Traveling To Farm Using Malindo Air.

Traveling to my farm.

This is the first time that I am traveling to my farm in Sabah using Malindo Air. I had been using AirAsia all this while, with the exception of a couple of times using FireFly.

FireFly had stopped flying to Kota Kinabalu from Kuala Lumpur a couple of months ago.

Malindo Air is a new comer. They operate from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and lands at Kota Kinabalu International Airport.

My flight OD 1002 takes off at 7.45 am. Took the 5.00 am bus from Sentral to KLIA. I reached KLIA at 6.40 am. Walk up to level 5, Row F to check in. Find that the ques are pretty long. Then it occurred to me that their web check in is not ready and I find that most of the passenger has luggage to check in as Malindo Air allows 20 kg of check in luggage. Lucky me, as I went early as is the first time flying via Malindo Air.

Check in gate had been changed from Gate A10 to A11, hmm,  okay, just next door. As I already had my breakfast, I'll just wait at the boarding gate. Found Gate A11, it's at the far end (last) and it's a VERY LONG walk. Luckily I came early.

Flight is on time and boarding were done very efficiently via an aerobridge. Business Class, Senior citizens, passenger with children, passenger sitting behind, then the front passengers.

As I was checking in, I was asked if I had any seat preference. Since I was traveling alone, I said none. As I was looking for my seat 17E, I realized that it's on the emergency exit. I was thinking, oh my, from my experience on AirAsia these seats can not be reclined. It is different in Malindo Air. The leg space is definitely bigger than AirAsia (normal as well as emergency exit), those seats at the emergency exit CAN be reclined. There is also an individual entertainment system with a touch screen that provide you with movies, music, games & etc. Since I had my ear plug with me, I did not request for one. There are a ear plug port, a USB port which can charge our phones and a game controller port (I guess). A rather annoying problem is whenever there is an announcement, the volume is at a much higher level, and I had to pull off my plugs. We were served sandwich and mineral water.

My flight was very pleasant and we touched down according to schedule. As I travel frequently, cost is still my number 1 priority. I guess to me it's still cheaper if AirAsia is on sale, and if I book way in advance. I could be an exception as I do not have luggage.

Would suggest you people to do a comparison before purchasing your flight. I would give positive points to Malindo Air on 1) Luggage 20 kg (when / if required), 2) Boarding via aerobridge (no heat/rain), 3) bigger leg room, 4) Meals, 5) No convenient fees. It could be cheaper if you are flying at a short notice, like this flight which is not in my regular schedule.

My last comment is that it lands at Kota Kinabalu International Airport and there are more food outlets there :-)