AIR ASIA – EASILY ONE OF THE SHIT 5 AIRLINE COMPANIES IN THE WORLD!!
I must say I’m absolutely delighted to bring you the list of the 5 Shittest Airline Companies today! I LOVED naming and shaming these horrible companies – if any of their reps are reading – you have SHIT companies and you tried to FUCK my travels up – you gave me abuse, you tried to ruin my travels, rip me off and you almost made me miss my best mates’ wedding and you offered no apology or compensation!!
Air Asia are so shit they even waste money on printing an apology!! How about a hotel room instead?
If you follow my blog and are upset by the blatant swearing in the title and in this article, then I do apologise for the profanities but there is anger within me typing these and these strong swear words are justified and necessary to get the point across – these really are 5 shit airline companies. I’m getting something off my chest while naming and shaming the 5 Shittest Airline Companies on the market. Please do yourselves a favour and avoid these ones. I’ve been on over 500 flights on my travels, and have had many ups and downs with flying, so it’s about time I write something about it. These companies are so shit, they need to be avoided. I’ve blacklisted them and you should knock them off too 😉
Flying is one of the worst parts of travel for me, but these 5 worst airline companies just add to how bad an experience it is!
1. TACA AIRLINES (PERU BASED)
Taca Airlines are based in Peru. On my South American trip in 2010 – 2011, after doing the pulsatingly brilliant Inca Trail, I stupidly booked a flight with Taca because the flight was SO CHEAP. They are a real budget airline and I ended up booking a flight from Cuzco to Lima which would have been cheaper and faster than the bus at the time. It wasn’t so in the end. It was a fucking nightmare. Here’s an overview…
TACA are shit – easily made it into the list of 5 worst airlines in the world!
I arrived at the airport 3 hours before my flight and checked my bag in. I paid my departure tax, went through security and went for breakfast in a restaurant in Cuzco Airport. The restaurant was opposite a TV screen with all flights on it. Odd though that my flight NEVER once appeared on that screen. I was the only foreigner around and was travelling alone so I went and asked the security guy where my flight was. This was 20 minutes before the departure. He said he had heard that the flight hadn’t left Lima yet (where it was coming from). Great so I’m checked in on a flight that is supposed to leave in 20 minutes but the plane itself won’t be here for at least another two hours. Then I realised I had a connection that I couldn’t make if I was 3 hours late. My next flight was due to be Lima to Quito.
My saga about the horrible company TACA was all bout lack of information. They didn’t even tell me my flight was delayed, cancelled or that in fact, my flight didn’t actually exist. They were just keeping my bag for no reason…
On the spur of the moment, I went back out through security and up to the Taca desk. Tacky Taca I called them. They said that they had no idea when my flight would be. Oh no problem I said as they have another flight in an hour doing the same route so put me on that one. Sorry, no can do it’s full. SO I Had to pay $200 US dollars on the spot to book a flight in 10 minutes time with another company. Not only that they tried to charge me twice for departure tax and Taca tried to claim I had already checked into their (non-existent) flight so couldn’t retrieve my bag. I got my bag back, flew to Lima and made my connection.
Taca are shit, I won’t ever use them again.
2. JETSTAR (budget airline owned by QANTAS, AUSTRALIA)
Jetstar are one of the world’s worst airline companies!
Despite initially loving their cheap kick-ass fares, Jetstar quickly proved their lack of customer service to me in 2011. I had started a new job and been lucky to be given a whopping THREE days off in my first month, just so I could fly all the way back to the UK to attend a wedding. One of my best mates as a child was Michael McClelland and so I wanted to be there in Belfast for his big day. It would also be my first time in Northern Ireland for some 800 days – my longest ever time away from my native land. So I booked 2 flights with Jet Star as it was just so cheap even with connections, I then booked another two flights with Air Asia and Easyjet meaning I could get home to Michael’s wedding, but would have 4 flights to take, a half day in Kuala Lumpur and a full day in Paris on route. Two cities I’d been to before, but hey I could see family and attend a wedding and keep my job as a school teacher in Hong Kong. All the flights were cheap. All looking good.
ON board my Jetstar Flight…half an hour later we were told to leave the plane, flight never took off and was cancelled. Had to find another way to my mates wedding.
