Oneworld: UL: DXB-CGK in J, $800 R/T
Nov 24, 2023, 11:00 am
#1351
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: midway between EDI and DND
Programs: BA Gold, AA Plat for Life, ex BD Gld (RIP)
Posts: 626
Nov 24, 2023, 1:52 pm
#1352
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: midway between EDI and DND
Programs: BA Gold, AA Plat for Life, ex BD Gld (RIP)
Posts: 626
Sorry for the confusion.
Nov 25, 2023, 9:08 am
#1353
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: London, England
Programs: BA:Gold; IHG: Platinum;
Posts: 69
Just booked three round trips Sat Feb 17th to Sat Feb 24th - trying my luck a bit with a B2B in AUH between the first and second round trips, but allowing a one day gap at AUH between the second and the third. If there are any cancellations I hope this will give me at least some flexibility in rebooking!!
Now just need the positioning flights from the UK, but there is no shortage of options for those!
Now just need the positioning flights from the UK, but there is no shortage of options for those!
Nov 25, 2023, 5:09 pm
#1354
Join Date: Jul 2023
Location: Berlin
Programs: BAEC Silver, Accor Silver
Posts: 65
Just booked three round trips Sat Feb 17th to Sat Feb 24th - trying my luck a bit with a B2B in AUH between the first and second round trips, but allowing a one day gap at AUH between the second and the third. If there are any cancellations I hope this will give me at least some flexibility in rebooking!!
Now just need the positioning flights from the UK, but there is no shortage of options for those!
Now just need the positioning flights from the UK, but there is no shortage of options for those!
Nov 26, 2023, 6:18 am
#1355
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 95
https://www.sundaytimes.lk/231126/bu...ke-539058.html
Target date for completion of process is 30th June 2024, which may explain availability. May see the end of the TP run.
Target date for completion of process is 30th June 2024, which may explain availability. May see the end of the TP run.
Nov 26, 2023, 6:29 am
#1356
Join Date: May 2022
Location: GB
Programs: BAEC Silver IHG Diamond Ambassador Hilton Diamond
Posts: 295
https://www.sundaytimes.lk/231126/bu...ke-539058.html
Target date for completion of process is 30th June 2024, which may explain availability. May see the end of the TP run.
Target date for completion of process is 30th June 2024, which may explain availability. May see the end of the TP run.
But to triple check, cancellation of the business class UL fares from AUH are AED600 ? Just in case.
Nov 27, 2023, 6:28 am
#1358
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: London
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, Hilton Honors Diamond, Virgin Flying Club Gold
Posts: 130
AUH/DXB - DOH - CGK
or
AUH/DXB - CMB - KUL - CGK
QR option will get you into CGK quite a few hours earlier whereas the MH option from KL will get you in around 3ish-4ish.
Nov 28, 2023, 4:51 am
#1359
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: PNQ
Posts: 143
While it means a loss of 60 TP (relative to the KUL option), it is a very comfortable overnight flight, even in the old MiniPods.
Last edited by awarty; Nov 28, 2023 at 4:58 am Reason: Typo
Nov 28, 2023, 4:59 am
#1360
Join Date: May 2022
Location: GB
Programs: BAEC Silver IHG Diamond Ambassador Hilton Diamond
Posts: 295
Nov 30, 2023, 5:41 am
#1361
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Taif, KSA
Programs: BA GGL, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,915
Has anyone tried a b2b in AUH yet?
Dec 1, 2023, 3:04 am
#1362
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: PNQ
Posts: 143
So, the inbound/outbound flights for both my remaining B2Bs at AUH were cancelled over the past 10 days and all flights were moved over to DXB after an email to the AUH reservations team.
The upside is that its now A332s on all the Gulf sectors (assuming they don't cancel the DXB flights)
The upside is that its now A332s on all the Gulf sectors (assuming they don't cancel the DXB flights)
I had originally booked two AUH-CMB-CGK-CMB-AUH runs with a B2B in AUH and a positioning itinerary of BLR-CMB-AUH-CMB-BLR, with B2Bs in AUH at both the start and end of the trip. I booked these tickets during UL's 44th anniversary sale and the trip ran from 24/11 to 29/11.
