Comments on: Air Asia – from bad to worse http://www.marc.cn/2009/05/air-asia-from-bad-to-worse.html Marc van der Chijs' Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:48:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: groenestege http://www.marc.cn/2009/05/air-asia-from-bad-to-worse.html/comment-page-1#comment-2121 groenestege Thu, 21 May 2009 01:59:47 +0000 http://mirrin.nl/?p=1022#comment-2121 Another terrible money-eating airline is Cebu Air, be cautious with their phone service, they might promise a lot of thing via phones which you cannot trace back. I am still waiting for the refunding of two flights I cancelled last year to Boracay. Another terrible money-eating airline is Cebu Air, be cautious with their phone service, they might promise a lot of thing via phones which you cannot trace back. I am still waiting for the refunding of two flights I cancelled last year to Boracay.

]]> By: Marc van der Chijs http://www.marc.cn/2009/05/air-asia-from-bad-to-worse.html/comment-page-1#comment-2120 Marc van der Chijs Fri, 08 May 2009 01:48:00 +0000 http://mirrin.nl/?p=1022#comment-2120 @Bart Good idea, I don't really use my network on LinkedIn, but that may be a useful strategy to accelerate the solution to a problem. <br /><br />So far I never had any bad experiences with MAS, but I only flew them twice I think. With regards to rewards all airlines are the same I am afraid, but going in person to a counter in KL to book a ticket is a trick I did not hear of before! <br /><br />KLM is also good at ripping off its loyal customers: I have hundreds of thousands of KLM miles and always when I want to use them, there are no eligible seats. Now they have a new regulation that you can use additional miles to ensure you get a seat with miles. They dare to call that a service, but it's just a rip-off. @Bart Good idea, I don’t really use my network on LinkedIn, but that may be a useful strategy to accelerate the solution to a problem.

So far I never had any bad experiences with MAS, but I only flew them twice I think. With regards to rewards all airlines are the same I am afraid, but going in person to a counter in KL to book a ticket is a trick I did not hear of before!

KLM is also good at ripping off its loyal customers: I have hundreds of thousands of KLM miles and always when I want to use them, there are no eligible seats. Now they have a new regulation that you can use additional miles to ensure you get a seat with miles. They dare to call that a service, but it’s just a rip-off.

]]> By: Bart.La http://www.marc.cn/2009/05/air-asia-from-bad-to-worse.html/comment-page-1#comment-2119 Bart.La Thu, 07 May 2009 14:41:00 +0000 http://mirrin.nl/?p=1022#comment-2119 Marc,<br /><br />Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with AirAsia. I used to fly extensively with AirAsia during my expat time in Kuala Lumpur and was very happy with their service. <br /><br />One strategy which often works for me is to escalate an issue using Linkedin.com Do a search on 'AirAsia' and look for senior people in the customers service department. Send them a mail and explain your issue, it can help a lot. <br /><br />A few months ago I had a serious issue with a Belgian telecommunications company, for weeks I tried to get it solved by calling their helpdesk, but after being cut off from internet/fax/voice for more than three weeks, I decided it was time to mail a VP at the company. I mailed him on a friday night at 8pm. He immediately responded via Blackberry and the issue was solved in a matter of hours!<br /><br />One more thing, your 'alternative' Malaysia Airlines provided me the worst customer service experience ever, so be careful with them! (rude staff, bad airport lounges, lame reward program, etc..)<br />One example, I had collected enough miles to book an Amsterdam-KL return ticket. I noticed on the MAS website, rewards could only be redeemed by calling MAS. I gave them a call and guess what, if you want to book a ticket which has an origin airport outside Malaysia, you can only book the ticket by going to a MAS service center... in Malaysia... so to book an Amsterdam-KL ticket, you need to go to KL first?!? Well, that's a great way to avoid foreigners to redeem their miles! Marc,

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with AirAsia. I used to fly extensively with AirAsia during my expat time in Kuala Lumpur and was very happy with their service.

One strategy which often works for me is to escalate an issue using Linkedin.com Do a search on ‘AirAsia’ and look for senior people in the customers service department. Send them a mail and explain your issue, it can help a lot.