I arrived at Hong Kong airport at 5am ish and got to the boarding gate for my Jetstar flight, which was due to leave at 9am. My schedule would be Hong Kong – SIngapore with Jetstar (an hour to change flights), Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (6 hours in KL), Kuala Lumpur to Paris (12 hours in Paris) and then Paris to Belfast. I’d be arriving in Belfast on the second day, all on a decent budget and half the price of doing Hong Kong – London and London – Belfast. But the first Jetstar flight was delayed. OK no problem, I waited and waited and still no news (a few hours after it was due to take off) then I was allowed on the plane but only because I was sat in a certain row. Those passengers in other rows were told they couldn’t board the flight and would have to collect their luggage back and be re-booked on the later flight. The reason given was that they didn’t have enough cabin crew to man a full flight. I got on the plane, sat in my seat and thought I was lucky. I was informed they would make sure I would get on a Singapore to Kuala Lumpur flight later on and be on time for my long haul Air Asia flight from KL to Paris. After 45 minutes sitting on the Jetstar plane, we are told to get off again. Something about losing our runway take off time slot. Cue loads of mad customers. By this time I had missed two connecting flights from Singapore to Malaysia and had now lost the money on two flights. However my Kuala Lumpur flight was still about 6 – 7 hours away so I asked Jetstar to put me on their KL flight which was due to leave in an hour. No sorry – that flight is full. They tried to offer me a later flight to Singapore but I told them to fuck off. I had no intention of going to Singapore on this trip, it was merely a stop over as the flights were cheap. I now boycotted any plan to be in Singapore and wanted to be in KL. I had lost. Hours of arguing and as I was already through security etc. I had no way to book another flight. Even if I did manage to get internet/phone and book another flight, I’d still have to go back out through customs, immigration and security and check into a new flight. I had a Hong Kong exit stamp. But I had yet to exit Hong Kong. At that point I abandoned the idea of going to Michael’s wedding. I would explain the situation to him and I was at a low ebb. Michael will probably be reading this for the first time as I never told him the full story (nor would I have wanted to – especially not on his wedding day!!). Then my girlfriend phoned and asked if I wanted her to book me on the next Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur flight. I said yes, and after a lot of hullabaloo I ended up swearing profusely at the Jetstar representatives, telling him I was heading back out to get checked in for a rival company’s flight.
Valuair is actually written on some of Jetstar’s planes! They’re one of the world’s worst airlines!
I got past security, got a nice lady to print off my new boarding pass, got another Hong Kong exit stamp and headed back to almost the same gate to board a brand new flight. I had paid about $200 for the new flight and had lost the money spent on the earlier flight. Jetstar offered NO FREE FOOD and NO COMPENSATION whatsoever. I haven’t used them since. Oh and my mate Michael got married and I was there. Guaranteed I had the worst trip to make it than anyone else at the wedding…great day though Mike 😉
3. AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS
OK so I’m including this company but they’re the best of this bad bunch to be honest – the onboard stewards were friendly and they eventually sorted me out. BUT here’s what they did during the only three flights I took with them:
– changed the time of my first flight THREE times
– changed the airport of my first flight (from Jorge Newberry to Ezeiza, Buenos Aires)
– cancelled one of my flights (the third flight)
– delayed the new flight they put me on (refusing to even give me a FREE COFFEE)
– and most ridiculous of all they later scheduled me onto a second flight which would leave before the first flight had landed. Their excuse for this was a computer error.
Aerolineas Argentinas – managed to cancel mu flight, delay my flight, change the airport and even book me on a second flight that I could NEVER get unless I’m Marty McFly!!
I got things sorted in the end with them, but I won’t use them again or recommend them.
4. CATHAY PACIFIC
They lost my bag in 2012 on a long haul flight from Hong Kong to Heathrow. When my bag didn’t arrive in Heathrow I had no time to waste as my connection to Belfast City Airport was in 55 minutes so I had no time to even complain. Again I have to thank my girlfriend who sourced my bag in the end. It was still in Hong Kong 3 days later and was found. Cathay Pacific offered NOTHING in compensation, but eventually delivered my bag (safe and sound) to my parents home where I was staying for a week.
