We’re giving you the FULL breakdown of the Egypt Air business class experience including a deep dive into the cuisine, comfort and costs. Listen to this before you decide if the upgrade is worth it for your Egypt Air flight.

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Egypt Air Business Class Review – Episode Transcript

0:35

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hey squaddies, The Travel Squad Podcast is back with Just the Tip, our Friday mini episode where we give you quick travel stories, hacks and recommendations to send you off into the weekend.

Right today you have me, Brittany and Jamal as your host.

0:52

And we’re going to give you our honest take on our Egypt Air business class experience that we use from flying from JFK, New York to Cairo, Egypt.

Yeah.

So we ended up booking a gate one trip, guided tour flights included.

We booked regular economy, but when we actually arrived at the airport at checkin, Egypt Air had signs advertising business class upgrades.

1:16

O Of course we inquired on that to see how much it would cost.

Now, I had actually been looking ahead of time before this trip to see if it’s something that we really wanted to do.

And I actually saw things online saying mixed reviews.

Because from New York JFK to Cairo, Egypt Air flies 2 planes.

1:37

They fly their 777 and their 787 and you’re going to get a completely different experience based off of which plane that you are actually on.

So the 787 is a more true international business class experience, fully live flat seats, more secluded enclosed cabins and a more appropriate layout of a one to one configuration in business class.

2:02

The 777 on the other hand is more like a domestic first class flight.

That’s everything that I saw online and it was seated in a 232.

And if you’re flying business class, you really don’t want to be middle and of course they have middle seats here.

So we had asked at check in which plane are they flying on.

2:20

They told us it was the 777, so not their best model business class that they have, but they told us the cost was $605 per person and we opted to just jump on it.

Yeah, We were kind of having a hard time making the decision because we really wanted to fly on the 787.

2:37

Fortunately all they had was a 777.

But we said, you know what, for the comfort factor, we might as well just do it.

And we asked them specifically if they had any window seats left so that we could sit in the two portion versus in the three person section so that neither of us had to sit middle or have anyone in between US and they were able to accommodate that.

2:58

So that was great.

At least we sat in row 11.

We were seats H&K, I sat next to the window and then Jamal was Isle.

We were the last row of the front business class cabin.

There were two cabins here, so Xena also upgraded and she was sitting in a further back section.

3:17

I think she was like row 14 or something.

So she was in a different cabin than us.

We did get seats set fully reclined, but they were technically not like flat, but the space was decent.

Definitely not as much or as spacious as the newer business class products and flights, but it was sufficient enough that I thought it was comfortable.

3:36

And I want to just kind of touch upon on what you’re saying when they lie flat but not technically fully lie flat.

So the seats do recline fully, so to speak.

But where it’s not truly a lie flat is that you do have a headrest of sorts that’s in that area.

3:54

And then more particularly at the foot section, when you are aligned flat, it doesn’t really go at 180° line that way.

The foot section has a tilt down because if you can imagine on a recline seat that doesn’t fully go flat, of course you have the foot rest that kind of extends out to give you that support.

4:15

And so when you get into the live flat, you still have that downward slope.

So when you’re in that full flat position, it does make it a little bit more awkward and not really full flat like the other business class model that they do have and a lot of other International Airlines do.

4:32

So let’s talk about getting onto the plane.

So we got on and we sat down in our seats and they came by with welcome drinks.

They offered us either orange juice or apple juice.

They don’t serve alcohol on this airlines because it’s a dry airline.

We also had an amenity kit already sitting on our seat and inside there were socks, earplugs and eye mask, lip balm, lotion, pen, a dental kit, a brush and a wet wipe.

4:57

I actually thought the amenity kit was great.

The socks were really comfortable.

Believe me, I used that the bomb, not necessarily on the flight, but when we were in Egypt I did use it and it came in handy.

So lots of good things in there and they were really a good quality I felt like.

5:12

And on top of that, what I really appreciated is they gave you pajamas as well.

And these pajamas, they were very loose fitting, but they were quite comfortable.

They also had probably one of the best blankets that we’ve ever had flying business class.

5:28

It was nice and thick.

It was soft and cozy.

If if I could steal an airplane blanket, this would be the one.

We were all talking about that, Zaina included, saying, Oh my gosh, like how plush this was.

And just spoiler alert, on the way back, we did not upgrade and we flew an economy and even the economy blanket was a lot more comfortable than a normal economy blanket on International Airlines.

5:50

So Egypt Air is doing something right here, and that is their blankets and their amenity kits and things that they give out, so to speak.

So we did really appreciate that.

There was also a standard airplane pillow.

