Close User Name Password
Login Register
Travel alerts straight to your inbox:
 

Tag: AirAsia View All Tags

Tags: / / / /

Free Airline Tickets While The Pint Lives On

December 17, 2008 at 5:00 PM | by pbb | 0 Comments

If you haven't heard by now, you must hate getting stuff for free: AirAsia is giving away 100,000 tickets, but you'll have to fly by the end of March, so don't bother if you're not going to be in Southeast Asia soon, newly serene after recent airport chaos.

It might be a safer trip than a tour of European capitals, after suspicious white powder was found at 15 16 US embassies on the Continent. (It wasn't that kind of white powder.) And researchers have just revealed that a trip to the US Gulf Coast is more likely to kill you than a trip to the Mid-Atlantic. (Blame the hurricanes, not the football fans.)

At least for now in England, that last drink before you die can still be rightly called a pint!

Related Stories:
· 100,000 Free Tickets [AirAsia]
· White Powder Alert at Embassies [CNN]
· Death Map Plots Where Mother Nature Might Kill You [Peter Greenberg]
· Giving Them an Inch, and a Pint [NYT]
· In Defense of Movie Set Travel [WorldHum]

[Photo: AirAsia]

Tags: / / /

Thailand's Andaman Sea: There And Away

Where: Thailand
December 8, 2008 at 1:35 PM | by ced138 | 2 Comments

Thailand... Are we nuts?! Nah: The airport trouble is over, and while politicians keep bickering in Bangkok, the rest of the country is ripe for exploration. Claire Duffett just spent two weeks in southwest Thailand sailing the Andaman Sea from Krabi to Phuket.

When protesters calling for the resignation of Thailand’s prime minister seized Bangkok’s airports for an entire week, I was planning to fly from Phuket to Bangkok then to the United States. Instead, I spent 24 hours riding double-decker buses spray-painted in fluorescent colors. The tension among passengers trying to get home made the rides feel even longer. Wrangling for good seats descended into expletive-laden arguments, and language barriers with the driver turned less gracious passengers into belligerent a-holes.

Still, the beauty of the Andaman’s islands exceeded the suckiness of the journey there. And for those lucky enough to visit the region when it’s not in a state of anarchy, here’s a rundown of how to get there and away:

more ›

Tags: / / / /

Had Enough? How To Get Out Of Bangkok

December 2, 2008 at 3:05 PM | by pbb | 0 Comments

Possible further airport hell averted! The latest reports out of Bangkok have it that Suvarnabhumi could be reopen as early as December 5, though other estimates say rebooting BKK could take at least another week or longer.

Don't order your last celebratory bowl of Pad Thai just yet, though: With as many as a few hundred thousand other people clamoring to get out of the country, flights are bound to be the definition of overbooked for days if not weeks. What's the best exit strategy, then? For now, it's the Vietnam-era U-Tapao airfield, a 90-mile drive south of Bangkok, which is currently operating some international flights.

Among the carriers making connections to international airports that won't be total nightmares for the rest of 2008 are AirAsia, Cathay Pacific, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines. AirAsia in particular has lots of flights, including departures to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Shenzhen and Singapore.

Related Stories:
· AirAsia "Rescue Flights" [Official Site]
· Bangkok Protests: What to Do if You're in Thailand [Telegraph]
· Bangkok International Airport Still Protest Central [Jaunted]

[Photo: AirAsia]

Tags: / / / / /

AirAsia's Growth Uninhibited By Its Narcissism

Where: Malaysia
November 25, 2008 at 9:15 AM | by ced138 | 1 Comment

OK AirAsia, we know you’re one of the few carriers with healthy specs. But we think you might be getting a big ego. First, you offered an on-time guarantee and now your CEO is talking about growing AirAsia X, the company’s Australian subsidiary, tenfold by 2010. That’s faster than when Krispy Kreme suddenly glazed the entire United States in the late '90s.

Both AirAsia X and its Southeast Asian affiliate AirAsia are rapidly buying planes and adding destinations. And as Asian carriers ratcheted up fuel surcharges recently, founder Tony Fernandes scrapped AirAsia’s. Confidence is clearly not a problem for this carrier.

In fact, the one-year-old AirAsia X division will have one billion ringgit ($276 million) in profits by the end of 2009, says CEO Azran Osman Rani. This year’s profits will be about 350 million ringgit.

We’ll tell you if they back up the bluster with a flight review next week: We’re flying AirAsia from Phuket to Bangkok, and we're expecting to be impressed.

Related Stories:
· Malaysia’s AirAsia X Plans to Expand Sales Tenfold [AFP, via Google]
· AirAsia coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: christophe ramos]

Tags: / / / / /

Asian LCCs: AirAsia Uses Its Bragging Rights

Where: Malaysia
October 13, 2008 at 1:00 PM | by ced138 | 0 Comments

AirAsia must be feeling pretty good these days. The Malaysian low cost carrier frequently tops Asia tourism industry lists as the best of its kind. And it certainly lacks modesty, plastering the bragging rights across the sides of planes.

The airline has also grown to be Southeast Asia's largest LCC and plans to add nine new planes in 2009 to its existing fleet of 72. In fact, as tourism in the region picks up, the airline is getting downright cocky about its strength in the marketplace. Economic apocalypse? For AirAsia, life's a bear....

more ›

Tags: / / / / / /

Will Air Asia X Weigh Passengers?

August 4, 2008 at 9:00 AM | by amandak | 0 Comments

Air Asia offshoot Air Asia X is not the only airline worried about how heavy planes use more fuel--that's getting more expensive by the second. But they're certainly one of the few airlines who are even vaguely mentioning that heavier passengers might be cheating airlines out of money.

