Hello and welcome to another trip report! and, you've probably noticed I'm in my car
and not at an airport, which is where I usually do my introduction videos.
The fact is, I've had to re-record both the introduction
and closing scenes to this trip report because when I travelled, back at the end of May,
I made a complete hash of the opening and closing scenes by referring to the
place I was going as Riyadh.
I don't know why I did that, today's trip report you're flying with Saudi Arabian Airlines
from Rome to Jeddah, which is a completely different
city in Saudi Arabia.
Stay tuned to the end and you'll find out how much I paid for this ridiculously, ridiculously
cheap flight.
Roll the video.
And welcome to Rome's Fiumicino Airport, where we left off last time.
You might remember I came in on a connecting flight from Milan with Alitalia in economy
class.
Saudia use Terminal 3 here in Rome.
It's a fairly modern building, and handles most of the airport's long range and intercontinental
flights.
Check in opened three hours before departure.
There was a separate business class line, and after my bags were weighed, I was free
to leave, boarding pass in hand, to go airside.
The whole process took only a few minutes.
One thing I should let you know about flying Saudia that a lot of people might overlook
- they have a dress code.
Their website says you should dress in line with
public taste, but in practice this means no shorts for men, and shirts must have at least
a short sleeve.
Women should not bare legs or arms at all, and avoid tight or
revealing clothing.
It is a scorching day in Rome - definitely a shorts day, but I've chosen to wear comfortable
jogging trousers, even if they are a bit warm.
The departures area of Terminal 3 is almost entirely new.
It had to be rebuilt in 2015, after the previous building was gutted by a huge fire.
Now, it's a pleasant space, with high end shops, an airy feel,
and it's generally an improvement on the previous building.
Normally Saudia would use their alliance partner's lounge here, which would be Alitalia, but
this lounge is closed and there is a replacement arranged instead.
On the mezzanine level, as well as yet more nice shops, is today's lounge, the Plaza Premium
Lounge.
This lounge was excellent, from good food options, to self-serve
ice cream, to spotless shower suites, there was so much to say about this lounge I'll
review it in depth in a separate video.
I don't know about you guys, but a shower is the one facility in an airport I'd absolutely
die for.
What's your favourite airport facility?
Let me know in the comments below.
Our Airbus A320 aircraft is mostly hidden away - I hate it when you can't get a good
shot - but, before long it's time to board through the priority lane, which I can use
due to my business class ticket.
Don't forget you can follow me on other social media too, like Twitter and Instagram.
I live blog all my trips and run competitions on Instagram - it's a good way to
get a sneak peek at what sort of videos you can expect to see on YouTube in the months
ahead.
But for now, let's board our A320 to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Business Class is a significant step up from the normal European business class you'll
have seen before on my channel.
Seating is in a 2+2 configuration and all seats
are of the reclining armchair type.
This is my seat today, 3L, and that will be my home for the five hour trip into Jeddah.
I really like the subdued colour palette Saudia have used in this cabin - in my opinion the
cabin has a relaxing ambience.
There's also little competition for overhead bin space today.
As you'd expect, legroom in this mid haul configuration is outstanding, and it's actually
a struggle to touch the seat in front.
Our flight is around half full in business class today, and almost completely full in
economy.
I'm travelling during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which means
very variable passenger loads for airlines like Saudia.
A hot towel service is conducted on the ground, and the towels themselves are thick and substantial.
There's also a pre-flight drink offered, and I chose a smoothie.
I'm not actually sure what was in this smoothie but it was refreshing and quite different
to most pre-flight drinks I've had before.
Newspapers are also handed out.
This newspaper - the Arab News - actually runs a story on the new Jeddah airport.
It's really a new terminal, and was only handling a few domestic flights.
We'll be using the old terminal when we land in Jeddah.
An Islamic prayer plays during pushback in aid of a safe journey, but I didn't film this,
as some passengers were participating, and it doesn't seem right to film
things like that without permission.
Anyway, off we go.
Let's take a look at today's route as we head southeast towards Jeddah.
It's 2,087 miles, will take us 4 hours and 45 minutes, and we'll cruise at 36,000 feet
for most of the flight.
A smart menu is handed out in the climb, and there's a reasonable choice between Western
and Arabic dishes.
The drinks section does not include alcohol - Saudia is
a "dry" airline, which means no alcohol is served.
