Saudia business: FCO-CGK under 500 Euros one way
Jan 8, 2019, 6:51 am
#46
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 14
I have had a one-way trip with Saudia to Jakarta from Rome (via Jeddah) in summer.
Unfortunately, buying one-way instead of roundtrip wasn't the best choice - I was planning to stay longer in Indonesia (Bali) but it didn't worked out ... so finally, we have bought return flights from Singapore with Vietnam Airlines for much more
Today I would have bought round trip in this price and finally rebook return flight. People learn from mistakes. Especially, those expensive ones 
Out positioning flight to Rome from Poznan (Poland) was taken with Wizzair. We decided not to sleep in Rome but stay in Fiumicino. A small town specialized in overnight transfer for travelers around a globe We had a room from Airbnb in a family house of an older couple. Was nice. Had a pizza and some sea food ... The planes were flying after take off all evening above the house Sound shocking experience when triple 7 on full trust is just heading you meters above
First segment of our flight with Saudia was in A320 business class. Quite outdated plane (but it was nothing what was going to take us on long haul segment ...). All the procedures in FCO took some time because we traveled with a child and had to take manual passport control (we haven't found any other priority line for business but maybe it exists?). Business lounge in Fiumicino was very nice. The food was good (I always eat at the lounge before the flight to minimize eating on board to avoid all those "E" products, microwaves, etc. ... I don't feel well after plane food). The best was fresh pizza delivered every couple of minute, salads and a bar with bartender. Time spending there was really nice (in contrast to the time spent in the lounge in Jeddah ...).
Flight to Jeddah was quite nice, like all short haul flights in business as they are only to deliver you to hub destination. Before take off the crew (including capitan) had a hard nut to crack - two passengers (a couple) started to fuss just before the start. The lady was screaming, she was begging her husband to fly this flight ... it got really weird. The captain did not explain anything, police appeared and after a half-hour conversation at the door, until finally they explained something to each other the plane began to taxi for takeoff. It took about 5 hours to reach Jeddah airport. The seats were had a recline only function but it was obvious from the beginning. OK for the day flight. The food was OK but as I wrote before, I try not to eat much on board.
Saudia has really nice Porsche labeled amenity kit. The quality of the material from which the bag is made, the colors are very pleasing to the eye. If everything was so good quality (and in such colors!) during our flight and transfer in Jeddah, my brain would certainly remember business class in Saudia as something very exclusive But ... it wasn't Arriving to JED was after dark. Even though the hour was not late, time began to accelerate for us
I know that arabic world is something totally different than other parts of the world but I always get caught up in a little shock after arrival. On transfer desk we were checked and send further - not quite in the known direction. Security check before entering on the departure area. Separate for men and women. Taking off everything, shoes, a crowd of people who push you, hurry, leaving something is easy. Mentally, it's a different world. Again, I didn't notice separate security check for business. Everyone in the same queue. The airport is very outdated. Similarly to their business lounge which is easy to miss (it is immediately on the right just before the duty free shops area). No airport staff, no signs. This is not Doha In the lounge there was some food choice, also hot dishes, tea, coffee. So in my opinion you could eat something before the next flight for sure. So little that it actually seemed that we would have to stand. After some time (after departure of some planes), the place was available. We laid our daughter to sleep. And then ... from the loudspeakers we heard the music and the voice announcing the departure of the next plane. Incredible. In every lounge in the world there is a sign that they do not announce departures and you have to check the board yourself. And here before each boarding - loud announcement. With a music! Midnight! Aaaaghh. That means no sleeping conditions for our child. Stupid. In TV we could see frighteningly serious show about the knowledge of the Koran - stylized as a talent show. And ... the toilets. Really, in Arabic style. I appreciate the cultural diversity of the world, but this has surprised me. It was just dirty. And the people blowing nose into the sink, spitting, washing feet in the sink. Ugh. Just go in and go out.
It's time to the next level of our journey. THE LONG HAUL As they say - hope dies last. Our was dead when the bus stopped at B777-200. Here it is. So Flightradar didn't lie. When I booked the tickets, I saw the type of aircraft on this route - B777-300ER / B777-200. I checked exactly what type of aircraft is flying this summer on this route. It was 300ER. But it appears that from this particular day of week they changed it to 200. After boarding and taking my seat 1A, nothing left any illusions. It was the OLDEST PLANE OF THE WORLD ... Like in old movies, with large monitors on the walls. And this disgusting palette of blue color everywhere. Of course, the plane was old, dirty, destroyed. And the seat ... how could it have a lie-flat position if the plane has more years than I? This is not lie flat, for which I paid for ...