Cathay Pacific manage to FIND my bag 3 days later only after excessive phone calls and my girlfriend pestering them from Hong Kong…
They’re supposed to be a high quality airline. They’re not. Avoid them. I am still waiting on compensation from them, about 3 years later!
5. AIR ASIA
Where do I start – Air Asia are fucking atrocious! I have been on about 7 – 8 Air Asia flights down the years and they have never ever once been on time. They never offer you any kind of compensation and their customer service level is shocking. I can’t begin to say how much I despise Air Asia. Please take my advice and NEVER use them. My recent Air Asia experience in Hong Kong Airport was actually the catalyst for this blog post. Here’s a quick overview of what happened.
My recent Air Asia flight was cancelled when it landed in the wrong airport. Bad weather conditions is fair enough, no hotel room and a night in the airport isn’t.
– I arrived at the airport and checked into my flight on time. It was a direct flight 20.05 pm Hong Kong to Kota Kinabalu. No mention of any ANY delay, so flight is on time then…
– Arrive at the departure gate to find that the flight STILL has no delay mentioned, yet the woman on the desk tells me I have time to buy a coffee (which I do) while we wait on news.
– I buy my coffee and come back to find a delay of almost 2 hours on the flight (OK with this – no problem as I don’t have a connection to make and the weather outside is brewing up a thunderstorm)
– The new scheduled departure time passes by and we still have no news. Word of mouth goes round that the plane we are due to fly on is still in the air. Great – well that means at least another 2 hours (it’s now getting near midnight so we’ll be flying on a different day)
– We find out the plane that was due to land in Hong Kong has now landed in Macau due to severe weather conditions (not such a big issue in fact but would be if you had a wedding to go to the next day)
– We are told our flight has been cancelled
– We are told the only compensation we can get is for them to pay towards a TAXI for us to head into the city and come back in the morning for the re-scheduled flight
– They have re-scheduled a flight for the next morning
– Oops again Air Asia – the re-scheduled flight on the next morning is leaving AFTER the flight to Kota Kinabalu that day (surely the original flight and the irate customers gets priority)
– We beg and beg for FREE food as compensation
– Why the hell would we get a taxi back into Hong Kong only to come back about 7-8 hours late for a flight (by the way they weren’t even offering a hotel either)
– We finally get 2 x 40 Hong Kong Dollar food vouchers each
– We are escorted back out through immigration and security and told we must re-collect our bags and check them in again!! (Hold on – we’ve already checked them in)
– We try in vain i n a few places to use these 40 Hong Kong Dollar vouchers. Nowhere accepts them.
– We try to sleep in the airport as there is now no real alternative
– Despite there being a few hotels at the airport (and comfortable lounges which won’t be full at night) we are refused a free night in a hotel or lounge (it reminded me of the contrast to my EXCELLENT experience with AeroSur in Bolivia – the same thing happened with the flight but they escorted us all by private minibus to a 4 star hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra to spend the night and had us on the first flight the next day – a great airline company by the way)
– The flight the next day is delayed twice and finally leaves, 15 hours after scheduled.
– The 15 hour delay meant some of the passengers had to cancel as they had weddings, functions and hikes booked for that particular day (similarly to my Jetstar shit experience)
– Air Asia are a shit airline company
Air Asia gave us meal and drinks coupons – that basically NO restaurant in the airport accepts! Smart move…
*** NUMBER 6 – BONUS BALL!! – TUNIS AIR
You thought it was only 5 SHIT airlines, but I’m now delighted to add TUNIS AIR to the sh*t list. They are by far the worst of this group. When I arrived at the airport in Tunis, TUNISIA after celebrating my 100th country, they said my flight was FULL.
Then they wouldn’t let any of us check in. I was flying to Algiers in Algeria. They claimed they had overbooked the aeroplane. Great. My short time in Algeria was going to be cut even shorter. Then when they magically found a flight big enough (rude inept staff by the way), they wouldn’t let me check my big bag in. I hated this idea. They were rude to me. I had paid for my flight ages ago and now I was told to take my bag to Excess Baggage and that I had just 45 minutes to board my flight. F**king fantastic.