Let's have a quick look at the seat.
Here's the remote for the personal TV, which I'll show you a bit later.
There's a handy USB power point, and also one power
socket per seat - they worked without a problem.
There are overhead screens which display the route map.
The tray table is deployed from the armrest - you'll
notice in this shot that the seat control buttons here are manual switches.
The headphones are quite tatty and not from a top brand, but they were okay, I guess.
Service from the crew was professional and formal - both male and female cabin crew were
conspicuously well-presented, and nothing was too much trouble.
Onto the meal service.
The meal was presented neatly and everything looked very appetising.
The bread roll was warm and soft, the salad was fresh, and the Arabic meze
was pleasant, if a little oily.
The highlight was the pistachio crust lamb chop main.
Lamb is a risky meat to order onboard aircraft as the reheating facilities risk
drying the meat out, but I'm pleased to say this was spot on.
Saudia also served a great Arabic coffee onboard, and after that came dessert - a
chocolate and amarena cherry cake, which was also excellent.
I was very impressed with the food service and it more than compensated for no alcohol.
The business class toilet was kept clean throughout the flight, and there are designer toiletries
available.
It's soon time to test the recline of my seat.
The controls are easy enough to use, despite being manual, and there's a fold-out footrest.
The personal TV lives in the centre armrest, and is also released manually.
You can access content in English, French or Arabic, there's a moving map of course,
but there's also a wide range of TV and film choices - I do expect these
have been censored, with some deleted scenes, to accommodate Saudi sensibilities.
There's also a whole section of Islamic content, ranging from religious lectures to
readings of the Koran, but I decide that Spongebob Squarepants is more my sort of thing.
The bedding is decent quality and more than okay for this medium haul flight, and soon
we've hit landfall over North Africa, Egypt to be precise.
I've always found barren landscapes to be evocative and wonder
at the vastness of the desert.
Saudia's magazine showcases the Kingdom's vast future plans.
The country is opening up to outsiders and tourists, and I expect the national airline
to have a big role to play in that.
I can't let an in-flight magazine go without having a look at the route map.
Saudia operate a lot of flights to the Indian subcontinent and further into Asia, and here's
where I'm connecting through to - Jakarta, Indonesia.
The amenity kit is well-stocked with everything you would expect to find in one.
The bag is simple and was designed by German sports car manufacturer Porsche.
The best thing about any amenity kit is toothpaste.
Clean teeth will always leave you feeling more human once you land.
We start our descent over Aswan, Egypt, so I order one more coffee before service stops.
In the descent, cherry sweets were handed out, and the cabin lights were turned
up, but I really wish someone had handed out some manners to the person in the row behind me!
King Faisal Naval Base airfield is just visible as we approach Jeddah from the south, and
we're soon lined up on Runway 34R, where the local time is 9:55pm.
Overall, I was very pleased with this flight on Saudia.
I deliberately chose them because they seem to get wildly varying reviews, with some saying
they're the worst airline in existence to others claiming they're among the best.
In Britain, good hospitality wouldn't be the first thing to come to mind when
discussing Saudi Arabia.
It's always good to try new things, even ones you suspect you might not like, because sometimes
you'll be surprised.
Anyway, let me share with you the crazy fare I used.
This fare is a regular fare, and has been on sale for over nine months.
It also might just be the best value business class fare I've ever seen.
Rome to Jakarta on Saudia, connecting through Jeddah
(or Riyadh), comes in at around £430 one way.
But, you must book through to Jakarta, because only booking to Jeddah means you pay a lot
more money.
I have a wealth of knowledge on how to find deals like this and I'm working on a way of
sharing all my tips with you.
Watch this space!
And that's it for another trip report.
Thank you so much for coming with me on that particular journey between Rome and Jeddah
in Saudi Arabia.
Let me know what you think of the video, and let me know what you think
of Saudi Arabian Airlines in the comment section below.
Make sure you subscribe to see my next video with Saudi Arabian
Airlines, it'll be the next video I publish on this channel in fact, Jeddah to Jakarta
in their 777-300 business class, and I was on my own in business class on
that journey.
That's going to be a fantastic video.
If you subscribe you'll also get to see the rest of my round the world tour, and all of
the other great things that I've got planned for the coming year.
But until next time - see ya!