Getting Premium on Air Asia.

The Premium Cabin. 

Many moons ago Air Asia (D7) were offering cheap fare's from MEL to SIN via KUL for $110 so after fiddling with the Air Asia website I had a confirmed itinerary for 2 waiting for me in my inbox. 

It so happens to turn out that my partner challenged me to see if I could make this a "no frill's" trip and keep our budget to a minimum in regards to hotels and other flights which I happily accepted. After about one week I received a email from Air Asia offering a OptionTown upgrade from economy to Premium seats for $70AUD per person which would be refunded if the upgrade wasn't successful, I thought about it for literally one minute and thought what the heck and signed up. The process was pretty straight forward, you pay a 3MYR fee to signup and then pre pay the required fare for the upgrade, if the upgrade doesn't go through you'll receive a refund five days after the flight. 

It was the eve before our flight and I was constantly checking my email in hopes for the email confirming the upgrade but to my misery nothing had come through so I called it a night and off to bed we went.  My body clock decided to wake before the alarm and the first thing I saw when opening my email was the upgrade had gone through although we had to reconfirm at the airport so after final checks we were on our way to the airport. 

The ever so familiar Air Asia Airbus.

Check in was processed at counters B which was located opposite the Qantas check in desks for those not familiar with the layout of Melbourne Airport. There was already a long line queuing for economy so we decided to head straight into the Premium lane which was empty. We were ushered over by one of the agents and as he processed our checkin I asked him to short check our luggage to KL which he was happy to do so, he also informed us that we would need to ask for our new BP's at the gate as they might have last minute customers who were after premium seats. I was taken back by that but I didn't worry as I doubted anyone would pay $1400 for a one way Premium seat to KL. Passports returned accompanied with our boarding passes and a express pass card which was a nice touch to speed up security and immigration. 

Stripped of lounge access and a departure gate located in the newer concourse of MEL Airport a nice stroll was required to reach gate 18 in which we bypassed the duty free shops which bought us to the central gate's and made it a perfect opportunity to kill time and snap some pictures aircrafts. For what seemed like a eternity we finally proceeded further into the terminal and finally made it to gate 18 to find a very long queue was already forming as boarding was about to commence. 

The new boarding pass I obtained at the gate.

Look at that line!

Parents, children and passengers who needed assistance were called to board first followed by Premium passengers to board at our leisure. I noticed some passengers who tried their luck to board using the Premium lane but to their dismay they were directed towards the back of the economy line. 

No queues or lines. 

As we stepped onto the A330 we were warmly greeted with a very enthusiastic crew dressed in their tight red uniforms which reminded me of Virgin Group. We were warmly greeted by Yuri as she read our boarding passes and ushered us to our seats. Premium seat's were located in the first two rows of the aircraft in it's very snug cabin with one lavatory being shared amongst 12 passengers and crew. 

The Premium seat without the premium fare. 

Seat controls. 

As passengers started to board Yuri swiftly bought out 2 bottles of water for us and retreated to the galley to greet passengers. So far the seat was a business class seat without the high business class fare, if you're looking for space and somewhere to sleep on your way to Asia then D7 is the way to go. The seat was reasonably comfy and for the priced paid I was satisfied with the service offered by D7. 

Water, the source to happiness and relaxation when flying. 

Seat pocket contents.

Our pushback time was 6 minutes after the scheduled departure time as crew prepared the cabin for take off, the very brief safety demonstration was conducted in Malaysian and English as our captain taxied onto the runway for take off. Our route today would be flying past Alice springs, Indonesia then a slightly bumpy decent into KL. Air Asia doesn't offer any in flight entertainment besides renting Samsung tablets for 35MYR ($14AUD) so it would be wise to bring a book or load up content onto your own Ipad or laptop.

In seat power is provided to all passengers in the premium cabin which is located in the middle of premium seats.

When we hit cruising altitude the seat belt sign was extinguished but the captain reminded passengers to keep their seat belts on as there would be some bumps en route to Asia, passengers were warned that if any turbulence were to occur and passengers were moving around the cabin that they do it at their own risk. Yuri proceeded into the cabin to hand out very hot hand towels and proceed to ask for our meal preferences. 

Hot hand towels for pax. 

Our meal today would be a chicken green curry with rice which was the only option available as we didn't pre order any meals which was promptly delivered as soon as she walked back into the galley. The meal was tasty for a LCC but was portioned on the small size meaning we ordered some snacks throughout the remaining duration of the flight.

Thai chicken green curry. 

Our meals were cleared within minutes after we finished and it was time to settle back and enjoy the seat which I would rate on par with some regional J products that fly around Asia. 

The light and additional seating switches. 

Lie flat angled bed mode.

My body would slightly slide down while sleeping which was a little bit annoying but I did manage to get a few hours of sleep tucked in very comfortably in the oversized pillow and doona. The cabin temperature throughout the flight was mirroring a cold winter's day and by the looks of the busy FA's running in and out of the cabin countless blankets and pillow sales were in demand.

Big fluffy pillow and warm doona that came with the seat.

Getting Comfy!

I was feeling restless so decided to take a walk and ensure I didn't pick up the economy DVT symptom that is featured in every inflight magazine! The best seat's in Economy would either be the "hot seats" or the 6 couples seating towards the rear of the cabin which is the standard on other A330's. 

A simple thing I like to book when going with LCC's is booking the ticket itself when the sale is on and when closer to the date of travel I'll proceed to add baggage, meals and seating selection just before OLCI (Online Check In) closes just to finalise and confirm that I'm travelling and it won't be another case of handing money to the airline. 

A final snap of our A330 while disembarking at KL.

Air Asia currently operates out of the LCC terminal which is opposite KLIA, it takes roughly 20 minutes via car transfer between terminals so if you have connecting flights departing from KLIA ensure you have enough connection timings to get between terminals. Immigration lines took 34 minutes as we landed just when a couple of other flights were deplaning which is done via stairs as you embrace the Asian humidity which I would describe it like a slap in the face of hot air! 

I wouldn't hesitate to fly again with Air Asia if the price was right, if you need to get from A to B then Air Asia is the airline to go.