Selecto

Just booked for August Rome-Jeddah-Jakarta - 1250$ RT in business I
Mostly business fare on huge discount.

Concerto

That's a really great fare. Were there any other destinations of note? Remember, Saudia is a dry airline.

Michael Myshu

Yes, they have good prices. But could someone give me an advise about this airlines?

I have booked Istanbul - Riyadh - KUL for 700eur in their new First class.
Their new first class in the 777-200 with a 4hours stopover in Riyadh.
Price was 700eur.

The first class is like business as Qatar, at least the pictures look like that.

Now I was concerned after reading the reviews on tripadvisor. Not about the behaviors but the problem with the transit.

Some guys wrote, they got delayed the first leg and as they wouldn't catch the second leg, they were denied boarding (as the transit requirements of SA). With no help.
As a European citizen I guess that could happen to me too, right?


Could I ask someone of you, if you have experiences in this?
Did anyone travelled their new first class?

I am just thinking if i did bad and maybe should cancel the ticket (even if its 80eur chargable.. and book a different airline?


Thanks for your advises..

flyer31

Having done long haul 2 trips in J and F in this airline I would not travel with them ever again. The overall experience was miserable.

Adam1222

If you want information about flying Saudia, check the Other Middle Eastern Airlines forum.

planestupid

Would you mind specifying what went wrong? Thank you.

mlqsko

Well, you get what you pay for

vincewy

Seconded. I would like to hear the details too, quite often people come to this board trashing airlines without any merit or details.

wripro

And forget about it if you and any alcohol or wine.

Adam1222

flagging for mods to move all discussion of trip reports and what it's like to fly an airline to the correct place.

felixmendelssohn

Okay, so automatic dealbreaker right there...

IIIIIIIIIIllllllllll

IIRC, I think they served non-alcoholic beer?

One thing though - don't be surprised when other people take your seat and refuse to move under the reasoning of "My wife/sister/daughter cannot sit with a stranger, so I must sit here" You will be just standing there awkwardly until they figure something out.

Plus, IROP in Jeddah to Riyadh would be like going through hell

Concerto

That's what really scares me off trying this. I think it's risky and moderately unwise to transit a country with such strict visa regulations. They could really toss us to the dogs there.

Michael Myshu

yep i did cancel it and fly different..


Anyway.. if someone is interested in them..

Try to book it thru Kayak.pt

The best prices come up with Edreams.pt

So the price of a first class ticket for 850eur comes down to 650eur with edreams. But you need a special card for that, but still paying with any other credit card or paypal its 700eur. So still like 150eur cheaper..

vincewy

The biggest caveat for most flyers is IROP at JED or RUH which would cause you to violate "transit-within-12-hours" rule. I would avoid any connections going through both RUH and JED and/or avoiding RUH altogether given more limited flight options.

A good deal if you can minimize the risk of mis-connect with second connecting flight option. For example, IST-KUL, on certain days you have 2 flights on JED-KUL with 2.5 and 6 hours to connect respectively, pick the first one and if IST-JED (SV256) is delayed SV at check-in should be able to re-book you into the next JED-KUL flight (SV832 and later SV834).

If anyone has issue even getting SV to rebook you at check-in please report back. There's already a thread regarding this

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...h-airport.html