other travellers’ reviews about the hotels/hostels/motels. These reviews are very useful since you won’t be able to look for yourself before booking. Changing hotel each day may not be a good idea considering the check-in/check-out time and your luggage, especially when it will only be a short trip. Since you are planning to enjoy the city and not the hotel, the room size might not be a huge matter, but cleanliness, location, and price should be your top priority checklist. Wrong lodging choice can ruin your mood. Free wireless internet is an advantage, especially when you’re travelling abroad.
   Read also for the reviews of surrounding area, you don’t want to end up in an unsafe place such as drug trafficking or prostitution area. You may also want to find out the nightlife condition of the area, some travellers look for a lively night live, while others prefer a quiet surrounding at night.
   If you want to book through a third party company (travel agent or agoda or booking.com, etc.), you better check out the hotel’s official website as well, for sometimes they have special offering which is more advantageous for you.
3. Search for nearby restaurant/fast-food/convenient store, especially if you look for special dietary meals (such as halal food), in all area that you’ll be visiting. For muslims, make sure you have a general overview of the nearest mesjid location or a comfortable place to sholat.
4. Make travel itinerary so that your trip can be efficient.  Google maps can be very useful in making this itinerary, along with local public transportation website if you prefer not to use taxi everywhere. Buses and subways are usually the cheapest and easiest. If necessary, print the detail transport route that you’re going to take. If you will travel abroad to a non English speaking country, you may want to print out the name of your destination place in local language to make it easier to ask, just in case.
   Plan carefully! After shopping, if you buy a lot, usually you have to plan to go back to your hotel to put all your shopping bags before going anywhere else.
5. Consider the things you will bring with you when you are travelling. If it’s going to be a long walk, sneakers, t shirt, jeans, and backpack are the most comfortable combination for most times. In your backpack, you can bring your jacket/umbrella (depending on the weather forecast), bottled drink, wet and dry tissue (not all the toilets in public areas are clean), snacks, camera, sunglass, etc. For Indonesian, don’t forget to bring jamu ‘tolak angin’ and sambal ABC sachet ;)
6. Make sure you bring enough clothes and undies (or know where to buy cheap clothes at your destination), appropriate shoes/sandals, bathroom amenities, personal medicines, travel adaptor if your destination place use different plug/socket, instant foods/snacks if necessary, etc.
7. Calculate everything in detail and estimate you budget: flight ticket (if any), hotel, accommodation, transportation (bus/subway fares), average meal (such as fast-food price), bottled mineral water price, tourist attraction ticket price, souvenir prices, etc. Prepare for unexpected costs. Some places take only cash in local currency, some only use USD instead of local currency except for small changes, some don't take credit card payment, some don't even have any ATM nearby.
8. If people of your destination place speak in a language you don’t understand, write down several important words in local language such as your hotel address, tourist attraction places you want to visit, “where is the nearest subway?”, “how to go to ….”, etc. You may have your smartphone with you, but not all places are signal friendly and you may run out of battery. In some countries, the price of new SIM card is expensive. Sometimes the local public transportation is not google-able, so you will have to ask the locals.
9. You’re good to go!