Am thinking about going with my family to Eygpt. How is traveling there in August? Will it be way too hot? If yes, when is the best time? More questions to follow if I start to plan.
Thanks,
Patti

It depends on your heat tolerance. For most people, yes, August is way to hot to do much touring. It is quite difficult to bring yourself to do more than lie on the couch most days, although you can try to work around it by doing things early or late. I think October is a great time to visit Egypt, still quite warm but not opressive. Also, spring is quite nice in Cairo, late March, early April.

Just returned from Egypt. February is a great month, days are in the 70's nights in the 50's, couldn't ask for better weather. Our guide told us that July and August were unbearable.

We visited mid-Oct and temps were ideal, but there are places that seems to be always hot. The farther south you go, the hotter it gets, even in October. Abu Simbel, Aswan and Luxor were hot even in October. Cairo, on the otherhand was perfect; actually quite chilly at night. Believe February & March would be similar to October. Between April/September it will be hot with Jun-Aug being the hottest and unbearable unless you spend your time indoor w/ a/c or the pool.

During last summer it was in the high 90's and low 100's in august with some humidity.

As noted above, it's at least 10 degress higher in parts south. You'll have to decide if that's too hot for you or not, but remember the tombs in Luxor have no air conditioners.

Last August in Cairo I can't remember what I did besides go from one place to another place with a/c, so I'm sure that's all I did. Too hot to walk anywhere.

Thanks so much for your responses. I think that it will be too hot.Will need to think about it.

We went to Egypt last November. The weather was perfect!

Safarichuck,

Will you be posting a trip report? Did you go on your own, or with a group?

I'm going in October and have been looking at posts for more details. I was reading about EgyptAir this morning and saw a few posts that smoking was allowed at the back of the plane -- my favorite place -- but not if there is smoke.

I'd appreciate info on your flight experience if you flew EgyptAir, since it's more current than other posts. Also on the group experience if you did go with a group.

Thanks.

Louisah, Yes we flew Egypt Air from JFK, New York. A summary of the flight experience: Plane was fairly old (7-8 years) and somewhat shabby. Food aboard was terrible, even by airline standards. Flight over was nearly empty so great room to stretch out and sleep. Return not so fortunate. It is anon- smoking flight however I detected the smell of smoke halfway over. Turned out many of the crew were smoking in the midship galley area and all of the smoke was drifting back towards the tourist cabin. A flight is a flight to me so I really don't care except that I can get enough room to stretch out and catch some nap time. We went with several friends we all had a similar experience. As far as the tour went it was OAT. Our first and last one. That probably says it all. Its simply not high end although they would like to bill it that way. I'm a lot more flexible about safari accomdations than I am about really third class hotels and poor food in third world countries. On the bright side, they have thier own small cruise ship the Hathor. The rooms were great and the food fantastic. If they would upgrade the rest of the trip I might recommend it. By the way, the guide was very good. For those reading this post who have had a very positive experience with OAT, please don't flame me. It is all about expectations.
Chuck

I consistently see posts on this and other travel message boards re smoking on Egypt Air, particularly by crew and in the lavatory. I agonized over flying this airline because of this issue, and finally realized that I had to use them to connect with a tour in Egypt. Why does this continue to happen? The thought of someone smoking in the lavatories scares the bejeezas out of me! On top of that, you cannot even get a glass of wine, etc., to take the edge off. Has anyone out there had any GOOD experiences on Egypt Air? Help, I need some encouragement before May. And, as always, thanks.

mamaclark,
I suspect that the tour companies get large discounts for booking tourists through Egypt Air. Tourisim is an important industry in Egypt so as a state airline its subsidy is a certainty. I suspect that Egyption Nationals booking through Cairo probably fly at a substantially reduced rate as well. All of this is conjecture on my part so take it with a grain of salt. On the positive side, most of the planes that take off, land.

I've flown them for short internal flts and they were fine, other than being hot while sitting on the tarmac.