By the Tunis Air counter with the inept staff
I get to the Excess Baggage and the rudest airport attendant of all time greets me. A Tunis Air wanker. He looks at my boarding pass and then tells me to put my backpack on the floor. Yes, on the floor not on the belt. I am immediately suspicious so myself and my girlfriend take numerous photos of my bag, the labels and me by the belt that I am not allowed to put my bag on. I race through departures only to find my flight is delayed by a further 2 hours now. At least by this stage the wanker should have put my bag through. I land in Algeria, and no sign of my bag – they tell me it didn’t arrive. Great. The next day I am flying again onward to Barcelona (due to ineptitude of the Algerian Visa officials in London I am on a transit visa). I arrive in Barcelona. Still no bag nor any explanation from TUNIS Air. I backpack through Spain for two weeks with the same clothes and bag and I smell disgusting. Tunis Air do not even contact me ONCE. I have to phone them and I clock up £100 worth of calls and up to £2000 worth of money owed due to problems from the lack of my backpack for the next month.
Tunis Air eejits lost my bag but the worst part is their non existent customer service and rudeness
Eventually they send my backpack to Belfast City George Best Airport, so I then have to book another flight back there in the hope of picking it up! Crazy stuff. In short – Tunis Air still owe me £2000 and are refusing to even answer my calls and emails. I hope they go bankrupt. Avoid using them please.
Pay up now Tunis Air
So fellow travellers, please let me know what airline companies you think are terrible. This is my list of 6 shit airline companies, all from personal travel experiences. I won’t be booking with them again or recommending them. And a travel writer and blogger is exactly the person they don’t need to upset. As a person who has worked in the travel industry, the customer service industry and in Public Relations during my life, I’m fairly qualified and knowledge to know that these 5 shit airline companies suck. I worked on car ferries dealing with customers day in day out for 2 seasons (Sorry for the delay, here’s a free coffee), I have worked in countless bars and restaurants where the customer comes first. (Your beer isn’t good? No problem I’ll get you another one) and I know how to do Public Relations (I’ve done a year working with top brands in London and I’ve got a degree in the subject!!). I would like to mention that Aerosur (Bolivia), Ryanair (Ireland), Air Canada (Canada) and British Airways (England) have all been good airline companies to fly with.
I will be doing a few more negative posts in future as all my travel stuff just seems a bit too happy and we all know that a lifestyle of travel isn’t really like that! It’s a life of ups and downs and I want to give you the good and bad stuff from my journeys.
All comments welcome below – and please do yourselves a favour and AVOID THESE 6 SHIT AIRLINES!!!
A few videos of my airport problems with these 5 shit airline companies:
TRYING TO GET MY BAG BACK FROM TACA IN PERU:
AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS PROBLEMS AT USHUAIA AIRPORT:
JETSTAR PROBLEMS:
AIR ASIA PROBLEMS:
Oh shit we are scheduled to fly on #1, 3, & 5!!! We have already flown Air Asia 2 times, Bangkok-Phuket and Phuket-Bali and didnt have any real issues…cross your fingers stays this way. We have flights booked with them for December with my parents for Bangkok-Phuket, Krabi-KL, and KL-Siem…….my parent’s wont due well with issues….. I know #1 & 3 we are flying using United Miles so we didn’t really pay for the flights, just hope we dont have issues. We passed on Jetstar flights and have AIr Newzealand & Virigin flights (there luggage $$ are crazy). Will keep you posted on all those flights! Thanks for sharing your horror stories! Sucks about the friends wedding!!
I wish you guys good luck – this post was more tongue in cheek and anger in the heat of the moment! All travel companies have issues sometimes, even bus and train companies but airlines seem to get it the worst. I’ve had good experiences with Air Asia and Jetstar too, but for some reason the negative ones (cancelled flights and no freebies) really outweigh the positives! Safe travels. Jonny
Wow! “scheduled me onto a second flight which would leave before the first flight had landed.” and then to claim a computer error? Well computers don’t make those kind of errors on their own. It does take an end-user’s keystrokes. Hate those types of excuses.
Jonny, my favorite airline so far is… ASIANA – I’d fly them exclusively if they handled domestic US flights. *laugh* They bring back the glam to travel – yes, even in coach/economy class.
