I flew with this airline as they did part of the European continental route I had with my KLM ticket.
I had never heard of or travelled with this airline, so I had no expectations. This is a low-cost airline, similar to Jestar in Australia.
The plane was pretty good, very nice colour scheme and very clean, but the plane had small leg room in Economy Class, no free meals, and no entertainment program whatsoever.
The flight attendants were most helpful and friendly.
If you want a cheap friendly flight this is your airline. If you want a bit of comfort I would go elsewhere.
To be fair, I had a good flight with them.
I had an inter-European flight recently and the flights I could find in Australia were too expensive for my budget and the departure times too early in the morning to be convenient. I browsed the net and came across this airline on one of Expedia international sites. The company also sells tickets directly through their website. I searched forums because, truly, the last thing I want is to expend my money on a flight with an unreliable airline, but the reviews were good. So, I dived in and flew with them.
My experience with NA was good taking into account that his is a low-cost airline. It was a 4-hour flight, and the plane was as good as those I have frequently taken with Suiss or Luftansa, tiny space even in Business Class, therefore, nothing anybody in Australia would get excited about.
The flight was punctual regarding departure and arrival.
Like Jetstar they don't give you anything free, not food or water, but they sell some hot and cold snacks and drinks. They are dreadful and very expensive, so avoid. On the bright side of things, they allow you to take your own water and food aboard, so you don't need to buy anything unless you really want.
Some of the staff were really helpful and friendly, while others did their best not to interact with customers and, when they did, they were like robots and unhelpful. So I experienced both sides of the Norwegian coin.
The only in-flight entertainment was shown in those TVs that hang from the plane's ceiling -- a mix of cartoons and funny videos. Thank Gosh for my tablet.
Overall, Norwegian Airlines is good value for money. I would have paid way more for the same flight with a normal airline, get similar or identical seats, get (at best) a free snack and service would vary as well. So it was worth flying with Norwegian Airlines, despite some of the unfriendly staff being aboard with us humans. I will certainly fly with them again if the occasion arises.
Norwegian Airlines specializes in flights to/from Scandinavia, with regular inter-European flights and with some destinations in the USA as well.
I travelled domestic with Virgin Australia and twice was enough not to bother again.
The only thing I liked was their pricing, but the rest was average or not good. I expected the service on board to be basic, due to the pricing, and it was, but I also found that customer service was poor.
There is a young-and-fabulous culture in Virgin that I don't like. When I travel I want the culture of I-am-really-helpful-to-customers, but I found I-don't-give-a-dam-about-you attitude instead that put me off immediately. The thing is that the staff were very friendly and smiley, just not into customers unless you were a toddler or a kid. I ordered a paid meal, and they forgot about it. I could see the staff 'too busy' chatting among themselves, so I had to order it again.
They have good prices if you don't carry any check-in luggage, but their flights are basic and Virgin has more probabilities of cancelling a flight than other companies (together with Tiger Air). Their pricing is similar to Jetstar and Qantas, but they aren't as good to me. So they are at the bottom of my domestic preferred airlines in Australia.
I spent a month in Malaysia about 5 years ago and booked all my International and domestic flights with Air Asia. This was before the accidents that have given a bad name to the airline. To be honest, very reputed airlines have had also accidents, and others had been put down by terrorists, so you never know when you are going to die, or a plane you travel in is going to fall, even if you pay first class in the best airline in the world there is no guarantee. Call it destiny. Call it bad luck. Call it you have a heart attack. Whatever.
My experience with Air Asia was fantastic all the way, and I took plenty of domestic flights plus the Perth-Kuala Lumpur-Perth. I booked everything online through their website, way in advance, and I managed my bookings online. Everything was stated clearly and I knew exactly what I was paying for, the seat area and type I was getting and the meal I would have on-board because you can pre-order those at very discounted prices if you want. Also, you can book no check-in luggage but then change your mind and upgrade to check-in luggage, or choose a number of kilos for the check-in luggage and them upgrade because you are carrying more than initially thought. You can do that online as well. I actually did.
This is a budget airline. As you can expect, you will pay extra money for premium seats and for meals on board. However, their planes and the service on board was decent, the punctuality was great, and the pricing was awesome. I did not feel I was travelling with a bad company nor did I have bad flights or anything that disrupted my action-packed holidays.
Air Asia has its own budget airport in Kuala Lumpur, so you don't land on the International airport there. However, this is decently-sized airport, well communicated, with basic services and a good information system.
I would certainly use Air Asia again when travelling to/fro Asia and within Asia as they have an excellent network of destinations in Asia.
I thought this budget airline was better than Virgin Australia, and similar to Jetstar, at times better.
This was my experience with them. Very good.
Having said that, Air Asia is a budget airline, you know. Personally, I take for granted that this airline, like any other budget airline, won't be good if problems arise, so I always get travel insurance with comprehensive cover. I do even when I travel with good airlines, even more when I travel with budget airlines as their compensation policies and their ability or willingness to help customers when problems arise is not good most of the time. If you travel with Air Asia you just need travel insurance to go with it as it will give you peace of mind.
Jetstar Australia, despite being a low-cost carrier, does a great job without being cheap in service. They travel all over Australia, and to a good number of Asian countries, plus New Zealand and the USA (just Honolulu). I have never used them for International flights, just for domestic ones within Australia.
Their website is easy to navigate, allows you to book a flight and manager it afterwards with great easiness.
Prices are super-cheap if you book flights without check-in luggage, just hand luggage. In general, even if you have check-in luggage, pricing is very good. Prices go up, also, depending on hours of departure, the most inconvenient being the cheapest. But you expect this to be the case, no?
The planes are as comfortable -or uncomfortable- as any other plane you take if you fly economy class. Yes, a tin of sardines, not good for tall people, medium people or small people. Still, OK. My experience has always been excellent regarding punctuality within Australia. It might sound superficial, but I love the crew uniforms and the mix of colours that the airline uses; I think they give a serious but trendy image of the company.
The crew are efficient and very helpful at organising the on-board luggage in the cabin, which can be tricky, because everybody seems to bring fully packed mini-not-that-mini hand luggage. Me included!
You need to pay for your meals and drinks on board. However, Jetstar flight meals are tasteless, tiny and overpriced; nothing you would want to spend your money on, unless you buy chips or nibbles. However, you can eat before boarding and/or taking a sandwich, cookies, nibbles and (not smelly, please!) food with you. If you are flying domestic, don't waste your money on their food.
My main complaint about Jetstar would be that the crew is matter of fact, a bit pushy at times, and not that smiley. They do a great job, but a bit of more friendliness wouldn't hurt anybody. A final thing that annoys me a bit is the fact that, at least in Perth WA, we usually get to/from the plane from/to the airport through the tarmac, up/down steep stairs, luggage in hand, instead of using one of those covered jet bridges that make a whole of difference.
Jetstar Australia is a decent low-cost carrier that does what one could expect from them. I'd rather flight with Jetstar than with Virgin because, for similar or identical prices, you get better service and a more caring and efficient crew. That is my experience. However, I think, overall, Qantas is still cheaper for domestic if you take into account what they offer for their pricing.
SOMETHING TO BE AWARE OF
Whether you book through Jetstar's own website, Expedia or through any other online booking site, Jetstar will charge you, just because nobody is stopping them, 7+ bucks in fees just for paying with your debit/credit card, which, according to new Australian legislation is abusive and even illegal. I recently booked a trip that has the departure with Qantas and the return with Jestar merely for schedule reasons, and Qantas charged me only 2 bucks for the credit card payment. Really, this sort of things unnerve me and the law should prevent this from happening.
