Review of Royal Jordanian flight Kuala Lumpur Bangkok in Business

Airline Royal Jordanian
Flight RJ181
Class Business
Seat 3A
Aircraft Boeing 787-8
Flight time 02:15
Take-off 08 May 15, 22:10
Arrival at 08 May 15, 23:25
RJ   #17 out of 97 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 60 reviews
tn92
By 6265
Published on 16th February 2016
A Weekend of Flying in May 2015 | Flight #2
Brief Introduction: I was on my way to catch a V Air flight from Bangkok to Taipei, and decided to route via Kuala Lumpur on my way there. V Air is a new Taiwanese low-cost carrier and I managed to get myself a USD48 one-way ticket on this interesting airline. Do refer to either parts 1 or 3 of this series for a more thorough introduction!

Anyway, this report focuses on the business class experience on Royal Jordanian Airlines ("RJ"). 2015 was the year I decided to aim for Qantas Gold so I did my research and found a few routes with cheap and affordable business class fares that would allow me to top up the remaining status credits (on top of those I would earn from my regular travels) before I attain my Oneworld Sapphire status; this fifth freedom RJ route between Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok was one of them!

Disclaimer: I began my journey in Kuala Lumpur with the intention to prepare for a comprehensive report on RJ’s B787 Business Class product; so I made very little attempt in reducing the length of this report and basically tried to cover every single aspect of the flight I could think of. Please bear with this ultra long report and I hope that, by the end of it, you’d feel like you had flown on the flight with me! (:


This is a list of all the other reports in this series.

Flight 1: Click Here
> 08/05/15, SIN-KUL Jetstar Asia 3K663, A320 (Economy)
Flight 2: This Report
> 08/05/15, KUL-BKK Royal Jordanian RJ181, B787-8 (Business)
Flight 3: Click Here
> 09/05/15, DMK-TPE V Air ZV6, A321 (Economy)
Flight 4: Coming Soon
> 10/05/15, TPE-HKG Cathay Pacific CX511, A330-300 (Business)
Flight 5: Coming Soon
> 10/05/15, HKG-SIN Cathay Pacific CX711, B777-300ER (Business)


Royal Jordanian RJ181
Aircraft Registration: JY-BAC
Origin: Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia (KUL)
Destination: Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand (BKK)
Date: Friday, 8 May 2015
STD/STA: 2210h (UTC+08:00) to 2325h (UTC+07:00)
ATD/ATA: 2210h (UTC+08:00) to 2310h (UTC+07:00)
Estimated Duration: 02 hours 15 minutes
Actual Duration: 02 hours 00 minutes
Flight Distance: About 759 miles / 1,222 km


Here is the route map for this trip.

photo  03) Flight Map (8-10 May) EDITED
(Image credit: GC Map)

photo  1926h Slide01


After a day in Kuala Lumpur, it was finally time to check in for the flight that I had been looking forward to for so long!

I checked the FIDS at about 7.27pm to see which check in counter I should head to. While it was still early, check in for my RJ flight to Bangkok was already opened.

photo  1927h DSC07963 FIDS TV Monitor

There was this larger FIDS in the check in hall of KUL. You can see that Malaysia Airlines had a codeshare flight number on RJ181. Nothing surprising since both carriers are oneworld members.

photo  1928h DSC07964 Larger Departure FIDS

Many early birds were already queueing for check in at zone F - the check in counters for RJ181 bound for Amman via Bangkok.

photo  1929h DSC07967 Check In Counter Zone F

Happily, I walked towards the Business Class counter, only to see that there was nobody there to entertain me.

photo  1929h IMG_3518 UTC0800 Business Class Counter (MH Codeshare)

After a short while, a Malaysia Airlines check in agent finally strolled slowly towards me before taking my passport and itinerary.


photo  1933h Slide02


I kept checking the seat map for this flight on RJ's website a few days before my departure. Just so to make sure I can secure a pair of seat (with the aisle seat empty) for myself. When I was done checking in for the flight, there was literally nobody except me at the Business Class counter, so that increased my hopes that the J class will remain relatively empty later on.

Anyway, the crowd below was also checking in for flight RJ181. Given the amount of luggage many of them were checking in, most of them should be bound for Amman and not Bangkok.

photo  1934h DSC07969 Done with Check In

This was the first ever business class ticket I bought. So the boarding pass was definitely worth a good photograph!

I didn't quite like RJ's boarding pass design though; the yellow boxes were kind of ugly.

photo  1937h DSC07970 Boarding Pass_Edited

A business class ticket meant that I could access the lounge even though I was just a Oneworld Ruby member at that time.

