pep
Medlem
Har netop quasi-afsluttet denne odysse, der har konsumeret 9 dages rejsetid totalt.
Sammenhæng:
Arbejder p.t. i Gambia og tog på min årlige ferie til Vietnam.
5 Sep BJL-DSS Air Senegal Eco
6 Sep DSS-ABJ-NBO KQ Eco N
7 Sep NBO-BKK KQ Eco N
8 Sep BKK DAD VN Eco P
23 Sep HUI-SGN-BKK VN Eco R
24 Sep BKK-NBO-ABJ-DSS Eco N
26 Sep DSS-BJL Air Senegal (HC) Eco (aflyst/udsat til afgang 27-9 kl. 12.00)
Economy, alt er revenue, ca. 1450 USD. Kolossal fordel at have gold status i FB hvilket gjorde rejsen worth trying!
Har sendt teksterne og ratings til SKYTRAX som har publiceret idag under de respektive tre selskaber.
Issue 1. Online Boarding 30 hours before departures appear to be fantastic and organised. However, in reality it is most often useless and raise false expectations of a seamless travel. The electronic BPs were not recognised in Dakar by airport authorities. Similar in many African airports, they want hard copy from Check-in, which only opens 2-3 hours prior to departure. This depraved me of transit and comfort in the 24/7 open Top Kapi lounge. Was then forced to leave airside.
Issue 2. Skyteam Elite Plus status does not work to get upgrades when economy is full. The intentions to upgrade are good and the check-in staff overly optimistic that it will work while at gate. However, the system can’t manage it, particularly when there are stops on the way. Eventually the necessary upgrades, undeservedly, went to those who check in late.
Lounges:
Dakar: Top Kapi is a wonderful curved designed lounge despite modest in size. It provides gorgeous views to surrounding coastal forests. Offerings are fine and exotic with thematic food supply. Champagne is good.
Nairobi: Pride Lounge has it all, particularly space, views, food, and other options. Can easily spend a day here.
Recommend Kenya Airways. I rarely have had any issue with them over the last 30 years.
Lounge Top Kapi (billeder nedenfor) i DSS er helt vidunderlig, anderledes exotisk. Udsigt over kystskovene ind mod Dakar. Lufthavnen er spritny, 65 km fra byen...
Fik guddommeligt lækre nystegte søtunger (soles). I Danmark en uopnålig luksus...
Jeg selv på vej hjem til Hue efter store badedag med mine to drenge. Retterne (heavy snacks) er nystegte tørfisk af sjældne arter, hvs. Ca Den og Ca Thon. Små mirakler for tyve kroner...
Forældremøde i skolen. Gab....
SGN: New Domestic terminal 3 is a nightmare and disconnected with the rest of the airport. This forces passengers into taxis or busses on jammed city roads to reach international connections. A disgrace for the country as it is. SGN Terminal 2 is International departures. Things went OK despite it being very crowded with long waiting lines for check-in, security, and immigration. Airside, I was rightly granted Lounge access to Lotus Lounge on 3rd floor which is very nice and spacious with tasty foods. Drinks are of modest variety and quality. No bubbles, poor beers. Last flight to BKK was also good, this time with catering and hot dish provided. Flights on time with efficient staff. Luggage arrived in Bangkok without disturbing me in SGN. All embarkings and disembarkings were on airbridges. Tickets not expensive. Recommended.
The AF Lounge in Bangkok is very decent and on the raise in quality and service. An indicator is presence of the Yellow Widow champagne in cool ice.
Flight to NBO was delayed and full. I was not impacted much as I got my wanted Economy Comfort seat at row 11. Preordered seafood meal served. Had two meal services, first one after two hours into the flight and last one two hours prior to landing. In between, I slept like a baby. Meals diverse and of acceptable quality. Entertainment system works, but no Wifi.
Arrived in Nairobi almost on time, despite left BKK 2 hours late. Transit and security easy, took me 12 Minutes to reach Kenya Airways Pride Lounge to take shower and offload and reload for next trip to West Africa.
