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En epoke slutter med 7 ben omkring ækvator

pep

Medlem
KGL-NBO-DXB-CMB-CGK-KUL-SGN-HUI 5te til 7nde otober 2019. Rejste de 4 første ben på business, 2 to næste på økonomi, og så til slut med LCC domestic hjem til Hue. Online check in paa de foerste 6 ben. Lufthavns check-in kun noedvendigt i KGL og DXB. Ingen indchecket baggage denne gang men 18 kg håndbaggage var intet problem; dog med LCC’eren bulkede jeg den lille rygsæk ind i den store. Da taggen Cabin Bag fra den lille ”fik lov” til at haenge ud af den store gled de fint igennem ved gaten i Saigon hvor der er spotchecks paa excess luggage. Fin tur, fik 22 timer i 6 lounger hjem. Det raekker nok et stykke tid fremover. Reviews publicerede under de respektive selskaber i SKYTRAX.

Visa antal miles, tid och stor karta på Great Circle Mapper

1. Kenya Airways Business 7/10

Kigali to Dubai over Nairobi 5th October 2019 E190 and B787-800 aircrafts. All on time. Check in smooth online where I was notified by KQ 36 hours prior to kick-off. In airport things went well. Granted access to Rwandairs’ Dream Lounge as the usual Business Lounge is under renovation. On the first flight business class was full and people were cramped in 1 x 2 configuration. For solo travellers its important to select the single seats on the left (column A). Welcome champagne given provided the passengers request it, otherwise it is not offered. They had two food options (veg. or chicken) which both were ridiculous, loaded from Nairobi: 1 toothpick of chicken or vegs with a grinded potato cake, total some 50 grams served on a disgusting saucy saucer. Seats are classic Business class with limited recline. Can not justify the high price tag for business class on short flights. In Nairobi I used the wonderful Pride Lounge to catch up with Premier League. The longer leg NBO-DXB was much nicer and a true business class experience. I had two kinds of hot meals and they were both acceptable (fish and steak). Staff well rested and In a sparkling mood. IFE fine. Roomy lie flat beds. Food is deteriorating, really bad and poor compared to earlier years of glory. No quality beers and only 1 or 2 wines offered. And the 2 beer brands they offer are just industrialised mass products of low quality. However, I rate KQ fairly high due to their good lounges, good flights on widebody aircrafts, nice FAs, and ability to handle irregularities.

2. Sri Lankan Business Class 09/10
Flew Dubai to Jakarta via Colombo on 5-6 October 2019. Check-in on line and got original BPs in Dubai transit including 2 more flights (with Malaysia Airlines) beyond Jakarta. This meant that I did not have to queue up again at a transit desk in Jakarta, which was very nice. Both legs were on old A330-200 aircraft where there were some minor faults in the cabin (no headlight, seats worn). Lie flat chairs in 2 x 2 x 2 configuration. All passengers who wanted could have a whole pair of seats on first leg. Business class was only 30% full and one could change seat if desired. Amenity kit provided. Cabin were clean and the crew delivered faultless service onboard with excellent, delicious food. I had two main courses, fist spicy fish dish from Sri Lanka, and then mutton bryani of Indian style. Beers offered poor but wines and champagne were fine. Elaborate menu and drink list cards provided.

Lounge relayed to in Dubai has now unfortunately changed from Ahlan to the Merhaba lounge which is useless as it is always crowded. Thus, I went to British Airways lounge instead as I have Oneworld status. In Colombo it was Serendib Lounge which is a cozy little lounge with good foods and tarmac view. Had shower and a cheese plate. 2nd flight were full in business. The breakfast was divine: a sophisticated local Sri Lankan Milk Rice trio with carry fish and pickles. The teas they serve are among the best in the air. The beautiful FAs make up for any shortage on the hardware as they are kind, caring, and attractive. Both flights on time. Cant really fault this airline and they are becoming my favorite when they have good online offers. The CC are so warm, focused, and truly caring. This business class trip rendered high value for money, around 1000 USD for a return trip which rendered lots of FFP-miles.

3. Malaysia Airlines Economy 8/10
6-7 Oct. 2019 from Jakarta to Saigon via KUL. Came to Jakarta by Sri Lankan and continued to Saigon with Malaysia Airlines over Kuala Lumpur where I spent the night in their Golden lounge to catch next morning 1st flight to Saigon. Smooth transit in Jakarta as I had checked in Online. Long walks in T3, about 3 km in total. They use Plaza Premium Lounge i T3: Nice lounge with panorama views in 3 directions. They use old B737 narrow-body aircrafts. Both flights were on time and food was also very good with 3-4 options, though I had special meal which was nice. They have never failed to bring me my special meal which must be logistically difficult.

Onboard, FAs were, as usual, neat and fresh, however no wines or spirits, not even a beer can be offered yet. That small privilege was removed after the MH370 incident. However, 202 USD for 4 legs pampered with extra luggage, special meal and 4 times lounge accesses (thru FFP status) is extremely good value for money. No mileage given for Q-booking class but that is the compromise. I have had some 50+ regional flights with MH over the last 5 years and must say that I have never had serious delays or luggage delivery problems. Clear information provided, even if there should arise a delay of 10 Minutes. At times they managed to prepone my departure according to my wish (arrived in airport from transit far too early) without costs. That’s how a company should run. Another strength is the hospitable and fresh staff onboard and as well in their lounges. They only need to update and align their alcohol policy and then start to renew their regional fleet as they are about to be worn out. The strength with these ageing B737 is, however, that they have so many aircrafts enabling them to instate another quickly which is a huge joker card to keep things running should there be a technical problem.

4. Vietjetair Economy 5/10
Flew Saigon to Hue on a Monday afternoon October 2019 on a brand new, beautiful, spacious and clean A321. As usual, flight changes and emails came to my mailbox starting days prior to departure and went on until original departure was overdue. In my case the change was less crucial, but I lost 3 hours due to the continuous delays. What I don’t like is that their emails are repetitive, robot generated, and irresponsible. All their emails do not provide clear changes and do not list old but only new itinerary. Often there are no changes but they cause stress and confusion. Duplicating emails needs also to be very carefully checked as one never knows what/if/how/how much/why has been changed. In this case they cancelled flight VJ306 6 days before departure and put me on VJ304 80 minutes later. That took them 5 emails to communicate. Further delays of new flight added 2 hours delay. Check-in and baggage went fine. I got the best seat onboard without requesting, 11D. Have never paid for excess hand luggage with this airline which contradicts several other reviews. The gates for this carrier is in Saigon clustered into a big hall which is messy and overcrowded like a bus station in a 3rd world country. Always tedious bus gating with lengthy queues, shortage of busses, and long outdoor waits. In the sky they are faultless with fresh crew, clean cabins, and inexpensive catering with many options. This flight was full but CC were handling all passengers perfect. VietjetAir is complicated, tedious, expensive, and risky until you are on board. However, for less busy airports like Hue, they are somehow keeping schedules, especially in the mornings. 35 USD paid would normally be cheap fare but 3 hours delays makes it expensive.
 

pep

Medlem
Den lille baggage "tagges" og puttes derefter ind i den store med lap'pen fra den lille hængende ud. Derved glider hele læsset igennem...Medvidende rejsende?
 

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