I recently flew from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo with SriLankan Airlines.
I bought the ticket in advance — it cost only $ 100, which is very profitable for an international flight. But the process of buying and then flying left me with a lot of observations: some things surprised, some pleased, and some raised questions. I share my experience.
Flight features on SriLankan Airlines
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1. A strange and overcomplicated website when buying a ticket
The first adventure began not even at the airport, but when buying a ticket.
The SriLankan Airlines website looks fine, but it works very strangely.
I can easily navigate the Internet, but it took me about 30 minutes to buy a ticket, although I usually book flights in a couple of minutes.
What surprised me:
- many details need to be entered twice — last name, first name, patronymic, e-mail, and it is not always clear why;
- the booking form seems overloaded and illogical;
It turned out that in the end you need to manually choose which system you pay with — Visa or MasterCard. It’s hidden and looks completely unobvious. By the time I figured out where to put the right check mark, another circle of hell had passed.
As a result, instead of two minutes, I spent half an hour there.
It feels strange, as if the site has been developed for a very long time and has hardly been updated.
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2. An unusual seat selection system
Another surprise is the choice of seats.
When you buy a ticket, the cost of choosing a seat is $49, which is almost half the ticket price. I declined the paid option.
But after that, the system offered me a free choice from very decent places.:
- 6th row
- 8th row
- 10th row
And these were not the worst options, but good seats at the beginning of the cabin. I managed to get a seat in the 6th row at the aisle, which is great for a free choice. Why this is so is a mystery, but it’s nice.
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3. Generous baggage allowance
SriLankan Airlines really has very good conditions:
- 30 kg of checked baggage
- 7 kg hand luggage, plus personal item
But the main thing is that no one really checks it.
Passengers boldly carry 2-3 things, backpacks, suitcases, packages — and all this passes without question.
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4. Chaos in the cabin due to too much hand luggage
Customer orientation is good, but it has a downside.
In the cabin, chaos begins with the luggage racks.
Since there is no control, the rest of the passengers bring suitcases the size of half the luggage, huge backpacks and extra bags into the cabin.
I was one of the first to board the plane and calmly took a seat for my two small bags.
But later, the shelves simply stopped closing: there were not enough seats, passengers were looking for empty slots all over the plane.
If you do not board in advance, you may be left without a place for hand luggage.
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5. Advice to passengers: board first
If you fly with SriLankan Airlines, I highly recommend it.:
- come to the gate in advance,
- sit down first if possible.
This way you are guaranteed to take a place on the luggage rack and avoid hassle.
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Bottom line: I liked the airline, but with its special features
SriLankan Airlines left a mixed but rather positive impression:
Positive:
- cheap tickets,
- good baggage allowance,
- free choice of normal seats,
- very loyal attitude to hand luggage.
Minuses:
- inconvenient website and chaos when buying a ticket,
- clutter with hand luggage in the cabin.
