Flying with MAS

We used enrich points for both return flights to Japan and the bookings were made online. 45000 enrich points were redeemed for return flight tickets for both of us. Which I thought it is a great deal at first. Apparently it turn out to be not-so-great when there are additional taxes and surcharges that makes the total amount is almost the same with Air Asia return ticket to Japan. I told myself, fair enough, I am flying with the World’s best cabin crew. Its worth it. I used to travel with MAS few years back but I can’t justify short distance flight though.

So the nightmares begin when we boarded a Boeing 777 for KUL-NRT <Kuala Lumpur-Narita> on March 27^th, 11:35 pm. We are greeted by the smiling cabin crew and that made us feel welcome onboard. The cabin is okay although it looks a bit worn out..And old.. But it doesn’t really bother me when I saw the fluffy pillow and the blanket nicely placed in our seat.. I started to feel good about MAS. 

They plug in the bassinet for Noah after the flight take-off, and here you go..My complaints begin!

Unfortunately the cabin crews were not that friendly for the rest of the flights. They are just there for the sake of doing their job. There are no connections, no acknowledgements, no interactions or what so ever. They give a very basic in-cabin service and the crews were too busy sitting down chatting in galley.

The staff seems disinterested and they are not responded to call bell at all. I think we have to wait around 10-15 minutes for them to come.  And when we hand over the bottle and the formula to them they looked surprised and asked us to make ourselves at the galley. I was taken aback. When I travelled with Air Asia to UK few years back, the stewardess insists to help us prepare the milk. I reckon it is not in their job description and Air Asia stewardess goes extra length for us.

The MAS crew came regularly with cold drinks. Too bad I just think they should learn some manners. There are 2 crews in the aisle passing the drinks. However one is just too fast and another is just too slow so in order to get their job done they pass the drinks/food to the passengers. Yes, we need to pass the drinks/food to the passenger next to us. After each meal we need to press the overhead button a few times just to have the meal tray removed.

 

 

Annoyed and irritated <and tired> we tried to catch some sleep. Trying to accentuate the positive, the seating is pretty good with lots of legroom. The in-flight entertainment is great with wide choice of recent films. 

Then I saw a sour, messy and sleepy stewardess face came to me when I repeatedly press the bell button for extra blanket. Then I was thinking.. How Air Asia stewardess managed themselves? Obviously they have more task then MAS crew. With all the merchandise selling, the meals, and attending the passengers, they still look great, fresh and stunning.  Even the hair-do is perfect.. And I am not talking about 8 hours flight here.. But 13 hours flight! And MAS won the World’s Best Cabin Staff? There must be something wrong somewhere.

So on our flight home, we don’t expect much. We boarded KIX-KUL <Kansai-KualaLumpur>  on a newish A330, on April 5^th 2013, 11am. We board the plane,and expect only this-they will get us from point A to point B and that’s it.. The crews are…sucks. When we find our seat,we are greeted by Syah <or saiful, I can’t recall the name> , the steward ,with a box of tissue. He saw sara’s running nose so he handed the box of tissue to us. This is nothing like our outbound flight.. hmm..interesting, I think..   

 

 

A330 airbus is superb. It is spacious and I just love the smooth take-off and landing. So we took pictures while waiting other passengers to load in, and again Syah came to us and asked if we would like to have a family photo. We are astounded by his attentiveness. I guess this is the world’s best cabin staff that the people talk about. Then another steward, Ehsan came along and checks if we need anything from time to time. All of them especially Syah and Ehsan are very friendly; we don’t feel the 8 hours flight at all. We are safely landed before we knew it. Despite of bad experience on our outbound flight these 2 cabin crews manage to gain our confidence in MAS cabin crew services. They are simply outstanding!

So if you asked me if I will travel with MAS again? My answer will be yes with the right price. Yes I will also take down the lazy cabin crew name for further complaint next time.. I am too occupied with my two babies that day so I don’t have much time to bother about anything else.. How I wish I could remember their names! *sighs*