Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs - Gulf air business class-worth it?

Considering flying gulf air business class sydney-london in june.Price is very competitive and its website looks good.Does any one have any experience on this service.
Also wondering what tha air nanny service is like as grandchildren in tow.Many thanks.

Considering flying gulf air business class sydney-london in june.Price is very competitive and its website looks good.Does any one have any experience on this service.
Also wondering what tha air nanny service is like as grandchildren in tow.Many thanks.

Hey,

For the price, GF J is not too bad. Sadly, GF uses its very old A340's on the SYD-BAH route although you will get the brand new A330's between LHR and BAH. Service / Food / IFE / Lounges are all average although IFE is good on the A330.

This site shows pictures of the seating on each aircraft. http://www.gulfairco.com/ground/seating.asp

Click on the Aircraft name on the left, then click on the class of service on the seat map.

Sky Nanny service quite helpful if you have very young children

Cheers

You will find some regular Gulf Air FTers here, most notably Cedar Jet,who has posted some great advice, as well as being my guru GF guru for our trip this month SYD-SIN-BAH-DUB, which we flew in J from SYD-BAH.

If you have arranged a hotel stay in BAH through the GF ticket, I hope that my complaint to the GF President has been noted,and that the GF agent has the voucher ready when you arrive, rather than have the disaster we experienced last week.

Expect very poor service at BAH from GF staff, unless you can conduct your business totally though the GF lounge. If it doesn't fall apart in BAH, you'llhave both an enjoyable flight and little hassle. If you are lucky, the FAs will not allow the J toilets to be used by everyone in Y, which seems to be the case SYD-BAH.

Enjoy, and good luck in BAH!

Considering flying gulf air business class sydney-london in june.Price is very competitive and its website looks good.Does any one have any experience on this service.
Also wondering what tha air nanny service is like as grandchildren in tow.Many thanks.

The J class service on GF for the price is great.
Your intial sector from SYD-BAH will be on an ex Singapore Airlines A340 with old style J seating. Food and service will be excellent. GF are rumored to be upgrading IFE and seating on the A340's "next year" thus one may hope that they will done by June? This will be to A330 standards I'm told but not exactly the same. Dont be fooled by the Emirates 777 services via Bangkok. Those services have almost same pricing as GF J class to LHR. You will have to tollerate 2-3-2 (2-2-2 on GF)seating in J and nowhere near as good food. The IFE(if it's working), however, will be better than on GF. F and J on EK 777's and 330's is a total rip off! The A340-500 is only decent aircraft in fleet..even then the J is not flat bed or lie flat angle as with QF.

That said J on the A330 from BAH to LHR will be super. As suggested go to the GF website and take a look at pics. The lounge in BAH will also impress you...very very nice indeed after a long flight.

Unfortunatley with all Arab carriers the local Arab staff lack the polish we may take for granted in the west. They mean very well and even though they are trained well most are in the jobs not by choice as demographics in the Gulf are opposite to west. 70% of the popultaion is under 30! As such jobs are scarce and people take what they can get. This is no less true for Emirates. I even heard a rumor that Qatar Airways wont employ local staff for that reason? There are enough non Arab employees to make up for any shortcommings of local staff I have found.

Nanny service always seem to run well and parents with children love it. The nanny is dedicated so u can expect great attention....unless of course there are 150 children on your flight! You will be boarded first and met/greeted by the nanny.
Happy flying.
CJ :)

Thanks for the quick replies.I think you have clinched it for gulf.The only competitors pricewise are emirates and jal.We travel jal regularly to the states and would like to experience something different.Pity everyone puts on their second line equipment to australia!

I'm told but not exactly the same. Dont be fooled by the Emirates 777 services via Bangkok. Those services have almost same pricing as GF J class to LHR. You will have to tollerate 2-3-2 (2-2-2 on GF)seating in J and nowhere near as good food. The IFE(if it's working), however, will be better than on GF. F and J on EK 777's and 330's is a total rip off! The A340-500 is only decent aircraft in fleet..even then the J is not flat bed or lie flat angle as with QF.

