Originally Posted by
justforfun
That's a lot of hoping. The lounge is absolute rubbish. A single room, a small fridge with drinks, and some stale sandwiches.
More importantly, there will not be A3 staff that early to get you your boarding pass.
I don't recognise the lounge description as matching the facilities in either terminal. T1's lounge will be out of bounds anyway. T3 lounges are really quite comfortable, though with a half-hearted attempt at food, a range of beverages (sans alcohol), views of the apron and (sometimes dodgy) wifi. There's a bar and restaurant/cafe in the public area.
T3 lounges are EgyptAir ones, but they host Star Alliance members.
The A3 staff availability will be a major concern, unless MS handle for Aegean.
Originally Posted by
shimura
totaly agree with justforfun, T1 lounge forget about it,and I don't think you can use it as it's at your arrival, T3 lounges are better but not for 14 hours.
There is another thread
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/middl...d-threads.html
with many good tips, and remember the visa for transit is 25 usd.
The visa for airside transit should be free. You pay $25 only if you enter Egypt.
Originally Posted by
LandMiler
My most concern is the safety in Cairo. I read an article Egypt Forces shoot tourist car by mistake. I also heard many IS related Terrorism in Cairo and all over Egypt.
I once had a plan visit the Pyramid, but I gave up going out from the airport for security reason.
Cairo isn't unsafe. It would be unwise to throw yourself into a demonstration, but people are simply going about their lives in a normal way. The deaths were in the Western Desert - not an area you're likely to get to on your short visit.
You could throw some money about and get a guided tour of the pyramids from an agency. I wouldn't advise doing it yourself by taxi: not because of security issues, but because the hassle of touts and unscheduled visits to commission-paying tourist shops might be stressful.
You could, as other suggest, get a dayroom at an airport hotel. Novotel should be significantly cheaper than the Meridien, and they'll give you a meet and greet if you phone/email ahead to arrange it.
An odder alternative is get yourself to the CityStars shopping-mall, in Nasr City, next to Heliopolis. It's only a short EGP70 drive from the airport, and you can join middle-class Cairenes shopping, eating and cinema-going in air-conditioned comfort. It's an enormous complex with an Intercontinental hotel tagged on, should you require greater creature comforts and better dining.