Fly From Changi! 從SIN出發～

12月3日早上十點不到，好多網友就已經守在電腦前，蓄勢待發準備搶購威航 (V Air) 的台幣520元開航優惠票。但人算不如天算，當天開賣沒多久後，該航空公司就因為訂票系統故障，被迫暫停優惠機票的售賣活動。當時此事還真的引起了一陣轟動，這家航空公司也因此被罵了好幾天。兩天後，威航很有誠意的又再次宣佈：即將發售多五千張優惠機票，讓更多旅客可以搶到520元的優惠票！雖然也有不少網友批評此舉為一種頗惡劣的「推銷手法」，但筆者選擇相信威航的誠意，今早（2014年12月5日）便跟著大家一起搶票！嘗試了幾次後，終於給我買到了～

Before 10am on the 3 December 2014, many travellers waited eagerly in front of their computers, getting all ready to make sure they get hold of a TWD520 V Air launch ticket between TPE and DMK. What happened thereafter was really unfortunate; the airline’s reservation system collapsed as large number of people surged into its official website. Very soon, V Air announced no tickets could be issued and they would have to postpone the sales launch to a later date. What a dramatic start to an airline’s operation! While many argued that this was just a unscrupulous marketing technique, I chose to believe the airline’s sincerity, especially since they promised to release another 5,000 offer tickets on the “second” sales launch that took place this morning (5 December 2015). I was attracted to it, and eventually after numerous tries, I manage to get hold on an offer ticket from DMK to TPE, scheduled in May 2015.

這已經不是筆者今年第一次購買開航優惠票了。
三個月前，當台灣虎航宣布首航新加坡後，
我就已經迫不及待的在第一時刻買下了超便宜的虎航來回票。
（當此的購票經驗請參考這篇文章）

這次看著威航不斷促銷台幣520元的機票時，
就一直告訴自己，不要為了特地要體驗而大老遠跑到曼谷或清邁轉機，
再飛回台灣... 以後多的是機會體驗 V Air 的服務！

第一次開賣時，我忍住了；
最後訂票系統也因為故障而暫時關閉。
不過第二次在今天早上又再度開賣時，
想著想著，最後「一不小心」還是買了一張威航機票。

本篇文章就讓筆者稍微敘述一下此次的購票經驗吧！

This isn’t my first successful attempt in booking a launch ticket. Earlier this year in September, I have already got myself a return ticket onboard Tigerair Taiwan for just approximately SGD100 (between SIN and TPE).

V Air’s marketing strategies this time round successfully attracted my attention; even though I initially promised myself that I will not take the hassle, specially flying to Thailand just to experience V Air. Oh well…

Two days ago, I managed to resist the temptation of this extremely cheap offer. But today, in the name of just testing out the system, I accidentally booked myself on a V Air flight in May 2015.

Well, there’s no harm flying more, isn’t it? Let’s just take a detailed look at the airline’s reservation system now!

今早大約10.05am，
我邊整理著昨晚幸運被阿聯酋航空升等商務艙的照片，
邊想著：要不要買？要不要買？要不要買...
(請點選這裡前往阿聯酋航空商務艙飛行記錄！)

最後就在好奇心的驅使之下，
進入了威航的官網首頁。
心想：看看就好！

但誰知道，下圖裡首頁的「訂位購票」根本就選不了出發地與目的地。
試了幾次後就放棄了。

This morning at about 10.05am, while I was sorting out the photographs for my flight report on our lucky op-up into Emirates’ Business Class the night before (see the report here), this question kept popping up in my mind: Should I buy it? Or should I not?

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t, but it doesn’t hurt to just check out the reservation system, right?

I tried to commence a dummy reservation, but the “search” button on the airline’s homepage wasn’t working at all! That’s bad.

當時看了一下威航的Facebook，
發現很多人也都碰到同樣的問題。
看著看著... 無意間，
看到有Facebook網友建議使用以下網址再嘗試，
搞不好就可以了。

I went to take a look at V Air’s Facebook page, only to realize that I wasn’t the only one facing issues when searching for flights availability. While there were a lot of criticism and complaints going on in that Facebook page, some kind souls recommended everyone to try searching using the following URL instead.