A week after I booked the flights I got a cancellation notice for UL208 (AUH-CMB), the first flight of my first run, from UL's AUH Reservations team. With a couple of emails both my inward positioning flight (UL207) and the return (UL208) were shifted to the DXB flights on the same day UL225/UL226.
Given the many cancellations across the UL network I was gardening my reservations regularly and had alerts setup on ExpertFlyer.
On 9th Nov I got an alert that the CMB-AUH-CMB flights for my middle B2B were cancelled, an email to the AUH Reservations team quickly resulted in me moving over to the Dubai flights on the same day.
On the 16th I noticed that the CMB-AUH and AUH-CMB flights for my last B2B were both zeroed out in all fare classes so another quick email exchange with the AUH Reservations team resulted in my final B2B being moved to DXB.
On the 17th I got an alert from ExpertFlyer that the CGK-CMB flight on my second run had been cancelled, about 22 hrs after the ExpertFlyer notification I received an automated alert from UL. I actually waited until the 21st to write to UL as I was weighing up cancelling the second run (due to work commitments) but in the end decide to press on. I requested the AUH Reservations team to move me to QR CGK-DOH-DXB (QR959/QR1014), which converted my final B2B in DXB into a comfortable 2:15 transit.
I had a 12 hr layover in CMB between my BLR and DXB flights on both the inbound and outbound positioning legs, since the ticket only qualified for one STPC (based on the fare) I opted to use that on the return. On the outbound I booked the Serendiva transit hotel, the base room was $65 for 6 hrs and it is very easy to get to and clean/comfortable, there is some construction going on in the duty free below but with earplugs in I was able to sleep fine.
The BLR-CMB-DXB-CMB-CGK legs were drama free, the back to back at DXB is a breeze, on the first B2B it took less than 20 min to arrive back into the departure area/duty free, despite the aircraft being parked at the furthest gate (D1). The DXB transit desk was able to quickly print my DXB-CMB-CGK boarding passes and the DXB/CMB lounge invitations.
In CGK, I had decide to splurge a bit on the first stay and booked the Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan. It was ok value at ~$220 all in, including club access, but it was not exceptional in any way.
The excitement started on the morning of the 26th, I woke up in CGK to an automated email that my CMB-DXB (UL225) that evening was delayed by 3:50. This would mean that the return DXB-CMB (UL226) would also be delayed and I would miss the connection back to CGK.
I tried to call UL reservations central number (no one picked up the business class line and 3 separate agents on the economy line hung up on my after I explained the 'complicated' situation to them 🙂 ) and the AUH UL office was shut as it was a Sunday. I also emailed the central and AUH Reservations teams but didn't receive a response up until my departure from CGK. I also spoke to the staff at CGK while checking in for my CGK-CMB flight and they said to talk to the folks in CMB.
On landing in CMB I received an email from UL's Sharjah ticketing team moving my DXB-CMB-CGK flights to WY (DXB-MCT-CGK), the only problem with this was that the DXB-MCT flight would leave DXB before I had even taken off from CMB. I tried to call them but couldn't get through so I replied to their email asking them to call me.
I then went to the transfer/connections desk in CMB and tried to resolve the issue there. Of all the UL teams I dealt with, the CMB transfer desk is the only one I found unhelpful.
They started out trying to be helpful but soon started making statements like 'why did you book connections like this, you aren't allowed to' and similar remarks. Their Sharjah ticketing team (which has an @srilankan.com email address) is apparently a 3rd party so once they changed the reservation the central team could no longer make any changes (not that they seemed to want to).
Following the HUCA philosophy, I started to disengage with the connections desk team before they did any real damage, as this was happening, I got a call from Mr. H, from UL's DXB Airport Operations team. He had flagged the issue with my connection to CGK in CMB, and had also picked up on the fact that I was doing a B2B in DXB. He was very helpful and had the Sharjah team call me. My preferred option was to route DXB-CMB-DOH-CGK as it maximized TP's and preserved the option to reconnect to UL364 in CMB (if it was delayed) and the Sharjah ticketing was able to process it immediately and I was all set. This routing meant that I now had a B2B in CGK, arriving on QR958 and departing on QR959.
