Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs - Question About Kenya Airways Domestic Service

Dear all

Im thinking of flying from Nairobi to Mombasa but was wondering about the following :

1- Since the recent crash , i am bit reluctant on flying on KQ on this sector , what are your views ? any views on taking a car ride from Nairobi to mombasa ? is it safe ?
2- What sort of service whould i expect if i Fly in J ? or is it not worth it and shall i stick to Y ?
3- Its says the acft type is B737 all series ? any one know what series ? -200? -300? or -700 ?

appreciate your help ,

regards

Flying is safer than driving any day, and certainly safer than driving in Kenya.

Johan

I do not think that KQ still has 737-200s. They have been phased out under the KLM management. My recent experiences on NBO-MBA have been with Fokker F 50s which provide only Y class and are quite adapted to African flying. It' s "orange juice for all".

KQ is basically a safe airline, "uncled" by KLM.They, SAA and Ethiopian are among the very few reasonable airlines to fly. Add the BA affiliate in South Africa, UY (Cameroon air) where the important stuff is French supervised, and... not many. The KQ Cameroon crash is very possibly due to criminal negligence by the Douala tower which wanted to close and not wait for the weather to subside.

Driving in East Africa is dangerous on several accounts, trucks, inept drivers and attacks. NEVER drive at night, stay in convoys, organized or de-facto. Also, 100% of the "hostesses" in bars/stops along the road are sick, and refusing their advances may prove damageable to your tires.

There was a night train in the golden years, very "Orient Express with a smell". Talks of reviving it surface every month. I doubt it will happen, with tourism plummetting.

In one word, fly or...

J class, when offered, will provide you with a larger seat, a beer or even a (local) scotch, a danish at breakfast time, a more private toilet at the front, access to the domestic lounge, and less squashing pushing and shoving. It is worth it as the price difference is small. On unpredictable occasions, the route is flown by a B777, no extra frills unless you enjoy playing with the seat controls and see how many times you can lie down and back up in 40 minutes.

I've been on both the 737 & 777 between KRT-NBO on Y and found the seat pitch to be very cramp. I'm only 5'2" and my knees would touch the back of the seat in front of me. I wonder how those Africans over 6' can sit in Y? Nevertheless, the service onboard was great and recommended

Has anyone got any experience on upgrading their seat class at the airport? I'm flying between NBO-KRT on T class and wonder if this is possible and how much will I have to pay. Thanks in advance

I've been on both the 737 & 777 between KRT-NBO on Y and found the seat pitch to be very cramp. I'm only 5'2" and my knees would touch the back of the seat in front of me. I wonder how those Africans over 6' can sit in Y? :confused: Nevertheless, the service onboard was great and recommended

Has anyone got any experience on upgrading their seat class at the airport? I'm flying between NBO-KRT on T class and wonder if this is possible and how much will I have to pay. Thanks in advance

Has anyone got any experience on upgrading their seat class at the airport? I'm flying between NBO-KRT on T class and wonder if this is possible and how much will I have to pay. Thanks in advance

Full tkt price difference and one hour reticketing but it won't come to that: Try $ 20 at the gate for international flights, $ 10 for domestic, but have a plausible reason which doesn't look like outright bribing. "My bellybutton really aches today. Do you have any seat where I could have more space ?" usually works :p . Good luck !