A moment ago at the check in counter, I was hoping to receive a separate lounge invitation card from the check in agent but all he gave me was this boarding pass. When he was about to turn his back and walk away, I stopped him and asked which lounge I could go to. And after a brief moment of silence, he said "MH Lounge" before disappearing almost immediately. Oh well, I guess he was just THAT busy?

photo  1938h DSC07971 With Passport and Qantas Card_Edited


photo  1944h Slide03


It was nice that KUL's security and immigration had dedicated lines for business and first class passengers. With that, I was through in less than ten minutes.

photo  1945h DSC07972 Airside

My flight departed from the satellite terminal. But before hopping on to the inter-terminal aerotrain, I snapped a few pictures of the famous aircraft models in KUL's airside.

photo  1945h DSC07973 Famous Aircraft Models

Definitely was feeling excited to be able to board an RJ flight soon!

photo  1945h DSC07975 Airline of the Day

Checked my boarding gate once more…

photo  1946h DSC07976 More Departure FIDS

… and off I went to the satellite terminal.

photo  1946h DSC07977 Heading to Satellite Terminalphoto  1947h DSC07978

This was the first aircraft I saw upon arriving at the satellite terminal. And yes! It was RJ's B787!

Definitely the one that will be operating my flight later on. Its registration was JY-BAC, and was just about 7 months' old.

Most of RJ's fleet are named after Jordan's royal family; this aircraft was no different and had Princess Salama's name on it.

photo  1948h DSC07980 JY-BAC FFL011014 Named Princess Salma Bint Abdullah copy 3

It was really a pity that I couldn't get any other better photographs of my aircraft that night; I really don't know when will I ever fly RJ again!

photo  1950h Slide04


Another major highlight of this flight was the visit to MH's flagship lounge - Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge. It was also my first time visiting an MH lounge.

photo  1951h a DSC07979 And to The MH Lounge

The layout of KUL's satellite terminal wasn't too complicated: level 1 had all the duty free shops and the boarding gates, level 2 consisted of some restaurants and all the airline lounges.

The problem was that I just couldn't find my way up to level 2 because all the escalators seemed a little hidden - quite an inconvenient design I would say? But maybe it was just because of my lousy sense of direction.

Anyway, I eventually found my way upstairs and was then outside of the lounge in just another few seconds.

photo  1951h b DSC07981 Lounge Entrancephoto  1951h c (1952h) IMG_3519 MH Lounge Entrance

The lounge staff was very friendly and he welcomed me to the lounge soon after scanning my boarding pass.

photo  1951h d IMG_3552 Lounge Counter

Yes, and wifi was available!

photo  1953h IMG_3520 WiFi Password

Any Oneworld Sapphire members or business/first class passengers can gain access into the lounge.

photo  1953h IMG_3521 Oneworld Alliance

The walkway into the lounge was simple but elegant. On the left was a bar that I just walked pass without realising its existence, until when I was about to leave the lounge. I guess I will be back next time.

photo  1953h IMG_3522 Entering the Lounge

Let's look around the lounge a little. We have newspapers in various languages here.

photo  1955h IMG_3523 Newspaper Offering

Glanced quickly at the food options available.

photo  1955h IMG_3524 Food

There was just a little crowd at 8pm. More people started streaming in later on.

photo  1956h a IMG_3525 Some of the Seats

The lounge had lots of seats. Though none of them were exceptionally private.

But it was really good that they had different kinds of seating catered for different usage - you can work on your laptop, sit on a sofa for a short nap, chat with your travel companion, have a good meal or even just sit anywhere and stare into blank space. Really, this aspect of the lounge made me quite impressed.

photo  1956h b (2000h) IMG_3529 More Seatsphoto  1956h c (2113h) IMG_3541 More Seats

I decided against ordering a bowl of noodle since there will again be food served on my RJ flight later. But thinking back now, I actually regret not sampling the hot meals prepared on demand in the MH lounge. The meal served eventually served on my flight turned out to be just some light snacks. ):

photo  1956h IMG_3526 Noodle Station

For my first serving, I just took some veggies and chicken from the buffet selections. And of course, some rice to go along.

They were actually quite tasty!

photo  2001h a IMG_3531 First Serving

Utensils with MH logos.

photo  2009h IMG_3534 Utensils

After eating Asian food, I went for some Western food choices - tomato soup, freshly baked slices of pizza, some fruits and cakes. I ordered a cup of mocha to go along with my second round of food and it was also surprisingly good!

photo  2001h b (2029h) IMG_3537 Second Serving

After I was a little full, I did some work for about an hour or so before heading for the showers.

photo  2005h (2033h) IMG_3538 My Seat for 1.5h

I saw the kids facilities on my way to the shower rooms.

photo  2021h IMG_3536 Child Playroom

To use the showers, I needed to deposit my boarding pass.

photo  2113h (2020h) IMG_3535 Washroom

After surrendering my boarding pass, the counter staff handed me a towel and some toiletries. (Oh, did I mention that this was actually my first time showering in an airport lounge?)

photo  2117h b IMG_3544 Towelphoto  2117h c IMG_3547 Toothbrush and Bathe Gel

Anyway, the washroom was borderline clean. The floor was a little sticky (just a tiny little bit) and there were shreds of tissue papers evident on the floor.