The second B2B in Dubai was even quicker as the aircraft was parked at a closer gate, but this time the transit desk could not print my boarding passes and I had to have them printed at the gate (not that they are ever checked until you reach the gate), where they were only able to print the DXB-CMB and CMB-DOH boarding passes but not the DOH-CGK boarding pass. I even got to meet Mr. H and thank him in person.
We landed at CMB almost 4 hrs late and while UL364 to CGK was still on the ground and loading cargo, the flight had been 'finalized' so they could/would not let me board.
CMB-DOH was on the wet leased WY aircraft with the Apex suites and was nice, DOH-CGK was a 777W with the MiniPods, which was fine ( I slept the entire flight).
While in DoH I checked in for the CGK-DOH-DXB flights but the system would only allow me to print out a 'Travel Pass' which is an online seat confirmation. I tried at the transfer desk as well, but they weren't able to print out a boarding pass either.
On the DOH-CGK flight I told the purser about my B2B in CGK and he said the ground staff would handle it, sure enough, on landing there was a person waiting with a sign with my name on it. After a short wait at the gate I was escorted by a QR staffer to the transfer desk area located next to where you pay for the VoA. I was asked to sit in the waiting area there and the QR staffer went off and was back in a few minutes with an Immigration officer, he checked my passport photo against me, photographed my passport/inward boarding pass and seat confirmation and, for good measure, took a picture of me holding my passport. The QR staffer then took a photo of me and my luggage (hand luggage only) which she said was for customs. All this happened while standing in the waiting area and the transfer desks were unmanned.
We then took the elevator adjoining the waiting area up to a security check lane and we were then spat out into the main terminal and the QR staffer escorted me to the lounge. The entire exercise took ~25 min and was seamless but I would not try and attempt it without active support from the ground staff.
The remaining CGK-DOH-DXB-CMB-BLR flights were smooth, surprisingly, I noticed that the QR flights, CMB-DOH-CGK-DOH, had all credited to my BA flight while I was still onboard the CGK-DOH sector, however the final QR flight, DOH-DXB, and all the UL flights are still to post to my account.
On my final transit through CMB I had the option of the Taj/Vivanta (which isn't very nice) or the Ramada, both outside the airport, or the Serendiva transit hotel , I chose the Serendiva as it wasn't worth the hassle of going through immigration/security etc. just for a slightly nicer hotel.
While I technically didn't need a visa for my B2Bs in the UAE and am eligible for a VoA, I applied for a 30 day multiple entry visa and it made the document checks much easier. Similarly, I applied for the Indonesian VoA for my B2B in CGK and it made the entire document check process much easier.
B2Bs in DXB are very easy and even when transit security is rammed (on my 3rd pass), the ~50 people in front of me were through in under 10 min. The other 2 times there were less than 5 people in front of me.
As booked, the entire trip came to 1480 TP, the initial reroute CGK-DOH-DXB dropped it by 80 TP but the DXB-CMB-DOH-CGK reroute added back 140 so I was left with 1540 TP. I guess I could claim ORC for the CGK-DOH-DXB reroute but I am happy with how things turned out, so probably won't
Adding a quick update on the lounges, the Serendib lounge was as good as ever, the food choices (even though they rotate multiple times throughout the day) did get a bit boring by my 5th visit. On my first visit to DOH I tried both Al Mourjan lounges and they seemed very similar (as reported), on my second visit I was eligible to visit the Al Safwa lounge but it was still closed.
On my first two DXB circuits I didn't visit the lounge and went straight to the gate, on the 3rd, longer, visit I first went to the Ahlan lounge and it was horrible, very crowded, full of loud , badly behaved, passengers. The moment the BA lounge opened I went asked if they could grant me access (I had read about there being overcrowding issues and was prepared for rejection), but the very nice lounge agent let me in and I spent a pleasant hour or so there.
Hope this helps the folks planning a run in the future.
Last edited by awarty; Dec 1, 2023 at 6:51 am Reason: Added lounge update and fixed typos
Dec 1, 2023, 3:23 am
#1363
Join Date: Jul 2022
Posts: 33
amazing report! Thank you. I have two trips in March, so hope all will go well, your guide will help!
I just got back from my TP run and while it looks like the run's days might be numbered (given UL's imminent sale and possible exit from OneWorld) I figure its worth updating the group in case my experiences help others (as theirs have helped me).
