Free seats at Air Asia & other budget airline tales

Cheap air travel is one of the blessings of this generation. Am not talking of tens of thousands of miles earned after riding the Boeing A380 to London. Am talking of the modern-day phenomenon called the budget airline. It’s best described as no-frills – you’d be lucky to arrive at the “low cost carrier terminal” with your sanity intact, after eating a hot bowl o’ noodles which you had to buy yourself.

When talking of budget airlines, am quite partial to Air Asia since it’s the first ever LCC I tried. Second, because they really give away FREE international seats and it doesn’t take an eternity to book one. Truth to tell, my son and I are slated to travel to KL (Kuala Lumpur) early next year, using the free seats promo Air Asia had a couple of months ago. Only paid something like six thousand pesos (roughly $130 or so) for the TWO of us, and the amount is just equivalent to taxes and other surcharges.

Now, Air Asia is giving away again one million seats until August 31 and you – as an avid traveller – would be crazy to miss it. Too bad, AA at present only flies to two destinations from Clark – KL ( hands down, a food paradise!) and Kota Kinabalu (pretty and serene!) You can go to other Asian destinations once you arrive at these places.

Air Asia stewardesses are a sight in themselves, with their garish red uniform and equally garish make-up. 😀 But what I really dig about Air Asia is their delectable Asian food. Think heavenly nasi lemak, nasi biryani and roti canai. Wouldn’t mind shelling out more than a hundred pesos for one of these (photo from AA site):

As a result of the aggressive marketing of budget airlines, the “majors” have to straighten up and adjust as well. Now, even Malaysian Airlines is offering drop-dead prices, and even our very own Philippine Airlines (PAL).

We took PAL during our most recent family trip to Hong Kong and was quite satisfied (except for that turbulent air pocket going back, phewwww!) It is true – there’s not much difference now between the fares of PAL and Cebu Pacific.

I’d take PAL anytime if only for the “hot meals.”

Photo shows my daughter excited to open her kiddie treats.