Egypt Air

[Cougar]

Im flying Egypt Air later today,

14:00 24/12 20:45 24/12 MS778 London Heathrow -> Cairo
23:45 24/12 08:00 25/12 MS839 Cairo -> Johannesburg

and also same route back later in January...

not a mega layover, but any tips as to what I can do to make flight and wait at the airport any better?

How are they for legroom in economy? 6'7 boertjie here

[Gunship]

Boertjie ( I mean Cougar) Insist on a hotel room during the lay over. (BlackAdder listened to advice and he got it). Also you can insist on a visit to the pyramids or the "papyrus factory". They do not advertise it as such but they are always open to make your stay worthwhile ! Temps down below 25 degrees so no worries about being fried to death. Enjoy !

PS: Go early and get an emergency exit seat (tell them you are crew)

Enjoy ! Cheers

[nugpot]

Originally Posted by Cougar

How are they for legroom in economy? 6'7 boertjie here

Have you found an airline that caters for 6'7 boertjies? If you do, let me know...

[Cougar]

Thanks Guns... Hmm only 3 hrs between landing and take-off in Cairo so unless room has free mini bar ??? Maybe too short for tour also?

I find I can "fit" into most economy class seats... But once in I am pretty much securely wedged in I think its more uncomfy for the person infront of me.. because there is no way they are going to be reclining their seat at all And thank goodness for the personal video screens as the person behind me wont have much of a view of the big screen Width wise im still OK.. the boep has only just started to grow hah

Bulkhead seats I find have "knee" room but no "leg" room... Emergency exits are good but you get people coming for a stretch and kicking you in the dark!!

The hosties should rent out their bunks!! Id keep it warm for them anytime

Anyways nice 26hrs comute from door to PE airport! Im SOOO looking forward to it

Xmas lunch in SA though! makes it all worth while

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by nugpot

Have you found an airline that caters for 6'7 boertjies? If you do, let me know...

Jirrrrrrrr, he should be classified as Cargo.....

[Cougar]

Hey hey hey... I tip the scales at 100kg odd... Relative lightweight compared to a few on here I am sure

[Gunship]

Right now a First Class seat (C seat upgraded) on Afriqiyah Airways would be slightly more than a Egypt Air Y class seat. Lay over in Tripoli ; 3 hours.

2hr 45 from London, 3 hour lay over and 8 hr 20 to JHB.
This said - that only is for marketing purposes. Real life - leave home early day one. Get to JHB early day 2 PE at mid - day.

PS: Both dry flight !

Have a good one Cougar !

[Cougar]

I managed to get my flight for £380 odd all inc.. At the time of buying I saw a direct ticket for £370... ONE way :(

Dry!! bliksems! I was hoping for the small bottle of wine to give to my mom for xmas pressie!

That said they dont know I am coming.

[-el-]

With three hours lay-over, there is nothing you can do in CAI other than hanging around and waiting for the onward flight.

You may want to get into one of the lounges where you can buy access but I believe these lounges are nothing out of the ordinary anyway.

[Cougar]

Hi all,

Merry xmas and all that, sorry for the delay in an update of my flight, planned to update from my phone but had to save battery power to contact friends when I got here.

Flights went OK... managed to get an emergency exit to Cairo, and sat next to a very friendly Egypt Air security "sky marshal" type guy. Their in flight service is also OK (cept for the dryness as mentioned by Guns). One thing I found weird though is that they all seem to serve 1st class before even looking at us back in cattle class. And me sitting in front near the galley smelling all the food did not help

Cairo to JHB was a loong flight.. only 8 hours... But I had the bulkhead seat and also next to their security man. No place to stretch the legs... ai... atleast behind a seat you can sort of stretch your legs a little more even though your "knee" room is somewhat limited.

JHB to PLZ was nice and short as always.. this was with BA. Bumpy landing though which was blamed on the wind... although at 20 odd knots wasnt too bad for PE?

