Saudia

[Chatso]

Today on Skyscanner Manchester to Bangkok with Saudia via Jeddah 3.5 hr stopover going 4.5 hr stopover back, in 05Nov to 23Nov £488. Other dates Nov to mid Dec with Saudia £488 to £550 upwards. Maybe similar price from other UK airports. Saudia don't look too bad on youtube.

[jaynewcastle]

When I was checking prices out of London several weeks ago, Saudi & Royal Jordanian prices were far lower than anybody else

Hopefully anybody flying with them, will report back on their experiences, both positive & negative, and the most important question, do they serve plenty of alcohol like Emirates do 

[Luv2Phuket]

No personal experience, but I read a blogger's review of Royal Jordanian, and he KILLED them. IIRC, it was a very harrowing flight (as in "oh shit! we're gonna crash!")  and the pilots and crew never even acknowledged it or apologized.

I'll try to find it.

EDIT:

Well that didn't take long! 555  

Review is from over 9 years ago: https://onemileatatime.com/my-royal-jordanian-flight-from-hell/

 

[The Blue-Eyed Sheikh]

Just now, Luv2Phuket said:

No personal experience, but I read a blogger's review of Royal Jordanian, and he KILLED them. IIRC, it was a very harrowing flight (as in "oh shit! we're gonna crash!")  and the pilots and crew never even acknowledged it or apologized.

I'll try to find it.

 

Pretty sure it was One Mile At A Time, if that helps narrow your search any. 
 

TB-ES

[Luv2Phuket]

1 minute ago, The Blue-Eyed Sheikh said:

Pretty sure it was One Mile At A Time, if that helps narrow your search any. 
 

TB-ES

 

[glenjean]

I lived and worked in Saudi for 10 years. I lived and worked in Jeddah for a year and the other 9 years I lived and worked in Dhahran (about 26km across the causeway from Bahrain). Note* I always drove to Bahrain and flew out of Bahrain on Gulf air or some other carrier to travel to Bangkok, not on Saudi to Bangkok.

The Saudis had for almost 30 years diplomatic problems and issues with the Thailand government at the highest levels due to a murder and stolen jewelry from a super high ranking Saudi and there was no relationship between the countries since around 1989 and both countries embassies were closed and all diplomats sent home and no Saudis could travel to Thailand period.

 

Saudi Arabia restores ties with Thailand after gem theft dispute | News | Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabia, Thailand agree to restore full diplomatic ties | Reuters

 

Note* Only high ranking wealthy influential Saudi businessmen or for health / hospital surgery reason could a normal Saudi get a visa to go to Thailand for treatment or surgeries of a life or death emergency type reason. There was no air travel at all by any Saudi airlines or Thai carriers during these almost 30 years.

Anyway, those cheap airfares from Manchester to Bangkok on Saudi airlines comes with a stiff price in comfort, peacefulness and pleasantness in flight travel.

Here's the price you will have to pay.............

Alcohol - No alcohol will be served on the flight or while you are in Jeddah for transit / stopovers going or coming. No alcohol whatsoever. If caught with any alcohol of any kind or any size you will possibly serve jail time or if not your holiday and life will be made extremely miserable at the very least.

Food – in general airline food is not that great, however Saudi airlines food has always been a tad below normal airline levels. I suggest you take you some snacks on this journey.  

Since the countries have opened up diplomatic ties and air travel again, expect a lot of young Saudi’s and businessmen to be on the flight in their thobe’s and head gear called gutrah and the women will all have their traditional clothing on which will be head to toe all black (abaya and head scarf).

There will be many loud and obnoxious and in general not truly great and respectful airline companions. Take yourself some good ear plugs and bring along your best patience and tolerance.

Bathrooms – I would advise anyone to use the bathroom ASAP because after you are in the air for 2 hours the bathrooms will be abnormally filthy, no tissues or toilet paper and water everywhere on the floors and probably a commode already clogged/ stopped up and almost overflowing because someone tried to flush some articles or too much paper of some sort down the toilet / commode.

Do not expect the same service that you receive on Emirates or Qatar Airlines.

Buyer beware !!!!!

Anyone else who worked in Saudi feel free to weigh in, maybe I have a few details incorrect or things may have changed somewhat, however for the most part IMHO this is what to expect.

 

 

 

[bangna]

1 hour ago, jaynewcastle said:

When I was checking prices out of London several weeks ago, Saudi & Royal Jordanian prices were far lower than anybody else

Hopefully anybody flying with them, will report back on their experiences, both positive & negative, and the most important question, do they serve plenty of alcohol like Emirates do 

Several reports say Saudia is a dry airline. Reviews on Airline Quality website are not very positive.