Nothing special about this, but it was sufficient and there was a bottle of water waiting for us on our seat as well.

6:09

Now, I know I said that the pyjamas were comfortable and you would think on a flight that is 10 1/2 hours long and we could lay down, we would change into it.

But the reality is we did not because even in the business class cabin section, the bathroom was not very large.

6:26

Of course, on an airplane, you’re not really going to find large bathrooms in general, but a lot of times you will find them to be slightly larger in business class just a little bit.

But these ones were cramped and it was just kind of really a hassle to do it.

So we didn’t do that.

But of course, some other people took the liberty to do that.

6:43

We noticed several people changing into pyjamas, but I mentioned that they were comfortable because again, on this trip, later on, I packed them.

I took them with me.

I paid the 605 dollars.

I’m going to use my amenities that they gave.

I wore them in Egypt and they were comfy.

Yes, I also wore them them in Egypt after using the spa in our hotel in Cairo and they were super comfortable.

7:04

So I did appreciate that.

One thing I did notice is that they did not give us any extra linens or extra pillows for the flight.

It was about an 11 hour flight and this is different than some of our other flights with other business class flights that we’ve had in the past.

7:20

But when we were deboarding, I actually did notice that some seats had covers on them.

So I don’t know if they had to be requested or what was going on with that.

When it’s time for lights out and business class, a lot of airlines will offer turn down service where they’ll put your bed flat, put those sheets on.

7:37

But we didn’t have anything like that.

And of course we are still unsure if you had to ask for it because there was only a handful of people where we saw just covers but they didn’t really look like they were comfortable sheets even.

So let’s talk a little bit about the space that we had around our seat.

7:53

So we were sitting in the area where it was just two seats together and there was space underneath the seat in front of us.

There was also a spot to place our shoes.

There was coat check available as well.

So if you wore a jacket on the plane and you didn’t want it in the area and you didn’t want it to get wrinkled, you can ask them to put it in the coat check closet.

8:12

And there was overhead lights and a reading light and a USB port and electrical outlet.

Yeah, USB port, not USBC.

A lot of airlines now are having both options available.

Again, this one being on an older plane, older business line product.

It was only the USB.

8:28

Now one of the best things about flying business class, beyond the comfort of the seat and being able to lie down is the food and drinks that you get.

Now, as Brittany mentioned earlier, Egypt Air is a dry airline, so no alcohol.

All of their food is halal because we are flying to the Middle East.

8:46

But let’s talk about what we actually ate.

So we left out of JFK mid afternoon and when we got on board the first meal that they served us was like a lunch or dinner type meal liner like I like to call it and it was a three course meal.

9:02

So for starters, they had either marinated prawns and scallops, or a mezzi plate with hummus, tabouli and Baba ghanoush or a salad.

They did provide a menu that we can choose from and look at.

So I do like that elegance that they give like lots of other business class products where they do give you a menu and you can choose your food.

9:22

We even saw what was going to be served for breakfast.

So we could plan ahead with our options, see what drinks were available.

Coffee, whether it be espresso, Turkish coffee, sodas, juice, everything was available for us in the menu.

But like you said, Brittany, those were the starters and we both chose the mezze plate and got hummus, tabouli and Baba ghanoush.

9:43

So Xana was in a different cabin than us and they didn’t actually ask her what she wanted and so they ended up just giving her the marinated prawns and scallop dish.

Do you remember what she said about it?

I think she said it was OK.

She said it was small and in comparison to the Messe platter, I think she would have preferred that.

10:00

Yeah, I don’t remember if she saw the menu or not, but kind of to what you were saying.

Brittany, I want to touch upon this because we are going to highlight this later when we talk about the service.

You can see they didn’t offer her.

They just gave her something.

I don’t know if they just gave it to her because they were out of everything else or what the situation was, but as we get further along in this episode, we’re going to touch upon the service, which was a little bit spotty and unreliable.

10:24

For the main course, they had four different options.

The first one was beef cheeks with Rosemary, Juhu pureed celery root, spinach and cherry tomatoes.

The second option was a tandoori chicken with saffron rice.

The third option was salmon with risotto.

And the fourth option was a vegetarian option, which was a spinach ricotta ravioli.

10:42

I ended up getting the tandoori chicken and saffron.

Brittany got the beef cheek it with Rosemary Juhu.

We both decided that we were going to just split and try that way we could get the best of both worlds.

We didn’t do that on the starter because none of the other options on the starter really intrigued us and both of us must love Mezza.

11:00

But I will say this, the beef cheap with Rosemary, fantastic.

It was delicious.

