I just flew CAI-JED-LAX in Saudia C, and was very pleasantly surprised. I had done a fair bit of reading here, and there are a lot of very negative comments about the airline. The tone seems to be set by a pretty disastrous trip report by a well-known blogger, and there are also various nightmare reports off FT that seem to predominantly be influenced by Hajj flights (with rather unsophisticated passengers).

To counterbalance these reports, here is my experience.

CAI is an odd airport. You have to pass the first checkpoint before getting to the check-in area, and there are no priority lines. Touts will try to grab your bags and "expedite" your trip through security for a tip. It's a bit of an ordeal, but after that, Saudia check-in staff are fairly pleasant and efficient. I had a bit of a wait while they were trying to get my connecting BPs. After a few phone calls, it came out, with the dreaded SSSS marking.

I then passed immigration and a second security check, and went to the lounge. Brand new, with comfortable furniture and great food. I can't think of very many Skyteam lounges that are superior to this.

The CAI-JED flight was initially shown as delayed by 20 minutes, then by an hour, and finally took off about 2 1/2 hours late. Communication was less than ideal, and not very proactive. If I'd gotten an email, I could have spent an extra 2 hours in my room at the airport hotel. The silent room at the lounge was ok for a few hours, though.

The Airbus 330 for CAI-JED was brand new and had 2/2/2 C seats that were completely lie-flat, with huge screens and an ample movie selection. Food was delicious (owing to the short flight, served on a single tray). The female flight attendants were very pleasant, but the male ones didn't appear to lift a finger on this flight (very light load).

I had read horror stories about connecting in Jeddah. It's an ancient airport with many solid 1* reviews. There are no jetways, everything is done by bus. Owing to my late CAI flight, which arrived about 20 minutes before the intended departure time of my LAX flight, I saw very little of the airport. I raced upstairs, passed initial security (divided by male/female) and headed straight to the gate where my US-bound flight had another security control. Officials seemed very slow and disinterested, and the ratio of people working to standing around is not favorable, but after a nerve-racking 15-minute wait for my SSSS treatment, I was cleared to board. The LAX flight departed about an hour late, which seems to be fairly standard, looking at Flightaware.

The hard product in Business on the 77W is excellent (1/2/1). I am very tall (6'5"/195cm) and this the most comfortable business seat I've flown in a long time. I'd put it ahead even of the CX/BR seat, and obviously it's far better than the various business staggered/parallel flat/herringbone seats out there. Food was excellent -- great quality, lots of options. The 16 hour flight starts out with breakfast, then there are various hot and cold on-demand options, and about two hours prior to landing, the main meal is served -- lobster or middle eastern appetizer, tasty salad, Moroccan soup, choice of four mains, choice of dessert. There is, of course, no alcohol, but the FAs offer various delicious juices/smoothies. There is no drink cart accompanying the food service, and the supply of soft drinks is somewhat hesitant (most passengers seemed content with water, which is served automatically). The female FAs were once again spectacular -- very capable and friendly. IFE was great, with a selection surpassing Studio CX, Delta, LH, and many others. I received a code for 25MB of free internet, but the connection was pretty slow, so don't count on doing more than occasionally checking email.

The arrival experience in LAX was again subpar. Despite the SSSS on my boarding pass, I had no problems with GE, and was at the baggage claim less than 10 minutes of disembarking. It took half an hour for the first bags to arrive, and then another 30 for mine to show up ... very slowly, one bag at a time with long breaks and no regard for priority tags. This, combined with the hour+ delay in arrival from JED, caused me to miss my connecting flight. SV handled this very well; I received an email with my new flight information about 5 hours prior to landing, and then a customer service agent spoke to me.

All in all, I'd say that despite the poor on the ground experience in CAI (out of SV's control), JED, and LAX, the lounges and in-flight product were excellent. I wouldn't hesitate to fly SV again (on the new Airbus 330 and 77W), and in fact I now look forward to my upcoming flights. If the price is right (it often is), SV is very worthy of consideration.