So the cleanliness of the toilets wasn't top notch, but I guess it was still acceptable?

photo  2117h a IMG_3543 Hmmmmphoto  2114h IMG_3542 First Impression

This was the shower cubicle with a detachable shower head. There was also a hair dryer available in the dry section of the cubicle.

Anyway, look closely at the following picture and do see you a crack on the wall? Halfway through my shower, the entire shower head support became lose and came falling right on my head!! Fortunately I dodged quickly and avoided it. Seriously, MH?

I was proud of my reaction speed though!

photo  2117h d IMG_3546 Showerheadphoto  2117h e IMG_3545 Hair Dryer

A shower is a shower and I still felt refreshed despite the incident. Thankful nevertheless that I had the opportunity to freshen up before my first ride with RJ!

photo  2129h IMG_3548 Back at My Seat

At about 9.30pm, more people began to stream into the lounge and thus more seats were taken. I was glad I went to the lounge earlier.

photo  2129h IMG_3549 More People Now


photo  2130h Slide05


I guess I was enjoying myself too much in MH's Golden Lounge and accidentally stayed a little too long. When I left the lounge at 9.30pm, my flight was already boarding!

If this was any other airport, leaving the lounge at 9.30pm so as to meet the boarding time of 9.40pm for a flight at 10.10pm seems perfectly alright. But for KUL it just felt a little bit rushed, probably because:
- The satellite terminal was quite huge
- It was kind of troublesome to get from level 2 back to level 1
- A full security check was conducted at the boarding gates

photo  2131h IMG_3551 RJ181 Boarding (FIDS in Lounge)

So yeah, this was a shot from level 2 of the satellite terminal and at that time I was trying to find a down-riding escalator, and it really took me quite a while.

photo  2133h IMG_3554 Out of the Lounge (From Level 2)

Thank goodness Gate C2 was the first boarding gate down the long corridor.

photo  2134h IMG_3555 Heading to Gate C2

When I got to the gate, most of the passengers had already boarded the aircraft, and it was just 9.36pm! Pretty impressive eh?

(Anyway, Gates C2 and C4 had the same boarding lounge, that's why the picture below shows C4 instead.)

photo  2136h IMG_3556 Why Gate C4

I was seriously contemplating not including this photo in the report. But this was really the only possible shot I could get of my aircraft that night.

photo  2138h IMG_3558 Very Bad Photo but No Choice

Many passengers "boarded" but were still stuck on the aerobridge. Only a single door was used for boarding, but for a twin-aisle aircraft, the amount of time we spent waiting on the bridge was on the long side.

photo  2139h IMG_3560 Aerobridge

I was probably really looking forward to stepping into the aircraft at the moment I took the following photograph.

photo  2139h IMG_3562 Boarding the Aircraft

The FA at the door checked my boarding pass and directed me towards the left. For me, it definitely felt weird because I will usually turn towards the right with the main body.

Anyway this was my first impression of RJ's B787 Business Class cabin. It was a new product on a new aircraft so naturally the cabin looked spotlessly clean.

photo  2142h IMG_3563 First Impression

Another shot of the cabin from my seat. I will get back with more details about the cabin and Business Class seat later on in this report!

photo 1433430528-844235466_l

Not long after I boarded, it was announced that all passengers were onboard! And you know what, I was the only revenue Business Class passenger on this flight.

There were two other passengers in the cabin with me - one was an RJ staff who disappeared and stayed in the cockpit all the way till landing after the meal service, and the other was a pilot deadheading back to Amman.

The only FA serving Business Class came to me very soon to welcome me onboard, and went on to confirm that my destination was Bangkok and not Amman.

She then passed me the menu and wine list for the flight, which will also be documented in a later part of this report.

photo  2148h DSC07991 Menu and Wine List

I got myself an apple juice before the aircraft started to taxi; and it tasted rather… Unique? Just not the usual taste I would expect from apple juices.

photo  2149h DSC07992 Welcome Drink with Boarding Pass_Edited

The serviette had the nice RJ and Oneworld logos printed on it.

photo  2149h DSC07993 Serviette with RJ Logo

Here is a recording of the welcome announcement made by an FA.

