Air Asia did not allow me to carry my cabin-sized bag onto plane

In recent times, budget airlines have made vacationing more affordable for Singaporeans. During the Chinese New Year rush, it was almost impossible to book a flight to popular vacationing spots with conventional airlines. So, budget airlines took the opportunity to raise fares.

Left without a choice, I paid a premium fare of close to $700 for two to fly Air Asia to Bangkok when Singapore Airlines was charging about the same price on a 4-to-go basis. But paying full fare does not mean you get service that is up to par. After all, I was still flying on a budget airline.

Air Asia confirmed my greatest fear of lost baggage. On the flight returning from Bangkok, the ground staff stopped me from bringing my small cabin bag on board. When asked for the reason, she claimed that my bag was not of cabin size. I pointed out other passengers with larger bags and she came up with another excuse that the flight was full and there was no room.

I agreed to check my small bag in but asked for a 'Fragile' label due to the breakable contents in my bag. Without hesitation, she said there were no such labels.

Getting irritated by the customer-unfriendly attitude, I insisted that I will not check in my bag unless they marked it as 'Fragile'. With much resentment, she then produced a luggage label and asked me to sign. I did so. As she was attaching the label to my bag, I saw her mark 'Late Check-in'.

Upon arrival in Singapore, my bag could not be found but my travelling partner could find hers. She, too, checked in at the gate along with my bag.

Is there a new policy to forbid carry-ons on Air Asia flights?

I fly on business frequently and am fully aware of what cabin-sized carry-on bags should be and have ensured that I observe the rule for carry-ons.

Lynn Lam Wai Ling (Ms)