i have to fly internationally, and am considering buying a ticked on kuwair airways, because i need 5 tickets, and it cheaper and saves me alota money...but ive read some nasty stories online about their service and planes and ive heard some really good ones too and im undecided about what i should do...so i was wondering if you guys could give me your stories (if you have any) or other things you have heard that might help me out. the route im planning to fly is from the jfk airport to kuwait and then to india

I have flown Kuwait Airways on a short-hop from AMM-KWI. They were OK. We were on an older A300 and the IFE was broken. I don't remember much about the food, but there were quite a few FAs on-board, all pretty disinterested. It was a short flight and I don't remember a whole lot of it, but I do remember the FAs leaving their rolling luggage in front of the exit door and everyone unbuckling their seat belts the minute the wheels touched the deck. Safety can seem sub par, but I am confident they will get you to your destination and home again in one piece.

My girlfriend's parents live in Kuwait and they have flown Kuwait Airways many times without any problems. While it will not be an outstanding experience, I am sure it will be fine. Another positive note, from JFK-KWI, you will be on a 777 which is a very safe and comfortable plane.

If you do fly Kuwait Airways, don't be alarmed when you are frisked at the boarding door. Men are frisked in public, women are taken to the other side of the galley and frisked behind a curtain. They will also have you open your hand luggage.

The Kuwait airport is OK. There is some shopping outside of security, but once past security, it is pretty dismal. If you have a long enough layover, it is no problem for US citizens to get landing visas. I think they are 4KD each (about $12). With that said, unless you are going to a hotel there really is nothing to see in Kuwait...

For more opinions, look in the Other Africa and Middle East Airlines Forum. Although a quick search shows some pretty old threads. You may also want to look at Skytrax Airline Quality rankings of Kuwait Airways. They can be found here.

All in all, don't expect a lot and you won't be disappointed.

BTW, welcome to FlyerTalk!

Another thing, I am not sure where in India you are going or which month, but take a look at Delta's JFK-BOM non-stop or Continental's new EWR-BOM. The few dates I looked those were actually cheaper than the Kuwait Airways flights.

thanks for the reply! i didnt want a nonstop to india because i hate being cramped in a plane that long, id rather have a stop in middle get off the plane and stretch out my legs and such...and im going to Gujarat so i woulda have to get a connecting flight there anyways, but thank you for all teh info you have given me, it has helped me out a lot

Welcome to FT. Kuwait Airways is fine. However, the days when Middle Eastern airlines automatically had the lowest fares are gone: you should search the online fares as well as Indian consolidators throughly. When are you going and from where to where? There is immense experience here and you could receive a lot of specific pointers.

i am planning to go on the 23rd of December to the 14th of January. The closest airports next to me are newark (ewr) and jfk and im planning to go to Ahmadabad, India.

In just plugging in your dates I found Emirates for $1392/pp with a stop in Dubai. Kuwait Airways didn't even show as an option. I don't know what a "good" fare is for this route, but given the $500 price difference between EK and the next closest, Air India, it seems like a decent deal.

Dec 23, 2007
EK202 JFK-DXB 11:00p-8:30p
EK538 DXB-AMD 10:55p-3:10a (arrives Dec 25)

Jan 14, 2008
EK539 AMD-DXB 4:25a-6:10a
EK201 DXB-JFK 8:30a-2:10p

You can save or lose a lot of money here, so play with these parameters carefully.

Where to go: US-based ethnic Indian travel agents may have a good deal to AMD itself, so check with them. If buying from "international" portals, you may be best off buying to Mumbai (BOM) and arranging domestic flights separately. (Check cleartrip.com to get an idea of BOM-AMD rupee fares.)

When: Dec 23-Jan 14 is high season, one of the worst times to find a cheap seat, especially five seats on the same flights. If you must travel on specific days you can pay a few hundred dollars per ticket, $1000-1500 extra for 5, for the privilege. Good news is, Dec 25 is usually good and there may be other holes in the tight availability. You can save money if you are flexible. As a general rule, midweek is good.

Where to buy: OK, so you need flexible date search. No US portal has it. The only good one I know of is Travelocity's Singapore portal
http://www.zuji.com.sg/web/content/sg/flights.html.
Click on the flexible date button, choose your airports as NYC and BOM (or AMD); months Dec to Jan. The very first list they throw at you is misleading: Seat availability has not been checked, fares are in Singapore dollars, and don't include taxes! Don't give up, this is still your best bet. Keep clicking until you find a fare with seats available on dates acceptable to you. Click through until you see a total fare. Multiply by 2/3 to get USD (100 SGD = 67 USD).

My guess is, a fare of 1300-1400 would be normal quote, 1200 good one, and 1000 a steal not to be missed. If you see $800, just relax, taxes will come later. Such tickets are expensive to cancel or modify, so don't buy without being sure. Once you have identified the most promising dates and airlines, you can try to buy from Travelocity's US office too, or anybody else, as you prefer.

For a thorough search, you should also check the airline's own websites as well. They often "forget" to inform outside portals of certain specials.

Also, check above mentioned "Indian" travel agencies for fares to BOM as well as any special deals to AMD itself. Sometimes airlines don't announce Dec specials until Sep-Oct, but waiting until then is risky too.

Good luck. Let us know what you find.

PS. The above mentioned Emirates 1-stop NYC-AMD at approx $1400 does seem to be convenient if nothing else. However, I realize that you are buying 5 tickets and even a modest saving per ticket would add up.

Sorry to keep on editing this, but there were many considerations here and it too a few tries.

The ITASoftware site offers a flexible date search also: matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/

Click on month long search in the upper right. Enter NYC (to check all NYC airports) and AMD or BOM for your destination. Select 15-16 nights as your stay, and December 22 as your starting date. It will then search departure dates one month from your selected starting date, based on a 15-16 night stay. You can then book on the airline's website directly.

As aktchi has already suggested, look for consolidators both in the US and India.

I am aware of "semi-flex" searches, many US portals (aa.com etc) offer these in which your departure is flexible but not both departure and return. Basically, you are half-blind. They'll tell you how low 15-16 nights ticket will get, but if you might have saved hundreds by staying 14 nights or 17 nights, they won't mention it.

AFAIK, only zuji.sg offers a meaningful flexible search which is flexible at both ends. For those with only a few days of flexibility, Kayak has a +/- 3 days option at both ends; in my experience it has not been a reliable locator of the cheapest options, but no harm in trying (registration is required to use this feature).

Thanks for the link. I spent some time last night clicking around and it seems very useful, especially if you are very flexible.