This was a failure. I do not know how many of these old planes Saudia still has, but we definitely had bad luck. The next scheduled flight the same night was with 300ER. But ... spending the next hours in this lounge without a toilet and with squeaking microphones? Who knows - maybe it was worth it. Shame for Saudia for plane selection on routing to Jakarta. I went to sleep which wasn't comfortable on recline seat at all for obvious reasons. I slipped down all the time because of the slippery material covering the seat. Everything creaked during the flight. Worst business class travel ever. So be aware ... ...... plane. ...... airline. For breakfast we were served omelet with potatoes and that's the only meal which is hard to refuse on the plane after long night. It wasn't tasty.
And finally ... Asia underfoot. Once again. It's always a magical moment for me.
We had a wonderful time in Indonesia. Beautiful and magic Bali which which eventually didn't love us enough to convince us to stay. Not this time. Earth shook too much and too often.
My overall rating of this business class route (FCO - JED - CGK) would be something about ... 3/10. Saudia has a potential when I look on this beautiful amenity kit. But everything has to be improved. The rating would be higher if we would fly their 777-300ER on the long haul segment. But we haven't. And it can happen to all of you. For that kind of money (we have paid about 1300 EUR one way for 2 adult + 1 child pax) I would love to fly Saudia again. Of course this time roundtrip
And we earned quite a few miles, which meant I started collecting miles in the Flying Blue program, so far being a loyal Miles&More member.
Dear Saudia, get rid of those old planes, finish the new terminal with a breathtaking lounge and keep the quality of your products to start competing with Qatar, Emirates, Etihad ...
Unfortunately, buying one-way instead of roundtrip wasn't the best choice - I was planning to stay longer in Indonesia (Bali) but it didn't worked out ... so finally, we have bought return flights from Singapore with Vietnam Airlines for much more
Today I would have bought round trip in this price and finally rebook return flight. People learn from mistakes. Especially, those expensive ones Out positioning flight to Rome from Poznan (Poland) was taken with Wizzair. We decided not to sleep in Rome but stay in Fiumicino. A small town specialized in overnight transfer for travelers around a globe
We had a room from Airbnb in a family house of an older couple. Was nice. Had a pizza and some sea food ... The planes were flying after take off all evening above the house Sound shocking experience when triple 7 on full trust is just heading you meters above First segment of our flight with Saudia was in A320 business class. Quite outdated plane (but it was nothing what was going to take us on long haul segment ...). All the procedures in FCO took some time because we traveled with a child and had to take manual passport control (we haven't found any other priority line for business but maybe it exists?). Business lounge in Fiumicino was very nice. The food was good (I always eat at the lounge before the flight to minimize eating on board to avoid all those "E" products, microwaves, etc. ... I don't feel well after plane food). The best was fresh pizza delivered every couple of minute, salads and a bar with bartender. Time spending there was really nice (in contrast to the time spent in the lounge in Jeddah ...).
Flight to Jeddah was quite nice, like all short haul flights in business
as they are only to deliver you to hub destination. Before take off the crew (including capitan) had a hard nut to crack - two passengers (a couple) started to fuss just before the start. The lady was screaming, she was begging her husband to fly this flight ... it got really weird. The captain did not explain anything, police appeared and after a half-hour conversation at the door, until finally they explained something to each other the plane began to taxi for takeoff. It took about 5 hours to reach Jeddah airport. The seats were had a recline only function but it was obvious from the beginning. OK for the day flight. The food was OK but as I wrote before, I try not to eat much on board.Saudia has really nice Porsche labeled amenity kit. The quality of the material from which the bag is made, the colors are very pleasing to the eye. If everything was so good quality (and in such colors!) during our flight and transfer in Jeddah, my brain would certainly remember business class in Saudia as something very exclusive
But ... it wasn't Arriving to JED was after dark. Even though the hour was not late, time began to accelerate for us I know that arabic world is something totally different than other parts of the world but I always get caught up in a little shock after arrival. On transfer desk we were checked and send further - not quite in the known direction. Security check before entering on the departure area. Separate for men and women. Taking off everything, shoes, a crowd of people who push you, hurry, leaving something is easy. Mentally, it's a different world. Again, I didn't notice separate security check for business. Everyone in the same queue. The airport is very outdated. Similarly to their business lounge which is easy to miss (it is immediately on the right just before the duty free shops area). No airport staff, no signs. This is not Doha