^ PROOFREADING COMPLETED FOR THE ABOVE PARTS CAA 18 FEB 2016



The aircraft was generally clean but some corners were still missed out.

photo  2203h DSC08015 Not Really Well Cleaned

Thailand arrival cards were distributed while we were still on ground.

photo  2204h DSC08016 Thailand Arrival Card Distributed

The safety video also started playing in both Arabic and English.

photo  2208h DSC08018 Safety Videophoto  2210h DSC08019 Safety Video II


photo  2212h Slide06


We began our push back when the safety video was still playing.

The route we took to taxi to the runway:

photo  2213h Screen Shot 2015-05-11 at 9.55.03 pm Taxi Route at KUL

The really empty business class cabin! This was the first time I flew in such an empty cabin.

photo  2214h DSC08021 Emptyyyy Cabin (STD 2210h, 2210h Push Back 2213h Taxi)


photo  2220h Slide07


Looking at the map, it doesn't seem like we taxied for a long distance. But the speed the aircraft taxied from the gate to the runway seemed excruciating long. It felt as though we weren’t moving at all. But before I knew it, we were already rocketing down the 13,000ft long runway, getting quickly on our way to Bangkok.

photo  2221h Screen Shot 2015-05-11 at 9.58.12 pm Take Off Runway 32R


photo  2222h Slide08


After taking off at 10.21pm (UTC+08:00), we were met with rough weather for quite a while. Expectedly, the seatbelt signs were left switched on for a very long time.

Allow me to bring through a quick introduction of RJ's newest Business Class cabin now!

First up, a quick snapshot of the seat. The pillow and blanket were pre-placed on the seat before boarding.

photo  2146h a DSC07982 Business Class Seat

Another view of the cabin and the crew rest area from my seat.

photo  2146h DSC07983 From My Perspective

This was the legroom. And you can also see the very tiny ottoman; I'll come back to that later.

photo  2147h b DSC07985 Legroom

On the left side of the seat, there were the power points and USB port. The ports were not very accessible in my opinion; I had to bend my body all the way just to plug my iPhone cable in it.

photo  2147h c DSC07986 Left Side of Seat

The reading light, light switch, and two simple buttons to adjust the seat recline.

photo  2147h d (2319h) IMG_3566

The centre console was quite a large area.

photo  2147h e DSC07989 For Drinks

And also on the centre console were more complicated seat adjustment buttons. Frankly speaking, it took me quite a while to figure them out.

photo  2147h f DSC07990 Seat Adjustments

After a while, however, these controls were actually quite intuitive to use.

photo  2147h g (2336h) DSC08115

The privacy divider - a must have for solo travellers. This divider was fixed and couldn't be adjusted, so if a couple is seated on these seats, it will be necessary to bend forward to communicate with each other.

photo  2147h h (2330h) DSC08114

The headrest was very comfortable and its comfort level got better after placing the nice pillow over it. RJ has some nice pillows I would say!

photo  2147h i DSC07987 Headrestphoto  2316h DSC08100 Pillow

The very large table! At least to me. Haha! (Since I'm so used to the tiny tables you find on budget airlines.)

photo  2238h DSC08042 Table

Anyway, these were supposedly lie flat seats but I am not sure why I didn't manage to take a photo of the fully flat seats. Well, this was good enough and I had a good rest on this seat en route to Bangkok.

photo  2311h DSC08090 Fully Reclined Seat

It was also nice to have adjustable air vents in this cabin, since I frequently feel warm onboard aircrafts and thus always appreciate having some cold air blowing directly at me.

photo  2322h DSC08107 Overhead Panel

So far, RJ’s new business class seats were really not bad! However, there's just one main complaint I have about the seat - the tiny ottoman and leg space above of it!

While I am sure this isn't the tiniest ottoman you can find in business classes on other airlines (for e.g. Delta's B767 seems to have an even tinier leg space?), the one on RJ was nevertheless still on the tiny side.

No matter what, a lie flat seat is a lie flat seat, and it will still be many times better than any other kinds of seat! To be fair, the ottoman on the aisle seats were much larger and if you really care about it, choose the aisle seats!

photo  2325h a DSC08110 Uncomfortable Leg Rest (Ottoman)

There were quite a bit of storage space but I don't think I will feel safe placing my laptop under the TV screens and then go to sleep.

photo  2325h b (0013h) IMG_3581 More Stowage Area

One more photo of the seat before I wrap up this introduction! All in all, this was a pretty comfortable seat and I enjoyed my flight on it!

photo  2330h DSC08113 Reclined Seat

——————–

Our aircraft ascended pass 10,000ft at about 9.26pm (UTC+07:00). Soon after departing KUL, we adjusted our heading to 360 Deg and headed straight to BKK.

photo  2226h Screen Shot 2015-05-11 at 9.58.38 pm Passed 10,000ft

An aerial view of Malaysia about 5 minutes after take off!

photo  2227h DSC08031 Soon After Take Off (2221h Take Off)

This was the aircraft's location: somewhere near Petaling Jaya?

photo  2229h DSC08032 Flight Map (Departure Route)


photo  2230h Slide09


Alright, we are still not done with the aircraft's intro. (I told you this report will be long…!)

