When taking a trip internationally, get protection from one of the top travel insurance carriers. You can get a 5% discounton Heymondo, the sole insurer that pays doctor bills up front for you,HERE!
During the planning of our journey through Southeast Asia we learned about the Asean PASS offered by AirAsia, which functions somewhat like an Interrail through Asia by air. In this post, I will outline the drawbacks why we chose not to utilize the Asean PASS.
Table of Contents
HOW THE ASEAN PASS WORKs
There are two types of passes, the 10 credit pass exchangeable within 30 days (110€) and the 20 credit pass exchangeable within 60 days (190€). Those credits are used for different routes. Depending on the origin and the destination of the trip; you will have to spend 1, 3 or 5 credits.
ASEAN PASS FINE PRINT
After investigation, we decided to discard this idea due to the following:
– Only some seats can be exchanged for credits. That is to say, that on certain flights, even though you can find seats paying for them in the standard way, those seats may not be available if you intend to redeem your Asean PASS credits.
– Once you prepare to redeem a flight using credits you have earned, airport taxes must be paid in addition. Therefore, the savings are less substantial than initially expected.
AirAsia by itself offers flights at very low prices even when purchased separately. The Asean PASS took away a lot of our flexibility (we only had 20 days) and the savings it promised were not really made clear to us.
ASEAN PASS ON OUR ROUTE
For example, our route included visits to Singapore,Penang in Malaysia, Sumatra in Indonesia, Yogyakarta in Indonesia, Bali in Indonesia, and ending in Kuala Lumpur. Completing this itinerary would require using 1 + 1 + 5 + 5 + 3 = 15 credits from our travel pass. Since we only had 20 days available and a pass with 20 credits, the remaining 5 credits could not be utilized due to time constraints.
Purchasing the flights separately cost 235 €. 45 € more than buying the Asean Pass, without considering airport taxes.
While determined to independently purchase flights, we found airport fees for separate tickets exceeded the small difference, completing the final step of individually buying each and knowing the total rates.
For all of this, and because I was incapable of finding a single traveler to tell me his gratifying experience utilizing the Asean PASS, we decided that it would be preferable for us to obtain the tickets independently.
For my next journey to Asia, I will likely reconsider independently buying tickets or not.
If you wish to determine how many credits your itinerary will use, please check here. Be sure to inquire about airport fees as well. Conduct a real comparison between using Asean PASS for your trip and independent tickets.
And naturally, tell us about your experience!
If you wish to discover more about Asean PASS, visit their website at this address.
