worldinabag

Hi

Next month we are flying economy on Egypt Air from Kuala Lumpur to Cairo return. No recent reviews for this airline on this forum and I read mixed reviews on www.airlinequality.com. We booked with Malaysian Airlines but just found out they "on sold" us to Egypt Air apparently (is this legal)! Anyone recently flown economy with this airline on a long haul flight. Interested in the standard of the aircraft, punctuality, check in efficiency, is alcohol served etc. Thanks for any input.

JoanneH

I flew with them 6 times this last month within Egypt. So no long haul but plane was always on time, clean, no liquor served, food what you would expect, check in ok, heavy security, bus's out to plane slow on getting baggage after landing once took almost an hour otherwise nothing really to carp about.

worldinabag

OK thanks Joanne. Sounds like your typical economy flight. We're not real big boozers but enjoy a couple, mainly to help us sleep! I have read passengers bring their own booze onboard, even though it's not within airline regulations. I'll ask at check in anyway.

colduphere

We flew 4.5 hours with them in August. Absolutely fine.

MissGreen

I flew 7 times with them in September - longest was only 1.5 hours though. I just thought you'd like to know that every plane was new, the food (if you wanted to eat) was fine... (I ate the yummy cake!), the flight attendants pleasant, only 1 flight was delayed, boarding was organised and ther was no problem with our bags and they arrived on time.

When you say "sold us" to Egypt Air from Malaysian Airlines, are you talking about a Codeshare flight?

micmic

Last August I flew them from Athens to Nairobi with a stopover in Cairo. There was an 1.5 hour delay from Cairo to Athens, but other than that it was good. Also note that a security official in the Cairo airport asked for a "gift" for letting me carry on the plane a ...power cable! Something like this could probably happen to you in Cairo.

worldinabag

Hi again

Thanks all for your input. Yes MissGreen I think it is a codeshare. I've never encountered it but apparently it's not uncommon. My travel agent never advised me the KL to Cairo leg was with EgyptAir. I booked the flight with Malaysian Air expecting it both legs. I'm not happy about the arrangement (even if it's not uncommon) and I doubt I will use MA again.

MissGreen

World.. it is common yes and can surprise those new to travel or when using a different airline. This was one of the reasons I didn't go with Singapore Airlines from Sydney to Cairo in their A380 Business class as for the final leg from Dubai (I think) to Cairo, we were going to be transferred to an Egyptair plane and into economy. I wasn't paying a fortune to have myself squished in to Egyptair seats for the last 3 plus hours of a super long flight!

As we wanted to go t KL, we also flew with Malaysia Airlines from Sydney to KL and from KL to Cairo, through Doha, with Qatar Airlines. Qatar fly as a codeshare with Malaysia Airlines. For us, it was cheaper to book 2 separate legs rather than a flight right through. Figure that one out??

What is the cancellation policy?

worldinabag

Hi MissGreen

Mmm, trouble is we leave in less than 2 weeks. I got a really cheap deal with MA - compared with Emirates which is generally a good value airline I saved $1000 between two. Now I know why! Interesting about Singapore Airlines. This is my favourite airline to date but looks like they do the soft "switch" as well. This practice must be legal I guess although I would have thought consumer law in Australia must require the travel agent to spell out exactly what airline you will be flying. Maybe they do in the fineprint which I never read. I'll still be flying with Egypt Air. I did some research and they seem to have picked up their act in recent years. So long as the plane stays in the air it's all good right? Moral of the story is (a) use a good, professional travel agent (b) ask the agent exactly what airline will be flying.

MissGreen

I think the fine print just says they will get you from A to B.... no matter how they do it.

I use a good agent Worldinabag and I always get them to make sure my flight isn't a codeshare, however, in planning my last trip a code share got through the agent's defences despite her checking. It was only when I got home and looked up the flight and the airlines website that I found out it was a codeshare.

Let us know how the flight goes. You will love Egypt... it will be well worth the EgyptAir flight!