The meat was tender, it had good sauce, good flavor.

My tandoori chicken was just OK.

Definitely better than an economy meal, but I would hope for more in business.

11:16

They also came around with bread and did a bread service and then for dessert the options were a cheese plate, a passion fruit panna cotta, a chocolate pastry or a fruit plate.

And what was really interesting, and this is when we really noticed kind of the inconsistency in the service because Anna didn’t tell us the situation about her appetizer until later, but they didn’t even come by and offer us dessert.

11:39

Brittany knew that we were supposed to have dessert because clearly it was in the menu.

We wanted dessert so it looked like they were wrapping up food service all together so Brittany hit the call button and had them come over and then we told them we wanted dessert and we got the passion fruit panna cotta and it was delicious.

11:56

Yeah, they really should offer that with their meal service, especially if it’s advertised on the menu.

So Zana never got dessert because they never offered it to her.

And so she didn’t realize that she could call and request it, or maybe didn’t want to request it, I’m not quite sure.

But she didn’t get dessert.

They also highlighted in the menu that there were movie treats and snacks.

12:14

So anytime time during the flight we can order from the options that they had.

They had popcorn, chips, mixed nuts, fresh fruit, savory snacks like a Turkey bacon wrap, not real bacon, Turkey bacon wrap, Brie and fig, mustard, brioche, soups and cookies.

12:32

We wanted to sleep though, between the dinner and the breakfast, and I didn’t end up watching any movies, so I didn’t end up trying any of these movie treats.

And I think the same for Jamal.

Yeah, I didn’t try any of them.

They did come by, or at least one of the shortises came by and asked me if I wanted anything, but I told them no because at that point in time I was really trying to sleep and didn’t want to eat and be more full.

12:54

And even before this flight, we were lounge hopping in the New York airport at JFK, so we were already filled with that.

So for breakfast they had juice, cheese, butter, jam and honey available.

They started with a fruit salad.

They had yogurt that was listed on the menu but we never received any of it.

13:12

They also had a bread basket in the morning as well.

And and then there were four options for the main entrees.

You could get Turkey, ham wrapped scrambled eggs with potatoes, mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes.

A mozzarella omelet with veal sausage, their version of Fool, which is made from fava beans or blueberry pancakes.

13:31

I ended up getting the fava beans, which again, Brittany used, called it fool, which is truly what you call it in the Middle East.

It’s a traditional bean breakfast and you have toppings on it with parsley, tomatoes, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and eat it with pita bread.

13:47

It’s actually quite delicious.

Maybe an acquired taste for some, but I grew up eating it and it was really good on the plane.

I was actually quite impressed with the quality that they had on there for that.

I also got the same dish and I really did like it and I’ve had traditional Middle Eastern fool before and I was happy.

14:03

So for beverages like we mentioned, they did have juice and mocktails, soft drinks, sparkling water, iced coffee and iced tea.

But for hot drinks you could do teas, lattes, Arabic coffee, cappuccinos, hot chocolate.

So they had very good options that you could have.

14:22

I love coffee in general.

I also love Arabic coffee so I did order Arabic coffee a couple times on the flight with meal service and sometimes outside of meal service.

And Jamal alluded to the fact that we flew economy on the way back.

So the meal service that we got in the business class flight was quite the upgrade from economy class, don’t you think, Jamal?

14:44

I absolutely think so.

Don’t want to be here and rag on an airline in general and really hammer it, but their economy experience is not good and their food back there was not the best.

I’ve definitely had a lot better economy meal so to say.

15:00

Their business class offerings are substantially better, that is 100% for sure.

So at least they have that going for them in their premium cabin.

Entertainment wise they did have a standard screen size, a decent selection on movies, but nothing that stood out to me.

15:15

I ended up reading on the flight and I didn’t watch anything, but there was enough that it could get you through the long haul flight if you wanted to watch something.

Yeah, you know, you’re talking about the screen standard size.

I just want to say too, I was actually quite impressed with how much space was between US and the next seats.

15:33

So the TV was definitely visible from how much space you had.

You didn’t really have to strain your eyes as we’re all getting older.

I don’t have the best eyes anymore but I did watch one thing on there and the screen is quite large and you do have adequate space between you and the seats in front.

15:50

So let’s talk about service.

We’ve already alluded to it already, but service was just OK.

I felt like they were rushed, especially during the meal service and they weren’t super attentive like I mentioned, like they didn’t offer dessert and we had a call for them.

And then when we did call, they weren’t like super over the top friendly.

16:07

It was probably the weakest business class service we’ve had.

So not terrible, but also.

That said though, when we press the call button they definitely responded in a timely manner and would get you everything you want.