Domestically I prefer American – while all the US airlines suck, American was up-front about an in-flight emergency. The pilot explained the situation, explained our two choices and his final decision. American was well organized once on the ground – took care of our luggage, rooms, meals, phone calls, sent us a new plane and topped it off with an award of 25k FF miles 48 hours after the incident! They took care of each and every one of us. I’ll add that ground crews and immigration officers in Gander and Barcelona were fabulous to work with during that crazy weekend and the graveyard hours they worked to keep us as comfy as possible and get us where we wanted to be.
Shit will happen, it’s undeniable and unavoidable. What happens to cause the problem, challenge, issue, isn’t as important to me as what is done once the issue is recognized. When traveling (or at home), a little GOOD customer service goes a long way, sometimes even rtw! *wink, grin*
I raise my glass and spin an old Irish blessing –
May you never experience head winds,
May turbulence be minimal,
May all your immigration officials be courteous,
May your ground crews be efficient,
AND And until we meet… May the travel gods cradle you in their palms !
Wow Maria! What a long reply! Yes Aerolineas had me leaving Buenos Aires before I was due to arrive! They amended it in the end but I had to spend the night in the airport (well I didn’t have to but I’d already been to Buenos Aires and no point heading in for a few hours at night then straight back to the airport!).
American Airlines were always fine with me.
Customer service is all I want (and some FREEBIES!).
I have never heard that Irish Blessing – must have been away too long!
What about ryanair? I’ve never fly with any of your list but ryanair piss me off a few times…..
Thanks for your comments Manu!! I LOVE Ryanair as it happens – flew all over Europe with them and they only had a flight cancelled on me once (due to snowstorms), and they provided food and drink. They are a budget airline, and they deliver exactly what they promise – a cheap flight to a destination. Haven’t travelled in Europe for a few years now, but will use them again next time I hit up Europe! Safe travels, Jonny
Thanks for the tips but I have to say, I am flying around Australia and use Jetstar all the time … yes they leave late sometimes, but so do Virgin and Qantas, yes I had one flight cancelled, but the gave me a $50 voucher and upgraded me on the next flight out, which i did not mind as i had booked the redlight cos it was cheap lol, got 2 hours more sleep. I have never had an once of trouble with Jetstar customer service and I honestly choose them over Virgin for half the price. Just saying … not all experiences are bad.
Thanks for your comment John and it’s an each to their own I must say!! So I can’t disagree – Jetstar and Air Asia have messed up the most so they had to make the list. Safe travels, didnt even consider Virgin or Qantas – both middle of the road to me…Jonny
I definitely take no offence to the swearing. At the end of the day, it’s just words, and if it helps you express your feelings, then more power to you. I don’t think I’ve flown with these companies to my recollection… but I flew with one airline (I won’t name it because I didn’t have a negative experience and I can’t remember for sure which one it was) when I was in South America, and my Brazilian friend warned me about them… apparently they had a really bad accident rate. Wonderful.
I would also add ryanair to this list. I know some people swear by this company, but every time I take ryanair I want to claw my eyes out. Also, I did a case study on ryanair in business school several years ago, and we watched a video in which the CEO was interviewed and he wouldn’t even say where he sourced his planes from… he didn’t say this but basically my take away was that they are shitty second hand planes… and that’s that.
One airline I WOULD recommend is LAN Chile! Use them next time! Great company!
Thanks for the comment Colleen, are you from Winnipeg? My cousin lives there and I was there a long time ago but loved it! I like Ryanair as they are cheap and they admit they are cheap and that’s all there is to it. I’m cheap as well and I admit it, but from my job history I know a thing or two about customer service and these airlines didn’t have it. I agree LAN in Chile and Argentina are good. Safe travels, Jonny
I have to admit, your swearing makes the story a lot more personal, and hence it makes the reader feel your frustration. However, with regard to Air Asia’s compensation (or lack of), I have to remind you that they are a budget airline, which means it’s as good as taking your local bus from point A to point B. That’s their job description, and if we’re off the mark (a little or a lot), well, that’s just too bad. If I am attending an important event, I’ll spare no expenses to get a ticket on a full service airline for the peace of mind. But maybe not Cathay Pacific *wink*
Too true Fred – Air Asia are seriously budget and I’m aware of that. However Ryanair are also budget and I love them. It’s about customer service to me, and Air Asia sucked, Ryanair don’t! Safe travels. Jonny
Oh damn, I’m so sorry for you bad experiences.
