Travelingramma

HI,
I am putting together my first trip to Eygpt too short but its what my daughter and I can do this year.
I need to book air connections from Cairo to Luxar and then return from Aswan... we are doing the Nile cruise.
I am trying to sort out how much time I need on both ends how early we need to leave Cairo etc.
Any advise will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

sf7307

The question is hard to answer because it depends how much of your sightseeing will be done while on the Nile Cruise. For example, if you're touring the Valley of the Kings and Queens as part of your nile cruise itinerary, then you don't need to add time for it apart from that. However, assuming that NONE of Luxor and Aswan is included in your Nile sightseeing, then I'd say you'd want at least 2-3 days total to see them -- Aswan has the dam and Philae temple, and some Nubian stuff if that interests you, as well as a market, Luxor has the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Karnak Temple, Temple of Luxor, Luxor Museum, and a market, as well as miscellaneous other antiquities (and, for example, alabaster factories if that's of any interest). It is possible to see all the major antiquities in Luxor (but not the museum or alabaster factories) in one long day (we did Hapsetshut's Temple and Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens in the morning; then the same day, after lunch, did Karnak and Luxor temples -- and spent the next day at the pool).

Travelingramma

Thanks for your great answer but I think I asked the question wrong. I am trying to figure out how long it takes to get to Cairo airport... from down town and to the Aswan Airport for the return. Need to try to sort out when to book domestic flights. Any advise on Air Eygpt etc appreciated.
Thanks

sf7307

Sorry I answered the wrong question. Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to the right question! (We flew out of Cairo, but I paid absolutely no attention to the time. Our tour rep told us when to be in the lobby, we were, and we made it on time -- that's all I know about Cairo, and we didn't fly into or out of Aswan (train to Aswan, flew back from Luxor). Sorry.

Grcxx3

We always allowed about 1-1.5 hours to get from our apartment to the Cairo airport. Usually, that was more than enough time...but a few times (because of traffic) it was close. Then, you need to allow about 2 hours before your flight once you get to the airport (security, check-in, passport control, more security, etc).

Baby_Bear

I just got back from a family trip in Egypt. On the day we were flying from Cairo to Aswan and connected to Abu Simbel, our flight left Cairo at 5 am. So we had to get up by 2 am! and were downstairs ready to go by 2:45 am. It took us about 35 mins to reach the airport from our hotel in Zamalek and we were in good time for a 5 am flight. So if you are leaving very early in the morning, you should be at the airport 1.5 hours ahead of time and budget about 45 mins to reach the airport. If you are going on a later flight you should budget an hour to reach the airport.

Both Luxor and Aswan airports are pretty small and security is less stringent than in Cairo, i.e., less delays. On the return leg, if you budget reaching the airport 1 hour ahead of time, I think that's plenty. And it's really fast to reach the airport - in Aswan it takes about 25 mins from the city center to get to the airport. Luxor is even faster, takes about 20 mins.

Let me know if you have further questions.

Baby_Bear

I forgot to add one thing. For flying within Egypt, Egypt Air is the only game in town, so flights tend to fill up fast. On our flight to Aswan/Abu Simbel, the plane was jammed, and this was Ramadan which is supposedly off-season. On our return flight from Luxor to Cairo (after the Nile cruise), our family group could not all get seats on the same flight - 6 of us went on the earlier flight and 2 people had to take a later flight. And we had done our bookings some time in advance. My advice would be to decide on your internal flights right away, particularly if you are travelling at high season.

MissGreen

Not exactly what you want to know, but.....I just checked out flights with Egypt Air for myself next year from Cairo to Abu Simbel. The price for business class was only $150 dearer than economy. Not a huge difference..... but hopefully a huge difference in the quality of service.

Casual_Cairo

Miss Green - Actually the service level you will get is the only difference you'll see. The flight is short so there won't be that much difference. The seats are exactly the same size on many of the Egypt Air planes.
I just had customers that paid the difference because of his height to sit in BC and that was the big disappointment for him was the seat size and leg room was no different - at least that is how it is on the new planes, Egypt Air Express.
But they were the first ones off. They had a special bus to take them to the terminal - which she said actually was a little embarrassing, but hopefully you'll feel the $150 difference more than they did.

bbb123

to add to casual cairo's above comment...the other difference between economy and business is the checked luggage allowance...20kg max economy, 30kg max for business...so if you intend on shopping in the souk's, pay the extra for business.

bbb123

and further, when we booked our flight aswan-cairo, the economy fare was 135usd (never less) and business was 145usd...