jedison
Jun 27, 06, 6:54 pm
Last month I flew to Kigali, Rwanda, on business. I've been there three times now, and have loved the place and the people. They're really working hard on developing their country and recovering from the aftermath of the genocide. Frankly I don't know how they do it.
Anyway, after lots of searching for fares and some last minute changes I ended up on two itineraries. SFO-LHR on UA in Y, and LHR-NBO-KGL on KQ (Kenya Airways) in C.
As soon as my itinerary finalized I put in for mileage upgrades (tickets were in M, I think), but alas I had no luck and got to enjoy long haul E+. Thanks to the advice of FT I picked the 777, so I had a video screen and a bit more elbow room. The first flight was SFO-ORD, and was absolutely packed to the gills. I was running late and got there just as the plane was boarding group 1. Group 1 was a huge thundering herd, half the plane must have been elites. No wonder I didn't get an upgrade, lowly 2P that I was. I ensconced myself in my middle seat, best I could do, and endured the three or so hours to ORD. Everything went fine, nothing to report, really.
The ORD connection was really tight, but luckily the LHR flight was only a couple of gates over. Again no luck with the upgrade, but at least this time I had a window seat way in the back of E+. Seatguru says this is a bad seat, but I kind of liked the fact that behind me was the back of a jumpseat, so I could recline to my heart's content, guilt-free. I think my seat was actually relatively quiet owing the lack of seats behind me, but perhaps I was lucky. The odd thing is that in the seat next to me and the middle rows was a Dutch family, parents and three kids. At first the dad sat next to me, but right before takeoff he switched with his dauther, who was probably 12 or so, and his young son was in the opposite There's no way in hell I would put my daughter next to some unknown middle-aged white guy for an overnight flight, especially if I'm not sitting right next to her. Maybe in the states we're just paranoid about such things. The flight was long and a bit painful, I guess I've gotten too accusomted to bidness class for long haul flights. We arrived in LHR more or less on time, and I spent the day in London visiting our office there and seeing some sights. I used the arrivals lounge at LHR, $50 for the privilege from Ameniti (although it seems that actually anybody can do that) and left refreshed for a day in London.
The Kenya Airways flight departed around 8 p.m., so I got into the airport with plenty of time. While checking in I got the third degree about my luggage from the KLM staff handling the desks. I had one of those ubiquitous Kirkland 22" roller bags, but pretty heavy. Given that I had business meetings in Kigali, there was no way I was leaving my bag to the tender mercies of NBO baggage handling. I had to kick the matter upstairs to the KQ agent, but eventually it got sorted out. The KLM people kept saying I might as well check it since there was no way security would let me through with it. Security didn't look twice. BTW, both times through Heathrow this trip I had virtually no wait at security. Lucky, I guess.
KQ flies 777s and 767s from LHR to NBO direct. The business class seats (called "Premier World") are identical on both. They have a shell behind, and go completely flat, with enough room for me to stretch out (6'1") and I can sleep comfortably on my side or back. The seats are actually really comfortable, and on four overnight flights to and from NBO I have slept like a baby every time. The 767 configuration is 2-2-2 and 777 is 2-3-2. Food, IFE, drink, service all leave much to be desired compared to the better flag carriers, but probably no worse than UA (except for IFE). The seats also have empower sockets for a computer, but I haven't used them since my flights have been sleeper service, basically. KQ also flies from HKG vie BKK and CAN via Dubai with the 767s. I've been on the BKK flight and it was basically the same, with roughly the same schedule of leaving at night and arriving first thing in the morning. The LHR flight arrived at 6:30 a.m. or so and I waited in the "Simba Lounge" for my onward flight. The lounge is nothing to write home about, some tired looking sandwiches and odd pastries. sometimes the wireless internet works, and the two terminals in the back are seldom used. The lounge also has two showers, although they are hard to spot because the doors to them are between the restrooms and look like walls. When I entered the lounge it seemd really hot and I made a comment that it seemed hotter than outside. Allegedly it's air conditioned, and I moseyed on over to the thermostat to see what was up. The thermostat was set at 18, but the fan was on low. I switched it to "auto" and things improved slightly. The problem they had there was that the lounge has several large refrigerator units pouring heat into the room. I guess the staff don't know how to use their own equipment. Basically the lounge is clean and a huge improvement over waiting in the terminal. There are also two contract lounges you can use if you have a diners club card, but those are pretty nasty. The best bet apart from the Simba Lounge is a cafe at the end of the terminal near the BA gates. There you can get internet access, some decent coffee, and a seat. Seats elsewhere are scarce, and the terminal is not air conditioned. One pointer at NBO is not to fall for the first boarding announcement which comes as much as an hour or more before departure. That's just when they start letting people into a pen before the actual boarding. I always just wait until about 30 minutes before departure and then go look and see if anybody is actually boarding. Then at least I'm not trapped at the gate.