I had originally booked two AUH-CMB-CGK-CMB-AUH runs with a B2B in AUH and a positioning itinerary of BLR-CMB-AUH-CMB-BLR, with B2Bs in AUH at both the start and end of the trip. I booked these tickets during UL's 44th anniversary sale and the trip ran from 24/11 to 29/11.
A week after I booked the flights I got a cancellation notice for UL208 (AUH-CMB), the first flight of my first run, from UL's AUH Reservations team. With a couple of emails both my inward positioning flight (UL207) and the return (UL208) were shifted to the DXB flights on the same day UL225/UL226.
Given the many cancellations across the UL network I was gardening my reservations regularly and had alerts setup on ExpertFlyer.
On 9th Nov I got an alert that the CMB-AUH-CMB flights for my middle B2B were cancelled, an email to the AUH Reservations team quickly resulted in me moving over to the Dubai flights on the same day.
On the 16th I noticed that the CMB-AUH and AUH-CMB flights for my last B2B were both zeroed out in all fare classes so another quick email exchange with the AUH Reservations team resulted in my final B2B being moved to DXB.
On the 17th I got an alert from ExpertFlyer that the CGK-CMB flight on my second run had been cancelled, about 22 hrs after the ExpertFlyer notification I received an automated alert from UL. I actually waited until the 21st to write to UL as I was weighing up cancelling the second run (due to work commitments) but in the end decide to press on. I requested the AUH Reservations team to move me to QR CGK-DOH-DXB (QR959/QR1014), which converted my final B2B in DXB into a comfortable 2:15 transit.
I had a 12 hr layover in CMB between my BLR and DXB flights on both the inbound and outbound positioning legs, since the ticket only qualified for one STPC (based on the fare) I opted to use that on the return. On the outbound I booked the Serendiva transit hotel, the base room was $65 for 6 hrs and it is very easy to get to and clean/comfortable, there is some construction going on in the duty free below but with earplugs in I was able to sleep fine.
The BLR-CMB-DXB-CMB-CGK legs were drama free, the back to back at DXB is a breeze, on the first B2B it took less than 20 min to arrive back into the departure area/duty free, despite the aircraft being parked at the furthest gate (D1). The DXB transit desk was able to quickly print my DXB-CMB-CGK boarding passes and the DXB/CMB lounge invitations.
In CGK, I had decide to splurge a bit on the first stay and booked the Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan. It was ok value at ~$220 all in, including club access, but it was not exceptional in any way.
The excitement started on the morning of the 26th, I woke up in CGK to an automated email that my CMB-DXB (UL225) that evening was delayed by 3:50. This would mean that the return DXB-CMB (UL226) would also be delayed and I would miss the connection back to CGK.
I tried to call UL reservations central number (no one picked up the business class line and 3 separate agents on the economy line hung up on my after I explained the 'complicated' situation to them 🙂 ) and the AUH UL office was shut as it was a Sunday. I also emailed the central and AUH Reservations teams but didn't receive a response up until my departure from CGK. I also spoke to the staff at GCK while checking in for my CGK-CMB flight and they said to talk to the folks in CMB.
On landing in CMB I received an email from UL's Sharjah ticketing team moving my DXB-CMB-CGK flights to WY (DXB-MCT-CGK), the only problem with this was that the DXB-MCT flight would leave DXB before I had even taken off from CMB. I tried to call them but couldn't get through so I replied to their email asking them to call me.
I then went to the transfer/connections desk in CMB and tried to resolve the issue there. Of all the UL teams I dealt with, the CMB transfer desk is the only one I found unhelpful.
They started out trying to be helpful but soon started making statements like 'why did you book connections like this, you aren't allowed to' and similar remarks. Their Sharjah ticketing team (which has an @srilankan.com email address) is apparently a 3rd party so once they changed the reservation the central team could no longer make any changes (not that they seemed to want to).
