This has got nothing to do with travel, its just a ‘tak syok’ statement.
Ya, ya.. I know that its in the terms and condition (I never bother to verify about the penalty, but of course it is, as it would be everytime), but here goes:
I have a ticket from JHB to SBW dated 4thFeb. Paid RM477.99. Damn expensive to begin with, but that’s benefit of monopoly (in the name of supply and demand). Fine.
I wanted to change the flight to 29thJan. Checked the price, it was 199.99 MYR.
By the way, the search result was :-
Tue 29 Jan 2008 –> 199.99 MYR
Wed 30 Jan 2008 –> 399.99 MYR
Thu 31 Jan 2008 –> 559.99 MYR
Cool. earning additional RM200 for each day of flight.
I called Airasia, and asked whether I can change the flight. I was surprised with the reply “you can only change the flight to same fare or higher fare flight“.
So I asked “If I changed from my RM499 flight to RM199 flight, what happen to my RM200?“.
“There’s no reinbursement?” I replied to confirm what I heard.
Furthermore, “You’ve have to pay penalty charge, sir”
“How much is the penalty?”
“RM75”
I was almost in disbelief when I and I thought “I have to pay RM75, on top of what they will already earn due to the RM200 fare difference)”.
No wonder business is good.
#You are punished for booking late (my case of buying late in Oct for CNY. No complain – that’s how market works)
#You are punished for changing a flight (penalty. No complain either – that’s term & condition)
#You are punished because won’t get any fare difference refund if new flight date is chepaer (What can I complain? The question is “why didn’t you really check the date before buying?”)
#You are punished (again) when the new flight is more expensive (lets say someone is really ‘suey’, that had to change flight from 4thFeb to 31Jan, and he had pay RM499, here’s what he needs to pay in addition $75 (penalty) + $100 (fare difference), summing to RM674. Damn fuck*** nice).
“Now everyone can fly” seems more like “Do you want to fly with us?” (evil grin) to me now.
For the record, MAS gives a voucher of 1 year validity if you change to any flight of lower fare.
I know if I change flight to 19th, I’ll pay $564 for a $199 ticket, and my 4thFeb will be on sale for $699 or more. Think also tuu lang.
Its time for a third option of plying between Sarawak and West Malaysia….. something big enough and carry the mass. Revival of Ferry Malaysia?
walking around 
Annie Ong
16 January 2008
Hi,
Sad to hear that. Please bear in mind that whenever you found an air ticket in Air Asia for more than RM200, check for MAS. They may have better offer, if not also.. I may still go for MAS as you will have better service there. Air Asia == budget airlines … So, you are not suppose to buy any flight tickets more expensive than MAS
Luv, Annie
Regards
Anni
jim
18 January 2008
apa boleh buat…. sudah beli tiket for 4th Feb (super peak peak peak period). lagipun for 4th Feb, MAS tarak ‘ooi’ oledi.
Wei! changed my flight oledi… flying on 30th Jan to Sibu!
jim
18 January 2008
oh ya, how’s ur exam??
megabus
18 January 2008
Just found a fantastic website.
Daily low-cost intercity travel in the UK.
For those who dun mind low-budget but without the comfortable seat of coach, go to :http://www.megabus.com/uk/ to get ticket.
p/s : there’s no loo in the bus too.
Bus from London to Edinburgh costs only 10 quids!?
Plan to use this if I stop by US again!
Roll
19 January 2008
Tiuuuuu.. Think we all under the mercy of some unscrupulous businessman. Tiuuu…
jack
25 April 2009
Don’t blame airasia, you booked the wrong date, if you aren’t sure, better to pay 1000 ringgit with full carrier and free changes…than a discount 50 ringgit carrier…what do you expect? Airasia cant give free flights forever, oil is not cheap duh! They have to hit someone hard, and since most flights are dirt cheap, the ones who want something different are gonna get hit. That is quite obvious.
buffalo
21 August 2014
Jack and Arda,
Pls tell these people how sick you are with them….
http://theantdaily.com/Main/Consumer-complaints-against-budget-airlines-soaring-yearly
jim
8 May 2009
Jack,
1. I did not book wrong date la. Some issue arises, and I needed to change flight date.
2. I did not pay a discount/free for the initial flight. It was RM500 from JB to Sibu. That’s already is more expensive. I can fly BUSINESS CLASS with that price.
To me, AirAsia is using the ‘cheap fare’ to entice you to fly with them.
Guess what, apart from ‘cheap fare for the first few’, everything else is cost adder. Do your math, if you cannot plan your holiday 2 months in advance, the $ savings with AirAsia is negligable.
p/s: try look for chinese new year ticket for Johor to Kuching. You will be surprised how expensive the AirAsia ticket is.
ongzi
29 May 2009
not every can fly
ongzi
29 May 2009
not everyone can fly
not everyone wanna fly
Anonymous
12 May 2010
If you think AirAsia is expensive. just use other airline. or you prefer to swim there. it would be much cheaper to buy only a swimming trunk.
arda
17 March 2013
Do read ur terms n conditions before u agree with anything.. once u agree don’t blame others do blame ur self for not reading it properly..there are nothing to do with good bisness or not..nobody forcing u to use certain airline mm sometimes I’m sick of people complaining but actually it comes from ur ownself
Anonymous
5 August 2014
yeah airasia fucking sucks. feel for ya bro! happened to me once was that they changed my flight last minute and i had to buy a brand new ticket from another airline which was way expensive
buffalo
6 August 2014
Arda oh Arda,
What would you do, if you’ve bought your flight ticket (not at almost free price), and HAD to change the flight ticket due to unforeseeable reason? Try to cut losses kan?
Upon finding out that AirAsia is earning from each change/request/transaction, this guy is lamenting on this will cost more, and he is feeling tak syok, and thus express his frustration in his BLOG – not your BLOG – you sick for what? Make you own blog, so you can be sick of other people complaining, in your BLOG la!
p/s: don’t be sick if you encountered such incident with AirAsia ya!