Review of Saudia flight from Jeddah to Kuala Lumpur in Economy

BOARDING

Finally after a long wait staring at the tv screens, after my transit from Manchester, Gate 11 was shown as the Kuala Lumpur Gate.

I say Gate, in fact you have to go down an escalator and get a 15 minute bus to the aircraft.

I thought we were bussing it to Malaysia – the bus ride was never ending !

Enroute I passed a Bangladesh 777-300ER.  I genuinely thought an A300-600R was operating the Kuala Lumpur service, as I had many many emails after booking that an A300-600R will take me to Malaysia.
 It was with some relief when we pulled up to a 787.
 #goodlife !

We stayed on our bus for 10 minutes as Hajis from another bus boarded first. This was a specially commissioned flight to take Hajis back home to Malaysia after completing their Pilgrimage. Normally the flight is SV834 but as it was a special flight the flight number was prefixed by 3.

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I went up the stairs and I said Good Morning first to a not very looking happy Airhostess – she made no eye contact but did say Good Morning and Welcome Aboard. Charming ? I don’t think so.

As I entered the cabin, a Filipino Airhostess said Welcome Aboard.

I noted two Airhostesses stood near to myself and I guessed they were European ( Russian ) – I am good at facial recognition

I later asked one if they were Russian and she said that she was Bosnian and the other lady was Russian !

I advised I’d connected from MAN and was going to Malaysia for my 40th and that I was enjoying the SV experience so far. she asked how my connection was from MAN and helped me stow my bag.

I asked for some memorabilia if possible !

SEAT AREA

Cabin presentation immaculate and boarding video playing !

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Logie and Lottie of Loganair getting ready for Malaysia !

Manchester !!!

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I had been assigned seat 38K in Manchester.

Suddenly a family arrived and I agreed to move even though they said it was ok to stay there.

A European Airhostess said the flight was mainly empty so I could have any seat ! Magic !

I then took 38JKL – obviously I need a Window seat ! 

Sometime before doors close, I noted the Inflight manager Mohammed walk to where I had originally sat and after briefly talking to some passengers came to my row.

He shook my hand, said Mabrook for a belated birthday and Advance Wedding Mabrook ! He was with Steward Ahmed and Airhostess Ms Darya from Bosnia who all stood smiling in unison around me !  Mr Mohammed thanked me for giving the chance for his crew to serve me. He then gave a beautiful Porsche kit gift to me and a Furla one for my wife to be !

An “All On” announcement was made at 0350am and we pushed back at Pushed back at 0400am. The Dual Language safety video then played.

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Followed by the Dua E Safar

The cabin lights were then dimmed

Taxying ahead of us then taking off, I spotted a Gulf Air then a Turkish A330. I had seen the earlier Bangladesh 777 take off whilst we were still parked at JED.

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TAKE OFF

At 0420am, HZ-AR23 began her take off roll from Jeddah.

Malaysia here I come !

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At 0435am and an announcement was made that "non harmful to humans " insecticide would be sprayed in accordance with a local regulation.

The crew walked through the cabin several times in the space of a minute to carry this out

INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT AND SHOPPING

The same range of Bollywood/Hollywood and World movies were on offer as well as extensive tv,documentary and audio options. Photos are from various stages of the flight

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AMENITIES

Here you will start to notice a marked difference to the Manchester-Jeddah service as I had already been told and also mentioned in my previous report.

Scented prepackaged tissues were handed out– I later requested more and these were brought efficiently. The scent of "1945" is truly a treat for the senses !

A very straight faced Airhostess came round with an amenity kit ( not the new collector's edition one).

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Then she came back with the destination earphones - I asked if there was a Manchester one and she quickly looked and said said no.

Milano ! Bella ! 

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I asked for more refresher towelettes and earphones from another Airhostess, these were brought with no fuss and a nice smile !

INFLIGHT SERVICE

Almost an hour after take off, a pre meal drinks service began and I opted for a refreshing Jus D'Mangue ( Mango Juice ! )

There were no menucards. Instead I was asked if I wanted Chicken or Fish.
Which is like asking a Pilot does he prefer to fly the aircraft or be a passenger !!
I naturally chose both options. Thank God for a nice normal trayset !!

Chicken and Rice

Fish and Rice

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There was also a garden salad with dressing,bread roll and butter and a water cuplet plus a range of hot and cold beverages.
and an oh so delightful chocolate cake to sweeten things off with !

The trayset came with metal cutlery in a multilingual "Enjoy your meal" wrapping which looked most elegant. There was a separate pack with refreshing wet tissue and salt/pepper.

Nice trayliner design but it is upside down. When I worked in inflight catering, no way would I have got away with putting a liner on the wrong way round !

Unlike "Bistro" on the previous flight which lasted well over 3 hours, the main meal service was wrapped up very efficiently and concluded with a drinks round. Bring on the Mango !

A quick progress check !

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Looking at Pakistan on the maps !

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WASHROOM CHECK

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Quick peek at the Prayer Room

I was trying to stretch across the 3 seats and finding it hard to sleep in my usual business suit !

Ms Sara walked by and opened a blanket pack and gave it to me along with extra pillows ; this was very caring and thoughtful and up there as superior service.

The aircraft seemed to be lowering but this is the illusion when lying horizontal !