Remaining trip to Ivory Coast and Senegal took 8 hours (Africa is huge) was in a narrowbody aircraft, an older lady B373-800. It went on time. I was called upon as the last remaining person (while in the lounge 30 minutes before take-off). The trip was smooth, good atmosphere, we were well catered for, amble space in my favourite exit seat, my seafood-meals provided seamlessly. Happy hour concept applied by the FAs, who were in good mood, well rested, charming and not patronising. A low load onboard allowed for most passengers to stretch out in 3 seats. No true entertainment from (shared) monitors and no Wifi. Upgrades to business class offered for 200 usd. Hot meals, snacks, and drinks provided throughout. Luggage arrived in good shape. Altogether, Kenya Airways deserve kudos. They are well integrated. Recommended. Got Flying Blue miles. Not overly expensive.
Et billede nedenfor fra allersidste stræk ABJ-DSS. Alt i alt var turen fra NBO en fest i farver, forplejning ("Happy Hour", bestil 1 få 2!), og mad (fik alt det jeg gad spise, ud over mine elskede, forudbestilte seafoodmeals Alt Godt fra Havet). Jeg tager fiskeretterne som forretter, og få næsten altid mere efter anmodning. Det er der bøfferne kommer ind...
Fra BKK valgte jeg Dreamlinerens Eco Comfort 11D right after Business. Fik behageligt selskab af en smuk svedske fra Rwanda som sad i 11E
På de 2 lange stræk Dakar-Abidjan-Nairobi og tilbage i narrowbody B737-800 sad jeg selvfølgelig i rad 19, der er recliners. For at undvige sol sad jeg i 19A ud og på 19J hjem. Med disse sæder og med bestilt special seafood meal lod upgradering til business ikke lokke mig, selv om prisen for alle 4 ben kun var 360 USD...
Sammenhæng:
Arbejder p.t. i Gambia og tog på min årlige ferie til Vietnam.
5 Sep BJL-DSS Air Senegal Eco
6 Sep DSS-ABJ-NBO KQ Eco N
7 Sep NBO-BKK KQ Eco N
8 Sep BKK DAD VN Eco P
23 Sep HUI-SGN-BKK VN Eco R
24 Sep BKK-NBO-ABJ-DSS Eco N
26 Sep DSS-BJL Air Senegal (HC) Eco (aflyst/udsat til afgang 27-9 kl. 12.00)
Economy, alt er revenue, ca. 1450 USD. Kolossal fordel at have gold status i FB hvilket gjorde rejsen worth trying!
Har sendt teksterne og ratings til SKYTRAX som har publiceret idag under de respektive tre selskaber.
Air Senegal Economy 6/10
Flew 5 sept. 2025 Banjul to Dakar with the reputed Air Senegal. Aircraft was an old Dash-8 propeller in good condition. All my worries went to shame, check-in easy though many procedures, e.g. payment of airport tax in cash, immigration documents and checks. Flight was half full, left on time, around 20 minutes early. However, previous flight, 2 days earlier, became 14 hours delayed. Onboard, no light provided while in air. Around 40 persons embarked, half load. No catering. Only 3 persons ran the flight. Flight itself was eventless, hassle-free, and smooth. In Dakar, I was disallowed to proceed into transit despite I was already checked in on next flight. That destroyed my entire trip.Kenya Airways Economy 7/10
Flew Dakar-Abidjan-Nairobi-Bangkok 6-8 September 2025. Narrowbody to Nairobi, then widebody Bangkok. Flights and transits went smooth and timely. Full flights, but staff managed well catering etc. I did not have checked-in luggage. Seat space amble. Special meals preordered were given without reminders. Upon inquiry I was granted as much hot food that I could eat of remaining 2 choices upon 1st serving. I thus had 4 meals on my way to Nairobi. Staff were friendly, though of limited devotion. Drink-rounds were few but made up for by the Kenya Airways Happy Hour concept which was mostly applied (order 1, get 2). No IFE nor WiFi on the first 2 legs. Flying from Dakar to Ivory Coasts in twilight with gorgeous views of clouds and remote landscapes in golden lights was stunningly beautiful. Stop-over in Abidjan was annoying, forced to be seated over two hours while aircraft being refuelled. From Nairobi I got my favourite seat 25A, got seafood meal, and slept OK. IFE worked well.Issue 1. Online Boarding 30 hours before departures appear to be fantastic and organised. However, in reality it is most often useless and raise false expectations of a seamless travel. The electronic BPs were not recognised in Dakar by airport authorities. Similar in many African airports, they want hard copy from Check-in, which only opens 2-3 hours prior to departure. This depraved me of transit and comfort in the 24/7 open Top Kapi lounge. Was then forced to leave airside.
