karawara88

Anyone ever flown Brunei Airways, good? bad? indifferent?

Have noticed they are offering good business class flights.

Have flown

Malaysian should have walked.

Singapore Excellent

Cathay Pacific OK

Loopy

What was wrong with Malaysian? Dare I ask?

karawara88

Malaysian were Ok but there business class was appaling, this is going back three years and so much can change in that time.

I can only comment on business as I have only travelled economy on Cathay Pacific which was a very good service.

Singapore are just an excellent service all round.

Brunei are offering business class to Perth for about £900 around the dates I want to go.

dotty

The perception from Aus is Brunei are cheaper but they go on a bit of a milk run, you know the long way round. However they often offer kids seats up to the age of 17 instead of 11 which is great. Also availablity on the cheaper seats seems to be limited and sells out quickly so perhaps one you need to book early.

Business class on Singapore airlines was brilliant, but I think from here its about $7000 a ticket.

karawara88

Thanks Dotty,

Think you could be right about cheap seats being limited. Its a bugger because, do I book them and hope exchange of contracts goes as planned or leave it and risk having to pay a bit more.

I do know that I would never fly economy again, its too far to be cramped in such a small space.

Englishmum

I used to live in Singapore and have flown Singapore Airlines in business & economy class, and also for Malaysian Airlines. I've only flown Royal Brunei in economy class (both to London and to Brisbane from Singapore).

I last flew Malaysian in July 2000 on a code-share flight and chose it in preference to Singapore Airlines & British Airways business class: I had it ticketed under Virgin Atlantic as we were moving from Singapore to New York; I wanted to stop off and visit family in Coventry for a couple of days, so had the complimentary limo service which Virgin provides. The plane on the KL-LHR route was brand new and the service was superlative; certainly on a par with the service with SIA. Maybe you were just unlucky on your last trip with MAS?

Royal Brunei only has the 767's which don't have the long range of the 747's. You will definitely have some stop-offs at that price! Almost certainly to Dubai with a 2 hour stopover and possibly even a stop-off in Singapore for about an hour. You will then have to change planes at Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei, which is just a rural backwater. There is *nothing* to do at the airport there and their duty free shop is a tiny little corner shop with very old stock! I can't remember seeing any Club lounges as the airport is so tiny - pehaps they did but I doubt they're anything special unlike at Changi airport. Take a good book to read! As I didn't travel in business class I have no idea what the service is like (they did have gold-plated seat buckles(!) in First though. You will get a limited choice of videos, nowhere near a variety compared to most other airlines.

Beware....it's a muslim airline (owned by the Sultan) and it is *dry* ie. *no alcohol*! (but they sell it in their duty free shop for export!!!). Also you will hear a prayer to Allah before each takeoff and will see the direction of Mecca during the flight.

Only you can decide if it's worth it at that price for the extra leg space. I didn't mind as I had extra money for other trips in SE Asia by flying cheap.

karawara88

Thanks Englishmum,

I don't like the sound of all the stop overs, did somthing similiar to Vegas recently and it took 22 hours from Manchester.

The only reason I do business class is because I am 6'3 and have damaged a disc in my back so flying economy is a nightmare, especially as I can guarentee I will get "Mr seat back and forward the whole flight" in front of me. And "Mrs knees in the back" behind me.

I will definatley check the flight details. Also never thought about it being muslim and therefore dry.

dotty

Speaking of Torture in economy class, has anyone ever tried, British Airways World Traveller, where you get a business type seat but economy service? Sounds like its about 35% more of the airfare but I'd gladly pay that not to have to suffer. Oz to London is a long long way economy is hell.

Vicky88

Dotty, I think you might be talking about World Traveller Plus, which is the class between economy and club. I have done it a couple of times and have to say it is a million times better than economy. A lot more personal space. Meals are the same as economy but I think most of us would agree it's the legroom which is important. If you can get the front row by the window it is great as there is oodles of room. I refuse to fly economy anymore, and WTP is certainly a good option.

Vicky88

Forgot to add that while the seat in WTP is bigger than Economy it is not equal to that of Business Class.

Pollyana

Have just flown to Brisbane and back to UK with Malaysian - couldn't fault them at all (and this was in Economy Class!). Food good and hot, good seat pitch, most attentive staff I've come across. At least every hour during the flight they offered orange juice and water, and often beer as well, plus quickly fetching anything you wanted inbetween times.
Also they have a 30kg baggage allowance in Econony.
They do show the direction of Mecca on seat-back maps, but no prayers. Stops in Kuala Lumpur on the way - not a bad airport for a couple of hours, friendly bars and reasonable shops.
Maybe I had an exceptionally good crew, but I shall certainly fly them again next time.
Pollyana