Now the IFE. We know that RJ's counterparts in the Middle East (i.e. The ME3 carriers) all have awesome/decent in-flight entertainment systems! How about RJ?

photo  2147h DSC07988 IFE Screen

First, the noise-cancelling headsets. I am not the best person to comment on this because I am usually not picky at all and will use any headsets that an airline provides (even SQ's pathetic economy earpiece, as a result of cost-cutting, was fine for me too).

Furthermore, I've only flown twice on Emirates' business class prior to this. So I really don't have a good idea what's “Bose-standard” and what's “lousy”.

But that doesn't mean I can accept headsets with buzzing sounds and some other weird-high-frequency sounds! So, in short, RJ's headsets in Business Class weren't very good, sadly. And since this was just a short flight, I didn't ask for another headset and simply just watched the air show for most of the flight.

photo  2159h DSC08012 Noise Cancelling Headphones (Not Good)

The welcome screen in both English and Arabic. It gave a relatively good first impression of the IFE.

photo  2200h DSC08013 Welcome Screen (English)photo  2200h DSC08014 Welcome Screen (Arabic)

The main screen looked a little dull and boring, though.

photo  2229h DSC08033 Main Menu

Let’s start with the movies. The selection of movies were good and included some new films. However, since it was just a short flight, I didn’t want to spend my time watching a movie. (I’d rather lie down and take a nap!)

photo  2229h DSC08034 Movie Sectionphoto  2229h DSC08035 Movie Categories

For the “television” section, there were CNN news, documentaries, dramas, entertainment programmes, sports programmers and so on. I picked a documentary randomly just to kill a little bit of time and to look at the interface of the IFE when a programme was playing.

photo  2230h a DSC08037 TV Sectionphoto  2230h b (2241h) DSC08049 Example of Layout

There were also some comedies which I wasn’t interested in.

photo  2230h DSC08036 Examples of Movie

And also quite a good variety of “audio” programmes; unfortunately there weren’t any that interest me. Being an Asian, my preferred genre of music would be Mandarin or Korean pop, none of which were available in RJ’s IFE - definitely understandable though.

photo  2231h DSC08038 Audio Sectionphoto  2231h DSC08039 Audio Categories

The games section was divided into three parts - games for kids, teenagers or adults.



And finally, we have a small section of the IFE containing information about the airline’s history and fleet details.

photo  2240h DSC08047 RJ Infophoto  2240h DSC08048 Fleet Info

This was the remote control for the screen. I don’t recall using it since it was a touch screen that was very sensitive and easy to use.

photo  2334h a IMG_3571 Remote Control

The air show was great. Good resolution and lots of different modes to select from.

photo  2334h b (2218h) DSC08022 Flight Mapphoto  2334h c (2224h) DSC08023 Flight Info

There was also an interesting function of displaying “points of interest” that were near the aircraft at any point in time!

photo  2334h d (2225h) DSC08024 Points of Interestphoto  2334h e (2225h) DSC08025 With Info

All the different map views that I could choose from.

photo  2334h f (2225h) DSC08027 Various Map Viewsphoto  2334h g (2226h) DSC08028 Cockpit View

There was even a function allowing me to select/deselect the information I want to view on the map - really cool and useful.

photo  2334h h (2227h) DSC08030 View Options


photo  2239h Slide10


We’ve finally reached the part of the flight that I was looking forward to the most: the meal service! I was more interested with RJ’s business class meal service than visiting the MH lounge for this flight, and was hoping that the meal won’t disappoint me.

photo  2237h DSC08040 Oshibori Distributed before Meal

The menu and wine list were distributed when we were still on the ground. At the end of the flight, the FA actually wanted to get them back from me but I asked if I could keep them and the request was gladly granted.

I was impressed with the menu’s design, by the way!

photo 1433430859-1836181415_lphoto 1433430861-4141248833_l

Unfortunately, there wasn’t any choices to choose from! ):

photo 1433430861-642870579_lphoto 1433430863-2885292389_lphoto 1433430865-1907402542_l

There were also the Arabic version of the menu.

photo 1433430866-3337315938_lphoto 1433430868-2286813903_l

And here’s the wine list.

photo 1433430869-121912712_lphoto 1433430870-222371982_lphoto 1433430871-1320512494_l

I wanted to try this but the FA told me that they ran out of it. Woah, did I choose a popular wine? xD

photo 1433430872-1695934548_l

So I tried the Chardonnay instead.