既然都看到了就試試看吧！

Oh well… Since I saw it, why not just try it out?

喔！還真的可以耶！

輸入了明年五月自己能從台灣飛回新加坡的日期後，
發現回程的單程票沒有台幣520元的特價票，
只有原價2,000多元的機票。
（注：筆者居住在新加坡，經常往返新加坡與台灣）

Oh cool! It’s working out after I keyed in some possible dates that I may be free in 2015. The only downside was that, on the dates that I can make it, there were no sale tickets available from TPE to DMK. Only tickets with the original prices were available.

那就... 換個方式！
去程搭威航，回程再慢慢考慮，
之後再觀察其他航空公司的票價。

I reversed the options, flying out of DMK instead.

嘗試訂票的期間，
下圖中的威熊出現了不下有五、六次。
（我真心不想看到它）

I tried a couple of times, and this stupid bear kept appearing.

每次就只能重頭再來，嘗試了幾次後，
下圖中的畫面終於出現了！

看到5月9日有泰銖550元的機票後，
馬上到Google查一下... 換算成台幣大約520元。

真的有耶!!!

Every time the error message pops out, I will have to key in all the details again. Just when I was about to give up, the following screen appeared!

9 May 2015 seems to be a possible date; and the cheapest ticket price was available on that day!

感覺上，查到了這個地步，大概已經沒有回頭路可走了。
無論如何一定要買到...！

隨手再查了一下曼谷住宿資訊，腦中便大略規劃出以下行程：
1) 2015年5月08日 (SIN-BKK/DMK)：大學考試結束後，晚上先從新加坡飛到曼谷，過一夜。
2) 2015年5月09日 (DMK-TPE)：在曼谷吃宵夜、睡一覺後，再搭威航回台灣探望阿公阿嬤！
3) 2015年5月10日 (TPE-SIN)：雖然時間很短暫，但沒辦法... 隔天就得再搭另一間廉航直飛回新加坡。

At this stage, I am quite sure that I will eventually end up with a V Air reservation.

After doing some quick research on airport hotels near BKK/DMK, I came up with a brief itinerary:
1) 08 May: Fly to Bangkok after my exams
2) 09 May: Fly V Air to Taipei!
3) 10 May: Fly back to Singapore on another LCC ticket

選好航班後，畫面右邊的「明細」欄就在那兒轉了好久、好久...

After selecting my flight, the “details” column seemed to take forever to load.

終於！票價明細出現了！

And finally! The total ticket price appeared!

事不宜遲，趕快按「下一步」！

Without further ado, I clicked on “next”!

不知道又過了多久後，新的畫面出現了！
由於筆者已經背下了自己的護照號碼，
我沒一下子就把資料都填好了。

至於其他的附加服務我就暫時先沒有訂咯，
大概會在之後會再補訂機上餐點吧(?)

Yet another century passed before the next screen appeared. In a few seconds, I filled up all my particulars and decided to give all the add-on services (e.g. checked baggage, in-flight meals, priority boarding) a miss for now.

倒是畫面往下滑後，看到了選位圖，
發現選擇「熊大位席」的緊急出口處座位還蠻便宜的！
只需要台幣大約425元。

機艙前方的「熊要近席」也只需要台幣約227元；
至於普通座位，選位費用筆者個人認為真的非常便宜，
才台幣約85元。

（請注意：由於筆者購買的是泰國出發的威航班機機票，
票價與其他額外費用都是以泰銖 (Thai Baht) 計算。
從台灣出發的費用有可能會稍有不同）

As I scrolled down, however, the seat map caught my attention and I decided to spend just SGD18 to select an exit row seat. As compared to Jetstar and Scoot, SGD18 is a huge bargain for an exit row seat!

The other seats could also be selected at fees ranging from SGD3.60 to SGD9.70; very cheap indeed!

