My two trips to Egypt have entailed a considerable number of flights, 16 total, which equates to hours spent at airports. In this post, I will provide reviews on the airlines used during my 2018 trip and feedback on the various airports that I traversed on my journey.
NOTE Since I am really short, a height of 4' 11", I cannot provide feedback on the legroom, or lack thereof, found in airplanes.
NOTE Since I am really short, a height of 4' 11", I cannot provide feedback on the legroom, or lack thereof, found in airplanes.
AIRLINES
For my first trip to Egypt, I chose Delta Airlines since the flight was reasonably priced and the connection was in the US not Europe. The connection airport was important to me since the trip was my first major international journey and I was traveling solo. My trip originated at Miami International Airport (MIA), connected in JFK International Airport (JFK), and ended at Cairo International Airport (CAI). The decline in tourism after the 2012 Egyptian Revolution led Delta Airlines and other domestic carriers to stop offering direct flights to Egypt. This decline in tourism has also led to a decrease in overall flights to Egypt which means a limited choice of airlines, airports, and flight times.
For my first trip to Egypt, I chose Delta Airlines since the flight was reasonably priced and the connection was in the US not Europe. The connection airport was important to me since the trip was my first major international journey and I was traveling solo. My trip originated at Miami International Airport (MIA), connected in JFK International Airport (JFK), and ended at Cairo International Airport (CAI). The decline in tourism after the 2012 Egyptian Revolution led Delta Airlines and other domestic carriers to stop offering direct flights to Egypt. This decline in tourism has also led to a decrease in overall flights to Egypt which means a limited choice of airlines, airports, and flight times.
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| The approach to Cairo, airplane headrest TV monitor. |
Trip comparison in regards to flights:
2010
6 flights
5 airports (MIA, JFK, CAI, ASW, ABS)
2 airlines (Delta and Egypt Air)
2 continents (North America and Africa)
Shortest flight - 40 minutes
Longest flight - 11 hours 20 minutes
2018
10 flights
7 airports (GNV, MIA, FRA, CAI, LUX, ASW, ABS)
3 airlines (American Eagle, Lufthansa, EgyptAir)
3 continents (North America, Europe, Africa)
Shortest flight - 40 minutes
Longest flight - 10 hours 5 minutes
NOTE Airlines will be rated on three factors - customer service, timeliness of flights, and flight meals - with scores ranging from 1, very poor, to 10, excellent.
Lufthansa
Customer Service: 8
Timeliness of Flights: 6.5
I will start off with the food because I was amazed at the deliciousness of the meals!
The journey from Miami to Frankfurt started with your choice of beverage, I opted for coffee, and a bag of pretzels.
On the menu: Mixed salad with creamy Italian dressing, dinner roll, golden butter crackers (shaped like butterflies), a bar of Tillamook monterey-jack cheese, three cheese pasta with roasted red tomatoes, and a fudge brownie. The salad was fresh and crispy, bread was warm and melt in your mouth, pasta was creamy and cheesy, and the brownie was a little dry but still delicious. Only downside was that the pasta sauce was a tad heavy so I ate only half the tray but it was still good. This meal was a pleasant surprise, not what I expected to be served in economy during a flight.
Breakfast was just as delicious; an egg omelette topped with veggies and a side of potatoes. It was light and filling which is perfect for an early breakfast (it was served around 6:30 AM). For some reason I did not take a picture of the breakfast, maybe because I was partly asleep when I was eating it.
On the trip to Cairo from Frankfurt, I enjoyed one of the best meals I have ever eaten. The main dish was roasted potatoes in a light marinara sauce topped with a variety of roasted peppers and veggies. It was a simple dish but it was perfectly cooked and filled with flavor. The side salad was a mix of veggies and olives but I could barely eat it since the sauce was a bit too spicy for my taste. The dessert was some sort of yogurt with peaches; the yogurt wasn't too sweet and the peaches were great.
On the return trip to Frankfurt, I was once again served an omelette with veggies and potatoes for breakfast but this time, I was also given a croissant and side salad. The omelette was a bit dry but the potatoes and veggies were delicious as was the croissant. The omelette and croissant filled me up so I did not eat the salad. The picture came out dark because I didn't want to use flash, it was 4:00 AM and those around me were sleeping.