I've flown EgyptAir internally in Egypt 7 or 8 times and the planes and the staff were all pleasant on board. Wouldn't hesitate flying on them again.

They do cancel a lot more planes than I am used to so it can be chaos at the airport and check in counter.

I NEVER SAW ANYONE SMOKE OR SMELLED SMOKE. I havent' heard anyone else here complain about it either.

Egyptians and Residents do get a substantial discount on Egyptair planes and also at hotels. As they should.

I've flown Egypt Air several times. There was smoking allowed at the back of the plane on the trips we took, so we always insisted on seats up front. Don't know if that policy has changed - it's been 3 years.

On our "local" airline now, smoking is not allowed, but it amazing how much is done in the lavatories. I have tried complaining to flight staff, but with no luck. I am not worried about it from a safety perspectve so much - just an annoyance factor since my younger son is very allergic.

Sunshine007 - sure do miss those discounts! Nothing like that here!

Good hearing lots of give and take in this particular post. Safarichuck: is the food SO bad that you would take your own sandwich, etc., next time? I'm all about doing whatever I need to be happy and comfortable! I have read on previous posts that some folks go through duty free after check in and bring their own "beverages" aboard. Does anyone know if that is acceptable? We certainly don't want to do anything that would offend anyone, but would like to have a glass or two of wine with meals. Re the smoking in the lavs -- any suggestions as to whom we might direct a concern?

We never did EgyptAir from the US (altho my MIL did it twice and thought it was fine), but we did take it lots of times within Egypt and one year to go from Cairo to Cape Town.

We always took lots of snacks and stuff to fill-in for anything lacking with the meals. Took juice boxes for the kids. Also took a flask of rum with me on the long trip (pre-current regulations). I don't think they care if you HAVE alcohol - they just can't serve it to you. I would just be discreet about it.

As for the smoking - not sure there is really anything you can do. If the smoke really bothers you, make sure to ask for a seat up front or away from the lavs and service areas. In our current local, my complaints are met with a "what can I do about it - people like to smoke" sort of attitude. Luckily - the flight durations are relatively short (under 2.5 hours) so it isn't too bad.

Within Egypt, you really have no other choice but to use EgyptAir. So, we just learned to live with it.

Mmaclark,
For flights originating in the U.S. I think their food is O.K., but on the returns, Cairo-JFK, the food is provided by Egyptian sources. There isn't much you can do about that leg because there is not much in Cairo Airport (American style Fast-Food). Our friends purchased duty free wiskey at JFK and had no problem drinking it onboard. We had contacted Egypt Air ahead of time and they informed us that we could bring alcohol aboard and drink but that they would not serve wine or spirits. I don't drink much so not really a concern for me. We did consider buying wine to have with dinner but decided against it. It seems as though everyone smokes in Egypt and they smoke everywhere. I don't think there is anything you can do about smoking in the lavatories, how could you with the crew smoking in the galley? I imagine the captain and first officer are smoking as well. I want them to be happy As far as things like juices and beverages, they seem to offer those often enough, don't use airplane ice. I'm sorry to say that as far as being a pleasant, people friendly airline they are not. However, most U.S. carriers fall into that class as well. For me whatever gets me to Africa (North, East or South) non-stop is O.K.. I can put up with anything for 12-18 hours if the destination is as spectacular as the ones we discuss here on this forum.
Cheers, Chuck

grcxx3 and safarichuck -- thanks so much for your responses. Think we'll grab a nice bottle of wine in duty free, sit back, and look forward to the wonderful trip we will have in Egypt and Jordan. Perhaps we'll be the lucky ones with a non-puffing crew -- one can hope!

Corkscrew? Can you take one onboard? Best bet - look for the New Zealand, Australian, South African (and some French) wines that have screwtops.

Chuck,

Thanks for the response. I hate to hear about the smoking and poor quality food. That's disappointing.

What day did you travel from JFK that you had space to spread out on the plane?

Glad to hear you enjoyed the ship, too bad about the hotels. How bad were they? What hotels were they?

Thanks again.