My connecting flight to Kigali was on a MD-80 operated by Rwandair Express, KQ code share. The MD-80 is an old one, first flew with PSA according to an online site. When I booked my ticket the agent said there was no business class, but upon boarding I saw three rows of very tired, but much better than Y, leather seats. Very old school, but fine for a one hour hop. I didn't say anything at first and proceeded to my assigned seat in Row 5, right behind the bulkhead. After some milling around and commotion, the flight attendant announced that row 6 passengers are to sit in Row 5. When I asked where I should sit with my row 5 BP, she told me to fnd a place in back somewhere. Welcome to Africa. Anyway, I chose this moment to point out that I actually have a Z ticket and therefore should be sitting in bidness. They did some checking, and the GA came onboard, and eventually seated me in business and apologized profusely. They said that their reservation system was having problems and that the plane was new (new to them, anyway, it didn't have livery on it yet and was plain white). The trip to Kigal was uneventful. They served a full meal in the short flight that was relatively tasty, comparable to what I've had in UA domestic first. The wine was crap, as has been the case on all African carriers save SAA. Kigali airport is tiny, and I got off the plane first and quickly through customs. The customs officers are actually quite friendly and say "welcome back" to me when I go there these days.
Departure from KGL is typical for a tiny airport. They do have the genius move of requiring you to have a ticket to get to security to get to the check in desks. I've seen that elsewhere, and don't understand the point. Anyway, the flight back was RE again, also an MD-80. I think they only have two and fly them around central Africa, with one trip to JNB each week. I had learned my lesson this time and ordered a vodka tonic. Vodka was Smirnoff, ugh. My seatmate did better with G&T, decent brand. Again we had a meal and arrived in NBO on time. I spent the afternoon/evening in NBO with a colleage and made my way to the airport. I already had my boarding pass, and security/passport control was a breeze. No time for the Simba Lounge, and boarded the 777 for London. Although the seat is identical, I prefer the 777 because it feels more spacious modern. Of course, I haven't been stuck in the middle seats on 777 bidness class, so perhaps I would change my tune if I was. Again the food, IFE, wine, etc. were very medicocre. The seat is quite good, however, so I drifted off to sleep and awoke over Paris. We had air traffic delays into LHR but arrived in good order.
I enjoyed a lovely bus transfer to T3 (I think) and spent some quality time in duty free. LHR, HKG and Dubai really have the best duty free. London I appreciate particulary for the English leather goods. Smythson stuff is just lovely, and much appreciated by the wife. I used the RCC with a day pass, and was sorely disappointed. It's OK, I guess, but I expected much better. HKG is much better, for example. Getting to the plane required and extra check of somebody looking at my passport and ticket before I went through to the waiting pen. Maybe to avoid mixing of inbound passengers? Somebody announced the boarding order at one door while people filed in through the other. Didn't seem to be any enforcement, so I just boarded when I pleased. Flight was UA 777 direct to SFO. Uneventful.
Anyway, after lots of searching for fares and some last minute changes I ended up on two itineraries. SFO-LHR on UA in Y, and LHR-NBO-KGL on KQ (Kenya Airways) in C.
As soon as my itinerary finalized I put in for mileage upgrades (tickets were in M, I think), but alas I had no luck and got to enjoy long haul E+. Thanks to the advice of FT I picked the 777, so I had a video screen and a bit more elbow room. The first flight was SFO-ORD, and was absolutely packed to the gills. I was running late and got there just as the plane was boarding group 1. Group 1 was a huge thundering herd, half the plane must have been elites. No wonder I didn't get an upgrade, lowly 2P that I was. I ensconced myself in my middle seat, best I could do, and endured the three or so hours to ORD. Everything went fine, nothing to report, really.
The ORD connection was really tight, but luckily the LHR flight was only a couple of gates over. Again no luck with the upgrade, but at least this time I had a window seat way in the back of E+. Seatguru says this is a bad seat, but I kind of liked the fact that behind me was the back of a jumpseat, so I could recline to my heart's content, guilt-free. I think my seat was actually relatively quiet owing the lack of seats behind me, but perhaps I was lucky. The odd thing is that in the seat next to me and the middle rows was a Dutch family, parents and three kids. At first the dad sat next to me, but right before takeoff he switched with his dauther, who was probably 12 or so, and his young son was in the opposite There's no way in hell I would put my daughter next to some unknown middle-aged white guy for an overnight flight, especially if I'm not sitting right next to her. Maybe in the states we're just paranoid about such things. The flight was long and a bit painful, I guess I've gotten too accusomted to bidness class for long haul flights. We arrived in LHR more or less on time, and I spent the day in London visiting our office there and seeing some sights. I used the arrivals lounge at LHR, $50 for the privilege from Ameniti (although it seems that actually anybody can do that) and left refreshed for a day in London.
The Kenya Airways flight departed around 8 p.m., so I got into the airport with plenty of time. While checking in I got the third degree about my luggage from the KLM staff handling the desks. I had one of those ubiquitous Kirkland 22" roller bags, but pretty heavy. Given that I had business meetings in Kigali, there was no way I was leaving my bag to the tender mercies of NBO baggage handling. I had to kick the matter upstairs to the KQ agent, but eventually it got sorted out. The KLM people kept saying I might as well check it since there was no way security would let me through with it. Security didn't look twice. BTW, both times through Heathrow this trip I had virtually no wait at security. Lucky, I guess.
