Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs - Trepidation... (flying the one OW airline I haven't tried yet)

As I am sitting here in the lounge of the more than wonderful Holiday Inn hotel in Bangkok (the one next to the IC) I am suddenly hit by a sense of anticipation (or is it really trepidation?) that I am in for a new experience tomorrow. I have flown all of the OW airlines bar 1: Royal Jordanian. That is going to change and I am slightly giddy about it. I know they have slanted seats. The flights is pretty full so no 2 seats to myself. I heard the food is great and the AMM lounge is nothing to be sneezed at. Most important of all: it is all new. Almost feel like a little kid waiting for a present...

Any golden tips? I got 1A on the A330 and 2F on the A319 to AMS. What 'perks' can I expect as a BA Gold?

Fun end to a long holiday in any case.

No tips since I've never flown RJ, but to say: "enjoy".

And it sounds like you have more 'anticipation' than 'trepidation'...which is probably a good thing.

tb

No tips since I've never flown RJ, but to say: "enjoy".

And it sounds like you have more 'anticipation' than 'trepidation'...which is probably a good thing.

tb

Thanks. The 'trepidation' is mostly about the seat, reminding me how important the CW hard product is to me in making my choice for BA...

So you've flown S7? And did you do Mexicana before the disappeared? Surely RJ must be at least as good?

OK, I'm going to show my ignorance here, but are some of the Middle-Eastern carriers "dry", or does it depend on route etc.?

I think we need a sticky so we know which carriers / routes / lounges to avoid.:eek:

OK, I'm going to show my ignorance here, but are some of the Middle-Eastern carriers "dry", or does it depend on route etc.?

I think we need a sticky so we know which carriers / routes / lounges to avoid.:eek:

RJ is definitely not dry. I have a policy of never drinking alcohol on a flight due to accelerated dehydration of my skin that results, but I remember this because a chap nearby spilled a whole glass of red wine onto the cream-coloured seat :eek:

Cabin crew was terrific - they just said to him not to worry and to move seat if he liked, and cleaned up the seat.

Lovely food too, and the cabin crew members were very attentive. It's been a while since my last RJ flight but I had absolutely no complaint. It was only a mid-haul but comfortable seat (nothing like the CE seat, a wide, deep, comfortable cradle seat that reclined quite a bit).

Enjoy RJ HB.

My TR report from 2011 might be of some interest:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1229498-royal-jordanian-crown-class-lhr-amm-cmb.html

Be interesting to see if they keep the cockpit door closed this time, and whether the wine is a little more free-flowing (as above, RJ is not 'dry' - but I found getting a glass refilled for my Mrs was not easy - they didnt proactively offer a refill)... Let me know!

OK, I'm going to show my ignorance here, but are some of the Middle-Eastern carriers "dry", or does it depend on route etc.?


EgyptAir is dry, it was possible to bring your own on board ; I'm not sure if this is still the case as I havn't flown with them for several years.

Their A330 is certainly not as Good Seat Wise as the A340, but with Fares ex BKK at around Half BA and QF the IMHO seat and IFE is acceptable.

You have to keep them on their toes for drinks though as other have reported.

Cabin Crew as with Many Airlines is hit and miss.

Other significant advantage there is no First Class ahead of you.

Have fun. Love a new airline. Like a new airport better though.

We're flying RJ tomorrow for the first time too. Just done OLCI - the interface makes ba.com look like a thing of the future :O And whilst I think it's very kind of them to note on our BP that they look forward to welcoming us in to the Crown Lounge at QAIA, I'm not quite sure how they expect us to do so on an itinerary from HKG-BKK....

We're flying RJ tomorrow for the first time too.

I am on the flight that departs BKK on the 20th so I guess you may be warming up my seat... :)

FYI I'm pretty sure Kuwait Airways and Saudi Airlines are dry all the time...

FYI I'm pretty sure Kuwait Airways and Saudi Airlines are dry all the time...

RBA is dry but might permit BYO.

FYI I'm pretty sure Kuwait Airways and Saudi Airlines are dry all the time...

Definitely true, on both airlines it is neither served nor can you BYO. Any transfers in KWI or the KSA will involve dry lounges too. Kuwait Airways allow (or rather don't forbid) people using mobile phones during take off, Saudia allow pet falcons in First Class, which is interesting if you are sat next to one perched on top of your IFE.

Royal Jordanian allows falcons in the cabin too, but in economy class only.
http://www.rj.com/en/Pets.html

(They used to have a falcon-specific page but I can no longer find it.)

Not flown RJ yet but I did visit their lounge in Amman back in December on my way back to London (on EasyJet! :(:(:() and it was pretty good imo - food, drink, really friendly staff, comfortable seating and private tv booths.