CJ :)

"tolerate 2-3-2 seating on EK" hmmm.... EK uses a Boeing 777 on its SYD-BKK-DXB route. A 2x3x2 layout is normal and allows the same seat width as a 2x2x2 layout on the A330. I sampled this seat on my recent trip with EK and found a huge improvement over the old Boeing 777 seating, the seat came down a lot more, there was a lot more legroom and it was more comfortable in general. Most carriers use 2x3x2 for J class on the 777. When flying the GF A340, I could not find anything that would put Gulf Air near EK. The seat pitch is 13" or so inches less (GF - 47", EK - 60"), the food, IFE, service is all much better on EK IMHO.

The J seat on the EK 330 is subpar, but since the op won't be flying it, it isn't that relevant. If the prices are similar with EK/GF, I would fly EK without a doubt, even if you cannot get the nonstop service SYD-DXB.

Cheers

"tolerate 2-3-2 seating on EK" hmmm.... EK uses a Boeing 777 on its SYD-BKK-DXB route. A 2x3x2 layout is normal and allows the same seat width as a 2x2x2 layout on the A330. I sampled this seat on my recent trip with EK and found a huge improvement over the old Boeing 777 seating, the seat came down a lot more, there was a lot more legroom and it was more comfortable in general. Most carriers use 2x3x2 for J class on the 777. When flying the GF A340, I could not find anything that would put Gulf Air near EK. The seat pitch is 13" or so inches less (GF - 47", EK - 60"), the food, IFE, service is all much better on EK IMHO.

The J seat on the EK 330 is subpar, but since the op won't be flying it, it isn't that relevant. If the prices are similar with EK/GF, I would fly EK without a doubt, even if you cannot get the nonstop service SYD-DXB.

Cheers


Im not sure who wants to be stuck in the middle seat in a J class cabin of a 2-3-2 layout...to me thats criminal for a premium cabin. The seat pitch may be a few inches more on EK BUT the recline is abysmal on EK. F seats on GF A340 recline 170 degrees EK 777 F don't. The J class class recline in EK 777 is also NO better than on GF A340 J class.

Once again I remind you that GF will be upgrading the A340 cabin, which may also raise prices for premium cabin travel. Then EK may be better value money wise. You may also want to check out Royal Brunei Airlines a fantastic lie flat J class(no F class) on 767-300.

As for food I beg to differ, GF is superior. SKytrax has awarded GF the best food in F and J for 2005 and 7th best in Y.

Im not sure who wants to be stuck in the middle seat in a J class cabin of a 2-3-3 layout...to me thats criminal for a premium cabin. The seat pitch may be a few inches more on EK BUT the recline is abysmal on EK. F seats on GF A340 recline 170 degrees EK 777 F don't. The J class class recline in EK 777 is also NO better than on GF A340 J class.

Once again I remind you that GF will be upgrading the A340 cabin, which may also raise prices for premium cabin travel. Then EK may be better value money wise. You may also want to check out Royal Brunei Airlines a fantastic lie flat J class(no F class) on 767-300.

As for food I be to differ GF is superior. SKytrax has awarded GF the best food in F and J for 2005 and 7th best in Y.

There are 2 "versions" of EK 777's. Version "1" is the reconfigured B777's (777-300ER and 777-200 and some 777-300). On these planes the recline in J is much improved, the First Class seats become flat beds - ie 180 degrees. On the 777-300's that have not been reconfigured - yes the recline is no better than the GF A340's - but again, irrelevant to the OP as they would be flying a combination 77W (EK418/419/1) and/or 772 (EK6) and/or 345 (EK412/413). These unconfigured planes will have been reconfigured by March or so. Most of the 2 class ones have been done.

With regards to food, I haven't had the opportunity to sample F class food on GF - and I have heard that it is amazing - I found the J class food to be just OK. (Though this was a while ago - it may have improved).


Definately agree with regards to Royal Brunei, their 767 J class product is excellent.

Cheers

have you looked at the gulf thread in MR and thought of the opportunities?