選位圖示設計得頗特別，很有威航的feel～

I do like V Air’s webpage design. It reflects very appropriately the corporate culture of the airline.

因為真的蠻便宜的，我就狠下心選了最貴的位子。

As mentioned, given that it was really a bargain, I selected Seat 25A, an exit row seat.

以下為選擇緊急出口處座位的「乘客須知」。

Here’s the requirements one has to meet before he/she can be seated in an exit row.

選好了位子後，合計票價總共是泰銖1,700元，約台幣1,607元。
雖然還是沒有台灣虎航那次便宜，但已經非常不錯了！
（泰國機場稅似乎比較貴？）

The total cost amounted to 1,700 Baht, which is about SGD67. Albeit not as cheap as the Tigerair Taiwan ticket I bought three months ago, this is definitely still a great bargain!

以下列個表，讓各位參考各家廉價航空選位的費用。
費用可能會依照不同航線而有所差別，本文提供的資訊僅供參考。

（顯示幣值為台幣、參考航線：TPE-SIN/DMK/KUL）

The table below reflects the seat selection fees for a few different airlines. Do note that fees may vary by quite a bit depending on your route, so this table serves just as a very generic reference.

(The amounts are reflected in New Taiwan Dollar; routes used as reference were TPE-SIN/DMK/KUL)

所以，搭威航選位子，真的很便宜吧！
（*酷航台幣500元的座位位於機艙前方的寧靜區）

All in all, it probably is still very obvious that V Air does indeed have the lowest seat selection fee!
(*Scoot’s front row seats refer to the quiet cabin at the front of their aircrafts)

航班、座位、托運行李、機上餐點等項目選好後，
下個畫面則是聯絡人的資料。

建議可以訂閱航空公司的電子報，
以後便可第一時間得知他們的促銷活動！

The next screen requires passengers to key in their contact details. It is always good to subscribe to airlines’ newsletter if you really do not want to miss out on all the special offers.

一切資料填妥了！
現在就是最重要的付款過程了～

Now, I have reached the most important screen – PAYMENT.

記得一定要勾選同意條款與政策，
要不然就會像我這樣，
看到「Alert」跑出來...

Do remember to check box beside “I agree blah blah blah…”, or else you’d see this window popping out. If you want to be really sure about your reservation, make sure you read the airline’s terms and conditions before you commit to a ticket. Budget airlines are known to be extremely strict about whatever is written in their terms and conditions.

結果... 到最後了，竟然給我error?!?!

And… ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Why is there an error now?!

點下「OK」後，最不想見到的威熊又跑出來啦... 啊～啊～啊～！

Clicking “OK” brought this stupid bear back onto my screen again…

我不放棄，重來一次！
第二次很幸運的就成功了。

成功訂位後，下方畫面便會出現。
這個時候您就可以狂歡咯～
（當然，撰文此時優惠票已經賣完了.. 沒關係還有機會！）

Upholding the spirit of perseverance, I tried again and succeeded on the second attempt! Here’s the confirmation screen after a successful reservation.

只是... 明細表怎麼沒有選位的費用啊？

A small problem that arose was that my seat selection wasn’t reflected.

往下查看「行程資訊」，真的沒有選到位子。
這時候真的覺得威航的系統的確有待進步...

沒關係！
第一次開賣希望大家能多多諒解新手航空公司，
不過真心希望以後只有進步、不能退步啊。

After double-checking, I confirmed that the system did not capture my seat selection. Looks like there’s really a lot of room for improvement here.

Let’s just hope that this airline continues to improve in the near future!

位子沒有選到，我不甘心！
回到首頁點選威航logo右下方的「管理行程」。

But hey, I really want my exit row seat! Therefore, I went back to V Air’s homepage and selected “Manage My Booking” (located towards the bottom right of V Air’s logo, in Chinese it says “管理行程”).

管理行程的頁面單調得不行，
就這樣... 好醜！

個人認為酷航的網站設計得最佳，
再來就是捷星、亞洲航空。
各家虎航共用的官網其實也不太好用。
（但虎航的手機程式一級棒！）

This screen to “manage your booking” was really dull and borderline ugly.