The first meal I was given on the Frankfurt to Miami route was the delicious potato dish. And fortunately, it was as great as it was the first time. The accompanying salad and dessert were also the same.
I had high hopes for my final Lufthansa meal; however, it was too spicy! The dish was a mix of rice, chickpeas (garbanzos), and veggies in a curry sauce. I was able to eat the portions of rice that were not covered with the sauce and it was good but the rest was just too hot for me. The accompanying fruit salad was cool and fresh.
Another positive aspect of Lufthansa is the customer service. The representatives at MIA, FRA, and CAI were all helpful and the flight attendants were very attentive. When there were flight delays, representatives from Lufthansa did their best to keep us updated on the situation and provided revised departure times.
The one thing I did not like about Lufthansa is that 3 of my 4 flights departed late. My flight to Frankfurt from Miami was delayed a little over an hour, the flight to Cairo was late by about 40 minutes, and the flight to Miami was also delayed by approximately 40 minutes. Fortunately, they weren't major delays but when you have connections every minute counts.
My flights between Miami and Frankfurt were on board the Airbus 380 which is an airplane with 2 decks. I highly recommend that if your flight is on the 380 that you try to reserve a seat on the top deck. The economy section on the upper deck is just 35 seats, the seats are configured 2-3-2 instead of 3-4-3 like the bottom section, and the window seats have additional storage space next to them. The economy section on the upper deck was also rather peaceful since there was only a small group of passengers and the area is separated from business and premium economy by a set of curtains.
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| My travel buddy Albert the Gator enjoying the bonus storage compartment. |
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| Lufthansa Airbus 380 |
Customer Service: 8
Timeliness of Flights: 5.5
For my recent trip to Egypt, Trafalgar used EgyptAir to travel between Cairo and Luxor instead of taking the overnight train which was the case on my 2010 tour with Contiki. And just like my previous trip, the optional tour to Abu Simbel included a flight from Aswan using EgyptAir.
One positive aspect of EgyptAir is the customer service. The gentlemen at the check-in counters were very helpful and tried to fulfill special requests such as my preference for window seats. Those working at the gate and the flight attendants were also attentive. Unfortunately, their punctuality is not as great with two flights experiencing unexplained delays. The most frustrating delay was for the flight to Abu Simbel; tours at Abu Simbel are approximately two hours long so the one hour delay cut our time at the site in half. This made me very upset especially since the optional excursion costs $293. We were never given an explanation for the delay nor were we informed on an estimated time of departure. The return flight to Cairo from Luxor was delayed by over an hour and again, there was no explanation.
The internal flights are rather short - about 60 minutes between Cairo and Luxor and about 40 minutes between Aswan and Abu Simbel - so EgyptAir does not provide meals but they do offer cookies and soda, water, or juice (apple, orange, and guava). Growing up in Miami and being Cuban, I very much love all things guava so I was excited when I was offered guava juice.
I want to support all things Egypt especially now that things have been rough for the country with the downturn in tourism. However, from my experience in January and what I have read on several travel sites, flight delays are not uncommon. EgyptAir does provide great customer service and their fleet seems to be well maintained and clean but on-time departures are important when it comes to pending connections and tours.
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| EgyptAir |
American Eagle
Customer Service: 8
Timeliness of Flights: 9
The area I live in does not have a major airport so I have to fly out of Gainesville Regional Airport (GNV) to connect to larger airports offering international flights. GNV only offers flights to Miami, Atlanta, and Charlotte via American Eagle and Delta and I frequently use the former to visit family in South Florida.
Similar to the internal flights from EgyptAir, meals are not provided since the journey is less than an hour. We are generally provided shortbread cookies or pretzels and water, soda, or juice. I am not a fan of the pretzels but I love the cookies. The best thing about American Eagle at GNV is the punctuality, I have only experienced a delay once and it was related to severe storms.
AIRPORTS
Airports are never fun - overpriced food, bright florescent lights, mile-long security lines, uncomfortable chairs, and screaming children. In January 2018, I had the joy of spending about 18 hours in 7 airports over 16 days. Those are the crazy things I do for my love of Egypt!