Following the HUCA philosophy, I started to disengage with the connections desk team before they did any real damage, as this was happening, I got a call from Mr. H, from UL's DXB Airport Operations team. He had flagged the issue with my connection to CGK in CMB, and had also picked up on the fact that I was doing a B2B in DXB. He was very helpful and had the Sharjah team call me. My preferred option was to route DXB-CMB-DOH-CGK as it maximized TP's and preserved the option to reconnect to UL364 in CMB (if it was delayed) and the Sharjah ticketing was able to process it immediately and I was all set. This routing meant that I now had a B2B in CGK, arriving on QR 958 and departing on QR959.
The second B2B in Dubai was even quicker as the aircraft was parked at a closer gate, but this time the transit desk could not print my boarding passes and I had to have them printed at the gate (not that they are ever checked until you reach the gate), where they were only able to print the DXB-CMB and CMB-DOH boarding passes but not the DOH-CGK boarding pass. I even got to meet Mr. H and thank him in person.
We landed at CMB almost 4 hrs late and while UL364 to CGK was still on the ground and loading cargo, the flight had been 'finalized' so they could/would not let me board.
CMB-DOH was on the wet leased WY aircraft with the Apex suites and was nice, DOH-CGK was a 777W with the MiniPods, which was fine ( I slept the entire flight).
While in DoH I checked in for the CGK-DOH-DXB flights but the system would only allow me to print out a 'Travel Pass' which is an online seat confirmation. I tried at the transfer desk as well, but they weren't able to print out a boarding pass either.
On the DOH-CGK flight I told the purser about my B2B in CGK and he said the ground staff would handle it, sure enough, on landing there was a person waiting with a sign with my name on it. After a short wait at the gate I was escorted by a QR staffer to the transfer desk area located next to where you pay for the VoA. I was asked to sit in the waiting area there and the QR staffer went off and was back in a few minutes with an Immigration officer, he checked my passport photo against me, photographed my passport/inward boarding pass and seat confirmation and, for good measure, took a picture of me holding my passport. The QR staffer then took a photo of me and my luggage (hand luggage only) which she said was for customs. All this happened while standing in the waiting area and the transfer desks were unmanned.
We then took the elevator adjoining the waiting area up to a security check lane and we were then spat out into the main terminal and the QR staffer escorted me to the lounge. The entire exercise took ~25 min and was seamless but I would not try and attempt it without active support from the ground staff.
The remaining CGK-DOH-DXB-CMB-BLR flights were smooth, surprisingly, I noticed that the QR flights, CMB-DOH-CGK-DOH, had all credited to my BA flight while I was still onboard the CGK-DOH sector, however the final QR flight, DOH-DXB, and all the UL flights are still to post to my account.
On my final transit through CMB I had the option of the Taj/Vivanta (which isn't very nice) or the Ramada, both outside the airport, or the Serendiva transit hotel , I chose the Serendiva as it wasn't worth the hassle of going through immigration/security etc. just for a slightly nicer hotel.
While I technically didn't need a visa for my B2Bs in the UAE and am eligible for a VoA, I applied for a 30 day multiple entry visa and it made the document checks much easier. Similarly, I applied for the Indonesian VoA for my B2B in CGK and it made the entire document check process much easier.
B2Bs in DXB are very easy and even when transit security is rammed (on my 3rd pass), the ~50 people in front of me were through in under 10 min. The other 2 times there were less than 5 people in front of me.
As booked, the entire trip came to 1480 TP, the initial reroute CGK-DOH-DXB dropped it by 80 TP but the DXB-CMB-DOH-CGK reroute added back 140 so I was left with 1540 TP. I guess I could claim ORC for the CGK-DOH-DXB reroute but I am happy with how things turned out, so probably won't
Hope this helps the folks planning a run in the future.
I had originally booked two AUH-CMB-CGK-CMB-AUH runs with a B2B in AUH and a positioning itinerary of BLR-CMB-AUH-CMB-BLR, with B2Bs in AUH at both the start and end of the trip. I booked these tickets during UL's 44th anniversary sale and the trip ran from 24/11 to 29/11.
A week after I booked the flights I got a cancellation notice for UL208 (AUH-CMB), the first flight of my first run, from UL's AUH Reservations team. With a couple of emails both my inward positioning flight (UL207) and the return (UL208) were shifted to the DXB flights on the same day UL225/UL226.
Given the many cancellations across the UL network I was gardening my reservations regularly and had alerts setup on ExpertFlyer.