Reports are saying that Air Asia X is considering weighing passengers so they can calculate how much more weight the plane could carry, then filling it up with cargo that pays its way. Since Australians recently became the statistically fattest in the world, the airline has also suggested that charging larger passengers on Australasian routes could "help Aussies lose weight."

Maybe a deal between airlines and Weight Watchers will be the next step?

Related Stories:
· Air Asia X May Charge Passengers by Weight [news.com.au]
· Aussie Airlines Ponder Weight-Loss Plans [Jaunted]
· Air Asia X Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Steffe]

Tags: / / /

Cheap London to Oz Flights Delayed But Still Promised

July 31, 2008 at 9:15 AM | by amandak | 0 Comments

Chief of Air Asia, the enigmatic can-do man Tony Fernandes, promised us earlier in the year that we'd be able to take a budget flight all the way from Australia to London by Christmas this year. But the bad news is there's a delay on these flights starting up.

The good news is that they still will get off the ground, despite rising fuel costs. Brave Fernandes reckons that "one of the best times to expand is during a period of flux" and the only reason they're not flying the route already is a difficulty in getting hold of the right aircraft.

Air Asia is in the final stages of talks with London Stansted airport and Fernandes says the budget London-Australia route (via Malaysia) will be operating by June 2009 at the latest--and maybe as early as March. We're not sure about having to buy our own food all that way, but if the prices really go as low as $700 then we really won't care.

Related Stories:
· Air Asia to Go Ahead with London-Malaysia Launch [Business Traveller]
· All We Want for Christmas is Long, Cheap Flights [Jaunted]

[Photo: jetalone]

Tags: / / / / / /

Thai Airline Grounds All Planes, Promises to Fly in September

Where: Thailand
July 22, 2008 at 10:45 AM | by pbb | 0 Comments

So this is a new take on dealing with soaring fuel prices: Thai LCC One-Two-Go will ground its entire fleet starting today, through September 15. At that point, the carrier says, it will resume service.

One-Two-Go is the country's second-largest low cost carrier, and rival carriers are more than happy to snap up displaced customers. Right now, domestic flights on AirAsia start at just $63 all-in, and Nok Air also has a bunch of good-looking "Smile Fares."

So far this year, two smaller Asian carriers have shut down, and Qantas and Thai Airways have announced capacity cuts.

Related Stories:
· Thai Budget Airline Halts Operations [Bloomberg, via]
· AirAsia Upping the Billboard Ante [Jaunted]
· Low Cost Carriers coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wikimedia]

Tags: / / / / / /

Travel Snapshot: AirAsia Upping the Billboard Ante

July 21, 2008 at 1:12 PM | by pbb | 1 Comment

We thought Orlando's inadvertently raunchy billboard was the greatest travel advertising of the year, but this ad from maverick LCC entrepreneur and washing machine salesman Tony Fernandes has just surged into the lead.

It should come as little surprise that this billboard is in Queensland, Australia, a country known for edgy advertising.

Related Stories:
· Hesitant to Travel? [Seattle P-I]
· Tourism Marketing and Double Entendres [Jaunted]
· Travel Advertising coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Beth Whitman]

Tags: / / / / / /

LCC Travel: Pure Revenue Generation for AirAsia's New Menu

June 27, 2008 at 9:35 AM | by amandak | 2 Comments

Not satisfied with promising punctuality or getting free advertising from Paris Hilton, low cost carrier AirAsia is giving us yet another reason to fly: a new menu.

AirAsia has had a limited menu of hot meals available for purchase for a while now, but they're expanding the menu to include a bunch of local Asian delicacies: chicken rice, satay sticks and yellow glutinous rice are among the additions. If you prebook your meal online, it works out cheaper.

But boss Tony Fernandes makes no secret of the real reason for the menu additions. He's quoted as saying "It's purely another revenue-generating initiative." Full marks for honesty, Tony, but until we see you eating yellow glutinous rice yourself we're not sure we're ordering.

Related Stories:
· AirAsia Expands In Flight Menu [IHT]
· AirAsia's Confident About Punctuality [Jaunted]
· What's up with Charles Ogilvie and Paris Hilton? [Jaunted]

[Photo: Chandra Marsono]

Tags: / / / /

What's up with Charles Ogilvie and Paris Hilton?

June 26, 2008 at 4:30 PM | by pbb | 3 Comments

Speaking of Paris Hilton, what's up with her and Charles Ogilvie? The pair was spotted at Sundance and now they've been photographed together sporting AirAsia hats.

It's no secret that the Virgin Group owns a piece of the Asian low cost carrier, but could Paris be involved too? Or maybe she's more interested in AirAsia's cousin, Virgin America? After all, that airline has invited her on its inaugural WiFi flight scheduled for later this year.

We're trying to sort it all out, but in the meantime, we need to get one of those hats. So hot!

Related Stories:
· AirAsia Flight Review: Live from Vientiane [Jaunted]
· Paris Hilton coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: / / / /

Asia Travel: AirAsia's Confident About Punctuality

June 20, 2008 at 9:25 AM | by amandak | 0 Comments

As of this week, if you fly with AirAsia, they sincerely promise that your flight will be punctual: Yep, they've been brave (or crazy) enough to launch an On Time Guarantee.

In the unlikely event that your plane is delayed--and only 11 percent of flights were in May--you'll be compensated. To be precise, if your flight is delayed by more than three hours and it's not due to bad weather, airport closures, air traffic control, strikes or acts of God, AirAsia will give you a RM200 ($60) voucher to use towards your next flight.

The whole deal isn't quite as exciting as we'd hoped with all those exceptions to the rule, but it's better than nothing. Thanks for trying, Air Asia!

Related Stories:
· AirAsia On Time Guarantee [Peanuts]
· AirAsia coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jetalone]