I flew with Air Asia, Jetstar, Cathay and also Taca, never had a bad experience. I had about 500 flights in my life, only twice my backpack didn’t arrive, but they delivered it the day after. I guess I’m very lucky. I never missed a connection flight, though I’m really careful in booking 2 flights in different airlines the same day. I plan at least 4-5 hours between, otherwise it’s too risky if you book on 2 carriers.
Good luck, hope something like this won’t happen again to you.
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Thanks for your comment Sab! More of a rant and trying to get my own back than anything else – trying to build up some traffic for this post now and hope the airline companies read it!! Just checking out your site now! Safe travels. Jonny
wow mate, i have to admit you’ve had some bad luck with airlines! i have to agree with you about aerolineas argentinas and airasia. i can’t believe aerolineas doesn’t issue e-tickets. it’s like they’re in the stone age of aviation. and while i’ve never had an issue with airasia, i’m sure one day they’ll screw me over.
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Thanks for your comment Steve – yes a bit of a personal rant here from my bad experiences with these 5 airlines! I wasted a few days in Argentina back in 2010 with Aerolineas so much so I missed out on a load of sightseeing and had a bad opinion of the country as well! We all have problems with some airlines – its the nature of travel. Good luck in your next adventures! Jonny
I have flown with Jetstar quite a few times and it seems like most of their employees are hating walking around in the gammy orange uniform! The seat have no pockets either so you have nowhere to store stuff and it is basically a bus with wings!
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We have flown Air Asia at least 30 times and only once had a delayed flight. We even flew Astrlaoa to the UK with them and couldn’t complain. You mist have been unlucky
Michele recently posted…A Day in Johor Baru
I agree Adam – “bus with wings” but if it gets you from A to B then we’ll just pay the money and take it. They also didnt have beer on board, wonder if that policy has changed yet…safe travels. Jonny
Thanks for the comment Michele – totally angry with them because their customer service was so poor and we spent 15 hours in an airport (at least a bed or a coffee would have been nice). After hours of abusing them, myself and a few other customers finally got a meal out of them. It wasnt worth the hassle believe me – we should have just paid for our own meal and saved the time. But I had to write about them on here – seriously hope someone from Air Asia reads this. They’re shit! Safe travels. Jonny PS – wow Air Asia have a UK base now?? ANother one for me to avoid. I thought Tehran was as far as they went…
You’ve definitely had some bad luck there Jonny!!!!
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Thanks for your comment Bethaney – all part of the journey though! Safe travels. Jonny
Funny how you put TACA Airlines on the “Worst” list and give kudos to Air Canada. I used them in Peru a couple years ago, but was also doing a three week tour with G Adventures. We had no issues with them whatsoever, though. But, your experience with them is inexcusable.
As for Air Canada, I took them for a flight from San Francisco – Toronto about 5 1/2 years ago coming back from a Sales retreat my company was hosting in San Fran. When I came home, I was tired from the “Red Eye” flight and accidentally left my camera on the plane. I didn’t realize it until I got in the cab and the driver went 5 minutes up the road. Got back to the Toronto Airport, went to Air Canada’s Customer Service center, and they miraculously found my camera still sitting on my seat. Keep in mind that at this point it was about 1 hour since I got off the plane. I thought for sure it would have been stolen, so I was extremely lucky here … or so I thought.
So, I get my camera back, count my blessings, and start proceeding towards the exit. I go to check some of my photos on my Memory card, and wouldn’t you know it, the Memory card is stolen!!
I really thought it was odd that my camera was found, but someone decided to take the Memory card. It was an 8GB card, which was one of the highest memory cards you could get at the time (January 2008) and they weren’t cheap, either, going for about $50 – $60 Canadian. I can’t imagine it was any one other than an Air Canada employee because a regular passenger wouldn’t have time to hold up the line to look for my Memory card and steal it before getting off the plane.