On 9th Nov I got an alert that the CMB-AUH-CMB flights for my middle B2B were cancelled, an email to the AUH Reservations team quickly resulted in me moving over to the Dubai flights on the same day.
On the 16th I noticed that the CMB-AUH and AUH-CMB flights for my last B2B were both zeroed out in all fare classes so another quick email exchange with the AUH Reservations team resulted in my final B2B being moved to DXB.
On the 17th I got an alert from ExpertFlyer that the CGK-CMB flight on my second run had been cancelled, about 22 hrs after the ExpertFlyer notification I received an automated alert from UL. I actually waited until the 21st to write to UL as I was weighing up cancelling the second run (due to work commitments) but in the end decide to press on. I requested the AUH Reservations team to move me to QR CGK-DOH-DXB (QR959/QR1014), which converted my final B2B in DXB into a comfortable 2:15 transit.
I had a 12 hr layover in CMB between my BLR and DXB flights on both the inbound and outbound positioning legs, since the ticket only qualified for one STPC (based on the fare) I opted to use that on the return. On the outbound I booked the Serendiva transit hotel, the base room was $65 for 6 hrs and it is very easy to get to and clean/comfortable, there is some construction going on in the duty free below but with earplugs in I was able to sleep fine.
The BLR-CMB-DXB-CMB-CGK legs were drama free, the back to back at DXB is a breeze, on the first B2B it took less than 20 min to arrive back into the departure area/duty free, despite the aircraft being parked at the furthest gate (D1). The DXB transit desk was able to quickly print my DXB-CMB-CGK boarding passes and the DXB/CMB lounge invitations.
In CGK, I had decide to splurge a bit on the first stay and booked the Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan. It was ok value at ~$220 all in, including club access, but it was not exceptional in any way.
The excitement started on the morning of the 26th, I woke up in CGK to an automated email that my CMB-DXB (UL225) that evening was delayed by 3:50. This would mean that the return DXB-CMB (UL226) would also be delayed and I would miss the connection back to CGK.
I tried to call UL reservations central number (no one picked up the business class line and 3 separate agents on the economy line hung up on my after I explained the 'complicated' situation to them 🙂 ) and the AUH UL office was shut as it was a Sunday. I also emailed the central and AUH Reservations teams but didn't receive a response up until my departure from CGK. I also spoke to the staff at GCK while checking in for my CGK-CMB flight and they said to talk to the folks in CMB.
On landing in CMB I received an email from UL's Sharjah ticketing team moving my DXB-CMB-CGK flights to WY (DXB-MCT-CGK), the only problem with this was that the DXB-MCT flight would leave DXB before I had even taken off from CMB. I tried to call them but couldn't get through so I replied to their email asking them to call me.
I then went to the transfer/connections desk in CMB and tried to resolve the issue there. Of all the UL teams I dealt with, the CMB transfer desk is the only one I found unhelpful.
They started out trying to be helpful but soon started making statements like 'why did you book connections like this, you aren't allowed to' and similar remarks. Their Sharjah ticketing team (which has an @srilankan.com email address) is apparently a 3rd party so once they changed the reservation the central team could no longer make any changes (not that they seemed to want to).
Following the HUCA philosophy, I started to disengage with the connections desk team before they did any real damage, as this was happening, I got a call from Mr. H, from UL's DXB Airport Operations team. He had flagged the issue with my connection to CGK in CMB, and had also picked up on the fact that I was doing a B2B in DXB. He was very helpful and had the Sharjah team call me. My preferred option was to route DXB-CMB-DOH-CGK as it maximized TP's and preserved the option to reconnect to UL364 in CMB (if it was delayed) and the Sharjah ticketing was able to process it immediately and I was all set. This routing meant that I now had a B2B in CGK, arriving on QR 958 and departing on QR959.
The second B2B in Dubai was even quicker as the aircraft was parked at a closer gate, but this time the transit desk could not print my boarding passes and I had to have them printed at the gate (not that they are ever checked until you reach the gate), where they were only able to print the DXB-CMB and CMB-DOH boarding passes but not the DOH-CGK boarding pass. I even got to meet Mr. H and thank him in person.
We landed at CMB almost 4 hrs late and while UL364 to CGK was still on the ground and loading cargo, the flight had been 'finalized' so they could/would not let me board.