The airports I traversed during my 2018 journey were the following: GNV, MIA, FRA, CAI, LUX, ASW, and ABU. Below, I will provide feedback on check-in, security, and food options.
Check-In
I completed check-in at GNV and MIA alone; however, in Egypt, we had either our tour guide or a Trafalgar representative assist us with the process. Check-in at GNV is great since it is a small regional airport where crowds tend to be light and lines nonexistent. I checked-in at about 5:00 AM for my flight and there were no lines. Unfortunately, that was not the case at MIA where I waited about 30 minutes to check-in for my flight to Cairo. The Lufthansa check-in area is in Terminal J which wasn't too crowded on a Sunday afternoon but the line for my flight was crazy long despite having several representatives at the counters. Once it was my turn to check-in, the process took less than 5 minutes so I am not sure why the line was moving at a snails pace.
For the internal flights, our tour guide Tarek assisted the group with check-in at CAI and LUX with neither airport having much of a line at the counter. When the group had to check-in at ASW for the flight to Abu Simbel, we were assigned another Trafalgar tour guide which led to a crazy mess since he was not very prepared and did not have all of our boarding passes. Fortunately, the EgyptAir representative was very helpful and assisted my tour mates and I with the check-in process.
The check-in process with Lufthansa at CAI turned out to be the same experience as the one at MIA. When my tour mates Alicia, Charles, and I arrived to the Lufthansa check-in area, there were no representatives at the counters and we had to wait for about 15 minutes before they showed up. Then the check-in process took about 20 minutes and this was with the assistance of our awesome Trafalgar representative. While the airline representatives are helpful and the flight meals are delicious; Lufthansa is not very efficient when it comes to on-time departures or the check-in process.
Security
Security tends to be the biggest nightmare when traveling and nothing compares to the security at the airports in Egypt. At the 4 airports we traversed in Egypt, there were two security check points - one immediately upon entering the airport and then another at the gate - with the process taking a while since they were really thorough. Also, some lines were split by gender given the fact that the security officers basically patted everyone down after they passed the metal detector. Women are always assigned to a female officer so I really never had an issue with the extra security precautions.
My experience with security at GNV has generally been positive given that lines are very short and I generally do not have an issue with my carry-on luggage. Twice a TSA agent has taken a food item for additional inspection, first time it was a jar of key lime jam and the other was a mini key lime pie, but that process just took a few minutes. As for MIA, security tends to be pain because of the long, slow moving lines. Every time I go through security in Terminal D there is a considerable line and this past trip, on my return flight to GNV, the wait was almost an hour. Security in Terminal J was a better experience, shorter line and the agents were more efficient. I only had to wait about 10 minutes.
At FRA, my only issue with security was the lack of consistency with the process. One security check point required I just remove my shoes while another allowed me to keep my shoes on but take out my camera, Kindle, and chargers and yet another required I take off my shoes, remove my jacket, and basically empty out my carry-on bag. It was very confusing and frustrating especially during a flight connection. Other than that, the security lines at FRA were not that long and they moved rather quickly.
Food Options
Finding affordable food options at an airport is always a challenge especially in smaller airports like GNV which has only one restaurant and one store selling some food items. The restaurant does have good food but it is rather pricey given the quantity you receive. I purchased a small plain coffee and a yogurt and fruit parfait for $6.70; the coffee was decent and the yogurt was filling but too sweet for my taste.
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| Albert enjoying his coffee at 5:00 AM. |
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| Feta, cucumber, red peppers, red onions, lettuce, tomato & Mediterranean dressing |
I didn't spend much time at CAI, LUX, ASW, or ABU to explore the terminals but on the walk to the gates I did notice several eateries and stores selling food items. At ASW, during our one hour delay, I stopped by a grab-n-go store where I paid 10 Egyptian Pounds (approximately $0.57 as of April 22, 2018) for a pack of shortbread crackers and a packet of peanuts. The crackers were really good!
It is clear you paid attention during your travels. I would feel well prepared for what I could expect if I were to travel on any of these carriers.
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