AirAsia X Premium Flatbed offers a comfortable ride

This is the kind of seat the folds flat but remains on a slight angle with a supporting footrest. At 20-inches wide with a generous 60-inch seat pitch and a 77-inch full recline, it’s a comfortable seat even for a rotund, 197cm aviation writer. There’s an adjustable headrest augmented by a large pillow and a high-quality doona-style blanket. Seat controls are rudimentary but effective and it was easy to adjust to a comfortable recline. There was a universal power point to plug in a laptop are other devices and a flexible personal light.

Flight attendants hung up my jacket and asked when I would like my dinner. I opted for the post-take-off meal service. There was a bottle of water delivered at the start of the flight and another came with the food. Tablets loaded with films were handed out quickly and efficiently. Service was brusque at the start of the Jeju-KL flight and non-existent for most of the rest of it. It was a little more personable on the KL-Perth leg but there's room for improvement here. I was told I should have used the flight attendant call button if I wanted to buy something, but I didn’t realize there was one until late in the flight when I figured out it was in the ceiling. Nobody had mentioned this, which is surprising given that well-heeled premium passengers would presumably be a reasonable source of ancillary revenue. My last experience in a premium cabin on a low-cost, long-haul airline was some years ago with Jetstar. Basically, I thought the hard product on AirAsia X was superior but the service was better on the Aussie carrier.  

An uninspiring but edible chicken dish and water was part of the premium package and I wasn’t offered any alternatives on this flight. However, I got a choice of three dishes on a subsequent flight between Kuala Lumpur and Perth and chose a tastier Kung Pao Chicken. Apparently, the best idea is order from AirAsia’s menu when you book and take your pick from the full spectrum of dishes.  There are about 15 dishes ranging from cheese omelet and chicken sausage to chicken lasagne, Thai green curry and chicken sate. The main course and bottled water turned out to be all that was included in the price but there was the option of paying for food and drinks from the wide-ranging menu. A second helping of a main course will cost you MYR20 ($US4.78, $A6.73)  while snacks range from MYR6 for soup to MYR 10 for a chicken caesar wrap and MYR12 for a Haagen-Dazs ice-cream. I forked out a not unreasonable  MYR 15 ($A5.05)  for a can of Tiger beer, declining the three for 40MYR special. Spirits including Glenfiddich and Grey Goose vodka were available for MYR20 while a cocktail or a 187 ml Jacob’s Creek white or red cost MYR25.  

The package includes a Huawei tablet with a couple of dozen featured films and, in my case, two TV series, two kid shows, a dozen games and a smattering of music. Mine shut down before the 5.5-hour trip ended but the  screen was bright and sharp and it was easy to use A weak point is the cheap earbud headphones. These don't work well so take your own. However, we understand they are about to be replaced by Sony noise-canceling headphones.

AirAsia X isn't a full service airline but it doesn't pretend to be. Overall, Premium Flatbed is a pretty decent way to travel once you get a handle on how it works and it provides a good bang for your buck if you get a decently discounted fare. AirAsia X told us you could get a Premium Flatbed fare in coming weeks for about $A600 one way for the 8.5-hour journey between Melbourne and KL. Using a three-week lead time, the AirlinesRatings/Skyscanner booking engine found the cheapest fare for a flight departing Melbourne November 21 and returning November 29  was $A2090 compared to $A3614 on Malaysia Airlines. The price differential on Sydney-KL for the same dates was smaller:  $A2325 on AirAsia X compared to $A2782 on Malaysia Airlines. While there was a hefty saving from Melbourne, the Sydney decision would be a closer call so, as always, it pays to check all your options. Nonetheless, AirAsia X is a worthy contender and, in a pleasant finish to the trip, the priority luggage label actually worked. Steve Creedy traveled as a guest of AirAsia X.