Firefly vs bus. Do you prefer time or money?
It was my first time flying with Firefly, Msia's first community airline. Don't really know what they mean by "the first community airline" but that was the tag line the stewardess kept repeating when she made announcement.
I'm flying to KL from Penang to attend Mak's wedding in Sabah (more about that later).
At 7.10pm, 20 mins before the flight time, we were call to board the aircraft. Unlike Air Asia with it's free seating policy, Firefly provide seat number so there is no need to rush for queuing up. Better still, board at the very last min because in the small and crowded aircraft, you'll most likely suffocate inside. In order to save petrol, air-cond are not turn on. It is hot and stuffy. Luckily the guy sitting beside do not have smelly armpit or bad breath, if not I'm just gonna faint in the plane. I heard the stewardess saying that they will turn on the air-cond after they start the engine when an aunty asked her why no air-cond. The aunty was using the safety instruction card to fan herself.
Comparing the Firefly experience with a bus, I'd say a bus is better. At least a bus can provide air-cond even with the engine turned off. An express bus also provide a more spacious seat and leg room compared to this plane. The top storage compartment near the middle of the plane is significantly smaller compared to the top compartment in other part of the plane. So the 8 people sitting under that portion have to keep their stuff under the seat or at other top compartment nearby.
A friend of mine told me that the Firefly she board some time ago actually did have the air-cond turned on when waiting for other passengers to board.
During the one hour flight, the stewardess also sell souvenirs, drinks and tidbits just like AirAsia. A ball pen with Firefly logo printed on it cost RM3.
Being able to buy the tickets at RM9.99, my transport to KL cost RM59.99 after adding airport tax, fuel surcharge and insurance. Took one hour of waiting time (check-in earlier) and another hour of flying time.
Compare with a bus? 4 to 5 hrs of traveling time and cost RM27.
Which would you prefer? Spend longer time traveling but pay less or pay more but shorter travel time?
Couldn't believe I had been away from my blog for 2 weeks. Life had been busy and hectic with Chinese New Year, unpacking, traveling and work. I had also attended 2 weddings in 2 weeks, one being a chi mui then another as a heng dai. :) Not too bad eh?
I'm flying to KL from Penang to attend Mak's wedding in Sabah (more about that later).
At 7.10pm, 20 mins before the flight time, we were call to board the aircraft. Unlike Air Asia with it's free seating policy, Firefly provide seat number so there is no need to rush for queuing up. Better still, board at the very last min because in the small and crowded aircraft, you'll most likely suffocate inside. In order to save petrol, air-cond are not turn on. It is hot and stuffy. Luckily the guy sitting beside do not have smelly armpit or bad breath, if not I'm just gonna faint in the plane. I heard the stewardess saying that they will turn on the air-cond after they start the engine when an aunty asked her why no air-cond. The aunty was using the safety instruction card to fan herself.
Comparing the Firefly experience with a bus, I'd say a bus is better. At least a bus can provide air-cond even with the engine turned off. An express bus also provide a more spacious seat and leg room compared to this plane. The top storage compartment near the middle of the plane is significantly smaller compared to the top compartment in other part of the plane. So the 8 people sitting under that portion have to keep their stuff under the seat or at other top compartment nearby.
A friend of mine told me that the Firefly she board some time ago actually did have the air-cond turned on when waiting for other passengers to board.
During the one hour flight, the stewardess also sell souvenirs, drinks and tidbits just like AirAsia. A ball pen with Firefly logo printed on it cost RM3.
Being able to buy the tickets at RM9.99, my transport to KL cost RM59.99 after adding airport tax, fuel surcharge and insurance. Took one hour of waiting time (check-in earlier) and another hour of flying time.
Compare with a bus? 4 to 5 hrs of traveling time and cost RM27.
Which would you prefer? Spend longer time traveling but pay less or pay more but shorter travel time?
Couldn't believe I had been away from my blog for 2 weeks. Life had been busy and hectic with Chinese New Year, unpacking, traveling and work. I had also attended 2 weddings in 2 weeks, one being a chi mui then another as a heng dai. :) Not too bad eh?
Labels: Going places
posted by LieWei at 11:10 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for sharing your honest opinion with friends and also challenge Firefly to improve their services.
Based on my experience, I share the exact terrible experience as you do.
Probably, you are luckier than me...
No doubt Firefly airline (a subsidiary of Malaysia Airline) promise to provide cheap and budget air tickets to passengers, I would advise those who would like to give Firefly a try to be aware of the potential delay of Firefly flight at the 11th hour whereby you can practically do nothing at that time but a terrible experience. Eventually, the incidental cost incurred is even more costly than the saving you might save from the so called cheap ticket.
Based on my experience and I am not sure whether I am the unlucky one or not, out of 3 flights, 2 were delayed and resulting we missed the last boat to Pulau Redang and incurred additional necessary cost to stay a night at Kuala Trengganu and wasted a day of supposed to be “happy hours” at Pulau Redang.
Also, on the same day (mid of March 2008), not only the flight from Penang to Kuala Trengganu was delayed, we also met a bunch of unhappy passengers including foreigners with sour and long faces who faced the same bad experience whereby their flight from Penang to Pulau Langkawi was delayed too...Some of the passengers told me that they were paying RM300+ for a return ticket from Penang to Langkawi which is not really cheap for a low cost airline like Firefly Airline.
Trust me this is definitely not a good experience especially when you are expecting to have a great and relaxing vacation and enjoy your precious moment with your love one on the beach... and ended up talking to a bunch of unfriendly Firefly personnel (that I believe that they need to attend further training to improve their customer service skills).
It is not worth your vacation time talking to a bunch of inexperienced and irresponsible customer service personnel who can only offer 2 options to you when you are going to miss your last boat: (1) cancel your flight and get a refund or (2) reschedule your flight…They just ignore all the hassle, opportunity cost and inconvenience caused by the delay of the flights conveniently…
In view of this unpleasant incident to lose both monetary on additional hotel accommodation and loss of accommodation and vacation time at Pulau Redang, we have filed a complaint and request for compensation as advised by Firefly customer service personnel via email to feedback@fireflyz.com.my. To our surprise and disappointment, it takes 3-4 weeks for Firefly to respond and reject our claim with a simple note “Your request of compensation has been declined” and no feedback to our complaint.
Personally, I view this kind of service as irresponsible and would like to share our experience and suggest those who really stretch on their time for not trying your luck and taking the risk. It is not worth to waste both your valuable time and money this way....
By
WL, at Apr 14, 2008, 2:43:00 PM
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