Cairo to Washington DC on EgyptAir and United

 Egypt, Flights, New Years 2011-2012  No Responses »
Feb 092012
 

I’m going to make this one mainly a picture post, with a few thoughts thrown in here and there.  It’s funny, but I’ve actually reached a point where flying has become a bit more of a “chore” than exciting – except when it’s a really exotic airline or destination.  For example, the Daallo Airlines flight (sans seat belts) from Somalia to Djibouti was definitely memorable!  However, with the exception of seeing what the deal with EgyptAir Business Class really was…this was nothing special.

If you look anywhere online, EgyptAir gets a REALLY bad rap for having a business class that is essentially economy with a couple extra inches legroom.  Sort of like domestic first in the US, except it’s a dry airline, so no booze at all.  We’d purposely booked this flight on the 777, since we knew it was their “new” business  class.  I have to say,  the seat and meal (with the exception of being dry) was comparable to any US or European offering.  The crew, however, was absent.  They threw the food at you, and you never saw them again.  Sort of like a US airline on a bad day.  😉

EgyptAir Flight 777
Cairo, Egypt to London, Heathrow
Boeing 777-300ER, Registration SU-GDN, Manufactured 2010
Depart 9:20, Arrive 12:35, Flight time 5:15

Pre-Departure “entertainment:”

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Tour of Cairo, Egypt

 Egypt, hotels, New Years 2011-2012  No Responses »
Feb 082012
 

As I mentioned earlier, we’d hired a tour company here to maximize the one full day we had. I’m usually pretty opposed to organized tours, but in this case it sounded like a good idea to fit as much as possible into a one day transit. This turned out to be an excellent choice, especially when we saw how terrible the traffic was in the city. I’d highly recommend the company we used (Memphis Tours, linked in a previous post) to anyone wanting a similar experience.

Pick-up was at the hotel in the morning, and it was just down the road to the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Anyone who wants to visit Egypt, I highly recommend that you do it soon. The tourist hoards are terrified and staying away at the moment (well, maybe not this week due to the riots again) but this is definite time to go. Things are quiet, you have the place to yourself, and you can really enjoy things. On top of that, lots of the touts and salespeople have given up, and it’s possible to really enjoy things and have a completely un-harrassed experience. For all the negative experiences I’ve had people tell me about Cairo – we really enjoyed it! So – the pyramids and the sphinx:

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Juba, South Sudan to Cairo, Egypt on EgyptAir

 Egypt, Flights, hotels, New Years 2011-2012, South Sudan  No Responses »
Feb 032012
 

Onwards! The “hotel” arranged a transfer to Juba airport, and check-in was pretty primitive – but completely painless. There was a paper list they were checking names off of, bag tags and boarding passes were handwritten (and I still have yet to receive United credit for this segment) but all in all – it worked. We went through what passed for security, but the x-ray machine was off, there was no real check, and we were soon sitting in some very torn-up lounge chairs in the departure room.

Juba Airport is really just two rooms – one for arrivals, and one for departures. It was packed with everyone for the three departing flights, and despite the fact ours had been changed from a 737 to an ERJ, the room was quite empty. The list of names only had like 20 names on it, so Inshallah it would be an empty flight…and it was!

EgyptAir Flight 860
Juba, South Sudan to Cairo, Egypt
Depart 14:45, Arrive 18:00, Flight Time 4:15
ERJ-170, Registration SU-GDH, Manufactured 2009

The flight was absolutely empty, and less than 1/4 of the seats were taken, so everyone who wanted could have their own row. This was by far my longest flight on an ERJ, and it was as good as can be expected. The crew were quite lazy, surly, and did the bare minimum (even serving drinks in previously-used glasses) but all in all, with the number of empty seats, I won’t complain at all. Plus, the meal was at least edible!

Flight arrived on time, bus to the terminal, where the handler from the tour company we’d booked with was waiting.  I decided to book a tour for this trip, because we had one full day in the city and wanted to really maximize the amount we could see.  Included were round-trip airport transfers, and the handling of the visa on arrival, no need to haggle with drivers….was well worth it.  I would highly recommend Memphis Tours to anyone looking for a similar situation.

Drive to the hotel – the Le Meridien Pyramids was pretty quick, under 45 minutes this late, and soon we were being hassled by the front desk clerk who wanted a bit of baksheesh in order to deliver SPG benefits.  UG!  Welcome to Egypt!  Eventually everything worked out, we got some dinner, a very very slightly upgraded room where the AC barely worked, and it was off to bed in order to maximize the next day!