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Comment by gonyea | Hacker News Reader

AirAsia is a flaming disaster. I remember booking a flight out of Bangkok. Well, it turns out that I actually booked a flight out of the once named Bangkok airport, which isn’t actually even in Bangkok.

I complained and the “support” rep said “I hope you learned your lesson.” So I called my bank and disputed the charge, getting a full refund. Apparently they never figured out how to challenge my dispute. I hope they don’t learn that lesson.

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I was sufficiently curious about this that I went and checked AirAsia's Wayback machine for this. AirAsia's flights moved around 1st of Oct 2012 from BKK to DMK. For this date, it shows two Bangkok options, listed as "Bangkok (DMK)" and "Bangkok (BKK)"[0]. By January 2013, only DMK is shown, as "Bangkok (DMK)"[1]. By the next year, it's labelled as "Bangkok - Don Mueang")[2].

[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20121001094838/http://booking.ai...

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20130107034342/http://booking.ai...

[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20140102040509/http://booking.ai...

DMK is very definitely in Bangkok. It’s about the same distance from the city center as BKK is.

Much like the support rep, I also hope you’ve learned to not assume that major, world-class cities only have one airport. Somehow I doubt you’d have made the same mistake in London or New York.

It’s very definitely not AirAsia’s fault that you didn’t check the airport code, and would have happened on any other DMK-based airline.

Their website said “Bangkok”. I’ve traveled all over Asia and Europe without this problem.

I dont understand, that is one of Bangkoks airports?

Yeah Bangkok has two airports: Suvarnabhumi (BKK) and Don Muang (DMK). BKK is the airport you land at if you are going to Thailand from Europe or North America, etc. (but not necessarily Asia). DMK is the old international airport that mostly serves domestic flights and a small set of international flights to Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam. Air Asia only has flights at DMK so when they list Bangkok they are correct.

Strictly speaking, BKK (Suvarnabhumi) is not even in Bangkok but another province, Samut Prakan. DMK (Don Mueng) is actually the one in Bangkok.

The split is technically meant to be low-cost vs full service carriers, but it ends up being largely as you describe too

DMK (Don Mueang Airport) IS in Bangkok, so yes, the website should say "Bangkok." I will guarantee with 100% certainty that your reservation confirmation and your boarding passes (whether printed or electronic) included the code DMK and not BKK.

There are a lot of things to complain about when it comes to airlines in general, and AirAsia specifically. But not knowing what airport you booked, that's on you.

Their website was correct. Why did you assume Bangkok meant Suvarnabhumi?

If you Google for “Bangkok to Singapore” half of the flights Google will show you are from DMK.

If they’d listed UTP as being Bangkok, then sure, I’d have some sympathy, but referring to DMK as being Bangkok is probably more valid than referring to NEW as New York.

Which airport is that, BMK?

Similar thing in Germany - I used to live close to Frankfurt-Hahn in Germany, which is nowhere close to Frankfurt, it was renamed to Frankfurt-Hahn at the request of Ryanair.

Three times I bumped into people asking in which direction to walk to get in to get into Frankfurt - it's a 90 minutes drive...

That is nothing. Try flying to Australia and end up in Canada:

https://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/north-america/co...

Or flying to Oakland and ending up in Auckland.

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-04-02/news/mn-19265_1_custo...

To add to the list, there was an attempt to change the name of the Stockton Airport to San Francisco-Stockton Regional Airport. About 80 miles from San Francisco.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SFO-objection-grounds...

I was there when it was just Hahn AB. When Ryanair & Air France took over after the base was closed [0] and renamed it, I knew something shady was going on. Cheap flight, but then a 2 hour bus ride to Frankfurt am Main. I bet people got angry after being fooled.

[0] Which was sad. All the pilots left with their F-16s to go to war, and the base was closed while they were gone, leaving their wives & families to pack up and return to the US.

I assume you're talking about DMK (Don Mueang International Airport) once called "Bangkok International Airport"

Technically it is in Bangkok, it's the same distance from downtown (Asoke) as it is to the newer BKK (Suvarnabhumi Airport), just north instead of east.

This is especially funny.

DMK, which is presently served exclusively by LCC, is in Bangkok proper.

BKK, however, is NOT in Bangkok proper.

When I booked with AirAsia, it always said "Bangkok - Don Mueang (DMK)" in the booking page.

This is 100% your fault.

Poorly/ambiguously named airports seem like a common theme. They're often named after a nearby major city, despite being inconveniently far from the respective city.

> despite being inconveniently far from the respective city

Perhaps, but not in this specific case, where DMK is no further than BKK. I'd have some sympathy for someone trying to get to London and ending up anywhere other than LHR, LCY, or maaaybe LGW. "London Oxford Airport" and "London Ashford Airport" are particularly egregious.

It's less of a problem nowadays with everyone carrying smartphones, or at least having internet access to vet these things.

But back when maps were on paper and travel agents used for the most trivial of trips, the airport names played a significant role in (mis)informing the traveler.

Ages ago when my elderly parents traveled to San Francisco to visit me, they had AAA book the flight and hotel without checking anything. They expected to land in San Francisco and stay at a nearby hotel with convenient access to the city.

SFO International is in Millbrae, quite a ways south of San Francisco proper. The nearby hotels are in an isolated pocket of industrial space on Old Bayshore Hwy, with no conveniently accessible public transportation unless you like walking on highway overpasses.

It does seem like a useful "lesson" to learn; that airports are often named after the nearest major city. Chicago Rockford International Airport is 85 miles from Chicago, but four miles from Rockford. Yet Chicago is the first city mentioned in its title.

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