KQ flies 777s and 767s from LHR to NBO direct. The business class seats (called "Premier World") are identical on both. They have a shell behind, and go completely flat, with enough room for me to stretch out (6'1") and I can sleep comfortably on my side or back. The seats are actually really comfortable, and on four overnight flights to and from NBO I have slept like a baby every time. The 767 configuration is 2-2-2 and 777 is 2-3-2. Food, IFE, drink, service all leave much to be desired compared to the better flag carriers, but probably no worse than UA (except for IFE). The seats also have empower sockets for a computer, but I haven't used them since my flights have been sleeper service, basically. KQ also flies from HKG vie BKK and CAN via Dubai with the 767s. I've been on the BKK flight and it was basically the same, with roughly the same schedule of leaving at night and arriving first thing in the morning. The LHR flight arrived at 6:30 a.m. or so and I waited in the "Simba Lounge" for my onward flight. The lounge is nothing to write home about, some tired looking sandwiches and odd pastries. sometimes the wireless internet works, and the two terminals in the back are seldom used. The lounge also has two showers, although they are hard to spot because the doors to them are between the restrooms and look like walls. When I entered the lounge it seemd really hot and I made a comment that it seemed hotter than outside. Allegedly it's air conditioned, and I moseyed on over to the thermostat to see what was up. The thermostat was set at 18, but the fan was on low. I switched it to "auto" and things improved slightly. The problem they had there was that the lounge has several large refrigerator units pouring heat into the room. I guess the staff don't know how to use their own equipment. Basically the lounge is clean and a huge improvement over waiting in the terminal. There are also two contract lounges you can use if you have a diners club card, but those are pretty nasty. The best bet apart from the Simba Lounge is a cafe at the end of the terminal near the BA gates. There you can get internet access, some decent coffee, and a seat. Seats elsewhere are scarce, and the terminal is not air conditioned. One pointer at NBO is not to fall for the first boarding announcement which comes as much as an hour or more before departure. That's just when they start letting people into a pen before the actual boarding. I always just wait until about 30 minutes before departure and then go look and see if anybody is actually boarding. Then at least I'm not trapped at the gate.
My connecting flight to Kigali was on a MD-80 operated by Rwandair Express, KQ code share. The MD-80 is an old one, first flew with PSA according to an online site. When I booked my ticket the agent said there was no business class, but upon boarding I saw three rows of very tired, but much better than Y, leather seats. Very old school, but fine for a one hour hop. I didn't say anything at first and proceeded to my assigned seat in Row 5, right behind the bulkhead. After some milling around and commotion, the flight attendant announced that row 6 passengers are to sit in Row 5. When I asked where I should sit with my row 5 BP, she told me to fnd a place in back somewhere. Welcome to Africa. Anyway, I chose this moment to point out that I actually have a Z ticket and therefore should be sitting in bidness. They did some checking, and the GA came onboard, and eventually seated me in business and apologized profusely. They said that their reservation system was having problems and that the plane was new (new to them, anyway, it didn't have livery on it yet and was plain white). The trip to Kigal was uneventful. They served a full meal in the short flight that was relatively tasty, comparable to what I've had in UA domestic first. The wine was crap, as has been the case on all African carriers save SAA. Kigali airport is tiny, and I got off the plane first and quickly through customs. The customs officers are actually quite friendly and say "welcome back" to me when I go there these days.
Departure from KGL is typical for a tiny airport. They do have the genius move of requiring you to have a ticket to get to security to get to the check in desks. I've seen that elsewhere, and don't understand the point. Anyway, the flight back was RE again, also an MD-80. I think they only have two and fly them around central Africa, with one trip to JNB each week. I had learned my lesson this time and ordered a vodka tonic. Vodka was Smirnoff, ugh. My seatmate did better with G&T, decent brand. Again we had a meal and arrived in NBO on time. I spent the afternoon/evening in NBO with a colleage and made my way to the airport. I already had my boarding pass, and security/passport control was a breeze. No time for the Simba Lounge, and boarded the 777 for London. Although the seat is identical, I prefer the 777 because it feels more spacious modern. Of course, I haven't been stuck in the middle seats on 777 bidness class, so perhaps I would change my tune if I was. Again the food, IFE, wine, etc. were very medicocre. The seat is quite good, however, so I drifted off to sleep and awoke over Paris. We had air traffic delays into LHR but arrived in good order.
I enjoyed a lovely bus transfer to T3 (I think) and spent some quality time in duty free. LHR, HKG and Dubai really have the best duty free. London I appreciate particulary for the English leather goods. Smythson stuff is just lovely, and much appreciated by the wife. I used the RCC with a day pass, and was sorely disappointed. It's OK, I guess, but I expected much better. HKG is much better, for example. Getting to the plane required and extra check of somebody looking at my passport and ticket before I went through to the waiting pen. Maybe to avoid mixing of inbound passengers? Somebody announced the boarding order at one door while people filed in through the other. Didn't seem to be any enforcement, so I just boarded when I pleased. Flight was UA 777 direct to SFO. Uneventful.