Issue 2. Skyteam Elite Plus status does not work to get upgrades when economy is full. The intentions to upgrade are good and the check-in staff overly optimistic that it will work while at gate. However, the system can’t manage it, particularly when there are stops on the way. Eventually the necessary upgrades, undeservedly, went to those who check in late.
Lounges:
Dakar: Top Kapi is a wonderful curved designed lounge despite modest in size. It provides gorgeous views to surrounding coastal forests. Offerings are fine and exotic with thematic food supply. Champagne is good.
Nairobi: Pride Lounge has it all, particularly space, views, food, and other options. Can easily spend a day here.
Recommend Kenya Airways. I rarely have had any issue with them over the last 30 years.
Lounge Top Kapi (billeder nedenfor) i DSS er helt vidunderlig, anderledes exotisk. Udsigt over kystskovene ind mod Dakar. Lufthavnen er spritny, 65 km fra byen...
Fik guddommeligt lækre nystegte søtunger (soles). I Danmark en uopnålig luksus...
Vietnam Airlines Economy 9/10
Flew Bangkok-Danang 8th Sept. 2025 on their A321. Check-in at transfer counter in Bangkok smooth. Accessed the nice and roomy Skyteam lounge in Bangkok due to Flying Blue status. The lounge is good and provides nice tarmac views. Offerings have improved significantly over the last 3 years. Flight on time and perfect in all ways. Not expensive. Seat pitch in economy was 120 cm just behind the business section. Could not touch the seat in front without raising up. 80 minutes flight with full catering and drinks. Food delicious, hot meal was fried glass-noodles with mushrooms, squids, and prawns. Had to ask for extra and was given with a smile, including Hanoi Beer. Spacious seats, and nice, caring staff. Overhead flight monitors were very informative with creative display. No WiFi nor IFE apart from flight tracking. Airline extremely might be a bit conservative, but stable, punctual, and reliable. Absolutely recommended for regional flights, greatest value of all.Forældremøde i skolen. Gab....
Vietnam Airlines Economy 7/10
Flew Hue-Saigon-Bangkok on a Wednesday 24 Sep. 2025. Both flights on their beloved A321. What strikes me again and again with this airline is punctuality, predictability, and stability. Yes, it is a conform, conservative, and colourless airline, close to boring. The staff are very formal and correct, almost nervous. But the company and the staff deliver, and there is a reason they are growing into becoming a legacy carrier. These two flights were fine. A major disappointment was at check-in which cannot be done from any domestic airport earlier than 2 hours before kick-off. Thus, people arriving earlier are forced to stay airside killing time on benches and the floor. The Hue airport is still new and constitute an architectural monster and overkill of and airport. The design is pretentious, remind me of a Sydney Opera House in the middle of nowhere. A capacity of 30 mio passengers per year is met by a meagre 1-2000 pax per day spread out on modest 14 departures; all heading to the new and old capitol, Saigon and Hanoi. The branding of the airport as International is ridiculous. Vietnam Airlines is degrading its Skyteam obligations domestically. Only the three largest airports (DAD, HAN, SGN) meet full obligations on lounge access and luggage transfers. In my case, I was denied to check-in my suitcases beyond Bangkok despite oncoming flights were Skyteam and I was already checked in. Anyway, at least they could printout all my BPs to BKK and transferred luggage the whole way to BKK. I got my wanted exit seat on request. Was denied lounge access in Hue due to “new policy of VN” which were said to be unable to meet its SKYTEAM obligations for minor airports which should allow lounge access for elite FFP card holders with international connections.SGN: New Domestic terminal 3 is a nightmare and disconnected with the rest of the airport. This forces passengers into taxis or busses on jammed city roads to reach international connections. A disgrace for the country as it is. SGN Terminal 2 is International departures. Things went OK despite it being very crowded with long waiting lines for check-in, security, and immigration. Airside, I was rightly granted Lounge access to Lotus Lounge on 3rd floor which is very nice and spacious with tasty foods. Drinks are of modest variety and quality. No bubbles, poor beers. Last flight to BKK was also good, this time with catering and hot dish provided. Flights on time with efficient staff. Luggage arrived in Bangkok without disturbing me in SGN. All embarkings and disembarkings were on airbridges. Tickets not expensive. Recommended.