So, I went back to Customer Service, and hinted that it had to be an Inside job. The Service Agent was appalled and insulted that I would suggest a thing and said he had no course of action here because it is impossible to prove. True, but it did bother me a lot that someone would take that much time and effort to steal a memory card. Like many travelers, it isn’t so much that my card was stolen, but that I’ve lost those trip memories captured on the card. In retrospect, I wish my camera was stolen so I wouldn’t despise Air Canada so much!
Unfortunately, I will be using them for my flight to Brazil next June because they are the cheapest airline for me to take during World Cup. On top of that, I have TWO AIRPORT TRANSFERS – not flight transfers – AIRPORT TRANSFERS – to take en route to Rio (one in Washington, D.C and one in Sao Paolo). For the love of God, I really hope Air Canada can redeem themselves here for me and get me to Rio in time!!! I’m doing another G Adventures tour, so it is crucial that Air Canada doesn’t screw up here.
However, I will give your readers an update on how that goes about 9 months from now. 😉
Horrendous about the memory card Ray. Cant believe they stole it – must have been an employee – you’re right. In fact if you had to choose between having the camera and having the memory card, you’d choose the memory card right? Its almost 24 hours since Turkish Airlines lost my bag so I’m cursing them like hell and will be adding them to this list in time. Safe travels, Jonny
I’ve flown with Air Asia a few times and never had a problem with them. Usually good prices as well,although I don’t like all the add-ons. For me, worst customer service has been with British Airways, which is why I haven’t used them for years. Best customer service – Virgin Airlines. I love how you’ve flown Air Asia 7-8 times despite calling them one of the worst in the world. Are you a glutton for punishment? LOL.
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Thanks for the comment Manfred – Opposite for me -I LOVE British Airways HATE Air Assia. I flew a load of times with Air Assia before I had the really bad experience but wont again (the first few times they got a few things wrong, but I persisted as it happens to the best companies too). Another of my favourites are Ryanair – the only time they ever cancelled my flight they gave us all free food and drinks vouchers even though they are a mega budget airline. The funniest part of the story for me is that Cathay Pacific had the cheek to email me last year (they had never seen this story) and ask to use some of my images in one of the magazines, so I charged them for it. Safe travels, Jonny
My worst flight experience was with US based Spirit Airlines which was 4 hours delayed on a red eye from San Jose, Costa Rica to Ft Lauderdale and everyone missed their connecting flights which they nonchalantly said could be rescheduled 3 DAYS LATER?!??!?!?!!! I flew standby and ended up spending over 24 hours getting from Costa Rica to JFK. Of course no free food or accommodation, not even an apology. Somehow I’ve had decent experiences with Air Asia… knock on wood…
Thanks for the comment Camille – I’ve never flown with Spirit Airlines, 3 days later is crazy especially if you are on a short trip and dont have the time. Its each to their own with airlines – we all have differing good and bacd experiences often down to the staff dealing with delays etc. Safe travels, Jonny
I cannot agree more! I had EXACTLY the same story with Taca – adding that I had to stay at the airport for 2 days due to the bag lost and huge fees… never again haha 🙂
I’d also add Air France to this list…
Thanks for the comment Anna – yeah I wont use TACA ever again. Safe travels. Jonny
Haha Jonny I have indeed just read for the first time the story of your ordeal trying to get to my wedding! Good work on actually making it after all that…and glad you enjoyed!
Ha ha! Thanks for the comment Mike! Your wedding was my first time in Europe in 2 years as well – that was a crazy trip back to Northern Ireland for me and yet I only stayed for 2 days – had to be back in Hong Kong Monday morning 8am – went straight from the airport to work. Hopefully not experience any crazy travel moments like that again! Hope to catch up soon! Jonny
Well, I have another Air Canada horror story to add to the list since they nearly cost me my World Cup trip to Brazil! I was supposed to fly from Toronto – NYC with them to catch a connecting flight with their former Star Alliance partner, TAM Airlines. From there, I was supposed to fly with TAM from NYC – Sao Paolo – Rio where I was going to meet up with my tour group the next day.
A last minute cancelled flight to New York plus lazy Air Canada baggage claim handlers leaving our bags on the plane for over an hour lead to a chain of disastrous events that cost me the first two days of my trip, including a couple of pre-paid hotel stays and flights with this packaged World Cup tour I booked 18 months ago. The tour itself was great. Air Canada – not so much!