Personally, I am of the opinion that Scoot has one of the best website and reservation system, and that is followed by Jetstar and AirAsia’s websites. Tigerair’s reservation system is a little “user-unfriendly” in my opinion, but they do have a great mobile app.

把訂位代號跟姓氏填好，再點下「登入」後，
我的航班資訊就出現啦！

To pull out your reservation details, just key in the PNR code and your last name.

趕快來選我的25A座位吧～

Immediately selected Seat 25A again!

選好了再來付款：
如文章前段所提到的，選擇緊急出口處座位費用為泰銖450元。
折合台幣約425元。

Payment will be required again since the system did not capture it just now. As mentioned above, selecting an exit row seat costs 450 Baht – a bargain indeed.

再填一次信用卡資料。

Keyed in my card details again.

接著就是等候收到威航確認信件咯！

PTT航空板跟Facebook上有很多網友說等了好幾小時才收到，
但筆者沒多久後就在Hotmail的垃圾信件中看到了威航的電子機票！

While many people complained that the airline took hours or even days to issue their ticket and send a confirmation email, mine appeared in my “junk mail” folder just minutes after I completed the reservation.

大家記得去檢查垃圾信箱哦～

Do remember to check your “junk mail” folder in case you thought you didn’t receive V Air’s itinerary!

同樣是版面很單調的電子機票email。

（後來在下午又收到了設計比較好看的電子機票，
但內容大同小異我就沒放上部落格了）

The confirmation email/itinerary similarly had a very simple and borderline ugly design. Later on in this afternoon, V Air sent another itinerary that was with a much better layout than this. The contents are however largely similar and thus I won’t be putting up a separate screenshot of the new itinerary.

在此提醒各位讀者，記得把PDF檔案的電子機票下載好。
在前往機場搭機前一定要印出來，報到時交給地勤人員處理。
千萬不要忘記哦，否則可能會蠻麻煩的。
我可是有經歷過這種麻煩事的過來人，所以請務必要聽聽「老人言」！(無誤)

It is always important to download and print the itinerary provided by the airline before you fly. I had really bad experiences before, at Melbourne airport; just because I forgot to print a hardcopy of my itinerary.

看到了機票真開心...！
最後稍微檢查、了解一下「票價規則」。

Heaving a huge sigh relief after receiving the confirmation email, I took a while more to read and understand the “ticketing conditions”.

整個「搶票過程」終於結束後，鬆了一口氣！

雖然台灣虎航、威航的首航班機我都搭不到，
但很開心還是都參與了首航優惠票購買過程。

兩家航空公司的購票過程相比之下，
台灣虎航的系統的確優很多，
但畢竟人家用的可是非常之成熟的訂票系統啊！

While I won’t be able to participate in both V Air and Tigerair Taiwan’s first commercial flight, I am still glad to be part of both airlines’ sales launch and I do look forward to flying both of them in 2015.

On a side note, there is an urgent need for V Air to match up the standard of its reservation system to that of Tigerair Taiwan’s, otherwise they’d be losing the competitive advantage, given that Tigerair Taiwan has a strong backing by both China Airlines and Tigerair Singapore.

在此預祝威航首航順利、成功！
並希望台灣廉價航空業者繼續良性競爭，
讓台灣與亞洲區域其他旅客能有機會在搭廉航的時候，
也可以享受台式優質的親切、溫馨服務！

Wishing V Air all the best in their expansion plans! For readers who were referred to this article from Flight-Report.com, I hope you enjoyed reading my flight report on V Air and also found this article useful!

圖片來源
- 封面圖取自威航官方Facebook
- 文章中所有截圖均來自威航官網
- 最後一張威航B-22608客機的照片取自維基百科

>>> 下一篇：捷星亞洲航空 3K663 SIN-KUL (服務品質高的超短程航班)

延伸閱讀  

1. 歡迎參考筆者另一篇訂票經驗分享文：台灣虎航 開航體驗特惠票 | 購票流程