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September 08, 2005
Aeroline and Air Asia
Over the last two weekends, I travelled to Singapore to attend some courses. The first weekend, I took Air Asia to Johor (Senai Airport). From the airport, a bus brought me to the border, and after the border, I boarded another bus in Singapore that brought me to the MRT in Singapore. The way back was similar, only that I couldn't find the bus station in Johor after the border that would have brought me to the airport. My wife, who followed me, inquired with various people, including police officers, but no one was able to pinpoint the correct station. Subsequently, we took a taxi. All in all, it was a very tedious, time-intensive and tiring journey.
My friends in Singapore pointed me to Aeroline - a bus service between Singapore and Malaysia. The brand promise is to deliver a fast and enjoyable journey to Singapore and back comparable to the one in a plane. Even the announcements in the bus resembled announcements in the airplanes. The bus is comfortable and spacious, food is okay, not that great, there is time to watch a movie, and you get served quite good coffee.
An interesting concept, clearly. Air Asia made air travel affordable to anybody - "Now everyone can fly says" it all. Aeroline competes with the promise "The convenient way to fly". Price-like, Aeroline is a bit more expensive, with RM 70 for one trip.
Convenience-like, I have found a great alternative - it is easy to cross the border, to get into the bus, and all in all, it might come out to the same amount of time spent. So once again, it is an easy choice not to fly Air Asia.
Posted by Andreas at September 8, 2005 07:37 PM
Comments
i will tell the owners that you said nice things about aeroline. yes, i know them but acquintance level only lar ;)
Posted by: belacans at September 12, 2005 05:29 PM
I've taken both, and I agree with Bawangmerah about taking Aeroline. The bottom deck is available for anybody, and some people use that to work on the pc. I usually sit there cos the seats are wider and more comfortable. A trip with Air Asia involves too many modes of transport for me :(
Posted by: fishtail at September 12, 2005 02:11 PM
Actually, there is a shuttle bus that will take you straight to the bus station (the one that goes to Senai airport) from the Kranji MRT in Singapore. See http://www.senaiairport.com/city_lounge.html. I have taken it and it's really convenient. Anyway, taking the Aeroline is a cheaper alternative but takes a longer time to get home.
Posted by: bkworm at September 12, 2005 09:17 AM
Yeah I caught the bus a few times between, it's not too bad.
Posted by: ShaolinTiger at September 9, 2005 01:45 PM
I have heard nice things about Aeroline. Saw its advert in the papers quite long ago and was planning to try their service out end of this year but too bad..plans cancelled
Posted by: S-Kay at September 9, 2005 01:03 PM
There are few other companies that have this service too. usually the buses have two deck, with the upper deck like a normal bus with seats and tv, while the lower deck has a smaller meeting room i think. if you factor in, the time it takes to wait for a flight and then to come out of an airport, a single bus ride seems far better :)
Posted by: Bawangmerah at September 9, 2005 11:43 AM
The bus station is either Larkin or Kotaraya in JB. If there is another one, I have no idea... :p
Posted by: Mei at September 9, 2005 08:06 AM