Yes, for those who know me well enough - my nature to procrastinate, although often exaggerated, has indeed been acting up so now, months after I flew on Air Asia X to London, only am I posting about it.
I've heard (and experienced) many horrors of flying Air Asia as well as Air Asia X but much to my relief (I was never worried to begin with ok, I had faith in whats-his-name) my 13-hour journey was comfortable and very pleasant! This however, is a new aircraft - the Airbus A340, I believe, different from the one that flies 6 hours to Australia.
I had recorded details including seat measurements, leg room etc to share with you but unfortunately in an attempt to keep to my 15kg luggage limit I chucked all my papers - completely forgetting they contain the important details of my journey. I'm terribly upset with myself for this. Anyhoo, I hope to share as much as I can. To give you an idea, my seat was no different from an MAS economy seat.
The inside of the plane
Seats are 2-4-2
Ok first things first - seats. As you can see here, the seat is of standard width so you will not have to suffer 13 hours in cramped budget airline sized seats.
Normal width REALLY!
Sufficient leg room
Not convinced? Ya so I may not be the best judge given my short limbs so here - I snapped a photo of someone of average size - doesn't he look comfortable? :)
The armrests could even be pushed up and since the flight was not full I had two seats to myself :)
I did this too on my return flight and it was sooo comfy! But - if you are not sitting alone. do be mindful of other passengers.
Unfortunately no individual screens
No fret though, media players are available for RM30 each and they let you have it for approx. 8 hours.
Plenty of movies and drama series to fill your time.
Apparently touch screens were available on a different aircraft - not sure whether it was already available or something to look forward to...
About two hours into the flight they feed you. It is advisable to pre-order your food online not just because it's cheaper but because they may run out of food and you will have to starve. For fear of missing Malaysian food in lieu of two weeks living on bread, my choice was non other than the Malaysian set.
It's RM15 one way and they feed you TWICE - once two hours into the flight and again approx. two hours before you land. The meal came with a 350ml bottle of mineral water, which I was really grateful for. Although not great, the food was still better than the stuff MAS feeds its customers. I have to commend the crew for their wonderful service! My flight back was a little slack but going was really first class :)
Some duty free shopping...
So after you eat and shop it's time for some darkness induced shut eye! You can still read or watch videos la, just turn on your reading light.
I read that to reduce jetlag - if you're flying East to West you should stay awake as much as you can and when flying West to East sleep as much as you can. I slept half my flight there and was so tired practically slept through Phantom of the Opera on my first night in London (it was a great show mind you). Slept half the flight back as well and spent my first night home sleepless so go figure! I think it would be more practical to adjust your sleep based on the time of your arrival both going and returning.
Thats about it on my flight aboard AirAsia X to London, to my friends who are planning Europe trips, hope this puts your mind to rest. My promo ticket was RM1636 return (incl 15kg luggage + insurance), and I later pre-ordered my meals for RM30 two-way. You can't order online once you've confirmed your tix purchase but you can do so by calling the AirAsia call centre (yes someone actually picked up it was amazing) 48 hours before your flight to pre-order at online rates.
So yes it was definitely well worth the moolah! But that said, many airlines have since offered promo tickets to London including Emirates (RM1700+) so my advise is, monitor the promos and prices closely and when you get what you want, go for it! Happy travelling kawan-kawan!
