(Bew)Air Asia

I booked my flight to Singapre through Air Asia. It’s a low fare airline, but for new users like me, there are a couple of things to beware of:

1. You have to book each leg of the trip separately. So my Chiang Mai - Singapore trip had to be booked
A. Chiang Mai-Bangkok, then I had to start all over with the second booking
B. Bangkok - Singapore

You have to fill in the forms all over again. OK, my computer had the info ready to plug in, but still. And if the second flight isn’t available, then there’s a hefty fee for changing the first flight. It might be better to call and let them check on these things before you commit your credit card.

And if your first flight is late and you miss the connecting flight on Air Asia - you lose your fare and everything!!

2. The prices are wildly deceptive. They show you the price for the flight. The Chiang Mai - Bangkok leg was listed as 449Baht. Somewhere on the page it says not including fees and taxes. But when I got to the next page it was 1386 Baht including a fuel surchage of 550 Baht.

3. Very limited luggage. 15 Kilos (about 33 pounds) is your limit. Carry on is 7 Kilos. How much if you have more? In Thailand it is 80 Baht per kilo extra (almost $3) and between Bangkok and Singapore it’s 186 Baht per kilo.

And since each flight is separate, you have to pay the extra for each leg of the flight.

This is fine for short term trips and as long as you know all this in advance, you can plan which trips would work best on Air Asia. I’d guess the best time to use Air Asia is for single flight trips with minimal luggage.