[septicusglutinus]

I've booked a one way singapore to Manchester with saudia only because I had a travel voucher from a cancelled flight in 2021 and it was the only one price wise that was usable  but the way flight prices are going I'm putting price before comfort for at least till next year.

[little_me]

I lived in Saudi about 40 years ago... 

At that time, ANY airlines flying in Saudi had to stop alcoholic beverage service before entering Saudi airspace.

If caught with any alcohol on you through customs you're going to jail.

I'd imagine there's really no way you could get through customs without a visa, which they're not gonna give you to switch planes. (so, you're not going to leave the airport no matter how long your layover, BTW). And, 40 years ago, there was no security screening for transit passengers like there is in every other foreign airport I've been in the last 20 years, so they might through you in jail also now?

But, back then the airline was top of the line, funded by the government as a status of wealth to impress people, big bling bling, pilots were either foreign trained, or just foreigners.

If you don't care about drinking in flight, and the layover's doable? Things were A LOT different way back then though, so, eh? (I'm sure the whole go to jail is still a thing though).

[bjb]

I flew Saudia once, no alcohol no inflight entertainment, transit was through Jeddah and they were confiscating the duty free alcohol that was bought in London and any paperbacks with pictures of scantily clad females on the cover. Never again, like being in prison for a day especially the flight home.

[davidge]

Definitely dry.

I spent several years in Jeddah and the airport was always a nightmare both in and out. Disorganised, lazy and miserable staff, unusable toilets etc etc. Even for transit, I would definitely not risk any alcohol, pain killers etc in carry on. Punishment can be severe. I’m not sure how many people realise just how strict a country it is, even now. Any mail forwarded to me from the U.K. would be opened and checked. If any adverts etc inside with the eg bank statement that had women in shorts, t-shirts etc would be blacked out by the censors before the mail was allowed in.

I would absolutely never fly Saudia now.

[shagwell]

I left Saudi less than 2 years ago after working there for over 30 years and flew with Saudia many times during that time, both internal and external flights. In the early days I used to dread flying with them but in recent years they have been absolutely fine. Yes they are a dry airline so if you need alcohol on your flight look elsewhere, but they do have in-flight entertainment these days and I found the food to be ok. In my opinion they are not as good as the likes of Qatar or Emirates but better than Gulf Air or Philippine airlines. They have also been gradually improving the airports which used to be shockingly bad. Riyadh now has a very modern airport, Dhahran is a modern structure but doesn't have many choices for eating etc (they were still improving it when I left). I would have no qualms flying on Saudia these days if the price was right. Video below of the new Jeddah airport...

  

 

[parry]

Just booked Saudia departing Manchester on 5th January. I paid £539 well over £200 more than anyone else. I will have a few pints at Manchester Airport and that will have to do me. I will spend the £200+ saving wisely in Pattaya😁😁

[goodie2shoes]

3 hours ago, parry said:

Just booked Saudia departing Manchester on 5th January. I paid £539 well over £200 more than anyone else. I will have a few pints at Manchester Airport and that will have to do me. I will spend the £200+ saving wisely in Pattaya😁😁

Good on you, for getting a good deal. I flew Saudia once, for exactly the same reason.

One warning, that flight, one flight attendant went through my hand luggage again at the door to the plane and took out my e cigarette, lithium batteries and battery charger. I negotiated with them to keep it at the airline office for me, but then never got around to pick it up again.

So, just saying, this airline might still be extra cautious around security. Not sure anybody else had similar experiences.

[goodie2shoes]

1 hour ago, goodie2shoes said:

Good on you, for getting a good deal. I flew Saudia once, for exactly the same reason.

One warning, that flight, one flight attendant went through my hand luggage again at the door to the plane and took out my e cigarette, lithium batteries and battery charger. I negotiated with them to keep it at the airline office for me, but then never got around to pick it up again.

So, just saying, this airline might still be extra cautious around security. Not sure anybody else had similar experiences.

Forgot to add, I was the only white person on that flight.

[manni2011]

On 26/07/2022 at 18:03, glenjean said:

The Saudis had for almost 30 years diplomatic problems and issues with the Thailand government at the highest levels due to a murder and stolen jewelry from a super high ranking Saudi

For a long time I vastly underestimated  how much jewelry was stolen. It was 91 kilograms!  

Anyone curious about this should google ‘Blue Diamond Affair’.  It’s just an amazing example of how corrupt Thais can be, even at the highest levels.