Most outrageous, horrific, shocking, upsetting travel experience of my life today (4-29-17). AirAsia denied me boarding on Flight 279, an Airbus 320 from Brunei (BWN) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) because my two small backpacks weighed in at Gate 7 at a combined 14.9 kg (32.8 pounds). The gate agents said the COMBINED limit for the allowed two carry-on pieces is 7 kg (15.4 pounds). This was not clear on my ticket (purchased online from kiwi.com). I read it as 7 kg per piece; they insisted it is 7 kg TOTAL. After lengthy argument, the options presented were for me to A) throw away 7.9 kg (17.4 pounds) of my computer and camera equipment, food, toiletries, reading materials, and other items in my two carry-on backpacks; or B) pay an overweight fee (I had already paid online to check a small suitcase weighing 24 kg). There was no way I could dispose of 17.4 pounds of items, so I finally relented and agreed to their ludicrous ransom demand of B$70 (US$50.10) “heavy hand luggage” fee. I handed the gate agent my MasterCard and she responded, “Cash only.” I opened my empty wallet to show her, “I don’t have any cash. I’m leaving Brunei. Why would I have 70 Brunei dollars in cash?” To my utter disbelief, she then radioed the ramp to offload my checked suitcase and said I was being denied boarding. Several minutes later, the A320 pushed back from the gate without me aboard -- after a 15-minute delay due to my situation and that of several others. Some passengers were forced by AirAsia to abandon their clothes, food, and even entire suitcases on the floor at Gate 7 because they did not have cash to pay the “heavy hand luggage” fee. Total, absolute, head-spinning insanity. AirAsia had no supervisor on duty at BWN today (it has just two flights a day so it is a small station). … Please spread the outrage - DO NOT EVER FLY AIRASIA! Demand their polices change to fall in line with international aviation standards. I have flown on 985 flights aboard 77 different airlines, and I have never encountered the mayhem I experienced today with AirAsia. This madness has to end. Passengers deserve to be treated with respect. There is no reason to have a ludicrously low weight limit for carry-on luggage (such limits do not exist in the USA - the only restrictions are on the size of the carry-on suitcase plus personal item allowed to be carried aboard). The only reason I can see behind this policy is AirAsia’s desire to force customers to pay more money for checked luggage. There is no rational basis to restrict carry-on bags to 3.5 kg (7.2 pounds) each (assuming a passenger uses his allotment of two carry-on items). And even if you insist on this kind of senseless policy to fleece your customers, then at least get with the times and have a way to accept electronic payments at the gate! If you can’t accept someone’s card payment, then you waive the fee and allow them to board with the ticket he has already purchased. You do not refuse to board the customer because you are technologically inept and don’t have a card swiper at the gate in an international airport.
26 авг 2024
