Three (3) Pro Tips when Flying with AirAsia

AirAsia officially established in 1993 and start its first operation in 1996 led by CEO Tony Fernandes. AirAsia is known to be a pioneer for low cost traveling in Asia and cover an extensive route to more than 165 destinations both domestic and international flight. The main hub for AirAsia is in klia2, the number one low-cost carrier terminal in Kuala Lumpur.  

Together with their associate companies; AirAsia X, Thai AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, Philippines AirAsia, AirAsia Japan, AirAsia India, AirAsia is set to make their slogan to become a reality for all of us, “Now Everyone Can Fly”.  

Operating as a low-cost airline, there are several things that we as passengers need to educate ourselves before flying with AirAsia since flying with them is quite different from flying with any other airlines. Here are three pro tips before we flying with AirAsia.  

i) Pre-book your Meals before flying  

Flying with AirAsia may be cheap for your budget, but in order to make the ticket cheap, the AirAsia business model needs to take away all your basic necessities including foods and drinks. Yes, no food and water will be provided to you if you are flying with AirAsia.   

So, the best advice for you when flying with AirAsia, it is better to pre-book your meals first as it is cheaper. However, for a short flight, you may want to skip this step unless you really want to eat onboard. For a longer flight, you will most probably get hungry and by pre-booking your meal, you know that there are food and water for you later during the flight.   

ii) Add on before flight–avoid buying on board  

The method for AirAsia to make a profit is not only by selling a flight ticket but also by up-selling their services and products. These include selling;  

• Upgrading your seat/choosing where to sit  
• Selling a blanket (no blanket will be provided for free during the flight).  
• Wi-Fi onboard is available on certain aircraft and if you want to get connected to the internet, you have to buy it too.   
• Selling food, drinks, merchandise, and duty-free items onboard.  
• Buying extra baggage to put in the cargo. They only allow each guest to bring one piece of cabin luggage and one laptop bag or handbag onboard. Both of these bags must weigh no more than 7kg combined. If you need to bring more, you have to purchase extra luggage to store them in the aircraft cargo.  

Most of the things that need to be add-on could be done before taking your flight. The price will be higher if you purchase it onboard or right before your flight. So, it is highly recommended for you to think properly all your needs and purchase the add-on only if it is necessary.  

iii) Preparation before your flight  

In order to even minimize your budget while flying with AirAsia, there is another thing you could do that will save some of your bucks.  

• Bring an empty water bottle  

Since water is our necessity, buying water onboard could be inevitable. Bringing an empty water bottle just be our easy gateway. After clearing customs clearance, you will spot a water cooler nearby boarding hall to fill up our empty water bottle to be used later during the flight.  

• Bring your own pen  

Really useful when traveling to any international flight. We need a pen to fill in all arrival forms or custom declaration forms. Yes, you may borrow it from the crew but sometimes they will sell their AirAsia pen instead. Hence, it will be much easier for us to just bring our own pen.  

Plus, by filling in the form earlier, you may get a head start and save time during the immigration clearance.