Flying Air Asia X, to Beijing China

Flying Air Asia X to Beijing China was quiet an experience. It was the first time we had ever flown on a long-haul budget aircraft and we must say that we were pretty impressed with the efficiency of the airlines and the service provided. The flight arrived on time and we departed after only a 10 minute delay, but that was due to the runway being busy, so we had to queue and wait our turn for take off.

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flying off the Beijing on a lovely day… 7pm flight and we were boarding the plane at around 630pm

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And if like us, you’ve always wanted to fly business but didn’t want to fork out that amount of cash, the Asia X – premium flat bed is a great alternative.

Here are the added benefits of flying Air Asia X – premium flat bed. You have the ability to pre-select your preferred seat, you have the flexibility to make unlimited flight changes (date & time) up to 48 hours prior to departure with no penalty, at the check in line, there is an exclusive AirAsia X Premium FlatBed check-in aisle at the airport, plus you will get up to 25kg free checked baggage allowance. Upon boarding, you can board early and at your leisure, it’s spacious and comfortable as there are no middle seats so you will always get an aisle or a window seat. There will be a complimentary meal and water, and to add comfort to the journey, you will also get a pillow and soft blanket for use on the flight. Check out their flat bed rates here.

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For premium flat -bed, you can board early and at your leisure

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Actually, long distance travel just got easier on Air Asia X, with their new entertainment system. AirAsia X Inflight entertainment is provided in the form of a Samsung Galaxy tab – very savvy, very portable and easy to use. It has all the lastest box office blockbusters, TV shows, chart topping music, magazines, and hours of games, uploaded onto it, so you just need to click for your entertainment.

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headset

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These Samsung Galaxy Tabs were a recent addition to AirAsia X flights, which only started in July 2012, but already you can see why it’s so popular.It’s actually better to pre-book them online because if you wait till you board the plane, they are usually already snapped up. The tablet has a full HD quality 10.1 inch widescreen display, a 4 way rotation, up to 10 hours of battery life, comes with a free headset and the selection of movies, TV shows, music, and games are continuously updated so that you get the current movies for entertainment. Movies include a wide range of genres and languages too, so not just in English. I watched a Japanese foreign movie which was rather cool. For the list of movies, you can check out the Air Asia X website. The cost of this inflight entertainment is RM 35 when you pre-book online and RM 45 when you purchase it on board, subject to availability. These prices are the introductory price at the moment, and could be subject to changes.

There was a young boy from China who sat behind us, and he was fixated with the cartoon animation and games on Cumi’s tablet that was playing. He was obviously in envy on the entertainment we had, and wished his parents had booked a unit for him too. While his parents were sleeping, he stuck close to Cumi and watched from between the seats.. yes the inflight entertainment is extremely popular with the kids!

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For our meals, Air Asia X very kindly provided us with a Malaysian Meal and an International Meal on our flight to Beijing China. Cumi had the lasagna which was really tasty and I had the nasi lemak. We always liked the nasi lemak on board flights so that was a no brainer but the surprise was the lasagna. It was chock-full of cheese and chicken and really delicious. Since Cumi had that on the flight there, I will have it on the way back! We were pretty impressed with the variety of food on board Air Asia X. Kids would love the lasagna as much as adults I reckon.

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lasagna – international meal

Passengers can pre book their meals when they buy their flight tickets online and enjoy up to 30% savings, on Airasia.com

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nasi lemak – Malaysian Meal

We arrived at Beijing Capital International airport at approximately 1am. Upon alighting, a ground staff met us to help us with our transfer through immigration and to our limo, which would take us to The Westin Beijing, Financial Street, our accommodation for the week.

Air travel from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing used to be only just four flights a week between Beijing Capital International Airport and the Kuala Lumpur Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), but the good news is that now, it provides once daily flights to Beijing (starting from Aug 6).

For the last four years, AirAsia X has been flying to Tianjin – a city less than 100km from the Chinese capital. With the new route, AirAsia X has suspended its flights to Tianjin. However, AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman Rani said the carrier would allow affected Tianjin passengers the flexibility of transferring their flight bookings to Beijing. In the past eight years, AirAsia X has flown an estimated 12 million passengers to seven destinations in China – Chengdu, Hangzhou, Guilin, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing. The AirAsia group is also planning flights to Shanghai, Nanning, Kunming and Xi’an.. stay tuned.

SUMMARY

All in all, flying premium flat bed Air Asia X is the answer for folks who are looking to travel in comfort, but without having to bleed for it. You don’t need to spend a bomb on business class seats, but for a mere RM1149 bucks or so (one way, LCCT to Beijing), you can already have the comfort and space of a luxurious flat bed. It’s a great choice for folks who have the means, but who what to travel cheaper so they can have more money to spend at their holiday destination. The regular seats are a great option for family travel – do the math – you could really save a bomb. If you need more comfort then just choose some of the upgrades mentioned above to help time past faster on the long haul!

Air Asia X very kindly sponsored our flights to Beijing and back. However, all opinions expressed are that of C&C. You can check out their facebook page or their website for flight information at Air Asia X.

 

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