I can't remember when my last trip to Kota Bharu/Kota Bahru (those are the different spellings being used) was. I think it was Shima's wedding. We stayed at Sutera Inn; the groom was from Kg. Sireh, right in town. I remember renting a van from Seremban, driving through Kuala Lipis , Gua Musang, Kuala Krai, and Machang to Kota Bharu. I think it took us one full day, with many stops.
This time I took the one-hour flight from KLIA 2. In fact it took half the day. 11 hours to be exact.
This was my first time with the low-cost Air Asia, and the first time through KLIA 2. The travel agent said to be 3 hours before the 1 o'clock flight. I had to believe him. I urged my daughter to drive me at 8 a.m. We arrived at KLIA2 at 9. I checked in at 10, as insructed by the girl guarding the q-line. I went into Gate K 4 when they called at 12. Then they announced the plane had technical problems. At first they couldn't say when the flight would be rescheduled, and gave us food coupons and bottled water. I drank the bottled water, but didn't redeem the food coupons because I had to go out to the main foyer just to cash in RM 20. Finally, the flight was set for 5 p.m., 4 hours late. We landed at Kota Bharu at 6. We collected our baggage from the carousel, caught a taxi to Perdana Hotel, and arrived at close to 7. That's 11 hours !
I found out at Kota Bharu airport these delays and cancellations were common for Air Asia.
Returning 3 days later wasn't as bad. There was no delay, and after 30 minutes in the air, we were already making the landing descent. My next-seat fellow passenger, a Hoe from Kota Bharu, said Air Asia sometimes speed up the flight, because the plane would continue to another longer destination. Hmm. I think I know the trick.Better turnaround, better load factor, cheaper variable cost.
But Air Asia is cheaper than MAS. The return ticket, including RM 50 for 15 kg checked-in luggage, was RM 305. They say if you do your own midnight internet booking at home, you can get even cheaper ticket. In fact it's all digital and on-line now, something very different from my old flying days. I feel out of date.
I stayed at the old but newly refurbished Perdana Hotel for 3 days and 2 nights, for Mubarak Malaysia's 14 AGM, on which I'll write separately. Because of the AGM and the dinners arranged, there was no time to go to town. But the hotel stay was ok. The room was ok. The food was ok. The staff was ok. It was all paid for. So everything was, well, ok !
I wonder how much it actually cost MUBARAK. Let's see. The room RM 200/night, food RM 180/day, times 3 days and 2 nights, that's 800 x 136 participants = RM 108,800.
Kota Bharu airport is as small as I remember it. Maybe there're more shops now, but nobody seemed to be buying anything. With bottled water at RM 3, and a sandwich at RM 7.50, I wasn't surprised.
KLIA 2 was a pleasant surprise. I remember the hue-and-cry in the news when it was opened, about all the glitches. But now I find it well laid out, well-stocked and well patronised. I think it's about the size of KLIA, but there are more shops. Certainly there's a much bigger crowd. This must be because of the bigger number of destinations and busier schedules. If you're not into walking, KLIA 2 isn't for you. They should put in more of those "walkerlators" like in Singapore's Changi Airport. I saw several golf buggies, but nobody was driving them and they were parked here and there. What a waste.
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