wally34949

Tomorrow I'm flying MCO to JFK and JFK to Cairo on Egypt Air. I called Egypt Air today and I'm seated at 27C on a 777 aircraft. I asked if they allow smoking on the plane and was told, "of course not."

The weather sounds cold in New York for Friday (03/28/08) 41 and rain. Don't think I want to risk a cold with a trip downtown. I'm packing light for Egypt where it was 99 earlier this week.

Sorry, no April Fool's chuckle this year.

rkkwan

I believe Egyptair (MS) still has 3-4-2 seating on their 772. That means you have <b>the worst</b> aisle seat of the 4, because two people will have to climb over you to get out.

AAFrequentFlyer

For your sake, I just hope another one of their pilots does not decide to join Allah up in heaven!

Have a great trip!

Just be VERY careful crossing the street and enjoy the taxi rides. Either is an experience that's hard to describe. Let me put it this way: Cairo taxi drivers make Mexican taxi drivers look like grandmas on a Sunday morning going to church....

oh, another thing, not impossible, but rather difficult to find a bar unless it's a major hotel bar. Liquor stores are scattered around but again, not easy to find. You may want to stock up on your wine.

Have fun!

rkkwan

Did you ask if they serve alcohol on their flights?

wally34949

No, they don't serve wine on their flights, but you can purchase a bottle after going through security at JFK. I did fill three 3 ounce bottles with rum, but I would rather have wine. Actually, I'm trying to get my body fat back down to 7% which means, very little drinking.

They do have a 33 inch seat pitch which is two inches better than Continental or BA. With no one to get FF miles with, why pay extra for Business Class--and no wine either.

I'm not really a tour person, but I'm with a tour for seven days which includes a 3 1/2 day cruise on the Nile.

I'm bringing one plastic bottle of rum with me in my checked bag. Liquor in hotels in Turkey wasn't cheap and I'm sure Cairo will be the same.

Thanks for your comments. I really don't mind getting up to let people out. I just hate to ask people to let me out when they appear to be sleeping.

3-4-2 seating seems to be the way to go. I'll let you know if the plane has a tilt to the left.

wally34949

Had a great flight with Delta from Orlando to JFK this morning. Security lines were very long at Orlando. I was given the exit row and I checked my bag through to Cairo, Egypt. I purchased a four hour pass to The Lounge at Terminal 4 and have free access to Internet, food, beverage and yes, alcohol, although I have to wait until noon.

I was told by the duty free people that if I purchase alcohol before or after security at Terminal 4, they will bring me the purchase while I am boarding the plane and Egypt Air will not have a problem if I consume it on the plane. The big question is the corkscrew.

I was able to get a corkscrew past security--it doesn't have a foldout knife, simply the metal. Do I go in the bathroom to open it, or will the flight attendant have a corkscrew? Big questions to this mystery thriller.

P_M

Hey wally, I am a wine-lover too. Enjoy your good wine while you can because Egyptian wines are hard to find and they are really awful. This is one of the few situations where I recommend you don't try the local stuff. Go for a French or Italian brand if you can find it.

They do have a beer called Stella that's quite good. I'm not a beer drinker but I became one (temporarily) while traveling in Egypt.

Have a great trip.

traveller1959

I fully disagree with P_M. There are a couple of Egyptian wines which are drinkable (comparable to some vin de pays in France):

- Chateau des Reves is probably the best red wine

- Grand Marquis makes a good red and white wine

- Scheherazade (slightly different spelling) makes a decent Chardonnay

- Obelisk white (Pinot Blanc) and red (Cabernet Sauvignon) are light and easy wines

- avoid Pharaoh (cheapest wine in Egypt) and avoid ros&eacute; wines (generally poor)

In restaurants, wines are inexpensive. You pay 15 to 18 Euros per bottle.

There are 3 brands of beer:

- Stella is terrible, tastes like Budweiser or Heineken

- Sakkara is quite drinkable, medium -bodied

- Meister is the most flavorful beer in Egypt

In restaurants, they charge 3 Euros per 500ml bottle.

In any case, avoid Egyptian booze (3 Euros per glass). It tastes awfully and damages your health.

Most restaurants serve international brands (like Jim Beam) for 6 Euros per glass.

