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Malaysia`s Firefly Competes with Air Asia, Beats Singapore`s Tiger Hands Down
Firefly shows that a first class airline with excellent customer service at low cost fares really is possible - contradicting the mantra of Tiger Airways with its sub-zero customer service. Photo: 9M-FYE delivered December last year opened the new Penang-Johor Bahru route May 1
<!-- top inline ad end --> <!-- google_ad_section_start -->The addition of 4 new Firefly routes with many more planned in the months to come is very welcome news to business travelers and tourists alike. In the age of 'low-cost' air travel, usually the low cost is hidden behind lots of extra charges, punitive restrictions, and low grade or even no customer service. Not so with Firefly.
We flew on the first maiden flight on the Johor Bahru to Penang route launched May 1st, and were as all past experiences with Firefly, highly impressed with the service: from booking, through check-in, to in-flight experience. Let us share with you what makes Firefly so different from its competitors, both at the higher end (Air Asia) and of course at the opposite end of the extreme (Tiger Airways, Ryan Air).
Readers will find this first point to believe as it is truly amazing: we called firefly booking and help number in Malaysia at +60378454543 and even during lunch time on a weekday, the call was answered straight off in under 15 SECONDS. Contrast that to Tiger Airways, who simply never answer their calls, or Air Asia, where you wait in a long queue.
Checking in was a breeze, with convenient location of Firefly check-ins to avoid long walks and delays. No doubt Malaysia's national airline MAS being majority share-holder may have something to do with this, whilst Air Asia as a private owned airline in competition may have handicaps on such issues which may be related to costs or airport permissions.
On Firefly, you are not restricted to the annoying 15kg checked in baggage limitation, which makes using a low-cost carrier an expensive affair if connecting to an international flight: Tiger Airways, majority owned by Singapore's SIA and Europe's notorious low-cost carrier Ryan Air, charges $15 Singapore for each extra kilo of weight above 15kg. Firefly charge a mere RM 15 per kg above 20kg, that is less than half of the excess weight charges of Tiger (S$1 = RM 2.30).
Check in staff are cheerful and friendly, as are the beaming ground staff who guide passengers to the aircraft. Check in is no fuss and fast, a nice contrast to Air Asia's special 2 queue system where you pay extra money for a hastle-free faster check-in. Everyone on Firefly is in the same VIP line. But on board you are in for yet more welcome surprises.
In a welcome small comfort that low-cost carriers charge for at a high price, everyone on Firefly is given a welcome cup full of orange juice, and 3 chocolate chip cookies. Free of charge. Without exception, on every flight.
That may sound like a small thing, but frequent travelers know that it is not. It is one of the many areas that "low-cost" airlines use to make extra high bucks so that your flight more often than not turns out in price similar to that of a full-cost airline. Or in the case of Tiger as reported by countless of our readers along with supporting evidence, a bad experience of a life-time with no recourse available.
The occupancy on the maiden JB to Penang flight was only 53% - somewhat lower than predicted. This was surprising given that May 1st was a public holiday for May Day and both Air Asia and on the ground bus routes were all fully booked with many travelers unable to leave JB by public transport. This is probably due to the fact that Firefly does not spend much money on direct marketing and advertising and so this new development may not have been known to many prospective fliers.
The Penang to Johor-Bahru flight leaves Penang daily at 6pm arriving in JB at 7.20pm with the JB to Penang leg departing Johor Bahru at 7.40pm and arriving at 9pm in Penang. The price is currently RM 140 one-way even on same-day bookings, and competes favourably with Air Asia's pricing which is around RM 180 if booked at short notice. The flight takes slightly longer as Firefly uses comfortable ATR72-500 (212 A) turbo prop aircraft, which are environmentally much friendlier and quiet, but fly at a slower speed and are thus great for short-haul flights around the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand region.
Firefly saves money on marketing and advertising to give back to its customers by way of service, and uses contests with free tickets and other marketing methods to promote itself. It certainly is not cutting back on customer service pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight, which our experienced travel reviewer who has traveled some 60 countries on countless airlines has found second to none.
Firefly bridge the gaps throughout Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, with additional routes in the region including Singapore being added in the months to come.
---------------------------
Latest news update at Singapore News Alternative:
1. Out of the world logic in reducing MRT train frequency when swine flu pandemic alert reaches red
2. Malaysia`s Firefly Beats Singapore`s Tiger Hands Down On Customer Service
3. Tiger boast: "We’re still the fastest growing airline in Australia"
4. GIC's Struggling Australia GPT Seeks To Raise US$1.24 Billion To Pay Down Debt
5. US debt on default path
6. Singapore to Refine Islamic Finance Rules to Boost Industry
7. Singapore Air Force pilots to train in Idaho
8. Macau to learn from Singapore on water-saving
9. Singapore's National Broadband Network progresses
10. Singapore firms urged to retain existing manpower while cutting costs
11. Singapore decides no one worthy of top sportsman
.
