AK to charge for counter check-in

[Y. J. Foo 0]

Per AK's website, effective 6 October 2010, the counter check-in fee will be applicable per person per sector for check-in over the airport counter, which is RM5. Some passengers are exempted from paying the surcharge though.

 

Web check-in remains free - for now.

 

More details can be found here.

 

 

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Well, what's next on the list of things they're going to charge? Carry-on bags? Toilets? Why can't AirAsia be more Southwest Airlines instead of Ryanair?

[flee 5]

I think they are pushing for their ancillary income to increase - so they are trying to find new sources of income. Yes, I think soon web check in will also become chargeable, if a lot of users opt not to pay for counter check in.

 

AK flight cancellations and consolidation is also on the rise. This is how they can boost their load factors and they are rather aggressive on this so that they don't have to fly half empty aircraft. So it looks like they don't mind being like Ryanair so long as they can attract and grow their customer base.

[Ikman Ikreza 0]

Frankly speaking to DS Tony and AK team, before implement any charging to passengers could you please improve your punctuality time? For example, my flight AK5288 KUL-KBR on 28/08/2010 rego 9M-AHP was delayed almost for 2 hours which suppose departure time on 15:50 but reschedule to 17:40. This is not for the first time. Do u think it's good for our aviation industry about punctuality?

 

I think now, not "NOW EVERYONE CAN FLY" but "NOW EVERYTIME FLIGHT DELAYED". So again, before implement any charging to passengers please improve your punctuality time. Thanks.

Edited September 1, 2010 by Ikman Ikreza

[KK Lee 5]

Hope FY will bring in their 734 service sooner to keep pressure on AK.

 

[affendi osman 0]

Errrrr....

I thought many Malaysian like to travel on AK because it is cheap?

Will it be cheaper then?

 

Pity to those pakcik and makcik in the rural area, fly AK because it is cheap......and forced to pay RM5 for the counter usage!

[Azri M. 0]

Tiger Airways Australia has implemented this 2 months ago. It seems that AirAsia and Tiger are comparing and adding fees one after another... Sigh

Edited September 1, 2010 by Azri M.

[flee 5]

That is why people must no longer look at how much the fares are. They should look at the bottom line to compare costs.

 

The general "rule" is: If you are not able to plan your trip at least 6 months in advance, then it is better to use a full service legacy airline as their total cost is not that much more than what AirAsia charges. Legacy airlines may even be cheaper sometimes, if you manage to catch their promo or sale fares...

[Ikman Ikreza 0]

Yup for MH, go to GTD (Get The Deal). You can get all in fare sometimes cheaper than AK.

[Waiping 12]

The smart money is on checking all available airlines before deciding on which one to take. We had some interesting find last year during LIMA. Fares on MH even cheaper than AK. Mind you this also happens in other sector in Malaysia.

[mohd sukri abd hamid 0]

agree with you ikman

[affendi osman 0]

for ASEAN destinations, go for ASEAN Pass....

USD299 for 4 sectors! You don't have to book your ticket a year in advance

[Naim 6]

Post your remarks here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/AirAsia?ref=ts

[Ruiz Razy 1]

The smart money is on checking all available airlines before deciding on which one to take. We had some interesting find last year during LIMA. Fares on MH even cheaper than AK. Mind you this also happens in other sector in Malaysia.

 

T H E _ E M P I R E _ S T R I K E S _ B A C K _ !

Edited September 1, 2010 by Ruiz Razy

[KK Lee 5]

for ASEAN destinations, go for ASEAN Pass....

USD299 for 4 sectors! You don't have to book your ticket a year in advance

 

You need to use up within 6 months from purchased and booking class is often not available on popular routes.

 

[Josh T 0]

Charging a fee to check in at the counter in the airport is outrageous! What if people don't have access to a printer? What if you don't have internet access? I wish the majority of the population will wake up to themselves and just fly with the full-service airlines so they don't get caught out with such rubbish and daylight robbery tactics from budget airlines. This might actually teach the budget carriers that you can't always get away with doing things like this. But people being people, all they see is the "cheap fare" not realising that it almost ends up being the same as a full-service airline once all the charges are added in!

[affendi osman 0]

You need to use up within 6 months from purchased and booking class is often not available on popular routes.

