Malindo Air (codeshare with Batik Air) Chennai-Kuala Lumpur experience
Last month we flew to Kuala Lumpur from Chennai on Batik Air flight, codeshare with Malindo Air.
I had last flown with Malindo air two years ago to Bali. You can read the previous review here. In this post I will detail the recent trip experiences.
Booking
Our trip was sponsored by Malindo Air and Malaysia tourism, so we didn't book the tickets ourselves. However it is very easy process- head to MalindoAir.com . Web check-in was not available for our flight as it was operated by Batik Air.
Tracking:
Flight stats.com was not recognizing our flight number OD9112 when I made an attempt to track our flight status. But soon I figured out I could track using ID 6019, Batik Air's flight number. Flightaware works for 9112 but I had to use MXD9112. Our inbound flight was few minutes ahead of schedule
Comfort Kit
Batik Air provides a pillow, a blanket per seat. Earphones are often provided on demand (this was the case during onward journey, probably because most people want to sleep) or by default (during the return trip). A hand wipe could be considered in my opinion.
Meals:
Meals onboard Batik air includes a bowl containing a main dish and a supplement. Unlike Srilankan or Qatar Airways, Batik Air doesn't serve an elaborate plate which would also include some fruits, desert or bread items along with main meals packet. Malindo and Batik Air serve similar meals.
You need to ask for drinks.
Malindo doesn't serve alcoholic drinks onboard- fine with me as I don't drink them anyways. They serve water/7up or Pepsi after the meals. But somehow, crew wouldn't ask me if I needed a drink. On both onward and return flight this happened:
I was sitting in the middle row. As the crew arrived with drink cart, person sitting next to me proactively asked for what they wanted and they were served. I was waiting to be asked "Sir, would you like anything to drink"- but that never happened. Since I didn't ask myself, crew assumed I didn't want anything and proceeded to next row. I should have probably asked myself like almost everyone in the flight did, but my European manners thought me to wait till being asked to serve- unfortunately that never happened. I can understand being left alone if I was asleep. But I was right there, wide awake, tray table open- even if I didn't want any, I thought it is basic courtesy for the crew to ask if I would like anything. I understand I am not the most handsome person around who could command extra attention, but I thought it is basic courtesy not to rush and wait till being asked to serve. As the crew went to next row without serving me, I pressed the call button to draw their attention, but it was ignored. May be instructions to them was not to stop serving to attend call buttons- which is fair enough- you don't want the crew running around attending secondary requests while people are still waiting for their meals and drinks. Crew came to me 20 minutes later after serving everyone- by that time I had lost interest and asleep. I explained I was not served- she said sorry and offered to bring it for me, but I had lost interest.
I don't want to blame the airline or staff fully- probably their behavior is tuned by the repeated experience with passengers- most of us don't have any patience till being asked to serve, as ask upfront what we need. So probably Batik air crew assumed if a passenger doesn't ask for it, he doesn't need it.
Space
Entertainment
Good thing about Malindo is back of the seat entertainment. Other competition airlines- Air Asia and Indigo which fly this route do not provide any entertainment. Malindo's collection of movies was great.
Baggage
Malindo now allows about 25 kgs check-in bag per passenger. Note that there's a super saver fare without check-in bag provision.
Pricing
Malindo's pricing for Indian Market is very competitive. Naturally it is a bit more than low cost airlines like AirAsia or Indigo, but for the extra buck you get a lot more- below is a quick list of what you get for the extra money, compared to low cost airlines.
What you get extra in Malindo air vs Indigo/AirAsia/Scoot
1. Check-in baggage allowance- 15 to 30 kg depending on fare type and route (Note: No baggage allowance in Super Saver fare type)
2. In flight entertainment
3. USB Charging
4. Access to more comfortable KLIA with better facilities (Read: KLIA 1 vs KLIA2)
5. Meals and beverages
6. Business Class option and a remote probability of free upgrade
7. Loyalty points for your flight
8. Comfort kit (pillow, blanket etc)
You can check this post for comparison between Air Asia and Malindo Air on several points.
Network/Coverage
Malindo has a pretty good coverage in Asia region. In India, they fly to Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Kochi, Varanasi, Delhi, Trivandrum and Mumbai (Some cities only 3x weekly).
In Asia Malindo flies to 50 odd destinations covering China, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and more. You can check Malindo Air network map here
Similar: Scenic Bali from Malindo Air window seat *
I had last flown with Malindo air two years ago to Bali. You can read the previous review here. In this post I will detail the recent trip experiences.
Booking
Our trip was sponsored by Malindo Air and Malaysia tourism, so we didn't book the tickets ourselves. However it is very easy process- head to MalindoAir.com . Web check-in was not available for our flight as it was operated by Batik Air.
Tracking:
Flight stats.com was not recognizing our flight number OD9112 when I made an attempt to track our flight status. But soon I figured out I could track using ID 6019, Batik Air's flight number. Flightaware works for 9112 but I had to use MXD9112. Our inbound flight was few minutes ahead of schedule
Comfort Kit
Batik Air provides a pillow, a blanket per seat. Earphones are often provided on demand (this was the case during onward journey, probably because most people want to sleep) or by default (during the return trip). A hand wipe could be considered in my opinion.
Meals:
Meals onboard Batik air includes a bowl containing a main dish and a supplement. Unlike Srilankan or Qatar Airways, Batik Air doesn't serve an elaborate plate which would also include some fruits, desert or bread items along with main meals packet. Malindo and Batik Air serve similar meals.
You need to ask for drinks.
Malindo doesn't serve alcoholic drinks onboard- fine with me as I don't drink them anyways. They serve water/7up or Pepsi after the meals. But somehow, crew wouldn't ask me if I needed a drink. On both onward and return flight this happened:
I don't want to blame the airline or staff fully- probably their behavior is tuned by the repeated experience with passengers- most of us don't have any patience till being asked to serve, as ask upfront what we need. So probably Batik air crew assumed if a passenger doesn't ask for it, he doesn't need it.
Space
Entertainment
Good thing about Malindo is back of the seat entertainment. Other competition airlines- Air Asia and Indigo which fly this route do not provide any entertainment. Malindo's collection of movies was great.
Baggage
Malindo now allows about 25 kgs check-in bag per passenger. Note that there's a super saver fare without check-in bag provision.
Pricing
Malindo's pricing for Indian Market is very competitive. Naturally it is a bit more than low cost airlines like AirAsia or Indigo, but for the extra buck you get a lot more- below is a quick list of what you get for the extra money, compared to low cost airlines.
What you get extra in Malindo air vs Indigo/AirAsia/Scoot
1. Check-in baggage allowance- 15 to 30 kg depending on fare type and route (Note: No baggage allowance in Super Saver fare type)
2. In flight entertainment
3. USB Charging
4. Access to more comfortable KLIA with better facilities (Read: KLIA 1 vs KLIA2)
5. Meals and beverages
6. Business Class option and a remote probability of free upgrade
7. Loyalty points for your flight
8. Comfort kit (pillow, blanket etc)
You can check this post for comparison between Air Asia and Malindo Air on several points.
Malindo has a pretty good coverage in Asia region. In India, they fly to Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Kochi, Varanasi, Delhi, Trivandrum and Mumbai (Some cities only 3x weekly).
In Asia Malindo flies to 50 odd destinations covering China, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and more. You can check Malindo Air network map here
Similar: Scenic Bali from Malindo Air window seat *
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