I was doing some searches on flights back to Sydney in June 2015 and found you could get their business class seat for 999RM.
Checked a few more dats and saw it available in May and April. Not sure how available it is, but an absolute bargain for the price. Unfortunately the cost for SYD - KL seems to never go below $599 :(
Hopefully helps someone have a cheap and comfortable flight home from a holiday :)
Seats are good, prices are good, but 2 couples on separate flights SYD-BKK and MEL-BKK via KL in June each had a checked bag mislaid, took a couple of days later and a lot of phone time to arrive. And one couple had a bag go missing on the return leg.
Carry on for the win.
From memory no compensation for missing bags, if you don't have your own travel insurance too bad so sad.
I always carry on, learn to pack light people! You Dont need 5 pairs of shoes on a holiday.
I just got back on one of these, booked at MYR 999 earlier this year. Seems to be their standard fare (when booking as a single trip). Excellent value for money, almost as good as real business class in terms of comfort and much better than premium economy from any of the big established airlines.
Is this an easier way to join the mile high club?
Asking the right questions! :)
The airasia premium class seats are awesome and great value for money.
They compare really well to Singapore airlines A380 and 777-200. Although the business class seats for those two aircrafts are wide, they are not long enough for me. I actually slept better on this Airasia seat then the Singapore airlines seats.
Theses seats are actually better then the regional business config of Singapore airlines A330 and 777-300.
Negatives airasia are no IFE, food is crappy, no drinks (buy your own), no lounge, and priority boarding (they do announce for you to board first, but there are always people in economy already lining up when you get to the gate and there's no separate line for premium class).
All in all, great product. Highly rated for the price.
Yeps something that I don't understand. Your seat is already saved for you so why do people rush.
often encounter storage for cabin baggage of my seat/row are full,
had to put somewhere else instead.
yeah, i didn't used to understand the rush, but now with checked baggage costs, more people are bringing more stuff inside, and sometimes it's hard to find any space. Not keen on storing stuff under the seat in front - I need all the legroom i can get!
Seriously? Air Asia's Premium Seats have got nothing on Singapore Airline's A380 seat. It's not even remotely comparable (I assume you mean SQ's A330's seat). 777-200 I suppose, but that's a very aged product that you'll find on very limited routes anyways. Yet all offer much better leg space than Air Asia's Premium Seat - have you ever slept in the Row 1? If you're even slightly above average in height your feet will touch the magazine pouch.
I'm not trying to badmouth Air Asia, but it's not comparable to SQ's fleet, especially the A380s. Having said that, if you just need a lie-flat seat, then MYR999 is a pretty good price. The soft-service is a really non-existent however and it's generally inferior to flying on any legacy carrier's economy class. But it's really not that much of an issue if you plan on sleeping through most of the flight anyways.
You also do get a free drink, which is a bottle of water as a welcome drink. You also get priority baggage as well (I can't believe how quickly it came out compared to the long wait I had to collect my bag with British Airways ;) ).
How are the meals in AirAsia business? I don't mind paying but is the food actually any good?
I believe you'd have the chance to pre-order the meal. Probably the same sort of meal economy passengers can pre-order. Uncle chin's chicken rice is nice. I've only tried that so far.
You do get one free meal with Air Asia Premium. You can either pre-order it or just wait and see what they have for you onboard. All meals should come with some orange juice and biscuits/small treat on the side (reminds me of school! :D). You can also 'maximise' your meal by paying extra and getting a dessert + another drink.
The food is exactly the same as what the economy folks get. It's no Lobster Thermidor ;), with options ranging from barely edible to surprisingly tasty. Portions are on the small side though.
I didn't mind it so much on my flight though (I just wanted to sleep), as the legacy carriers tend to overstuff you until you're about to burst.
So food-wise, it's about the same as a cafeteria.
As soon as you're on the plane all prices are Malaysian. Been a few years since I flew with them but nasi Goreng was the equivalent of $4. Milo was $1.50.
Can't see why you would bother taking your own food
As per their rules, you're not supposed to bring your own food as per their rules, but you could probably smuggle it in..
The funny thing about their rules is that they don't want you to bring your own food because you might offend people with it IIRC.
The 777-200 out of Syd are all refurbished, so same seats as the A380. Actually better cause you get an additional cushiony bit on the left where the a380 is just storage compartment. I find having my body twisted with my head in one hole and my feet in another that is no parallel to my head extremely uncomfortable.
Of course the services other nice things about business class is lacking on AirAsia, but their steats are great. For me I slept better in them then all sing air bus config. Suspect if you are tall you will feel the same way.
What I'm interested in is if AirAsia Business class entitles you to a "Fast Track" card like when flying a full service carriers business class when departing and arriving at Sydney Airport. In my opinion, one of the best perks of flying business class is being able to skip the long security check and customs lines at the airport.
No you don't get that (flew in to Sydney on AirAsia Premium on July 1st). The only "fast track" type of service you get is getting off the plane (simlpy because you're at the front), and priority baggage (which is impressively quick).
Arriving into SYD, I did inquire about it, but the flight attendant didn't know what it was, so the answer was 'no'. Flying out of SYD though, I did see a couple of people flying Air Asia Premium in the same queue as me in the Express entrance path (I was flying a legacy carrier). Not sure if it's 100% confirmed entry or if the entrance supervisor was just in a nice mood.
PS. In terms of arriving, you do get to hop off the plane first and your luggage will also be one of the first to arrive so the Express pass isn't as essential as expected.
Departing SYD you get fast track, arriving in SYD no. The last few times I have arrived in SYD I have had no issues as Air Asia overnight flight arrives around 10am thus missing morning peak. I also have the e-passport but that has stopped working for me and always makes me go to manual (human!).
Saw this myself on limited fares from as early as September/October this year. Don't recall seeing any for the night flights.. But in any case, really great value for the price regardless of morning or night flight.