Anyway, supper came altogether on one tray and it actually looked very presentable!

photo  2241h a DSC08050 Full View of Meal Tray

The fruits were good, nice and sweet! In the bowl of fruits, there were even pieces of pomelo - one of my favourite Southeast Asian fruits! We often eat this during the mid-autumn festival, which take place usually in mid-September.

photo  2241h b DSC08055 Fruits

While it wasn’t a full-course meal like what I actually was expecting, the main course was good! Tasty salmon that went along really well with the avocado, tomatoes and bread.
(This meal definitely scores better than those I had on Emirates’ business class..!)

photo  2241h c DSC08054 Main Course

The dessert was unremarkable, however. The rambutan tart on the right was special! But unfortunately too sweet for my liking. Nonetheless, it’s really cool that the RJ catering included ingredients unique to Southeast Asia! Makes me curious what was served in economy on this short flight.

photo  2241h d DSC08052 Dessert

The aircraft was cruising at FL380 as I finished my meal.

photo  2241h Screen Shot 2015-05-11 at 9.59.06 pm Reached Cruising Altitude FL380

Lastly for the meal, a quick look at the tableware. You can spot RJ’s logo on every piece of it.

photo  2242h DSC08059 Drinks (Laorche Chablis 2011)photo  2243h DSC08061 Utensils

Anyway, soon after the meal, our pilot gave a really detailed mid-flight announcement.
It was. Really. Very. Detailed.




photo  2259h Slide11


The seatbelt sign finally went off after the meal, so it’s time to take a short tour around this B787!

Business class was configured in 2-2-2. But from what I observed, I think it wouldn’t be too difficult for the window seat passenger to climb out into the aisle if he was seated next to someone.

photo 01 2314h DSC08093 Business Class (Crown Class)photo 02 2314h DSC08094 Business Class View

The ceiling of the B787 seemed much higher than other aircrafts.

photo 03 2214h DSC08020 See The Overhead Compartment

And this was the famous Dreamliner window!

photo 04 2154h DSC08004 Famous 787 Window

It’s a pity my flight was at night so I didn’t get to play with the window controls.

photo 05 2323h DSC08109 Window Shade Darkness Controlphoto 06 0008h IMG_3577 Activated

There was also a beautiful bar area at the back of business class, just before the economy class front cabin. Presumably on longer flights, some snacks would be placed on the bar table.

photo 07 2314h DSC08095 Bar Table

Usually if I am lucky enough to fly in Business, I will feel a little awkward walking back into Economy just to take photos. But this was RJ and I just couldn’t resist walking around the aircraft since I probably won’t get a chance fly with RJ in the near future.

Economy was configured in 3-3-3 and it felt quite okay, I would say. Even though this is the tighter configuration as compared to 2-4-2 arrangement.

photo 08 2314h DSC08096 Economy Seatsphoto 09 2314h DSC08097 First Section of Economy

According to the aircraft cabin designer, he added random red seats around the cabin just to liven up the interior of the plane - a good design in my opinion!

photo 10 2314h DSC08098 Second Section of Economy

The galley looked neat and tidy too.

photo 11 2315h DSC08099 Economy Galley

And then I went back to the business class cabin and made a quick visit to the lavatory.

By right, there should be a “sensor toilet flush” but it wasn’t working properly on this aircraft. I had to manually press the blue button to activate it.



Oddly, even though I was the only revenue passenger in Business, the lavatory floor was a little dirty. Hmmm… It wasn’t me who dirtied the lavatory! Really. So who’s the “culprit”… :p

photo 17 2313h DSC08091 Wood Coloured Floor

When I went back to my seat, the FA asked if I wanted more drinks and some nuts. Of course I said yes so that I could take more photos for this report. (:

photo  2303h DSC08068 Nuts Served

It was a pity that both the nuts and apple juice tasted a little weird. I guess it was just a problem with my own preferences and nothing wrong with the food & drink.

At this point in the flight, we were left with about an hour more before arriving at Bangkok. How nice would it be if I can fly longer in this Dreamliner? I have yet to experience sleeping on business class seats on a red-eye flight before; would really love to try that soon.

photo  2304h DSC08070 Cruising at FL380

Even though it was a short 2-hours flight, the cabin lights were still switched off so that passengers were able to catch a few minutes more of sleep. After all, most passengers aboard this flight weren’t disembarking at Bangkok and will be flying onwards to Amman (or even further).

photo  2317h IMG_3564 Cabin Lights Turned Off

Technically I could have napped for at least half an hour since the whole business class cabin was so quiet.

photo  2318h IMG_3565

But instead I spent more time looking through the seat pocket contents.

photo  2304h DSC08069 Plastic Folder

Everything was nicely packed in a plastic folder - the safety information card, in-flight magazine, and IFE guide.