All three flights were delayed! So my 3hr wait in Cairo became a 2hr wait... at the airport but another hour sat on the plane waiting for a loo to get sorted.

One thing... in flight entertainment... aijaijai! It was like going back to the dark ages with just one movie screen to watch and half the other in flight shows in egyptian? Also no english music to listen to from Cairo to JHB ... I think that's why the 8hr flight felt so long!

Anyways ta for the tips... Ill report on my return journey on the 18th of Jan.. for now I have holidays to get to!!

[Blackadder]

Despite the things already mentioned by previous posters (which I agree with), I have to give Egypt Air some serious kudos.

We flew from JFK to Cairo. Our layover in Cairo was 12 hours. Upon arrival, I went to the Egypt Air check-in counter to ensure that our boarding passes and baggage were all in order. After the gentleman verified it all, he asked me if we wanted to "go to the hotel to rest, or if we wanted to go on a tour to the pyramids." He must have seen the horrified look on my face, because he immediately said "it is free, all free, you don't pay."

Well, needless to say, we opted for the tour to the pyramids. We were issued tourist visas in a matter of minutes. What a great experience it was. After visiting the pyramids, our guide, Josef, and driver, Muhammed, took us on a site seeing tour through the Giza district, followed by a very nice dinner. I gave Josef and Mohammed a nice tip each (more than what they make per day). Mohammed's tip was for not killing us in the Cairo rush hour traffic

We arrived back at the airport about 2 hours prior to departure. Thanks Egypt Air - you made what would have been a 12 hour sit-and-wait in the airport an unforgettable experience for us as a family. My boys (as well as Mrs. Blackadder and myself) thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

[HeavyMetalDriver]

Cougar, great post. What say we review latest self loading freight experiences here. Could help future planning. Just did late JNB to Paris with Air France. Booking on their website was easy and the B777-300 is comfy with on demand entertainment. Flights were on time, but went for seafood meals and that was disappointing. Coneccting in CDG2 is easy, although a bus-ride to Terminal G that does the commuter flights.

[Ray]

Cougar, sorry - I missed your original post.

I flew the same route as you back in April 2009. Could have warned you about the 'dry' flights. I stocked up on minitures before I left (under 100ml so no problems through security) and just asked for coke from the drinks trolley. As long as you don't flash them around, you shouldn't have a problem on board.

The aircraft are very tired internally and desperately need an upgrade. The in-flight entertainment is a bit of a joke, although I did like the way each flight started with a prayer!

My 3 hour stop-over at Cairo on the way to SA ended up as a 9 hour wait after the A330 went technical. i am fairly certain that it was hit by a ground vehicle as there was an enormous bang and the whole aircraft bounced around. At least they did their best in trying to look after us though until they found an A340 replacement bird.

Coming back, everything went very smoothly.

You were very lucky to get the bulkhead seats as these are reserved for their security guys. Must have taken one look at your 6.7" frame and thought it better to give you what you asked for.

If anyone is considering flying to SA (or anywhere else, I suppose), you could do a lot worse than flying with Egypt Air.

[Cougar]

Just back in London today.

Door -> PE -> JHB -> Cairo -> LHR -> Tube -> Door = Nearly 30hrs.

But all went smooth and not a whisper of a delay anywhere.. Tube was slow as usual though!

Now that I knew what to expect I bought myself a book "Jock of the Bosveld" for reading material in JHB and also asked nicely for an emergency exit seat as the bulkhead seat's just dont do it for me. SAA (star aliance) guy booked me in on the JHB > Cairo leg and was happy to give me a nice seat. The exta 10KG that I put on from xmas and new years holiday grub also helped

I had again go to the tranfer desk in Cairo to ask for the emergency exit seat (as they cant prebook those they say) and again was given a nice seat although no window. Bummer. But I engrossed myself in my book and finished it with 10mins to spare before Landing in Heathrow. Hosty was kind enough to point out as we went over the alps full of snow. Very Pretty.

