Hello folks,
Long time lurker of this forum i've decided to share my mitigated and complex experience with Saudia on this trip.Long (first) post, but it was a complicated journey and i think it can be of interest for some of you guys.
Original journey is : ATH-JED-CGK on the 07 of March
SV192 to JED 03:15 pm => 07:40 pm
SV818 to CGK 02:00 am => 03:30 pm
and back from Kuala Lumpur KUL-JED-ATH on the 21 of March, booked in November 2019:
SV843 to JED 11:15 pm => 03:05 am
SV 191 to ATH 11:00 am => 01h35 pm
As you can see i had originally 6 hours layover in Jeddah on both legs.
1) On the 03 of March or so (approximatly 5 days before flying), my original flight to CGK is cancelled and the new one is SV826, departing at 10:00 am is creating an 14 hours layover in JED. Impossible to achieve without Saudia Visa, so i had to call the Saudia center in Paris.
They were very nice and firstly propose to refund my trip. After a few minutes, they also proposed to move my flight from another departing point and i could choose CDG (they proposed AMS, MAD or FRA also) as my new departing point. This was free of charge and allowed by the agent as my flight was cancelled and the layover exceeding Saudi's transit limit.
The outbound flight was finally:
SV 126 CDG-JED 04:45 pm => 00:10 am
SV 826 JED-CGK 10:00 am=>11:30 pm
"Only" 9 hours layover in Jeddah that i spent in their lounge trying to sleep whereas their typical arabic music was played in loop all night in the speakers, temperature was quite low too. It was rather long and unpleasant in their lounge, so i wouldn't eactly recommend to do this in eco, as the flight is still going from the old terminal you all heard about...
I finally board my plane, and make it to CGK 8 hours later than my original flight.
I had to throw one hotel night in Athènes, book a new flight to CDG and luckily have been refunded for my positionning flight to ATH as corona issues were growing in Europe. On the other hand, i was in a B787 from CDG instead of the A320 from ATH. From JED to CGK it was a 777 with a 2/2/2 config and lie flat seats.
Regarding the flights itself, food was really good and the crew was very professionnal and very friendly each time.
Business cabin was almost full from Paris and we were only 2 on the flight to Jakarta. The lounge in CDG is Paul Maxence which i never heard about, but it is very nice and quiet.
2) While i was in Jakarta, my inbound flight from KUL was cancelled and i was rebooked on the previous one, leaving at 04:40 pm (SV835) instead of 11:15 pm. Again, this was creating a 13h layover in Jeddah which is not allowed by Saudi government without visa. I went to the saudia's office in Jakarta and they proposed to move my flight from KUL to CGK for 2000€ in J or 1000€ in Y. When i said that i couldn't stay more than 12 hours in JED, they say they couldn't do anything and that i should reach the French office (Point of sale) or KUL office (departing point).
3) One day later (around the 12/13th of March), my flights were cancelled by Saudia because of Corona issue. I tried to call indonesian office which said that they couldn't do anything (again) as i was leaving from KUL. At this point i was really disapointed about the poor service even for business passenger and the lack of solutions coming from Saudia.
I had to call the Malaysian office who said that Saudia was no longer flying to Paris, and that they couldn't rebook me on another flight to Europe either. Finally, i asked them to get me a flight on Skyteam or any other company and they said that they couldn't do that. The woman on the phone proposed me to refund and advised me to buy another ticket on another airline as they had no clue how long or how bad it will be.
I finally bought a ticket on KLM and went back earlier than expected.
4) I called Saudia office 2 days ago, they proposed me half refund as i have already consumed half of my ticket, or to postponed my trip up to November 2020 as i booked in November 2019. In addition they proposed nothing for the 8 hours delay on the outbound.
In conclusion, i would say this is an incredible deal if you want to travel to Asia in very comfy conditions (the B787 from CDG was great) and they are quite flexible (at least the french office) when you have trouble on your journey. As silver member in AF FB program, i gained 15 000 miles and 54 XP. That's great value considering the ticket price ( around 700€).
But be carefull with long layovers in Jeddah, saudia's flight cancellations and be ready to spend a few hours on the phone with them..
Some extra question :
- Are they right to leave me with flight cancellations and no alternatives solutions for my inbound flight, even in Skyteam alliance ?
- can i ask for compensation as i arrived 8 hours later than expected at my destination ? Did anyone here had success claiming for compensation regarding EU261 legislation with Saudia ? (can't post lik but it's supposed to apply to any company leaving from Europe or landing in Europe)
- Should i ask for full refund or is half refund regular in that case ?
PS: I heard that some people were asking for hotels room during long layover, personnaly each time i asked they told me to ask the airport desk and i wasn't willing to take the risk of them saying no and staying in the lounge for extra long hours. Plus you need Saudi Visa..