When Lucky posted an incredible deal between Colombo and Casablanca yesterday which included flights on Royal Air Maroc, I knew I had to go. After coordinating dates with Lucky, we booked a one-way ticket from Los Angeles to Colombo via Shanghai on China Eastern (not without drama on my end, but that’s the subject of another post) for 70K Delta miles and then booked the CMB-CMN-CMB flights with Qatar for $619. But we still have to get home and that’s where you come in.
China Eastern’s new reverse-herringbone business class looks great
We’ll wind up in Colombo, which thankfully happens to be the land of cheap premium class fares, and need to get back to the USA. Like Lucky, I am also interested in writing about and experiencing as many new business class products as possible this year, which leaves us with some interesting choices.
1. Fly Kuwait Airways to New York
Even though Kuwait Airways cannot transfer passengers solely between JFK and LHR, its KWI to JFK flight still makes a stop in LHR. From CMB to JFK, business class fares run $982. This would be a chance to review a carrier that still has a long way to go to modernize its fleet. The business class product onboard the 777 serving KWI-LHR-JFK would be ancient. But perhaps interesting.
2. Fly Kuwait Airways to Cairo, then Royal Jordanian to New York
Perhaps all that flying on Kuwait Airways would be overkill and even seizure-inducing, so what about just taking Kuwait Airways to Cairo, then catching a cheap flight back to New York on Royal Jordanian? The fare is decent and it would be an opportunity to experience RJ’s new 787 business class. I’ll be flying RJ next month on a different trip, though only from Amman to Kuwait City so this would be a great opportunity to check out RJ’s longhaul product.
3. Fly Saudia to Cairo, then EgyptAir to Toronto (or New York)
I’m still a Star Alliance guy and there are only a few Star Alliance carriers I have yet to fly, EgyptAir being one of them. We would take Saudia to Cairo, then fly EgyptAir back to North America. Flights to Toronto are about $300 cheaper then to New York and it would give me an excuse to review the Park Hyatt in Toronto. I’ve flown four flights on Saudia and reviewed them in my Afghanistan report, but all were in economy class.
Of course we could do Saudia to Cairo and then Royal Jordanian to New York or Kuwait Airways to Cairo and EgyptAir to Toronto. Or are we missing something? Let me know your thoughts, particularly what you would find a most enjoyable or helpful review. I am very excited about this trip!
You probably know this but just in case: Saudia, Egypt and Kuwait are dry airlines, no alcohol available. I have flown RJ business class LHR-AMM-BKK and back and they were excellent (and a good wine selection available)
ZOMG! You’re flying with Lucky? My ovaries just exploded! <3
I say CMB-KWI-CAI KU then CAI-JFK/YYZ MS. If you go crazy, you could even do 3 airlines from Colombo to North America like this: Colombo-Gulf (KU or SV), Gulf-(xxx-)Cairo (RJ or MS), CAI-JFK/YYZ MS.
Personally, fk Kuwait Airways. The whole idea of DNAing tourists? Fk them.
Come to Toronto and check out the clinic here as well as the Park Hyatt.
Also, as you say, EgyptAir is one of the few Star Alliance airlines you haven’t been on. How often will that opportunity come up?
Having flown Business Class CAI-JFK on EgyptAir it was ok, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Were I taking that trip I’d probably do Etihad Airways CMD-AUH-JFK on an Airbus A380 for AUH-JFK flight.
My vote goes to either Kuwait Air or Royal Jordanian. I flew RJ old business class from JFK – AMM a couple of years ago. Curious what the new business class looks like.
We flew business class on EgyptAir last year. The plane from UAE to Cairo was nothing special, but the one back had lie flat seats, IFE, and was pretty clean. As mentioned in the comments above, it is a dry airline, but they have tasty fruit juice, and fruit and cheese offerings. It’s something to try once, particularly if you get a newer product. Otherwise (in my experience) , it is like flying on an old US Airways first class domestic, except dirtier and with a very tired plane.