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I went for a stroll to the back galley and told Steward Ahmed that many Saudi students study in Manchester. He smiled and said he had a friend studying there ! I asked for a Mango juice with ice and it came in a ridged coffee cup..cute !
I was looked after very nicely on this flight by Ms Sara from The Philippines,Ahmed from Saudi Arabia, Ms Darya from Russia and Ms Vedrana from Bosnia.

Are we there yet ?!

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The whole cabin set to dark mode and windows darkened all through the flight until around 1hr 30 minutes before landing when natural sunlight started flooding the cabin !.

Blanket wrapper - also a bin on this flight !
Don't be brash,self clear your trash !

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PRELANDING MEAL

90 minutes before landing breakfast was served ???! Well it WAS 10 am on Sunday morning in the UK so hey !
I asked the not so happy Airhostess if she can ask the lady in front of me to recline forward and she said she “cant ask that”.
Erm ok.
Luckily the lady in front reclined anyway and there was no disruption. I was unable to work out where this Airhostess was from. She was fair skinned but of ethnic origin. Wherever she was from, she took little pride in her job.

Breakfast time..I mean Dinner time was the only time this Airhostess forced a smile. Very reluctantly.

The options were Chilli Beef with Noodles

Or Omelette with potatoe slices and mushrooms.

I thought the mushrooms were chicken at first !

The trayset had a packet of Del Monte fresh fruit bites, an orange juice cuplet, water cuplet,bread roll and butter.

And metal cutlery

Soon after "Breakfast" was over, the cabin secure checks began
There was a prerecorded prelanding announcement in Bahasa Malaysia.
During the cabin secure,Ms Vedrana beautifully and gently awoke a child. It was very touching to witness.

The Cabin smelt really nice of the 1945 scent. Beautiful !

There were nice views from the 787 windows

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Ms Vedrana came round with boiled sweets and offered me a selection. How SWEET !

After a flight in almost total darkness, I only noted this shortly before landing in Kuala Lumpur.
Oh man…how DO cleaners miss these parts ???

Sudden descent began at 1745pm. 

WELCOME TO MALAYSIA !

We landed at 1755pm local time in Kuala Lumpur. Welcome to Malaysia . Selamat !
15 hours  approx of combined flying !
Don't even ask how long I had been up !

After the landing announcements,a beautiful video with melodic music played. A Saudia video showcasing it's rapidly progressing homeland.

Enjoy for yourself !

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There was an Indian Airhostess at the door on disembarkation and smiling – meaning whoever boarded my flight worked in business class. I only hope she smiled for those passengers !

It is easy to forget the amazing reputation and new livery that Malaysia Airlines introduced pre the 2014 tragedies. This special Malaysia national livery really complements the new look !

Bye Bye Saudia !

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The crew about to take this Dreamliner back home to Jeddah were all sat in the gate area and the cabin crew were mainly female.
You have to take a monorail to go to another part of the Airport to clear Immigration and claim your baggage.    

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I seemed to go back and forth looking for the baggage belt but no number was displayed for the Jeddah flight.

POS Aviation are the baggage handling agent for Saudia at Kuala Lumpur Airport. I noted some passengers of my flight heading to the office in the baggage hall so I thought I would go and ask about my baggage.

The lady there advised of problems on every Saudia flight everyday. This is some claim as there are 3 flights a day from Jeddah alone,not counting Riyadh or Medina originating flights. I was told that if I do not see my baggage then it has not made it ( mini meltdown to come later).

I filled out the claim form. I was so worried as I had no travel insurance due to a bank error with my payment card in the UK. In one of my suitcases was my wedding outfit and I genuinely had no cash to buy a new one. The POS lady was so calm and polite in typical Malaysian fashion which really put me at ease. There are 3 Saudia flights a day from Jeddah to Kuala Lumpur and I thought maybe my cases are on that flight. I rang my Mum and she told me not to worry at all. She really reassured me and it made me feel a touch better…but not for long !

I went from Baggage Claim claim up to checkin to see if anyone from Saudia was available. I went past Qatar Airways checkin desks and they had just finished checking in. They directed me to the Saudia office.

It took what felt like ages to get to the office and I left a note under the door for the Station Manager to contact me. To date no one from SVKUL has ever got in touch with me. proof below that I went to the Airport office.

A real mission and time was ticking for my transfer to my hotel. In total it took 2 hours after landing to get to this point.

I arrived for my transfer – a smiling nice lady named Ms Farah was so nice and I apologised wholeheartedly to her for the wait. She did not make me feel bad.

I noted on my Whatsapp she had tried to phone me but in my flustered state there was no I had the time to get online.

I told her about the baggage issue and she advised regarding cheap clothes in the market near my hotel which put me at ease.

On arrival at the hotel, I could not find my passport to checkin…aaaahhhhh !

In total shock and disbelief, I thought my whole trip and holiday is doomed. I would have had a meltdown had the hotel reception staff not been so caring,polite and kind to me.

Until I remembered I had Ms Farah’s number from when she had tried to phone me whilst I was in KUL.

I phoned it and her office answered.

I said please would they make contact with her to see if I have dropped my Passport in the vehicle as I had had my passport out whilst checking documents.

I rang back a few minutes later and they told me Ms Farah was on her way back. Bless her. Luckily she had not gone to far away. I highly doubt that someone in the UK would have been so helpful.

Tragedy averted ! Now to wait for my bags ( they would arrive 24 hours later from the Airport whilst I was on the phone to a Saudia manager from the UK). My cases had been flown from Jeddah to Singapore and then to Kuala Lumpur !
 
Want you bag, want you bag again ! 

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