The magazine had some interesting articles about various cities of the world; this one on Amsterdam made me more keen to visit the home of KLM!

photo  2306h DSC08078 Article on Amsterdam

Of course there was an article on Jordan as well! Seems like a really exotic holiday destination. Anyone has experiences to share?

photo  2306h DSC08079 And Jordan Of Course

The article on Kuala Lumpur was mainly on food; after all, Malaysian foods are so super delicious!

photo  2306h DSC08080 And KLphoto  2306h DSC08081 About Food

Then, there was another section about the airline.

photo  2306h DSC08082 A Section on RJ

Information about RJ’s frequent flyer programme.

photo  2306h DSC08083 FF Programme

Airport layout map. This page showed my origin and destination on this flight. Haha!

photo  2306h DSC08084 My Origin and Destination

The network map wasn’t very interesting (especially as compared to that of EK’s); it was just the standard world map with a list of codeshare partners for each continent, as well as the contact details of respective RJ offices around the world.



RJ has rather generous baggage allowances as well.

photo  2306h DSC08089 Baggage Info

The fleet information along with seat maps for each type of aircraft.

photo  2306h DSC08101 Fleet Infophoto  2306h DSC08104 B787


photo  2327h Slide12


We began our descent at about 10.30pm (Bangkok local time).

photo  2328h Screen Shot 2015-05-11 at 9.59.40 pm Begin Descendphoto  2339h Screen Shot 2015-05-11 at 10.00.34 pm Approach Route

This was how I enjoyed the flight - putting different views of the airshow on both wide screens! This also means if a stranger sits beside you, both of you will instantly be able to see what each other is watching on the IFE.

photo  2342h DSC08117 Descending (Flight Map on Two Widescreens) (2329h Begin Descend, Note BKK is UTC7)

Our approach route into BKK.

photo  2354h Screen Shot 2015-05-11 at 10.00.55 pm Approach Routephoto 0000h Screen Shot 2015-05-11 at 10.01.15 pm Final Approachphoto 0001h DSC08119 Approach Route

My failed attempt on getting a shot of the view outside during our approach.

photo  2356h IMG_3572 Arriving in Bangkok


photo 0002h Slide13


RJ181 landed 20 minutes earlier on BKK’s runway 19R. This was one of the rare few times where I hoped the flight would be delayed - so that I can enjoy the business class seat longer.

photo 0003h Screen Shot 2015-05-11 at 10.01.35 pm Touched Down Runway 19R

We took just a few minutes to taxi from the runway to the gate.

photo 0007h Screen Shot 2015-05-11 at 10.03.00 pm Taxi Route at BKK

Anyway, one more screenshot from flightradar24.com - I just wanted to say that the satellite view of BKK’s terminal buildings made the design look a little ugly, haha it’s just my personal opinion.

imagephoto s Infrastructure

This was a very clear indication of the tropical heat outside.

photo 0009h DSC08121 Very Warm Outside


photo 0009h Slide14


We arrived at our gate 15 minutes before the scheduled time, good performance in terms of punctuality. One more shot of my seat!

photo 0010h IMG_3578 Till We Meet Again RJ Biz Class (0010h Reached Gate)

The farewell image on the IFE screen was quite nicely shot!

photo 0011h IMG_3579photo 0012h IMG_3580

Once the aircraft doors opened, I was the first passenger off of the aircraft.

Passengers continuing their journey to Amman need not disembark; thus there was an airport official checking everyone’s boarding pass on the aerobridge, presumably to ensure that Amman-bound passengers don’t get into the terminal to prevent confusion.

photo 0020h DSC08125 Disembarked

It was quite a bit of a walk to the immigration counters, but I made it in about 10 minutes.

photo 0020h DSC08126 Towards Immigrationphoto 0021h DSC08127 Quite A Long Walk


photo 0032h Slide15


I wasn’t expecting the airport to be too crowded. But I was wrong. There has been quite a bit of news coverage about BKK being overcrowded recently, and I think it was so true that the airport’s operating way over its capacity.

photo 0033h IMG_3582 Baggage Claim

There weren’t many checked baggage on RJ181 bound for BKK, as you can see very clearly in this photo.

photo 0033h IMG_3583 Few Bags

The priority tag on my bag wasn’t of much use therefore, since all bags were delivered at one go.

photo 0035h DSC08139 My First Biz Class Luggage Tag_Edited

Like I said, the arrival hall was super crowded. And it was close to midnight, local time.

photo 0036h IMG_3584 Crowded Arrival Hall

The FIDS simply looked amazing; with so many flights on so many different airlines from all over the world.