CMB-DOH was on the wet leased WY aircraft with the Apex suites and was nice, DOH-CGK was a 777W with the MiniPods, which was fine ( I slept the entire flight).
While in DoH I checked in for the CGK-DOH-DXB flights but the system would only allow me to print out a 'Travel Pass' which is an online seat confirmation. I tried at the transfer desk as well, but they weren't able to print out a boarding pass either.
On the DOH-CGK flight I told the purser about my B2B in CGK and he said the ground staff would handle it, sure enough, on landing there was a person waiting with a sign with my name on it. After a short wait at the gate I was escorted by a QR staffer to the transfer desk area located next to where you pay for the VoA. I was asked to sit in the waiting area there and the QR staffer went off and was back in a few minutes with an Immigration officer, he checked my passport photo against me, photographed my passport/inward boarding pass and seat confirmation and, for good measure, took a picture of me holding my passport. The QR staffer then took a photo of me and my luggage (hand luggage only) which she said was for customs. All this happened while standing in the waiting area and the transfer desks were unmanned.
We then took the elevator adjoining the waiting area up to a security check lane and we were then spat out into the main terminal and the QR staffer escorted me to the lounge. The entire exercise took ~25 min and was seamless but I would not try and attempt it without active support from the ground staff.
The remaining CGK-DOH-DXB-CMB-BLR flights were smooth, surprisingly, I noticed that the QR flights, CMB-DOH-CGK-DOH, had all credited to my BA flight while I was still onboard the CGK-DOH sector, however the final QR flight, DOH-DXB, and all the UL flights are still to post to my account.
On my final transit through CMB I had the option of the Taj/Vivanta (which isn't very nice) or the Ramada, both outside the airport, or the Serendiva transit hotel , I chose the Serendiva as it wasn't worth the hassle of going through immigration/security etc. just for a slightly nicer hotel.
While I technically didn't need a visa for my B2Bs in the UAE and am eligible for a VoA, I applied for a 30 day multiple entry visa and it made the document checks much easier. Similarly, I applied for the Indonesian VoA for my B2B in CGK and it made the entire document check process much easier.
B2Bs in DXB are very easy and even when transit security is rammed (on my 3rd pass), the ~50 people in front of me were through in under 10 min. The other 2 times there were less than 5 people in front of me.
As booked, the entire trip came to 1480 TP, the initial reroute CGK-DOH-DXB dropped it by 80 TP but the DXB-CMB-DOH-CGK reroute added back 140 so I was left with 1540 TP. I guess I could claim ORC for the CGK-DOH-DXB reroute but I am happy with how things turned out, so probably won't
Hope this helps the folks planning a run in the future.
Dec 1, 2023, 10:01 am
#1364
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,101
Sri Lankan's Colombo teams are generally the pits: jobsworths with very little interest beyond their paychecks and perks. The airport teams and station managers are ALWAYS more switched on and responsive to the needs of their passengers.
Dec 3, 2023, 5:35 am
#1365
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,101
..my earlier caustic comments re UL's Colombo customer service team
A week before my CGK CMB AUH flights UL cancelled CMB AUH. Couldn't give QR (no F/J-class DOH AUH), but offered CMB DXB. I messaged UL's customer service asking for confirmation they'd refund my DXB AUH taxi fare, Instant reply that they'd discuss the issue and get back to me.
Well, they didn't. So I raised the matter with the AUH team, who instantly offered to fix up a taxi transfer for me. They did, and it worked a treat.
Today, over a week later, I got a reply from Colombo. Lord knows how long the discussions went on for, or how heated they got
- but the outcome was that as they'd given me time to make alternative arrangements they regretted not being in a position to help with surface transport between the two airports.....and looked forward to welcoming me aboard Sri Lankan on my future travels.
Well, they didn't. So I raised the matter with the AUH team, who instantly offered to fix up a taxi transfer for me. They did, and it worked a treat.
Today, over a week later, I got a reply from Colombo. Lord knows how long the discussions went on for, or how heated they got
- but the outcome was that as they'd given me time to make alternative arrangements they regretted not being in a position to help with surface transport between the two airports.....and looked forward to welcoming me aboard Sri Lankan on my future travels.