Malindo Air Review: US Discount Carriers Take Note

The Malindo Air Flight Review is part of The Year of the Monkey Trip Report which covers the following places:

• New York, New York 
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 
• Jakarta, Indonesia
• Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia 
• Guangzhou, China 
• Hong Kong 
• Shenzhen, China
• Sanya, China 

The Delay: Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur 

I had one hour to make my connection when I arrived in KL. We were delayed on the runway for an hour so I was sure I would miss the connection. The flight attendant told me that when we arrived someone would be waiting for me at the gate with instructions on how to proceed.

Nothing is worse than sitting on a plane trying to come up with contingencies for a missed flight. With no Internet, I could not look up if Malindo had later flights to Kota Kinabalu. Instead of worrying, I spent my time, as every blogger should, taking pictures of the in-flight service.

The Seats 

If you thought Allegiant is cramped, fly Malindo Air. The only other plane I recall with less room is EasyJet.

The Food 

I was reading the in-flight magazine which featured a famous singer that was interviewed about flying Malindo Air. She commented on the food and the cupcakes and how she had asked for another one because it was so delicious.

It actually was really good but the hot dog was a bit strange.

The Entertainment 

American carriers take note. This budget airline has free in-flight entertainment. That makes the cramped seats much more tolerable.

The Connection: KUL-BKI

We landed well after my KUL-BKI boarding time. I didn’t bother pushing my way through other passengers because I had accepted that there was no way I would make my connection unless my flight to BKI was delayed.

As the flight attendant mentioned, there was someone waiting for me outside the jetway with news on my Kota flight. She told me that I would have to go through immigration and come back to the same gate and wait for the ground crew to clean the plane before we could leave.

Initially confused, I quickly realized that I was never in danger of missing my connection as the plane I took to KL was the same one that was headed to BKI.

Overall

A few minutes later, I was at the gate waiting to get back on the same plane. This time in addition to the yummy muffin, I also had a pretty good pizza thing.