Is Tiger Airways really that bad?

[Beefsteak]

Would like to hear from travellers who fly with Tiger Airways frequently.

Is Tiger Airways really that bad?

Because I've heard alot of bad comments and experience about the airline and wonder if they are all true.

Personally I've never flown with them before but soon intend to.

 

[surpize]

Hmmm.... feel still ok being a budget airline....

 

[holidayforever]

I flew with them about 6 times, i feel that they are ok, service is quite prompt, never experienced any delays so far...

 

[dreamer_toons]

I flew with them on my Macau and Krabi trips. No complaints and acceptable for a budget airline.

Will still fly with them on my upcoming Krabi trip again.

 

[Upzzzz]

It is a budget anyway. As long as your expection is not too high, buy your ticket cheap and early, it can actually be quite good.

Before the flight, download all the movies and serials into your tablet or pad. During flight pay for the meals. It can be enjoyable.

Just remember to buy travel insurance and if any delay, pray that it is short or longer than 6 hours.

Remember your baggage allowance as they are very strict on that, it is a cash cow for them.

 

[Benjamin91]

It's quite ok actually, fly for 5 times haven't got any delay yet. In fact, arrive much earlier than scheduled. My worst was with Airasia to Bangkok, delay 2 hrs + no food no nth...pathetic.

 

[continuum]

It used to be the worst. But it seems to have improved A LOT. I don't mind flying Tiger Airways.

Now there's a new champion in town for the worst local airline...

 

[continuum]

It's quite ok actually, fly for 5 times haven't got any delay yet. In fact, arrive much earlier than scheduled. My worst was with Airasia to Bangkok, delay 2 hrs + no food no nth...pathetic.

Frankly, that's not so bad. It's inconvenient but it is part and parcel of travelling with a budget airline. We can't expect any compensation for a "mere" 2-hour delay.

 

[skl000]

how far are you intending to fly? took tiger to Perth before. well for budget its a given that seats wont be as comfortable. just a seat for the 4 hrs. no frills. got bored as hell so just sleep. haha.

but remember to bring food on board! was practically starving...had to buy their exorbitantly priced food and water.

i tink they're pretty punctual...only experienced a delay once. overall u get what u pay for.

 

[calkel20]

It's quite ok actually, fly for 5 times haven't got any delay yet. In fact, arrive much earlier than scheduled. My worst was with Airasia to Bangkok, delay 2 hrs + no food no nth...pathetic.

Our latest budget airline was delayed a total of abt 3hrs plus after changing timing twice... Oso nothing, well it is budget airline afterall. Supposed to fly off near 3 arrival at 1940hr, in the end took off at 1840hr, reaching back at 2300 or so.

From no mid-night charges to paying for it. If only our local consumer rights are powerful enough, they should pay for e additional cost incurred due to their delays.

 

[yennylee_89]

Would like to hear from travellers who fly with Tiger Airways frequently.

Is Tiger Airways really that bad?

Because I've heard alot of bad comments and experience about the airline and wonder if they are all true.

Personally I've never flown with them before but soon intend to.

Well, it has its share of flaws - particularly with the flight schedules. twice, i have been delayed because of certain issues which we weren't informed of. but aside from that, it's nice flying with tiger airways. i don't really experience too much turbulence when i fly with them. less headache for me.

 

[libralionel]

Bad experience with Tigerairway!

It was my first trip with Tigerairway, and it was to Phuket. We experience much turbulence which didn't result much impact but the return trip to Singapore from Phuket was horrible! There was much more turbulence experienced and the plane plunge a second or two during one of the turbulence!

 

[worldtravelsg]

I take tigerair quite frequently and have not had any delays.
However their cabin crew is definitely not that good compared to AirAsia who will smile and welcome you onboard. Once I met a cabin crew who simple folded her arms at the back who didn't even bother to smile when I walked towards her.

But for short flights, I don't think cabin crew service is that important, especially their price is competitive.

 

[fone]

It was my first trip with Tigerairway, and it was to Phuket. We experience much turbulence which didn't result much impact but the return trip to Singapore from Phuket was horrible! There was much more turbulence experienced and the plane plunge a second or two during one of the turbulence!

For such short flights, there is nothing much the airlines can actually do with turbulence, especially when the detour required makes the flight much much longer than planned. Turbulence can occur in many scenarios, the most often scenario is when there are clouds (turbulence can also occur in clear air). With a less than 2 hours flight to HKT and say with a maximum of 30 minutes of extra fuel (might be much less than that), how long do you expect a budget carrier to detour in an attempt to avoid turbulence? Best they can do is to find a path with the least / sparsest clouds or slight change to the altitude.

Even if you take Silkair, I won't expect too much detour either, since this will trigger a chain reaction of delays for subsequent flights by the same aircraft, especially for budget airlines where they try to maximize the flying time of the aircrafts with minimal ground time. 15 minutes more flight time for you, might result in missing the landing / gate time slot might result in further delays down the chain.

Anyway, minor turbulences are fairly harmless. Just imagine air pushing the aircraft around, how harmful can it get? Especially, if they have already predicted the turbulence by switching on the seat belt sign in advance. See below FAA definition of turbulence and yours probably won't exceed Moderate Turbulence.

Light Chop. Slight, rapid, and somewhat rhythmic bumpiness without appreciable changes in altitude or attitude.

Light Turbulence. Slight, erratic changes in altitude and/or attitude. Occupants may feel a slight strain against seatbelts. Unsecured objects may be displaced slightly. Food service may be conducted and little to no difficulty is encountered in walking.

Moderate Chop. Rapid bumps or jolts without appreciable changes in aircraft altitude or attitude.

Moderate Turbulence. Changes in altitude and/or attitude occur but the aircraft remains in positive control at all times. It usually causes variations in indicated airspeed. Occupants feel definite strain against seatbelts. Unsecured objects are dislodged. Food service and walking are difficult.

Severe. Large, abrupt changes in altitude and/or attitude. Usually causes large variations in indicated airspeed. Aircraft may be momentarily out of control. Occupants are forced violently against seatbelts. Unsecured objects are tossed about. Food service and walking are impossible.

Extreme. Aircraft is violently tossed about and is practically impossible to control. May cause structural damage.

 

[starbugs]

On my recent flight with Tiger, they actually took off >10mins before scheduled departure.

Their ground staff was quite rude, accusing me of being late (even though I was at the gate 20mins before scheduled departure).

 

[afrovillain]

Took a few times with Tiger and only had 1 delay with them. Overall, you get what you pay for and its ideal for them trips that are nearby.

 

[salesgp]

never had a problem with Tiger airways.

 

[danielkok]

Have taken Tiger to Phuket, KL, Macau and Jogjakarta. So far, only had one delay out of KL which was about 40 minutes. Not too bad. At least the ground staff kept us informed.

With regards to the discussion about turbulence, even if you were to travel with Silkair, Jetstar or whoever, you will encounter turbulence. All these LCCs use the same aircraft (A320 family), so no difference in turbulence. If the pilots know there is an area of turbulence (clouds), they will divert around it. But, some areas have Clear Air Turbulence (CAT) which nobody knows, unless another pilot traveling ahead reports it.

So, only way to judge an airline would be their on-time departure, what they do when they do encounter delays, and, last but not least, their safety record.