Frequentflyer99

Flying back from HKG to LHR I have an option of RJ business class at a knock down price. ineed, the whole price (£1,000) is not that much more than BA's fuel surcharge and taxes alone !

If I am used to BA / AA business class, will I be disappointed by the RJ offering ??

There is a one hour technical stop in BKK on the HKG - AMM leg. I assume we will be expected to stay on-board. Is that right or might we be allowed to strech our legs in the BKK terminal ?

there is a 6 hour layover in AMM. That will obviously be more than enough, but how easy is the AMM transit process. Presumably no visas required but is the passport stamped ?

How is the AMM lounge for such a long stopover ?

Many thanks in advance

jahason

I have flown from HKG and KUL via BKK and AMM to LHR in J many times. the prices are sometimes amazing compared to BA and CX. The seats are not quite as comfortable - they are flat but not completely horizontal.

At BKK you may have to leave the plane while they refuel. sometime you are held in a secure area and sometimes they let you free to duty free area. On one trip I took advantage of my BA gold card and raced to the BA/Qantas lounge where I had a shower and grabbed some food and newspapers.

Food on board is amazing. Instead of asking you to choose menus they bring the lot and you choose which items and how much of each you wish to have. they have onboard Nespresso coffee.

Generally service is good. Much better than BA who feel they are operating a military service but not quite the quality of far east carriers such as CX.

The lounge at AMM is very good with plenty of food and places to rest. They have a very nic rooms to rent in the lounge which are more like hotel rooms. The rest of the airport is a dump.

Transit in AMM is great if you want to take some time off to explore the place. You need at least a full day (or more likely one night) to explore Petra and onto Aqaba. Or you can visit the Roman city of Jerash in the north. stay in Amman and explore the city or travel 45 miles or so to Jerusalem (but the border crossing may take a few hours). In the old days could have travelled to Damascus in about 4 hours by shared taxi.

Frequentflyer99

Thanks to jahason for the detailed and helpful repsonse.

I have now booked the flights and need to sort out seats. Any specific recommendations or 'should avoid's ? The RJ seating plan seems to offer a single seat in the rearmost row of the centre block. I like the idea of not having a neighbour (if that is actually what the seat offers), but is it really a single seat and, if so, is there anything wrong with it ??

Also, I note that RJ leaves from T2 at HKG. From what I can see this is simply a check-in area that somehow links into the main terminal once one is checked in. Is there an RJ lounge and, if so, would I do better in one of the CX lounges ?

Finally (for the moment) does RJ have in town check-in at the HKG airport express station and, if so, is it manned all day ?

jahason

I can't nswer all the questions.

RJ does not have any in town check in facilities like CX does. RJ has one in Amman though its not be in the absolute centre and going straight to the airport is often more convenient.

I don't recall anything odd about RJ check in at HKG. To be honest I can't remember which lounge RJ uses. It could have been the CX one. I just used the BA one using my BA card.

I am not an expert of seats on planes. Maybe others can answer that one.

I am not sure if it was RJ back from DEL or HKG but when I had a 6-7 hour layover in AMM onthe way back RJ offered me a room at the Golden Tulip airport hotel at their expense. The hotel's not that great but I did get 3 hours sleep in a proper bed plus breakfast.

IAN-UK

RJ has a comfortable amount of security on board: if you take a seat next to something blocked at the back of the C-cabin you might find yourself alongside something burly in dark glasses.

Cabin service is good but can be slow.

Check-in at HKG is in the secondary terminal which feeds into the common airside area. It's a late departure, but you should check what time check-in opens before you head out to the airport.

There's certainly not an RJ lounge at HKG, and I've no idea which lounge they direct you to: I lounge hopped.

You'll get into Amman as the place wakes up. The lounge there is odd - large space, crap catering and it's a bit of a money-spinner for the operator (or perhaps for the lounge-boys who seem to be in charge): you pay for showers and you pay for the private rooms. Outside the lounge is best left alone.

The London flight shifted to an A320,and I think that's still the way it is. The service slows down to snail's pace on a narrow-body.

But, all-in-all RJ is a comfortable airline to travel with.

Frequentflyer99

Hopefully IAN-UK intended to answer some of the questions ?

IAN-UK

I did my tangential best

oatsmeal

RJ does have in town check-in at the Hong Kong Airport express station. The counter is manned all day, but serves different airlines at different time of the day. The RJ sign normally comes on display from early afternoon onwards.

T2 at HKG - RJ check-in area is on the "ground" level and the security/immigration is one level below check in. After security an unmanned shuttle train will take you to T1. The security and immigration at T2 is normally much much quieter than T1; that's a plus if you don't have HKID or if you're not signed up for the HK immigration passport read-able "e-channel".

Frequentflyer99

Another quickie, regarding power outlets on the RJ aircraft. The RJ website talks about USB ports. Does this mean there is no conventional power (US style 110v or Empower) to keep a laptop running ?

Chokkoubin

A picture from this blog -http://knightofmalta.wordpress.com/2...-kuala-lumpur/- suggests the seats on the a330s have USB and empower plugs:

correctioncx

To the OP, just wondered what meals did they serve on the hkg-BKK sector as I'm planning to take this flight

Frequentflyer99

I'm afarid that I can't help as I ended up splashing out on the direct BA flight !

YVR Cockroach

I took the KUL-BKK flight (RJ181) in BC just over a week ago. There are power ports and USB ports in seat.

Seats are not horizontal flat but close enough (better than the 5-row BC on some of MU's 332s but not as good as the split-cabin flat seats on their long-ranger 332s).

Meal on the sector was just a cold snack tray (we ate dinner in the MH lounge in KUL). Ongoing pax had to stay onboard in BKK (there were ground agents demanding to see BPs of BKK-disembarking pax)

HK-UMICH

Took RJ HKG-BKK last month:

1. RJ have city checkin at both Hong Kong and Kowloon Station of Airline Express.

2. RJ check in at Terminal 2, but after the security and passport control you take a train back to the same airside.

3. RJ uses the premium plaza lounge near gate 1, that is a pay-in lounge that many credit card also use for members access.