BA - CAI to ORD $1741
#61
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: SFO
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#62
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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BA does send a reminder email within 24-hoursof the carry on restriction. And short checking is now the norm at CAI as long as you have enough connecting time at LHR. Also BA has security checks at the gate too, so if you use the horrid lounge you will go through three security checks! I had brought a lock for my checked bag but was unable to find it when I was placing my restricted items into my bag. Worried about pilfering but everything was there when I got my short checked bag at LHR.
Used Uber while in Cairo and as noted, just $6 from the airport to InterContinental at Tirier Square (Meridien airport hotel upon my late night arrival overnight though driver doesn’t come into the hotel but stops across from the guard house on the roadway) and back to the airport from the Marriott. Keep getting Uber offers for 50% off in Cairo now!
Used Uber while in Cairo and as noted, just $6 from the airport to InterContinental at Tirier Square (Meridien airport hotel upon my late night arrival overnight though driver doesn’t come into the hotel but stops across from the guard house on the roadway) and back to the airport from the Marriott. Keep getting Uber offers for 50% off in Cairo now!
#63
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Location: Netherlands
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#65
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Milan
Programs: QR Plat, HH Diamond
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email from BADear Customer,Flight BA0154 on xx May/CAI - A SECURITY REMINDER - Cairo Airport Security will confiscate any spare batteries or power banks larger than 16.0cm in length/9.3cm wide/1.5cm depth. BA cannot accept responsibility/liability for these devices, and you will be required to make your own arrangements for storage or collection.Yours sincerely,British Airways Customer Services
#66
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
A security screener hit you up for a bribe ? How was it phrase? I sometimes wonder if the extensive security screening I've gotten while transferring at AMM or KWI was at attempt at bribery, but decided it couldn't be since no one asked for one.
#67
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
Short-checking on this route is not a problem. The issue you need to be careful about is the possibility of significant delays --- for example at LHR T5 immigration (my last experience with T5 Fast-track immigration was that it took 3 - 4 times what it would have taken in the regular line; the immigration officer explained that B.A. had refused to pay the requested/necessary amount for additional officers to man the Fast-track line, and they (the immigration officers) were taking an "action", slow-walking the process), delayed baggage retrieval (this is B.A., after all), delays at check-in, delays at security, failure to meet time conformance (at T5), or if you need to transfer to another terminal, delays in completing said transfer. It could all be accomplished in well under an hour, but I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have a minimum of three hours between flights. YMMV.
For the two nights in CAI, I was thinking of seeing the pyramids or the sphinx or a museum. I'll be staying either at the Le Meridien or the (soon to be) W-A Heliopolis Towers (haven't decided which, both are near the airport). Any advice on seeing something on the one day? Uber to a site and see it on own, or book a tour of some kind?
#68
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 175
DOH-CAI with QR? Wasn’t it banned?
Don’t forget to book and verify with seat map for your LHR-DOH segment to get QSuites
Don’t forget the QR lounge in T4, if you are flying premium tickets or having OW status. By the way the real secret is OW elites flying MH can use that lounge too. Shhhhhhh......
For the two nights in CAI, I was thinking of seeing the pyramids or the sphinx or a museum. I'll be staying either at the Le Meridien or the (soon to be) W-A Heliopolis Towers (haven't decided which, both are near the airport). Any advice on seeing something on the one day? Uber to a site and see it on own, or book a tour of some kind?
My second hotel was Hilton, and I believe Hilton hotels at 10000 points is a steal there. I stayed in town and is walking distance to the museum, which is a good place for you to spend the day. I have not done UBER there as a result. For pyramids visits I used a tour, it was good and I think a lot of them are good.
#69
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#70
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... Le Meridien on the other hand is walkable and if safety is your prime concern then you can stay there. At around midnight I was in the airport and there were like 1000 people there, chaotic to get to hotel shuttle, ended up some local and knew English helped me to call hotel.
This may already be posted above but worth repeating. Le Meridien offers complimentary meet and greet service with rep meeting you before customs. Rep will escort you to a bank kiosk to buy your visa, then thru customs and outside where he will wait with you until the shuttle arrives. Amazing service and the best way to arrive in CAI.
#71
Join Date: May 2007
Location: ORD, DEL
Programs: AA (Plt Pro; 1.5 MM)
Posts: 6,185
For the two nights in CAI, I was thinking of seeing the pyramids or the sphinx or a museum. I'll be staying either at the Le Meridien or the (soon to be) W-A Heliopolis Towers (haven't decided which, both are near the airport). Any advice on seeing something on the one day? Uber to a site and see it on own, or book a tour of some kind?
If you additionally want the museum too, time will be tight but still do-able. I would give one day for the pyramids and sphinx (guided tour only); another day for Egyptian National Museum in downtown (a guide will help, but you can do it on your own too). It is difficult to predict how much time a person will spend in a museum, so I will leave it at that. If there is time left in the day, add something else.
When you exit the airport after arrival, it is imperative for safety that, if you are not walking to LeM at the airport itself, you only use a car sent by your hotel. Midnight is no time to goof around with a random taxi-driver trying to find a hotel that neither of you knows. For other things it is safe to make your own arrangements, but I see no advantage in that. BA flies early mornings and your hotel's car will be more reliable way to make the flight. (In any event, for safety, never engage with a taxi-driver who approaches you. It must be someone that you approach. If you are thinking Uber, remember that license plates are in Arabic.)
#73
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: NYC
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This may already be posted above but worth repeating. Le Meridien offers complimentary meet and greet service with rep meeting you before customs. Rep will escort you to a bank kiosk to buy your visa, then thru customs and outside where he will wait with you until the shuttle arrives. Amazing service and the best way to arrive in CAI.
fwiw, I wouldn't try short-checking a bag to LHR if I had only 2 hours between flights ---- especially if I needed to transfer landside from T5 to T4.
#74
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: ORD
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This may already be posted above but worth repeating. Le Meridien offers complimentary meet and greet service with rep meeting you before customs. Rep will escort you to a bank kiosk to buy your visa, then thru customs and outside where he will wait with you until the shuttle arrives. Amazing service and the best way to arrive in CAI.
#75
Join Date: May 2012
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