Wow, I said to myself on seeing all the new AirAsia fares for flights to various places in January 2006. What? RM1.99 to Penang, Kota Baru, Johor Baru and Terengganu; RM9.99 to Sarawak, Alor Setar and Langkawi; RM19.99 to Sabah and Hatyai or only RM79.99 to faraway Phnom Penh, Bali and Surabaya.

AirAsia must be a very ethical airline indeed, I thought, because there is hardly any business establishment nowadays which would give one-cent change if I pay cash.

For inexperienced AirAsia customers, they must always beware of the small print ie, all the taxes, fuel surcharges and insurance premiums you have to cough up when you book your ticket.

For a simple domestic trip to Alor Setar alone, you have to add at least another RM100, and maybe RM200 for foreign destinations. Plus another RM100 for the train and taxi from your house to Kuala Lumpur Sentral and then to KLIA which costs another RM35 per person, one-way.

There is another peril when you fly AirAsia. Due to limited check-in counters, you have to arrive early, very early or else your trip and the money you spent are gone. Sorry, no refunds. That's what they mean when they say 'seats not guaranteed on this flight'.

An AFP report from Wellington last Friday, says Air New Zealand - already convicted on 14 charges of misleading air fare advertising - could face another 280 charges of false advertising.

District Court Judge Stan Thorburn had ruled that the airline misled people by not fairly including extra costs, including a fuel surcharge, when it advertised fares. The judge also criticised the use of 'microscopic' and 'tiny' asterisks in the advertisements that pointed consumers to fine print on the true nature of extra charges.

The New Zealand Commerce Commission, the country's competition watchdog, claimed the airline's advertising broke the country's Fair Trading Act by not fairly saying what the cost of air travel was.

Over to you Shafie Apdal, our minister of domestic trade and consumer affairs.