I’ve been discussing flying through Cairo ever since I began planning my SAS Million Mile challenge, but I ultimately chose to fly via Tunis instead after securing an even cheaper premium cabin fare. But in light of what has happened to my friend Ben from One Mile At A Time, perhaps Cairo Airport would have been the more entertaining choice.
Cairo Airport…I Won’t Avoid It, But Ben Was Spot On
Ben has been under attack from Egyptian authorities for what I thought was a very even-handed review of Cairo Airport. Yes, it’s dirty. Yes, people can be rude and hit you up for tips. And yes, it smells like an ashtray. To its credit, it tends to be efficient with check-in, security, and passport control, but that should be a given…
Anyway, Ben’s critique of the airport went viral and has led government officials from Egypt to issue threats against him. No, seriously!
Egypt threatened him for criticizing the airport and even tried to “expose” him for lying.
And all this came days away from a planned visit to Cairo with my son Augustine that even The Wall Street Journal mentioned.
While my visit to Egypt was scuttled before Ben’s drama broke out, I’m rather happy not to give Cairo Airport any support right now…the inability to handle Ben’s constructive criticism is alarming. Rather than simply dismissing it as a unique facet of Egypt’s “face-saving” culture, I will call it out for what it is: foolish, stupid, and counterproductive.
It’s a shame, really. I love Egypt and its warm hospitality and delicious food. Yes, the tipping culture drives me crazy, but I can overlook it. The pyramids are an absolute must-see and cities like Cairo, Alexandria, and Luxor have much to offer. But who wants to visit a country that makes such childish threats against a blog post?
No, I’m not going to boycott Egypt over this. But authorities owe Ben an apology and foolishly failed to realize that they made Ben’s story go viral (and it may just be beginning) when they could have simply accepted the constructive criticism…and expended their energy to improve the airport instead.
Two words: Streisand Effect.
@matthew, I think you are right that it is face saving, Egyptians especially do handle criticism well and the over-reaction the Ben’s review proof of that.
I have close friends who are Egyptian and live in Cairo, I asked them about the story, they said another angle of the story as it is being reported in Egypt is that Ben either take part in or is “habitual debauchery”, which they explained to me is being Gay in Egypt and a crime.
They indicated adding that to the story is merely a way to discredit Ben because being Gay in Egypt is seen as illegitimate and thus another reason not believe as he hates the country because it is not pro-LGBT rights.
Sadly, the Egyptian Government should have simply ignored Ben’s article, not reacted the way that it did.
Be careful. Journalists do get thrown in jail. Ben is already a marked man. Please don’t be the same. I get the message about Cairo airport.
Sure Cairo is terrible , however Karachi is even worse .
Middle East will always be quite backward , because they are unintelligent .
Have you flown through Karachi? When?
@ Matthew — This entire promotion is stupid, and the only ones completing it are doing so for attention. Same reason to write another blog post saying that Cairo airport sucks. Just sayin…
No Gene, I’m doing it for the million miles. I love flying SK and this deal makes sense to me…the blogging is icing on the cake to offset the cost of the trip.