Aiming for the best deal.

Assalamualaikum and hello :)

If you are a frequent flyer (with shallow pockets like I am) with, let’s say Air Asia, surely you will know by now that it is almost impossible to score the deals that they promote on their ads. Yes, their ads are as sweet and as mouthwatering as ice creams on a summer’s day, which sounds securely tempting, but you know you’ll get screwed over in the process. Paris for RM500? Or Australia for RM300? Or even Singapore for RM50? Am I right? After many, many attempts of getting the best deals online, I have learnt some tricks for buying your tickets, without hair pulling tantrums, head scratching, and maximum swearing to your innocent computers, and hopefully still get a good deal while you’re at it!

Let’s take into account that you are working, with a maximum of 15 days of annual leaves, it is impossible to start buying random tickets without checking your schedule. You should at least have a planner or a diary kept close to tick on the possible dates that you would like to travel on. If a planner or diary is too troublesome, a pocket calendar is sufficient as well, just keep it somewhere you can always look at (say, your wallet?).
Tip:  highlight on the public holidays of Malaysia (or any other country you are flying into or out from) to detect if you can extend your stay. 

More often than not, long weekends or holiday seasons are a rather difficult time to get deals. I suggest you just stay home and chill with your family hehe. Or travel with them by car! 

Now, moving on with the booking, opt for the dates that you seem to be free in (double bonus if you are getting the ones on promotion) 

1. Luggage. 
If you are relatively comfortable with travelling with only one backpack and not carrying any other form of luggage with you, then don't spend money for the additional luggage. Bear in mind that there is a limit to the carry-on luggage and Air Asia can be pretty strict about them. Make sure that you are only carrying in one bag (with the exception of ladies, you can bring in your handbag along) and the bag must not weigh more than 7kg. That said, possibly get a 60litres backpack, you’re good to go.

Tip: If upon double checking, you discover you have exceeded the limit, buy your luggage at least 3 hours before your check in time. The rates are murderous after that. 

2. Add-ons. 
These are the things that you should pay extra attention to:
·    Red carpet services
·    Food
·    Travel Insurance
·    Skybus

Some of them are automatically added on, and thus, you have to pay extra attention and unclick them as you feel necessary. As for me, I would save the food and bus trip for later. It is unusually difficult to find shutter bus services at the airports, and they provide a few choices so you can choose according to your likings and budgets. This would be the time for you to be adventurous! As for the food, it is the same online as they are when you pay cash, Air Asia guaranteed. For short trips, I suggest you stuff your tummy before boarding, and sleep your way through the journey haha. 

If you do plan on getting the travel insurance, please do pay attention and read all the clauses. Talking from personal experience, I have chosen not to travel with their travel insurance for reasons I do not think their limited coverage is worth it. If you are contemplating on it, I suggest you read their policies on lost luggage and delayed flights. I doubt you'll ever click that button again.  

3. Seating Arrangements.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m perfectly fine seating anywhere and doze off right after the plane boards. I’m not really particular about getting seats by the window, or the center, or the front row. Unless you are the sort who requires seating with your travel partner, this would be a little loss for you. And sometimes, if the flight is not as full as always, you can just ask to change seats when you’re on the plane. Or, upon the crew request only, the lucky individual traveler gets to seat in the first class if there were to be any vacancies! So, think again in choosing your seats hehe.

Other than that, this is the trickiest part of the whole transaction. You need to deliberately cancel out your seating, or they will consider your picked seat for RM35 (one way). 

4. Payment method. 
If you can, opt for the debit card or auto debit (Internet Banking), rather than the conventional credit card. For every flight for every person, they will charge you RM 16 per transaction. Direct debit has zero charges and you'll be good to go! 

Additional occasion:
5. Day and time.
Unlike the shopping malls and hotel rates, they usually keep this a secret (as in, not in any printings). Remember I asked you to keep your planner close? Well, it was not for petty reasons. Plan your holiday wisely people, and this might include your precious annual leaves. Flight tickets are more than often (not guaranteed though) cheaper on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays as those are not considered as flying days in their (airlines) calendars. As for the time, opt for odd hours like in the middle of the night or really, really early in the morning! 

This might come to your surprise, but think on why the flights are crucial on every hour of everyday. Business people travel a lot, like A LOT! Trust me. So basically, those hours are catered for them, and they usually buy them on the spot, which makes the price extremely expensive, but lucky for us if we buy earlier, we get the cheaper ones. As for the odd timing, the best time would not be the golden hour, because that only works for businessmen. Choose the time when you think no one is flying, or no one would ever take that time to fly, InsyaAllah it’ll be cheap. 

This is all I have for now, and so far it has worked tremendously well for me.
Hope this was beneficial for you as it was for me :) 
Happy travelling!