Kenya Airways Economy 8/10
Bangkok-Nairobi-Abidjan-Dakar 25 Sept. 2025. Came to Bangkok from Vietnam with another SKYTEAM carrier, Vietnam Airlines. For Kenya Airways, I had electronic BPs. I managed to stay in transit and had great assistance from both Kenya Airways transfer desk staff and Air France generous SKYTEAM lounge to manoeuvre my luggage remotely; it had arrived from Vietnam to Bangkok as final labelled destination. But KQ did excellently: they granted me a favourite seat and checked me in properly with printed BPs. Then, they contacted the skilful BKK-luggage department and located, identified, verified with photo (!!), and relabelled my luggage. For convenience, eventually, I picked new tags while boarding. I used some amble 6 hours in transit lounge merely than vacating airside, enter Thailand, hunting luggage landside, just to wait hours to be able to check it in again and going twice through security and immigration.The AF Lounge in Bangkok is very decent and on the raise in quality and service. An indicator is presence of the Yellow Widow champagne in cool ice.
Flight to NBO was delayed and full. I was not impacted much as I got my wanted Economy Comfort seat at row 11. Preordered seafood meal served. Had two meal services, first one after two hours into the flight and last one two hours prior to landing. In between, I slept like a baby. Meals diverse and of acceptable quality. Entertainment system works, but no Wifi.
Arrived in Nairobi almost on time, despite left BKK 2 hours late. Transit and security easy, took me 12 Minutes to reach Kenya Airways Pride Lounge to take shower and offload and reload for next trip to West Africa.
Remaining trip to Ivory Coast and Senegal took 8 hours (Africa is huge) was in a narrowbody aircraft, an older lady B373-800. It went on time. I was called upon as the last remaining person (while in the lounge 30 minutes before take-off). The trip was smooth, good atmosphere, we were well catered for, amble space in my favourite exit seat, my seafood-meals provided seamlessly. Happy hour concept applied by the FAs, who were in good mood, well rested, charming and not patronising. A low load onboard allowed for most passengers to stretch out in 3 seats. No true entertainment from (shared) monitors and no Wifi. Upgrades to business class offered for 200 usd. Hot meals, snacks, and drinks provided throughout. Luggage arrived in good shape. Altogether, Kenya Airways deserve kudos. They are well integrated. Recommended. Got Flying Blue miles. Not overly expensive.
Et billede nedenfor fra allersidste stræk ABJ-DSS. Alt i alt var turen fra NBO en fest i farver, forplejning ("Happy Hour", bestil 1 få 2!), og mad (fik alt det jeg gad spise, ud over mine elskede, forudbestilte seafoodmeals Alt Godt fra Havet). Jeg tager fiskeretterne som forretter, og få næsten altid mere efter anmodning. Det er der bøfferne kommer ind...
Fra BKK valgte jeg Dreamlinerens Eco Comfort 11D right after Business. Fik behageligt selskab af en smuk svedske fra Rwanda som sad i 11E
På de 2 lange stræk Dakar-Abidjan-Nairobi og tilbage i narrowbody B737-800 sad jeg selvfølgelig i rad 19, der er recliners. For at undvige sol sad jeg i 19A ud og på 19J hjem. Med disse sæder og med bestilt special seafood meal lod upgradering til business ikke lokke mig, selv om prisen for alle 4 ben kun var 360 USD...