In the lounge there was some food choice, also hot dishes, tea, coffee. So in my opinion you could eat something before the next flight for sure. So little that it actually seemed that we would have to stand. After some time (after departure of some planes), the place was available. We laid our daughter to sleep. And then ... from the loudspeakers we heard the music and the voice announcing the departure of the next plane. Incredible. In every lounge in the world there is a sign that they do not announce departures and you have to check the board yourself. And here before each boarding - loud announcement. With a music! Midnight! Aaaaghh. That means no sleeping conditions for our child. Stupid. In TV we could see frighteningly serious show about the knowledge of the Koran - stylized as a talent show. And ... the toilets. Really, in Arabic style. I appreciate the cultural diversity of the world, but this has surprised me. It was just dirty. And the people blowing nose into the sink, spitting, washing feet in the sink. Ugh. Just go in and go out.It's time to the next level of our journey. THE LONG HAUL
As they say - hope dies last. Our was dead when the bus stopped at B777-200. Here it is. So Flightradar didn't lie. When I booked the tickets, I saw the type of aircraft on this route - B777-300ER / B777-200. I checked exactly what type of aircraft is flying this summer on this route. It was 300ER. But it appears that from this particular day of week they changed it to 200. After boarding and taking my seat 1A, nothing left any illusions. It was the OLDEST PLANE OF THE WORLD ... Like in old movies, with large monitors on the walls. And this disgusting palette of blue color everywhere. Of course, the plane was old, dirty, destroyed. And the seat ... how could it have a lie-flat position if the plane has more years than I? This is not lie flat, for which I paid for ...This was a failure. I do not know how many of these old planes Saudia still has, but we definitely had bad luck. The next scheduled flight the same night was with 300ER. But ... spending the next hours in this lounge without a toilet and with squeaking microphones? Who knows - maybe it was worth it. Shame for Saudia for plane selection on routing to Jakarta. I went to sleep which wasn't comfortable on recline seat at all for obvious reasons. I slipped down all the time because of the slippery material covering the seat. Everything creaked during the flight. Worst business class travel ever. So be aware ... ...... plane. ...... airline. For breakfast we were served omelet with potatoes and that's the only meal which is hard to refuse on the plane after long night. It wasn't tasty.
And finally ... Asia underfoot. Once again. It's always a magical moment for me.
We had a wonderful time in Indonesia. Beautiful and magic Bali which which eventually didn't love us enough to convince us to stay. Not this time. Earth shook too much and too often.
My overall rating of this business class route (FCO - JED - CGK) would be something about ... 3/10. Saudia has a potential when I look on this beautiful amenity kit. But everything has to be improved. The rating would be higher if we would fly their 777-300ER on the long haul segment. But we haven't. And it can happen to all of you. For that kind of money (we have paid about 1300 EUR one way for 2 adult + 1 child pax) I would love to fly Saudia again. Of course this time roundtrip
And we earned quite a few miles, which meant I started collecting miles in the Flying Blue program, so far being a loyal Miles&More member.Dear Saudia, get rid of those old planes, finish the new terminal with a breathtaking lounge and keep the quality of your products to start competing with Qatar, Emirates, Etihad ...
Last edited by ukiman; Jan 8, 2019 at 7:10 am
Jan 8, 2019, 7:02 am
#47
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: AMS
Programs: SPG Plat
Posts: 130
@ukiman seems like you really had bad luck. Comparing your experience with @Romanianflyer's trip, it is night and day.
Jan 8, 2019, 8:42 am
#48
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: OTP
Programs: AF/KL platinum, Turkish gold, QR gold
Posts: 1,570
Indeed! That long-haul plane really looks ancient with the IFE screens and horrible 2-3-2 seating!
That said even the perfectly adequate plane with fully flat seats and 2-2-2 seating wasn't even the best Saudia as they also have planes with reverse herringbone seating with all direct aisle access in biz. It really warrants a careful look at which exact route you can best take (through JED or RUH) for each destination - and even then you can always have the dreaded equipment swap for something worse as I doubt Indonesia is among their most high-profile route.
That said even the perfectly adequate plane with fully flat seats and 2-2-2 seating wasn't even the best Saudia as they also have planes with reverse herringbone seating with all direct aisle access in biz. It really warrants a careful look at which exact route you can best take (through JED or RUH) for each destination - and even then you can always have the dreaded equipment swap for something worse as I doubt Indonesia is among their most high-profile route.
Jan 10, 2019, 3:13 am
#49
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 🇸🇬 🇭🇰 🇫🇷
Programs: Many
Posts: 4,749
Don't forget also that SV is currently upgrading their J class seat on the A320 with fully flat beds. So there might be a valid reason these fares are gone for good. Unfortunately.
PS: I read your trip report at the time. Great one!
Jan 10, 2019, 2:34 pm
#51
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Multiple locations
Programs: AAdvantage ExPlat LT Gold, BA Silver, Aegean Star Gold
Posts: 5,037