PackJetRoam

VietJet is a Vietnamese low cost carrier that’s been in many controversies, none other than the infamous “bikini airline” slogan that it has gained due to its usage of models in swimsuits promoting the airline. It has expanded rapidly throughout the years with the subsidiary Thai VietJet operating out of Thailand.

VietJet has a fleet of 77 aircraft while Thai VietJet has 16 with another 50 currently in order, which shows how ambitious they project their future will be.

CHECK IN

The check in process was relatively quick compared to AirAsia which was queuing all the way out the door. Once they have tagged the bag, you’ll have to bring it to another area for the immediate screening before they will put it through to the belt system. The only thing would be that I wished they had told me where to go and what to do instead of having to figure it out on my own.

DELAY

Hours prior I had received an email from the airline advising of the delayed departure. I wasn’t sure if I still needed to check in at the same time or it would be delayed as well. I had to get my hotel reception to call up the airline to find out. This information would be handy on their email so that passengers don’t end up wondering or worst assuming it will be open later and end up missing the check in deadline.

Closer to the departure time, the flight info board at the gate changed to another flight which I was slightly confused as to why, and closer look at the general flight board I found out our flight got further delayed. Our original departure time was 1720 but the final delayed time was 1845.

I was getting a bit anxious at that point because the delay wasn’t announced and we have had several extensions at that point. If the flight get another delay departure time I might miss my next connecting flight from Bangkok. I was calling up my insurer to work out if I would be compensated in the event that I do miss the next flight due to the delayed departure, well good news was that we started boarding around 1830.

I also went up to the ground staff at the gate to ask them about my connecting flight and have a plan at least, they took pictures of my passport, boarding pass, next flight itinerary and said they will put a priority bag tag for my checked luggage. While I was there waiting for them to do that one of the staff was being very rude to the other passengers coming up to enquire about the delay, one of the passengers was telling her that she was rude and she just made “sounds” to boast her displeasure, and then yelling “NEXT” “WHAT DO YOU WANT” “QUESTION?”. I just smile and one of the staff standing behind then went up to the rude staff and rub her back, I assume telling her to cool down. Most of the gate staff there were professional and cool headed but that one particular staff weren’t, and it gives the airline and the entire team a bad look because of one staff member going rouge and couldn’t keep her cool, I do understand it’s tough dealing with hundreds of passengers enquiring because of so many delays but that’s the job she signed up for and she knows better than to bring that attitude to her job as a customer facing role. Even if the previous passenger offended her somehow and made her angry, she shouldn’t carry that attitude forward to the other passengers, it shows her unprofessionalism. While she was fine with me and didn’t bring her attitude to me, it was still a bad look doing so in front of paying customers, and especially those who she was being rude towards for no particular reason.

All she told me was that the delay was caused by weather (heavy rain) and no flights were departing Bangkok, so she said that’s why my next flight (on Jetstar) was also delayed (although I’m unsure how bad weather in Bangkok would cause a flight to depart 2 hours late from Perth), I see it as more a bullshit excuse (to give passengers the satisfaction of an answer even if it’s not the right one) so that they don’t keep questioning and getting annoyed. I get that, but I ain’t a fool either to be told that lie. I’m not saying weather didn’t play a role in the delay given a lot of the other flights were delayed as well but I feel like I wasn’t given the proper reason, maybe they don’t know themselves and had to come up with something.

FLIGHT

VietJet is a low cost carrier, so I have expected it to be minimal and somewhat poor in legroom. Well it definitely was minimal but it does have reclining (not much though) and the legroom was atrocious (worst than AirAsia). The cabin was clean at least and the crew were professional, friendly but probably in the B rating scale.

The in flight menu was pretty impressive as well, not as extensive as AirAsia though. That is again assuming they do stock them all on board since it’s a short flight they might not even stock these items. There’s barely time to drink let alone eat so I wouldn’t expect many passengers ordering hot food on board but a few passengers seems to be getting drinks.

COST

I have paid a total of 972 Thai Baht (NZ$50.4) for this one way flight, including 20kg checked luggage allowance. I would say this is a very good value flight for this sector.

CONCLUSION

One advantage Thai VietJet has over AirAsia is their airport operation is based in Suvarnabhumi rather than Don Mueang, which made connection easy if you’re connecting to anything other than AirAsia and a small selection of low cost carrier that operate out of Don Mueang.

The delay was not ideal but Thai VietJet was not the only one affected, based on the flight info board several other airlines that were flying to Bangkok were also delayed. I wouldn’t hold this over the airline, and most of the staff dealt with it professionally but a bad apple does rot the tree regardless of how healthy it may be. It would be great if the airline would also include the check in time information on their delay email so that people would know when to check in given the delay.

The lack of legroom is probably the only thing I am more worried about flying Thai VietJet, given that I’m a relatively tall person. Apart from that, the crew were professional in their handling of safety briefing to the passengers on the exit row (speaking in 2 languages Thai and English; so he had to repeat the whole briefing).

The on board food and beverages menu is fairly impressive but not as extensive as AirAsia, but if they do stock most of those items I would say that it is better than many other carriers out there.

Overall I would recommend Thai VietJet if you can tolerate the poor legroom, or if you’re a short person then it wouldn’t be an issue. Of course one can choose the exit row for better leg room if the flight is longer. I would say that if the price is right, then go for it. But like other low cost carrier out there, you’re paying for anything and everything so that is something to be mindful of, because the cost will add up quickly and your ticket might not be saving you that much in comparison to a full service airline.