AK5802 SIN-PEN 9 NOV 11 (ECONOMY)
Posted: 03 Dec 2011, 21:30
We had booked on to Air Asia for the simple reason that it was the cheapest and the times suited. My travelling companion who was our self-appointed travel agent in this respect rapidly learned that low cost carrier does not necessarily mean low cost fares. Easily known he doesn’t live in Ryanairland where all the add-ons soon bump up the fares. 
Before we left Singapore however we had a job to do. Since we were returning to Singapore for our flights home we decided to pack a bag of stuff that we didn’t want to cart around with us, such as our winter clothes we had travelled in, to leave it in the left luggage office in the airport. We deposited our bags in T1, paid the fee and headed off for check-in. Our checked bags were screened before we were allowed to enter the check-in area where we were quickly checked in. We had preselected 6D and F in the hope that no-one would be allocated the middle seat and our third travelling companion had requested 6A. We were quickly through Immigration and into the main shopping area where we lingered for a while before making our way to the gate area.
At the gate we went through security and into a large, airy gate area with views over the the ramp towards the runway. It was really was large considering that we were travelling on an A320 but I figured it was able to take an A380, which guess was confirmed when boarding when there was a second jetway marked “A380 ONLY”. Anyway it would certainly give the gate areas in T3 a run for their money.
In the fullness of time our plane arrived and was quickly turned around.
As a result there was no jostling, no scrum and we strolled on to the plane in leisurely fashion. However our hope that there would be no-one in 6E was quickly dashed as the passenger was already ensconced therein. Incidentally rows 1-5 are designated as “Hot Seats” by Air Asia which basically means priority boarding and disembarking, a higher fare and precious little else. There were very few takers on this flight. After take-off the cabin crew announced that they would be serving beverages which were complimentary but that food was buy on board. Air Asia allows passengers to pre-book and pay for hot meals which is marked on the e-ticket and they announced that these passengers would be served first. The guy in seat 6E had obviously pre-booked but when they brought it to him he asked for a carrier bag - the first aerial take-away! He also moved out of the seat and we thought he had gone to the loo, but no. He settled himself into one of the Hot Seats in the row in front. Ah well, we were happy with that too.
The flight was about an hour long - roughly the same as a Cork-LHR flight with the exception that there was no G&T on board.
Soon we were landing in Penang where a car awaited to bring us to our accommodation which one of us loved, one of us hated and I was somewhere in between!! 
