AirAsia X flight review

Recently I had my first flights ever with AirAsia X (and AirAsia)… long haul… from Kuala Lumpur to London Stansted, so I’ll share my experience with you from a layman’s perspective.

For those of you who have not heard of AirAsia, it is Malaysia’s first and biggest budget airline serving destinations around the South-East Asian region.  AirAsia X is for long-haul flights, going as far as London, Iran and soon, Japan!

Where did I fly to?
AirAsiaX flies direct to London Stansted and the whole shebang takes 14 hours+.  London has a few airports (Heathrow, City, Luton, Stansted and Gatwick) all of which are easily accessible via public transport.  Even though it takes over an hour to get to the city from Stansted, it’s a small price to pay for a no-frills flight!

How basic is no-frills?
You get from Point A to Point B.  If you want meals, a pillow and in-flight entertainment, you have to pay.  Even water.  Since it’s a long-haul flight and I was staying for almost 2 weeks, I slapped on a few extras:
- Supersize check-in luggage up to 15kg (my small suitcase’s contents usually weigh between 9-12kg)
-  Meals (I got 2 meals i.e. dinner and breakfast)
-  Seat booking (it’s long haul, you probably don’t want to get stuck with a shit seat)

I skipped the comfort kit which includes an inflatable neck pillow, woven blanket and night mask.  Big mistake.  The seats are OK but you don’t realise how important a fluffy pillow and warm blanket are until your neck hurts and you’re freezing tens of thousands of feet up in the air.

However, the kit is a bit pricey, so my personal recommendation is to bring your own pillow and blanket.  Oh, and socks.  Not necessarily flight socks, but you’ll probably need something to keep your tippytoes warm!  Having learned my lesson, I brought a neck pillow and a shawl with me on the flight back, and it was awesome.  I’ll get into that a little later in this post.

As for entertainment, it really depends on you.  I’m blessed with the very useful ability to sleep whenever, wherever, so I usually hibernate through my flights, waking only for meals and potty breaks.  For every flight I brought a book with me which still remains untouched.  If you need something other than a book to wile away the time, you might want to opt for AirAsiaX’s in-flight entertainment.  For an extra RM30, you get a device with a few films, TV shows, music and games.  On my flights (Aug/Sep 2010) Prince of Persia was showing.  Ho hum.

What do I do for water?
A bottle of water on AirAsiaX costs RM3 and let me warn you, it is small and definitely not enough for the long haul unless you’re a camel.  You are not allowed to bring liquids over 100ml past security.  What you can do is buy a few bottles after security clearance and cram them into your cabin bag.

If you book your meals in advance, you get an even smaller bottle with each meal.

What are the seats like?
I don’t actually know the technical specs, but they were good enough for me.  I’m of average height and weight i.e. 5’5.5″, 60kg.  I didn’t notice any difference in legroom compared with other airlines, so unless you are a giant I think you should be fine.

What is the plane like?
Er, again, I don’t know the technical specs, but it’s good enough for long haul!  I mean, I am alive, aren’t I??  No rickety planes plunging you to a water grave.  In fact, the landing in London was one of the best I’ve ever experienced.  So smooth I couldn’t believe the wheels had touched the ground.

How was the service?
Okay.  The flight attendants weren’t as “friendly” as the ones on Malaysia Airlines or Qatar Airways, but they are much better than those from EasyJet and Ryanair (European budget airlines).

So… should I fly with AirAsia X?
If you have the money, possibly not.  I’m not too thrilled about bringing my own “comfort kit” and aiming to sleep through all my flights.  The in-flight entertainment didn’t seem that exciting to me.

If you are on a budget, yes, definitely! The flight from KL to London sucked but only because I sorely needed a neck pillow and blanket.  On the other hand, the flight from London to KL was wonderful because there were lots of empty seats, so I had two seats to myself, and being better prepared with my own comfort kit, I slept 12 hours out of the 14 hours!

So there you go.  I will probably fly with AirAsia X again in February… unless I get a better deal with another airline!