Flying Firefly Airlines from Subang to Penang
After 3 nights in Kuala Lumpur, it was time to head to our next stop Penang. Â The idea of going to Penang had first come when I saw Firefly Airlines offering really cheap fares. I was able to snag $0 tickets + tax for the outbound which wound up being ~$18 USD. Penang for a night it was!
Despite hearing horror stories from the cab driver about how long it would take to get there at 7AM, it wound up being barely a 40 minute ($30) cab ride. I would not have wanted to have been trying to get into the city from the airport however — that was bumper to bumper.
The airport was simple but very new looking, with a surprising number of high end retail shops both before and after security. We had not realized that you had to run your bag through the security machine if you were checking it, so had to double back after we’d approached the counter.
And having flown over in international First Class, we hadn’t even thought about the weight of our luggage until the night before when we realized they might have luggage restrictions and fees. The first 20kg were free, after that the fees got exponentially higher.
Part of the joy of the flight was that our ticket had only been $18 so were were feeling a little worried about having to pay another $50. Our luggage cam in <1kg  overweight each and the agent was really nice and let it slide.
We then spent the next 45 minutes at the gate worrying about our carryon. Firefly policy states you get one carryon (seemingly including “personal items like a handbag or laptop case”) and it has to be less than 7lbs. I had my 22″ rollaboard packed full AND my laptop case. My friend had a satchel and a duffel. Â We managed to stuff our smaller items in our bigger items, and hoped for the best.
No one said a word when they took our tickets.
And when we had to take stuff out to get our carryons to fit in the prop plane overhead bins, the flight attendants were extremely helpful. As the first people to check in for our flight we’d been given seats on the bulkhead, which made it interesting since the plane boarded from the rear and we had to squeeze all our stuff down the long aisle.
We were late taking off since heavy traffic to the nearby KUL airport was affecting our flight pattern, but the actual flight was great! They offered a choice of free juices or water and a snack of banana muffin or peanuts. Their in-flight magazine and merchandise brochure were actually pretty interesting.
Other than the stress of luggage restrictions, which if we hadn’t packed for 2 weeks wouldn’t have been a problem, it was a good experience. Clean, quick, efficient and much much better than flying Ryan or Spirit Air.
More posts from the trip:
Checking In and Air France Lounge at IAD
Korean Airlines First Class IAD-ICN
Hyatt Regency Incheon: Great Service, Hard Beds
Accidentally Seeing Seoul Like a Native
Tight Quarters at the Park Hyatt Seoul
Worth a Hike — Bukchon Hanok Village
Checking In for a Flight from Downtown SeoulÂ
Korean Airlines First Class Lounge Incheon Airport
Korean Airlines First Class Seoul to Kuala Lumpur
You Don’t Get Massaged By a Blind Paralympic Everyday...
Great Value at the Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur
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They are a fun little airline, and they’re also a back-door way to get into Ko Samui for cheap without flying TG or PG (I flew in from Penang last year).
Oh, and drop by Line Clear, get some great Indian food, and pet the kitties. 😉