If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Thai Airlines, RAM etc
Are there any disadvantages to flying "exotic" airlines to mundane places,
eg., Thai Airways to Vancouver, Royal Air Maroc to Greece, etc? Thoughts...? www.freewebs.com/travel-deals |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
"emailalias" wrote in message ... Are there any disadvantages to flying "exotic" airlines to mundane places, eg., Thai Airways to Vancouver, Royal Air Maroc to Greece, etc? Thoughts...? www.freewebs.com/travel-deals Now you don't want us to think you're a spammer, do you? Leave the link off next time. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Now you don't want us to think you're a spammer, do you? Leave the
link off next time. Good point. In any case, this summer I flew Chicago-Amsterdam round-trip on Kuwait Airways. Advantages: * nice clean A340 aircraft; a competent operation; * responsive, attentive staff at airport check-in and onboard; * it cost almost half any other airline for summer travel ($540). Disadvantages: * this is actually the "screaming baby" el-cheapo option from Chicago to Bombay (it saves a couple hundred over the more direct Air India single-stop London connection)--if you are far enough from the bassinet-laden exit row your chances of non-screaming seating are only slightly improved * they are sticklers about the weight of hand luggage in Chicago (7.5 kg. max.); * passengers MUST call in advance to reconfirm flights in each direction and have fun finding the phone numbers; * only a handful of people actually transit Chicago-Amsterdam--this is no big deal except on the return, where those who have connected from Bombay to Kuwait to Amsterdam have not changed clothing in quite a while--it can be a very 'funky' cohort from the olfactory perspective (from Amsterdam to Chicago 240 passengers were through-connecters, and 19 passengers joined in Amsterdam); * since 93% of passengers are connecting from Bombay & Kuwait, seat assignments in Amsterdam are a matter of fortune--the airline does not allow advance seat assignments; in Chicago if you get to the airport 4 hours early you have a good chance of getting good seats, whereas in Amsterdam it is simply pot luck with the 7% of seats still available; * the flight was at least an hour late both directions; no announcements were made in Chicago nor Amsterdam at the gate about delays; in Amsterdam the airline uses KLM staff at the gate, who provide no delay information nor "customer care" whatsoever--their only communications were to berate the horde of passengers (the entire Bombay&Kuwait transiters have to leave the aircraft, then pass x-ray, then mingle with the very few Amsterdam add-ons) for congregating toward the gate too early; a cattle-call experience; check that--a "funky" cattle-call experience. * Did I mention that Kuwait is a 'dry; airline and does not serve alcohol? One other oddity is that they serve the tasteless, dry roll with a thin strip of meat or alternative as the FIRST meal when you first board on the westbound flight; they later serve the hot dinner at the end of the flight (thank krikey I had a bottle of Tabasco with me), about an hour before you arrive in Chicago. Did I also mention that Kuwait is a 'dry' airline and does not serve alcohol? |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ | Edward Hasbrouck | Travel Marketplace | 0 | April 17th, 2004 12:28 PM |
Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ | Edward Hasbrouck | Backpacking and Budget travel | 0 | March 18th, 2004 09:16 AM |
Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ | Edward Hasbrouck | Travel Marketplace | 0 | March 18th, 2004 09:16 AM |
Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ | Edward Hasbrouck | Backpacking and Budget travel | 0 | November 9th, 2003 09:09 AM |
Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ | Edward Hasbrouck | Air travel | 0 | October 10th, 2003 09:44 AM |