Malaysia`s Firefly Competes with Air Asia, Beats Singapore`s Tiger Hands Down
Firefly shows that a first class airline with excellent customer service at low cost fares really is possible - contradicting the mantra of Tiger Airways with its sub-zero customer service. Photo: 9M-FYE delivered December last year opened the new Penang-Johor Bahru route May 1
<!-- top inline ad end --> <!-- google_ad_section_start -->The addition of 4 new Firefly routes with many more planned in the months to come is very welcome news to business travelers and tourists alike. In the age of 'low-cost' air travel, usually the low cost is hidden behind lots of extra charges, punitive restrictions, and low grade or even no customer service. Not so with Firefly.
We flew on the first maiden flight on the Johor Bahru to Penang route launched May 1st, and were as all past experiences with Firefly, highly impressed with the service: from booking, through check-in, to in-flight experience. Let us share with you what makes Firefly so different from its competitors, both at the higher end (Air Asia) and of course at the opposite end of the extreme (Tiger Airways, Ryan Air).
Readers will find this first point to believe as it is truly amazing: we called firefly booking and help number in Malaysia at +60378454543 and even during lunch time on a weekday, the call was answered straight off in under 15 SECONDS. Contrast that to Tiger Airways, who simply never answer their calls, or Air Asia, where you wait in a long queue.
Checking in was a breeze, with convenient location of Firefly check-ins to avoid long walks and delays. No doubt Malaysia's national airline MAS being majority share-holder may have something to do with this, whilst Air Asia as a private owned airline in competition may have handicaps on such issues which may be related to costs or airport permissions.
On Firefly, you are not restricted to the annoying 15kg checked in baggage limitation, which makes using a low-cost carrier an expensive affair if connecting to an international flight: Tiger Airways, majority owned by Singapore's SIA and Europe's notorious low-cost carrier Ryan Air, charges $15 Singapore for each extra kilo of weight above 15kg. Firefly charge a mere RM 15 per kg above 20kg, that is less than half of the excess weight charges of Tiger (S$1 = RM 2.30).
Check in staff are cheerful and friendly, as are the beaming ground staff who guide passengers to the aircraft. Check in is no fuss and fast, a nice contrast to Air Asia's special 2 queue system where you pay extra money for a hastle-free faster check-in. Everyone on Firefly is in the same VIP line. But on board you are in for yet more welcome surprises.
In a welcome small comfort that low-cost carriers charge for at a high price, everyone on Firefly is given a welcome cup full of orange juice, and 3 chocolate chip cookies. Free of charge. Without exception, on every flight.
That may sound like a small thing, but frequent travelers know that it is not. It is one of the many areas that "low-cost" airlines use to make extra high bucks so that your flight more often than not turns out in price similar to that of a full-cost airline. Or in the case of Tiger as reported by countless of our readers along with supporting evidence, a bad experience of a life-time with no recourse available.
The occupancy on the maiden JB to Penang flight was only 53% - somewhat lower than predicted. This was surprising given that May 1st was a public holiday for May Day and both Air Asia and on the ground bus routes were all fully booked with many travelers unable to leave JB by public transport. This is probably due to the fact that Firefly does not spend much money on direct marketing and advertising and so this new development may not have been known to many prospective fliers.
The Penang to Johor-Bahru flight leaves Penang daily at 6pm arriving in JB at 7.20pm with the JB to Penang leg departing Johor Bahru at 7.40pm and arriving at 9pm in Penang. The price is currently RM 140 one-way even on same-day bookings, and competes favourably with Air Asia's pricing which is around RM 180 if booked at short notice. The flight takes slightly longer as Firefly uses comfortable ATR72-500 (212 A) turbo prop aircraft, which are environmentally much friendlier and quiet, but fly at a slower speed and are thus great for short-haul flights around the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand region.
Firefly saves money on marketing and advertising to give back to its customers by way of service, and uses contests with free tickets and other marketing methods to promote itself. It certainly is not cutting back on customer service pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight, which our experienced travel reviewer who has traveled some 60 countries on countless airlines has found second to none.
Firefly bridge the gaps throughout Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, with additional routes in the region including Singapore being added in the months to come.
---------------------------
Latest news update at Singapore News Alternative:
1. Out of the world logic in reducing MRT train frequency when swine flu pandemic alert reaches red
2. Malaysia`s Firefly Beats Singapore`s Tiger Hands Down On Customer Service
3. Tiger boast: "We’re still the fastest growing airline in Australia"
4. GIC's Struggling Australia GPT Seeks To Raise US$1.24 Billion To Pay Down Debt
5. US debt on default path
6. Singapore to Refine Islamic Finance Rules to Boost Industry
7. Singapore Air Force pilots to train in Idaho
8. Macau to learn from Singapore on water-saving
9. Singapore's National Broadband Network progresses
10. Singapore firms urged to retain existing manpower while cutting costs
11. Singapore decides no one worthy of top sportsman
.