photo 0045h DSC08128 Arrival FIDS

The hotel pick up service which I arranged for was a mess. It took me so long to spot the person who was supposed to pick me up and send me to my transit hotel for the night, and then another 20 minutes wait before the shuttle bus arrived.

photo 0046h IMG_3588 Hotel Pick Up

I was quite tired at that point in time. Having left home early in the morning and then spending another 12 hours in Kuala Lumpur.

photo 0050h DSC08129 BKK Airport


photo 0102h Slide16


The hotel shuttle bus FINALLY arrived “the next day”. And it took me another 35 minutes before I got into my hotel room.

photo 0103h IMG_3589 Hotel Shuttle Busphoto 0119h IMG_3591 Transit Hotel

Anyway, the (very cheap) budget hotel that I booked for that night’s transit was quite pleasing. The bed was a little hard, but it still served its purpose very well!

I booked a double bed and was given this huge room.

photo 0136h DSC08130 Hotel Room

So that’s all for this super long report on Royal Jordanian’s B787 flight in Business Class. Thank you for your patience and I hope you have a better picture of RJ’s product now!


(To be continued)


This report was completed on 4 March 2016.
Originally posted in Traditional Chinese on http://tn92.pixnet.net/blog/post/289305637.
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Verdict

Royal Jordanian

7.9/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Meal/catering8.5

Malaysian Airlines Golden Satelite Lounge - Business Class Section

7.8/10
Comfort8.5
Meal/catering7.5
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Services7.0

Kuala Lumpur - KUL

8.6/10
Efficiency9.5
Access10.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.5

Bangkok - BKK

8.2/10
Efficiency8.5
Access9.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

I am keeping this short since the report's already sooooo long. RJ's business class was comfortable! Not overwhelmingly but really, it's a nice product for short- to medium-haul flights. Only one FA served me and the rest just stayed in the galley. That FA was nice and proactive in her service; but her service didn't leave a deep impression. For the meal, I was expecting a full meal but forgot it was supper time.. ): That said, it would've been nice if choices were available but to be fair I was satisfied with the catering!

--------------------

I liked and disliked MH's flagship lounge. One important point: it's opened 24 hours a day! So if you are arriving in KUL in the middle of the night on an MH flight, you can use the lounge as an arrival lounge, which is really nice I think. Other than that, the food quality was slightly above-average. There were a lot of seats available but not much privacy in my opinion. The lounge staffs were all rather shy and didn't interact much with any guests. The only reason I disliked the lounge was the washroom and showers - I think MH should brush up on this aspect a lot.

--------------------

KUL and BKK were both big airports and everything was efficient! The overcrowded Bangkok airport was borderline uncomfortable, though. But in general both airports were good on this trip.

Information on the route Kuala Lumpur (KUL) Bangkok (BKK)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 19 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Kuala Lumpur (KUL) → Bangkok (BKK).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Thai Airways avec 8.1/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 4 minutes.

  More information

8 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 158955 by
    whitelight44 346 Comments
    Excellent FR and great pictures. Thanks for sharing :)
  • Comment 158969 by
    socalnow 976 Comments
    Wow, Tn92, thank you for such a beautifully photographed and detailed report of this really interesting 5th freedom route.

    I quite like the look of the RJ cabin. It looks kind of eerie to fly with such a light load but at the same time it's great for those of us that like to take pictures of all the details.

    The food is smartly presented, if a bit sparse.

    Thank you again for sharing and happy flying.
    • Comment 336052 by
      tn92 AUTHOR 173 Comments
      Hi! Thanks so much for your compliment!
      Yeah, you are right. I felt a little weird being (almost) alone in that cabin. But I did enjoy it after all.
      And I was pleasantly surprised with the meal as well. For me, my experiences of airplane food out of KUL has been consistently above average.

      Thanks and see you around!
  • Comment 159143 by
    Quirrow 155 Comments
    Thanks for the detailed report on RJ! I can truly feel the excitement you had for this flight, and it certainly makes for a nice 5th freedom route for travellers to fly with.

    I think RJ uses the same business class seats that can be found on AA's A321 that flies between LA and NY, along with the business class seats on United's 787.
    • Comment 336054 by
      tn92 AUTHOR 173 Comments
      Hi Quirrow! Haha I must have sounded like an excited kid before stepping into a theme park, eh? xD
      Yeah now that you say it, I think AA's A321 business class on those flights has got the same type of seats.
      They are pretty comfortable and would be quite suitable for travellers who are flying in pairs!

      Thanks so much for your comment! Oh and anyway, I stumbled upon your wordpress blog from one of your flight-reports, and I am actually now catching up on your blog posts - they are really interesting and nice to read. (:

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