 

 

KK Lee

 

I've been using 2 passes so far ( 8 sectors), and no problem with booking class. I've redeemed KUL BKK KUL, KUL MNL KUL ( the one contains controversial FSS photo serving wine), KUL HAN KUL, and KUL DPS KUL. I have to say that this ASEAN Pass is worth buying and one can accumulate points too (though it is only 30% enrich miles)

[Josh T 0]

KK Lee

 

I've been using 2 passes so far ( 8 sectors), and no problem with booking class. I've redeemed KUL BKK KUL, KUL MNL KUL ( the one contains controversial FSS photo serving wine), KUL HAN KUL, and KUL DPS KUL. I have to say that this ASEAN Pass is worth buying and one can accumulate points too (though it is only 30% enrich miles)

So, how does the ASEAN Pass work exactly? You're allowed 4 sectors, so is a return trip counted as 1 sector or 2? If a return trip is counted as 1 sector, then that would be very very good value!

[KK Lee 5]

KK Lee

 

I've been using 2 passes so far ( 8 sectors), and no problem with booking class. I've redeemed KUL BKK KUL, KUL MNL KUL ( the one contains controversial FSS photo serving wine), KUL HAN KUL, and KUL DPS KUL. I have to say that this ASEAN Pass is worth buying and one can accumulate points too (though it is only 30% enrich miles)

 

Agreed with you, likewise I have redeemed for KUL/MNL/KUL and KUL/HAN/KUL but couldn't get KUL/SGN/KUL even for booking 2 weeks ahead.

 

[affendi osman 0]

So, how does the ASEAN Pass work exactly? You're allowed 4 sectors, so is a return trip counted as 1 sector or 2? If a return trip is counted as 1 sector, then that would be very very good value!

 

Josh T

 

from what I've experienced, KUL - XXX is 1 sector, which means KUL - XXX - KUL is counted as 2 sector. But you can opt for single journey too, such as KUL - DPS, and from Bali travel by land to Surabaya, and fly back to KUL using SUB - KUL.

 

Same goes to KUL BKK, from Bangkok travel by train to Phuket, and back to Malaysia using HKT - KUL.

 

Roughly, 1 sector will cost you about RM250.

 

Back to the topic, does Ryanair and Southwest use this model too? I mean by charging pax like this?

Edited September 1, 2010 by affendi osman

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Josh T

 

from what I've experienced, KUL - XXX is 1 sector, which means KUL - XXX - KUL is counted as 2 sector. But you can opt for single journey too, such as KUL - DPS, and from Bali travel by land to Surabaya, and fly back to KUL using SUB - KUL.

 

Same goes to KUL BKK, from Bangkok travel by train to Phuket, and back to Malaysia using HKT - KUL.

 

Roughly, 1 sector will cost you about RM250.

 

Back to the topic, does Ryanair and Southwest use this model too? I mean by charging pax like this?

If I'm not mistaken Southwest doesn't charge their passengers to check-in at the counter. Nor do they charge to check-in 2 pieces of luggage (from the third one onwards they start to charge). They also offer frequent flyer privileges (although it's more like a supermarket frequent user coupon rather than flying mile accumulation).

 

And yet they still could make profits continuously for 37 years. Amazing.

 

As for Ryanair, here's all the charges http://www.ryanair.com/en/questions/table-of-fees

Edited September 1, 2010 by Mohd Suhaimi Fariz

[affendi osman 0]

maybe AK needs more money to fund their new planes?

maybe....................! just like what they did by offering RM0 fares recently!

Edited September 1, 2010 by affendi osman

[Waiping 12]

Actually what I would really like to know is how long they could play the game like this? Would there be stiffer competition when the ASEAN open sky agreement comes into effect.

[Josh T 0]

Josh T

 

from what I've experienced, KUL - XXX is 1 sector, which means KUL - XXX - KUL is counted as 2 sector. But you can opt for single journey too, such as KUL - DPS, and from Bali travel by land to Surabaya, and fly back to KUL using SUB - KUL.

 

Same goes to KUL BKK, from Bangkok travel by train to Phuket, and back to Malaysia using HKT - KUL.

 

Roughly, 1 sector will cost you about RM250.

 

Back to the topic, does Ryanair and Southwest use this model too? I mean by charging pax like this?

Thanks for clarifying that. As for getting back on topic, I don't know if Ryanair or Southwest charge for checking in at the airport but I definitely know that Tiger Airways in Australia are doing it and there was a bit of a public outcry about it.

[aaronhiew 0]

Yup for MH, go to GTD (Get The Deal). You can get all in fare sometimes cheaper than AK.

 

Yea it's true...Tried that b4...