Just make sure you leave enough time to get from the lounge to your gate. You have to clear security again before you get access to the gate and it can be quite chaotic with people shoving in the line, not quite knowing what they are doing and having to go back and forth through the scanners until they empty themselves of metal.

At first I read the headline as trepanation

http://www.trepanationguide.com/

Royal Jordanian allows falcons in the cabin too, but in economy class only.
http://www.rj.com/en/Pets.html

(They used to have a falcon-specific page but I can no longer find it.)

Oh to have sat in the RJ meeting where this was all decided:

Important Notice
Charges
One falcon is charged three times the normal excess baggage rate. More than one falcon per handler will require the booking of an adjacent seat.

Maximum: two falcons per seat.

Max number of falcons per aircraft type

Narrow bodied aircraft: 10 FALCONS
Wide bodied aircraft: 15 FALCONS

They are actually quite boring, the don't do much when hooded.

Oh to have sat in the RJ meeting where this was all decided:

Important Notice
Charges
One falcon is charged three times the normal excess baggage rate. More than one falcon per handler will require the booking of an adjacent seat.

Maximum: two falcons per seat.

Max number of falcons per aircraft type

Narrow bodied aircraft: 10 FALCONS
Wide bodied aircraft: 15 FALCONS



I love this.

Personally I'd have gone for 18 falcons on a widebody.

I supposed the in-flight-meal for a Falcon in F is a case of uncaging a chilled rabbit.

I supposed the in-flight-meal for a Falcon in F is a case of uncaging a chilled rabbit.

Or are they just let loose on the infidels in Y ?

BAH

They are actually quite boring, the don't do much when hooded.

:D Being that I love watching falcons, I think I'll feel a bit sorry for them for being hooded, though.

I am on the flight that departs BKK on the 20th so I guess you may be warming up my seat... :)

Given how few pax exited the J cabin at BKK, I quite possibly did!

RJ was "ok". It's not CX or BA, but it's not the worst thing in the world. For the 2.5hr hop from BKK, it sufficed - the food was however odd. An open ham (or at least I think it was ham...) sandwich, accompanied by an open fish sandwich, plus some fruit salad and cakes seemed a strange mix. But the wine flowed (again, not stellar for J), crew were pleasant. The smell of the front J lav wasn't pleasant at the start of the flight, never mind the end.... :eek:

Relative to the service on either AA or BA, RJ is actually pretty good. Flew them ORD -amm - del and the FAs specially on the long haul were just amazing. Food was decent and the seat was Better than the AA slanted seat. The cabins looked fresher than BA though the actual BA seat is indeed better for being fully flat.

The lounge at amm is nice comparable IMO to a BA galleries in LHR

Given how few pax exited the J cabin at BKK, I quite possibly did!

RJ was "ok". It's not CX or BA, but it's not the worst thing in the world. For the 2.5hr hop from BKK, it sufficed - the food was however odd. An open ham (or at least I think it was ham...) sandwich, accompanied by an open fish sandwich, plus some fruit salad and cakes seemed a strange mix. But the wine flowed (again, not stellar for J), crew were pleasant. The smell of the front J lav wasn't pleasant at the start of the flight, never mind the end.... :eek:

Sounds, um, "interesting." I'm on the BKK-HKG leg in April in J - at half the cost of CX (and avoiding the CX regional J seats), it made the most sense. Guess I'll try to eat something in the airport beforehand, probably in the CX lounge.

Sounds, um, "interesting." I'm on the BKK-HKG leg in April in J - at half the cost of CX (and avoiding the CX regional J seats), it made the most sense. Guess I'll try to eat something in the airport beforehand, probably in the CX lounge.

So here's the bizarre thing - the BKK-HKG was a completely different experience on the catering front. Menus handed out, a three course meal served (starter was thai beef and salmon, followed by a choice of four mains (lamb curry was excellent), and then a date & fig pudding. Champagne, white wine, red wine all on offer (though they ran out of fizz fairly quickly).

Just strange - the same carrier, the same route, but worlds apart in terms of catering. It's not even as if the outbound HKG-BKK flight was full of people getting off in BKK (if it had been, you could argue that it was best to save the proper "meal" for the BKK-AMM leg). Plus given the 21:25 departure, anyone joining in HKG would likely be in need of a decent meal, compared to those on the 15:25 BKK departure.

Royal Jordanian allows falcons in the cabin too, but in economy class only.
http://www.rj.com/en/Pets.html

(They used to have a falcon-specific page but I can no longer find it.)

Forgive the question, but has anyone here actually ever experienced a falcon on a flight (RJ or other)?