Hello jorguh,
You mentioned arriving in Cairo in the afternoon and not taking the tour during your transit wait (after being offered the hotel instead). I called Egypt Air in Cairo today because I will be in a similar situation, arriving around 4.30 Pm Cairo with a 9 hour layover before heading to KUL. I asked if there is a different tour offered in the afternoon hours. The employee in charge told me over the phone that there is an evening tour with a sound & light show over the pyramids. He said to ask for it upon arrival at Karnak Tours who handle the transit group tour. Were you aware of this, or saw anyone taking it?
Originally Posted by
jorguh
To answer my own question:
Arrived at Cairo from Athens in afternoon, was told that tours only operate in the morning but i was offered a free hotel room instead, which apparently is standard for anyone with 6hrs. + in transit.
Procedure is not exactly straight forward: I was sent from International Transfers (where I went to pick up my boarding pass for my connecting flight to KL, which wasn't issued in Athens) to Domestic Transfers where hotel accommodation is organised. had to hand in my passport & flight itinerary and wait for transit visa to be issued. This took about an hour (lots of paperwork for them, all hand written), we were then escorted through immigration and customs to the hotel shuttle bus. The hotel was the Iberotel (ex. Moevenpick) near the airport, dinner was included. Pick-up from the hotel is about 2.5 hrs. before flight departure, passport and connecting boarding pass has to be picked up from EgyptAir Customer services, next to the domestic departures security. There's only one window with one employee, can be a bit of a zoo as of course no-one queues up.
Same procedure on the return flight, hotel was the Fairmont in Heliopolis which really is part of Fairmont Hotels, though it certainly doesn't look it, quite basic. Breakfast and lunch was included this time.
All in all a very good service, even though the waiting times can be quite long due to excessive admin, but it really does beat sitting at the airport for any lenght of time as the constant announcements (even in the lounges) can really get to you...
Business on the A330 really is OK, apparently the A340s and B777s are a lot worse, though the airline expects new planes to be delivered this year.
Hope this helps any potential EgyptAir flyers!