AirAsia Ride is Malaysia’s latest eHailing player. Here’s how it’s different from Grab

After several months of teasing, AirAsia has finally launched its eHailing service called AirAsia Ride. The service is offered via the AirAsia SuperApp and it is set to compete with dominant players like Grab. So how is it different? Read on to find out.

Passengers can select their drivers

Similar to Grab, AirAsia Ride offers a variety of vehicle categories including compact, premium, MPV, taxi or simply take any ride that’s available. While most eHailing platforms will automatically assign a driver to you, AirAsia Ride also provides a list of recommended drivers for you to choose. You can view the distance as well as their personal profile. Depending on availability, you could also book an “Allstar Ride” and be driven by AirAsia pilots and cabin crew.

Interestingly, there’s a Lady Drivers option which is great for female passengers. From the looks of it, it seems that AirAsia has either partnered or acquired Dacsee for its eHailing service. The Dacsee app on Apple AppStore and Google PlayStore has been renamed to AirAsia Ride Driver.

Data analytics for greater efficiency

Data is said to be the biggest unique proposition AirAsia has to offer. Since it already offers a wide variety of services including bookings for flights, hotels, food, logistics and more, AirAsia Ride aims to use existing data to provide a more complete user experience. For example, if you’ve already purchased a flight, you can already book a ride from your home to the airport as well as from the destination airport to your hotel for seamless connectivity.

Airport trips are the most sought-after jobs for eHailing drivers and AirAsia wants to optimise its drivers’ time for maximum efficiency and earning. Based on data available, AirAsia Ride drivers can be assigned a return airport trip with the shortest wait interval based on the estimated time of arrival of a passenger’s flight.

Lower fees for drivers

One of the biggest gripes of driver-partners is the cut that the platform gets from each ride. AirAsia has announced that it imposes a 15% platform fee which is lower than the usual 20% cut in the market. That means drivers can take 85% of the net fares exclusive toll charges, allowing them to make more money.

When we asked if AirAsia allows its drivers to work with competing platforms, they told us that it is actually encouraged. Drivers are free to take competitor jobs and this would allow them to promote AirAsia ride to their passengers.

No penalty for rejecting jobs

Unlike typical eHailing platforms that punish drivers for rejecting jobs, AirAsia says they will not penalise its driver-partners for rejecting assigned trips. Instead, it uses an encouragement model where drivers will gain more rewards and benefits for completing more jobs.

On the surface, this sounds like a huge disadvantage to passengers as drivers can choose not to take a job similar to what most people would face when flagging down a taxi in the past. However, AirAsia is confident that this won’t be an issue as there would be a sufficient number of drivers competing to get the same job. It added that if a driver doesn’t accept the job, the algorithm will automatically assign the ride to the next available driver and it will be done seamlessly in the background without the customer’s knowledge.

The customer will only know if their ride is rejected if the driver cancels halfway due to unforeseen circumstances such as being stuck in a bad traffic jam or perhaps during an emergency. If that happens, the algorithm will automatically assign the next available driver to you.

Whether the algorithm will provide a fairer experience is yet to be seen and we’ll soon find out once most Malaysians can start to commute to work as usual. During pre-pandemic times, users on most eHailing platforms often struggled to get a ride during peak hours especially when it’s raining heavily.

Passengers can tip drivers upon booking

To increase your chances of getting a ride, AirAsia Ride allows you to add a tip when you place a booking. This can range from RM1 to RM20 and the driver will be able to see the tipped amount before they accept the job. Obviously, any extra incentive would encourage the driver to accept the job.

In terms of payment, the app currently accepts credit and debit card as well as cash options. Despite being a SuperApp, there’s currently no seamless integration with BigPay and you’ll still have to key in your BigPay card number. AirAsia shared that passengers may soon be able to pay for rides with their Big points and they could also enjoy free rides during AirAsia low fare promotions.

Slightly cheaper fares

According to AirAsia, the fares are set at an average of RM1 per kilometre excludign toll charges. Users can make an advance booking but a minimum amount of RM20 is required.

When we did a comparison, AirAsia Ride fares are slightly cheaper by a couple of ringgit. For a trip from Mid Valley to KLCC, Grab charges at least RM17 (JustGrab) and RM27 for a 6-seater MPV, while AirAsia Ride costs RM15 for compact and RM23 for a 6-seater vehicle. Meanwhile, a trip from Sunway Pyramid to 1 Utama costs at least RM21 on Grab while AirAsia charges a minimum of RM18.

For a short distance trip between KL Sentral to Bangsar Village, Grab charges RM9 while AirAsia Ride charges RM7. Since AirAsia Ride is still new, do expect longer wait times for certain areas as there are fewer drivers at the moment. It would be interesting to see if AirAsia implements surge pricing during busy peak hours.

100% fully vaccinated drivers

Since we are in the middle of the pandemic, AirAsia is proud that 100% of their drivers have been fully vaccinated and they will only allow vaccinated drivers on their platform. In addition, drivers are also provided with free self-test kits and they are encouraged to conduct the self-tests regularly with subsidised kits.

As part of their safety protocol, the drivers are provided with air sanitisers as well as hand sanitisers to minimise the risk of infection.

Gradual expansion according to demand

At the moment, AirAsia Ride has 5,000 drivers registered on its platform who have obtained the required PSV license. The service is currently available in the Klang Valley with plans to expand to other states in the coming months.

Unlike other eHailing players that launch with a large number of drivers on the road, AirAsia will expand gradually to ensure that there are not too many drivers and there are sufficient jobs for everyone. At the same time, it won’t embark on an aggressive marketing campaign to acquire customers like its direct competitor. AirAsia will activate its drivers according to demand.

Launch promo code

As part of its introduction, you can get RM3 off for your first trip when you book an AirAsia Ride with the promo code AARIDE3. The promo is valid for new users for their first ride in the Klang Valley only. It will be available from 24th August until 30th September 2021.

The AirAsia SuperApp is available on the Apple App store, Google Play Store and Huawei AppGallery. Under the current SOP for NRP Phase 1 states, eHailing is currently limited to two people per vehicle including the driver. Interested drivers can join AirAsia Ride by signing up here.