AKR1

We flew EA from NY to Nairobi in July and here is the deal:
1. We chose EA ONLY because we did not want to fly through Europe as I had the ash cloud fiasco in my mind and very expensive camps had been pre-paid. Also, we wanted to stop in Cairo on the way back which made EA the only realistic choice.
2. The good news- fairly new aircraft with a decent safety record and 2/4/3 seating in a 777 which allowed us to get a 2 seater in coach. Service was courteous, the flight on time and baggage arrived.
3. The bad news: no alcohol, bad food and virtually no IFE (entertainment system). My iPad was a extremely useful.

snoopy9

No I haven't and I am one of the lucky ones AS there was a service all the way from Adelaide to Cairo through Singapore and Dubai with Singapore Airlines and the same coming back.There was nothing worse than coming from the A330 AND 777 on SIA to find out for the final sector you will end up with some god awful Egyptair Connection with a long wait time between flights.I booked that one on those grounds.Singapore Airlines also had a great earlybird deal for the time I am going the savings over Etihad or Emirates which are also good even taking the Singapore Stopover on the way home into account are worth it

wildlifepainter

I returned 10/27/10 from Egypt flying JFK to Cairo and back on EA and also several internal flights. They were pretty good. On the 2 12 hour flights; 1 had individual entertainment and 1 did not, service was good, food was pretty good with chicken, fish or beef choice, no booze, no ice, and toilet paper ran out but soft paper towels were available (funny since I dried my hands on TP all over Egypt and then the opposite).

Check-in was varied at Egypt airports. Keep in mind that there are 2 check points so if you buy water after the first check, it may NOT be allowed on your flight. We experienced both.

Bo2642

Hi, World--

I got back from Egypt a week ago, having flown Egypt Air roundtrip JFK/Cairo. It was fine--clean, food as good as most, good attention by the attendants.

There is no alcohol, and there were no seatback monitors. The tv screens were mounted above every 6 or 7th seat down the row. Earphones are provided free of charge, however, and socks, eyeshades, and a toothbrush package is give to everyone in the event one would like to sleep.

I admist that flying EA was almost a deal breaker for me. I had concerns about maintenence standards first of all, but second, I didn't like the sound of some of the negative reviews which had surfaced over the years.

Not to worry on the first count. EA is now part of the Star Alliance, and as such, must meet the same standards as, say, United, which is a partner.

You won't get royal treatment, but you will get decent treatment. And you'll be comfortable with a fairly generous seat width and leg room.

If it will be difficult to make another choice at this point, go ahead with Egypt Air. You'll find it ok.

worldinabag

Thank you again for your reassuring comments, in particular Bo's comments on the recently taken long haul flight. I fly economy and I never expect royal treatment - I only hope for timely flights, a safe flight and no loss of luggage

travelinggrammy

We just got back from Egypt on 11/22/2010. We flew from JFK/CAIRO on their new 777/300.... Business class looked like a dream with full layed back seats.(additional $1,000. U.S.$$$$) But, we were in economy class... Wasn't that bad, had a little more leg room seat were ok.. food was good as far as airline food goes ( did not have to pay for it) The flight was long, almost 12 hours, time pass by fast with the in seat tv's. had several movies, tv shows, history shows, ect. they supplied blankets and pillows. This aircraft has been in service since mid Oct. 2010. So it hasn't been beat up yet by uncaring passengers...

Casual_Cairo

WOW! Sounds like they really upgraded. Maybe I'll actually consider flying on Delta to go home some time.

travelinggrammy

my above post wasn't very clear... The 777/300 we were on was with Egypt Air..... One more thing Egypt Air was on time leaving JFK and our return trip from Cario to JFK. in fact our return trip he was almost 45 minutes early. That was great since that allow us to catch an early flight on JetBlue to Orlando.

BeniciaChris

Make sure if you want your codeshare miles to give # when you check in-save boarding passes. I got home over a month ago & had 5 flights on EA-no miles on United posted. I called United-they couldn't find-had to copy all my boarding passes & E-tickes. We'll see how long it takes.
I never had a problem with codeshare miles on Thai Airlines
Chris

Casual_Cairo

TG - thanks for clarifying as I almost was ready to book Delta. LOL