I ignored the movies and entertainment and music and maar just read my book. The movies seemed to be much the same ones as the other flights south anyways. Not sure if I am just not used to flying anymore but I found it very hard to sleep in their seats. But thats usually the case.

Id much prefer flying direct... but the price just cant justify it. So will maar suffer voort.

Layover was again only 4 hours ... 5:30am to 9:45am so no hotel or pyramids.

What I did find amusing is when they serve tea/coffee and they walk up and down the isles one shouting "TEA... TEA... TEA... TEA... TEA... TEA..." and the other "Coffee... Coffee... Coffee... Coffee... "

Also the woman completely opening the lav door OUTWARDS when she came out and breaking it out off it's hinges.. and the subsequent look on peoples faces as they tried to close and lock the door.

Also interesting moment on the 777 as a door with stairs leading downwards opened near the lavs.. and a passenegr opened it furhter to have a peak down and the skymarshal politely but quite sternly crapped all over him.

Thanks for the tips. Might ask earlier next time

[Jim Quest]

Egypt is really a very beautiful, ancient, primitive and a very historical destination with all the beautiful and sacred tombs, shrines and all the great sculptures of the olden era of Egyptian civilization and all the great architecture of ancient times.

It is a unique destination of preserving the dead all the mummies are preserved here with all the wax and other materials and are very unique and price-less and too antique which are all very historical and memorable.

These are some good web-resources, which will describe you about the Egypt Air as well.

www.egyptair.com
www.skyscanner.net › Airlines
www.egyptairplus.com
www.airlinequality.com/Forum/egypt.htm
www.safariegypt.com/egypt_air.html

[Burner]

I am travelling to Jordan today via Cairo with Egypt Air. On my return trip I was planning on spending a few days site seeing and visiting mates. I see online it says you must apply in person for a tourist visa, but then I noticed that one or two of you mentioned they can issue you one at the airport?

Have any of you holding an SA Passport done this at the airport??

Cheers

[Sky346]

I travelled to North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt) earlier this year and I was worried about running out of time before I was leaving as the Algerian Embassy took nearly two weeks with my passport (even though I asked for it to be quick). I called the Egyptian Embassy and asked if I could get a VISA at the airport and they said no. Luckily, though, they only took two days to issue the VISA in Pta. So it is doubtful.... but hey, worth a try to see if you can get in when you get to the airport.

The dry flight is dissapointing though! Not that I get fall down drunk on a plane, but I enjoy a whiskey before I put the seat back and sleep (also not lie-flat beds in business).....

Oh well, good luck at the airport trying to get in and be careful of the taxi drivers!

Safe flight and enjoy!

[-el-]

Originally Posted by Burner

I am travelling to Jordan today via Cairo with Egypt Air. On my return trip I was planning on spending a few days site seeing and visiting mates. I see online it says you must apply in person for a tourist visa, but then I noticed that one or two of you mentioned they can issue you one at the airport?

Have any of you holding an SA Passport done this at the airport??

Cheers

I have been to Egypt twice (the first time and the last time). If you desperately have to see the place plan on one day - that should suffice to see the major sights and off you go again.

In my humble opinion Egypt combines the worst of two cultures, African and Arabian - they obviously forgot to put the positives of these two cultures to some good use.

[Sky346]

Originally Posted by -el-

I have been to Egypt twice (the first time and the last time). If you desperately have to see the place plan on one day - that should suffice to see the major sights and off you go again.

In my humble opinion Egypt combines the worst of two cultures, African and Arabian - they obviously forgot to put the positives of these two cultures to some good use.

I didn't want to say that El.... But yeah, I agree, not one of the nicest places that I have been to and then to get onto a dry plane home... Crazy that they think that they can compete with western airlines

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Sky346

....and then to get onto a dry plane home... Crazy that they think that they can compete with western airlines

They compete because they are much cheaper and if you want alcohol, do like I did - just take some minitures with you and don't be too flash when putting them in the mix. They have no problem with that.

I will certainly use Egypt Air again.