P_M

You are right, we do fully disagree. Everyone in my group enjoyed Stella and we hated Obelisk. But each to his own.

evecolorado

Didn't try the Obelisk, and am not a beer drinker, but agree with traveller1959 on the rest of the wines, plus have one more to add: Jardin du Nil (Grand vin D'Egypte, 2004). I even brought an empty bottle home as a souvenir. We all had a good laugh at the name--reminded us of Chateau Thames Embankment, the &quot;plonk&quot; that Rumpole liked.

wally34949

I almost didn't make it to Cairo. I purchased the pass at the Terminal Four Lounge and fell asleep. An employee woke me up and told me they were boarding. When I got to the gate, it was last call.

The plane was a 777 and the seating was 3, 4, 2, which makes a lot of sense, IMO.

Food was good. I had salmon. The television monitors were so old on the 777, and full of dust. They hung above the isles.

wally34949

I took the four day houseboat cruise from Luxor to Aswan. Would you believe there were 290 other boats making this cruise? Weather was good. Around 75-90 degrees. Had a great tour guide for the Valley of the Kings and Luxor Temple.

More later.

Grcxx3

The Chateau des Reves and the Shaharazad (whatever spelling) are new since I lived there, but I tried the Chateau des Reves when I was there last fall and it was not bad.

During my 4 years there, given a choice - I only drank Grand Marquis. Couldn't stand the Obelisk and Ptolemy was even worse!

Never heard of Pharoah.

wally34949

I'm back in Florida. A few things about EgyptAir when you fly from Cairo back to New York City. When you first arrive at the airport, you must go through a metal detector. I was told I had a knife in my suitcase (actually a corkscrew) and I told him I was going to check the bag. He said, OK.

There were many duty free stores at the International terminal in Cairo and some sold alcohol. However, before you can board the plane in Cairo, you must go through a second metal detector. Here they took away water bottles, alcohol, etc., and gave it back to you when the plane landed at JFK. I had no problem getting through the security check with 3, 3-ounce bottles of rum and a lap-top in my bag, but with Egypt Air a dry airline, I think I was the only person on the plane with an alcoholic drink.

They served two hot meals on the 11 1/2 hour flight. It started with a breakfast and four hours later, a choice of beef or fish. Many drink runs with juices. I walked to the galley and requested water with no problems.

My bag was the last one off the plane at JFK. First one in, last one out. Would I fly them again, yes, but it would be nice to get some Frequent Flyer miles with such a long flight.

Everyone in Egypt was very nice and I felt save. The hotels have metal detectors and the police offers all carry AK47 guns.

Grcxx3

Isn't EgyptAir part of Star Alliance now? And I think Turkish Air is another recent addition.

TMP

Hey Wally; I never got to use the lounge, our flight from PIT was delayed over 3 hours, so by the time we got to JFK it was already after 3PM. We upgraded to first class on the way to Cairo. Did you know the Egyptian Minister of Defense was on our flight? My wife sat next to him. That may explain why our flight pulled away from the gate @ 6:45 and we were in the air before 7:00 (on a Friday no less)! Coming home we were in coach, row 31. Egypt was amazing &amp; I also felt safe the entire time there. Too bad I didn't get the chance to buy you a drink!

wally34949

How much did they charge to upgrade to First and when did you do it? Was it worth it? I appreciated the 33 inch seat pitch in economy and seating 9 across on the 777 makes rubbing shoulders with the person next to you difficult.

TMP

Wally - The upgrade to first class cost $770 pp, while business class was $510 pp. Since there was only 1 spot avail. in business class, my wife opted for the first class upgrade. We upgraded at the airport the day of the flight. Was it worth it? probably not. We had video units at the seats, but you are not able to start &amp; stop the videos at will. There were maybe 4 movies to choose from along with music and some games as well. There were 12 seats as I recall, and we ate for 1.5 hours straight, with 4 course meals. 2 flight attendants constantly were there for anything you wanted. It was a nice little treat for me from my wife, and the seats are larger of course. Coming home in coach wasn't too bad, so all in all I don't think it is worth $770, especially since there was no wine/alcohol to be had! But my wife wanted to upgrade at least one way since she knows I hate to fly, especially on a long flight like that. And since I retired the week before &amp; she was generous enough to offer, I wasn't saying no, since I am now on a fixed income and can't afford such luxuries (LOL)

wally34949

My mom and her boyfriend spent $2,000 each to upgrade to business class for their trip to Egypt in December. I told them it wasn't worth it since they don't have booze and they won't get frequent flyer miles. (They never fly United) She's spending my inheritance. It's only money, LOL.

sunshine007

Let's get back to the important stuff--the best wines in Egypt are Cape Bay which are South African grapes assembled in Egypt. Not great, but certainly drinkable.