It is too long of a story to post here about all the fuck ups I experienced with Air Canada, but I would just like to express my extreme hatred for the shittiest airline in North America and warn your readers to avoid them at all costs!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ray recently posted…World Cup & Nearly Bust!
Hey Ray – that sounds crazy – get your own back on them and hope you get some compensation for that and had fun on the tour and the World Cup. Safe travels. Jonny
I usually had good experiences with Air Asia.
Flying with VietJet from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi though, was a nightmare. First a 2-hour delay, then we saw someone still repairing the plane while we were boarding and finally, the whole plane went dark during the safety instructions… Thanks god we made it to Hanoi at the end.
Hi Carina – sounds like a bit of a mare there with VietJet – we all have our flight issues down the years and with differing views of companies! Safe travels. Jonny
“Professionally run airline” – what a joke, have you tried calling their so called customer service reps ? . Repeated changes of scheduled flights, led to us accepting the supposed airlines offer of a refund, six weeks and multiple phone calls later, we were reliably informed by the call centre that nothing had been done so far, and that we would need to submit an e- form if we wanted to escalate the issue. …. Asked for a team leader, apparently none exist. Asked for service, apparently that doesn’t exist either! This ” airline ” is clearly using delay tactics to try and avoid settling its debts, absolutely appalling.
Do not book, let alone attempt to fly with this “professional airline”, your money might not be the only thing you lose.
Hi Paul – thanks for the comment! Totally agree – far too many airlines out there that deserve to be named and shamed – don’t be shay and name the airlines though, like I’ve done. Safe travels. Jonny
You people are so indulgent, kind hearted and nice!
I am 66 years old and I say that Air Canada is the most conceited , lying and exploitative of all – the worse they are, the more they publish fabricated reports of “Number One in North America”
The hypocrisy makes me vomit – truly!
I told my wife – stay away from them – but no – well she just got her comeuppance once again!
Flight 895 from Milan to Toronto – advertised as non-stop but not as being habitually erratic.
Today – Oct 22, 2016 – 3 hour late!
This is what happens when they work with the Federal Government and they were able to bankrupt all the other carriers in Canada – they are now untouchable!
I feel so bad about Canada preaching about Russia and Nagorno Karabakh and Mongolia – about corruption, greed,lack of human rights.
Try being detained by Air Canada , an agent of the multi-national Government of Canada and having them urinate on your vacation or business travel plans with impunity!
Hi Jean, thanks for the comment and for you sharing your story with me about horrible airlines. It’s a crazy world and as customers we deserve the right to moan. I’m still waiting on my $1,000 + payment from Tunis Air. Excrement exits! Safe travels. Jonny
Absolutely agree about Air Asia. Animals are treated better when shipped than AA treat passengers.
Hi Betty, thanks for the comment and safe travels. Jonny
For me its HKExpress. My flight got cancelled and booked me for 5 days later….which cuts my trip in Half to Hong kong. I then look at their website online to see that they have open days on the current day and some time slots..yet every time I called them they said it was all booked. So they allow bookings on a full flight? Are they scamming people? When I told the staff on the phone that, she told me well you can try and book that and cancel your current flight…so I have to pay 3 times what I originally paid on a flight I booked 6 months prior to gamble and then proceed to get my money back on my canceled flight? That’s a giant fuck you. What a bunch of con artists. How can they treat people like that and lie to them.
Hi Colin, thanks for the comment and for checking out my blog. Unfortunately I have been suffering from depression caused by a liar, the last few years and I haven’t been checking all comments and messages or replying as much as before. Sorry to hear about what happened in Hong Kong, I hope it will be better next time. Stay safe. Jonny
Whatever you do in Europe, never EVER book TAP. You will be sh*it and pi*ssed on, scammed and treated like the lowest filth.
I am a regular business class traveller and TAP is really the most appalling and scandalous operation I have seen in the west. Don’t ever let their “cheap prices” fool you. Relative to what you get, it is still MASSIVELY overpriced.
Hi Alex, thanks for the tip! Safe travels. Jonny