Ben and I had to exit China during my visit last fall due to the 30 days visa restriction. We decided to have a short trip back to Malaysia to visit our families.
We flew with Air Asia as it offers the cheapest fare to fly from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur. It was CAD1045 for a return flight for both of us. As a matter of fact, it was not cheap as we bought the tickets last minute. While waiting at the check-in counter in the PEK International Airport, we chatted with a Malaysian tourist who waited in line in front of us. He told us that he got his ticket at one third of our price at a travel fair in Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysian tourist also complained to us about his bad experiences during his group tour which include rude servers; bargaining experiences at the Silk Street and the unpleasant factory tours that took up a lot of their travel time.
As Air Asia is a low cost airline, there is no TV on board and with narrow leg room. Everything is chargeable which include check-in luggage and meal on board.
We pre-ordered our meal at the time we purchased our tickets as pre-ordered meal is cheaper than buying it on board. Nasi lemak was about CAD5.
The rice was mushy. It came with curry chicken. The peanuts and anchovies were crunchy as they were packed separately.
We also pre-ordered a Lamb Biryani for the same price. This was better as the biryani rice was not mushy.
The above was from our return trip.
i think the person you talked to at the airport may have joined so call super low price tour package and that’s why it only costs them one third of your ticket price. the only catch for those tour group is that they only give you limited tour but force you to spend lots of time for shopping at their destinated shops only. they usually charged higher price in order to reimburse kickback to the tour company.
We flew Air Asia from KL to Singapore. On special the base fare was $0. Seat selection and luggage charges came to a total of $70 CAD for 2 people. Rediculously cheap. Had to go to a secondary terminal like the south terminal at YVR. We skipped the meal as it is only a 1 hour flight.
Yes, Air Asia is definitely ok for short haul. Tickets are cheap when they have seasonal seat sale online, cost as little as CAD10 e.g. To fly from KL to a East M’sian cities. Of course, you’ll have to pay for baggage and on board meals.