A few months ago I had a serious issue with a Belgian telecommunications company, for weeks I tried to get it solved by calling their helpdesk, but after being cut off from internet/fax/voice for more than three weeks, I decided it was time to mail a VP at the company. I mailed him on a friday night at 8pm. He immediately responded via Blackberry and the issue was solved in a matter of hours!

One more thing, your ‘alternative’ Malaysia Airlines provided me the worst customer service experience ever, so be careful with them! (rude staff, bad airport lounges, lame reward program, etc..)
One example, I had collected enough miles to book an Amsterdam-KL return ticket. I noticed on the MAS website, rewards could only be redeemed by calling MAS. I gave them a call and guess what, if you want to book a ticket which has an origin airport outside Malaysia, you can only book the ticket by going to a MAS service center… in Malaysia… so to book an Amsterdam-KL ticket, you need to go to KL first?!? Well, that’s a great way to avoid foreigners to redeem their miles!

]]> By: Tortue http://www.marc.cn/2009/05/air-asia-from-bad-to-worse.html/comment-page-1#comment-2118 Tortue Wed, 06 May 2009 06:46:00 +0000 http://mirrin.nl/?p=1022#comment-2118 Thx to share your experience with us. I was about to book a flight with them for my next trip to Thailand, but I think I will choose Thai Airways (which I took yesterday from Taiwan to Hong Kong, the service was excellent and (it's maybe a coincidence) the whole TV system was already set in French). Thx to share your experience with us. I was about to book a flight with them for my next trip to Thailand, but I think I will choose Thai Airways (which I took yesterday from Taiwan to Hong Kong, the service was excellent and (it’s maybe a coincidence) the whole TV system was already set in French).

]]> By: Marc van der Chijs http://www.marc.cn/2009/05/air-asia-from-bad-to-worse.html/comment-page-1#comment-2117 Marc van der Chijs Sun, 03 May 2009 10:26:00 +0000 http://mirrin.nl/?p=1022#comment-2117 Good point. I realize I made a mistake by contacting the airline, I just assumed that they would refund me the money right away like a credit cards company would. I was very wrong there. Lesson learned. <br /><br />I used a Visa card and nobody ever contacted me about the double booking. I noticed it myself on my credit card statement. Wish I would have given Visa a call right away, would have saved me a lot of trouble. Good point. I realize I made a mistake by contacting the airline, I just assumed that they would refund me the money right away like a credit cards company would. I was very wrong there. Lesson learned.

I used a Visa card and nobody ever contacted me about the double booking. I noticed it myself on my credit card statement. Wish I would have given Visa a call right away, would have saved me a lot of trouble.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.marc.cn/2009/05/air-asia-from-bad-to-worse.html/comment-page-1#comment-2116 Anonymous Sun, 03 May 2009 07:55:00 +0000 http://mirrin.nl/?p=1022#comment-2116 Your mistake, and you know that, was to contact the airline. I do have several experiences about double bookings, but never had problems to get the money from the credit card companies I used. So you may set the credit card comp. under fire. I booked a Hotel at Bali, they charged double. Normaly the card company will contact me as they ever find out the double bookings themself. But my phone was off coz of holiday. 2 days later at home a mail was waiting for me from Amex. I confirmed that the Hotel made a mistake, 2 days later the money was booked back and the Hotel invited me for one free night in any of there hotels. Kick your credit card company. I can for sure say that Amex or Visa ever handle such problems very customer-friendly. Why did they not inform you about double booking? They do not need to press only 1 key as most systems will alert automaticly and it is the work for the credit card company to investigate if someone charged double or not. Your mistake, and you know that, was to contact the airline. I do have several experiences about double bookings, but never had problems to get the money from the credit card companies I used. So you may set the credit card comp. under fire. I booked a Hotel at Bali, they charged double. Normaly the card company will contact me as they ever find out the double bookings themself. But my phone was off coz of holiday. 2 days later at home a mail was waiting for me from Amex. I confirmed that the Hotel made a mistake, 2 days later the money was booked back and the Hotel invited me for one free night in any of there hotels. Kick your credit card company. I can for sure say that Amex or Visa ever handle such problems very customer-friendly. Why did they not inform you about double booking? They do not need to press only 1 key as most systems will alert automaticly and it is the work for the credit card company to investigate if someone charged double or not.

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