Again, just inconsistencies in the service.

16:23

I felt like the stewardess that was an hour row wasn’t the best and I was looking to the next like aisle over and that stewardess seems to be more attentive, friendly, had a smile.

So I guess with anything, it always depends on who you get, but our stewardess was in our cabin was not the same one that Zana had in the other business class cabin.

16:45

And so again, matching inconsistencies all around, which I think is kind of a low point for them for their business class product.

Before we close up the episode, I do want to talk about sleep in the business class section a little bit.

Jamal had already mentioned we could lie flat, but these were not true life flat seats because the leg rest don’t come up 100% of the way to make you completely Even, so your legs do hang down a little.

17:09

I am short so I’m able to scoot pretty far up my seat and not be super affected by this, and I was able to clock in about four 4 1/2 hours of sleep.

You got more sleep than me because I actually only got an hour of sleep in the fully live flat.

17:25

I am not like you, Brittany.

I am taller.

So my feet were hanging in that area where they kind of like slump over.

So after a while that does start to become uncomfortable.

I actually found it for me to be more comfortable to not sit fully upright.

But you can also recline it in other positions and fully flat, lean your back, back, put your feet up.

17:46

And I found a nice comfy position that way and I got a little bit more nap sleep.

Not necessarily a good deep sleep that I would hope to have gotten, especially on a product where the seat is supposed to be super, super comfortable.

So that being said, on sleep as well, we did mention how the seats are in the 232 set up in business.

18:07

So if you are not fortunate enough to be in any one of the aisles, you will be in a situation where if somebody’s lying flat, you need to crawl over them, which is also kind of cumbersome.

So just imagine you’re in the middle in the three seats, you have people on either side of you lying flat out.

18:23

So it’s kind of like awkward to step over them.

You’re on the window, Brittany.

So if you wanted to get out and I was live flat, you would have to have step over me.

So really take into consideration if you’re flying as a couple alone, where you would sit if you’re flying on Egypt Airs 777 or any other business class product that is still in a 232 set up.

18:43

I know very few planes on Emirates Airline and their business class is still like that.

And everybody always talks about how they hate when they get that because of course, Emirates is a great product and most of their stuff is newly renovated.

So this is not just unique to Egypt Air, but really on older planes.

18:58

So be cautious when booking your seat if you know in advance you’re going to be buying a Business class ticket on A777 with Egypt Air.

But one thing I really did like when lights were off, because this was an overnight flight, was that in the business class section they did have like the illusion of a night sky with stars lit up.

19:18

And I thought that was a really nice touch.

I actually did appreciate that.

Yes, yes, if you’ve maybe seen online, and I mentioned Emirates earlier, lots of airlines do this now too in premium cabins, whether it be first class, business class.

But yeah, they gave the effects that there were actually stars on the ceiling of the plane.

19:37

So I did appreciate that.

It created a nice ambiance and they sure definitely do not have that in the back of an economy, as we discovered on our way back home.

So, final thoughts, It cost us $605 per person for the upgrade, and it was worth it for the extra space, better food, the pajamas, and comfort.

19:56

But if you’re expecting a luxury life flat private pod experience, this definitely is not it.

Yeah, For the price point, I really do feel like it was worth it.

Not the best business class experience we’ve had by far, but for sure way more comfortable than you will ever be.

20:13

This is just kind of really nitpicking then at at this point as we’re talking about the inconsistencies of the service, food, etcetera.

But you’re never really going to have a bad experience in business class if you’re really comparing it to how uncomfortable you would be in economies.

All in all, enjoyable, worth the price point.

20:30

If it was more expensive, I don’t think it would be worth it.

As a business class product, what would you rate this one to 10, Jamal?

Gosh, I would give it a 6.5.

I would give it higher if it was fully life flat, but I get it’s an older plane, they’ll maybe retrofit it in time, but for what it is, it’s still very, very comfortable.

20:50

Where I would say I really didn’t appreciate it.

I’m giving it a little bit lower is really the service aspect of me.

I mean, I don’t expect to be waited on like hand and foot, but it was just like the inconsistencies of not offering dessert or not asking a person what they want and just giving it to them without telling them maybe that we’re out of these items.

21:10

So this is all that’s left.

You know, my apologies, right.

So I would say service wise, I would hope for more.

Again, not bad, but you would expect that if you’re paying a premium to fly in a more upgraded.

Cap, one thing I will also say is when we did check in for this flight at the airport, they did know that this flight was going to be two hours delayed.

21:31

And they did give us a meal voucher and they gave $20.00 for people that were in economy and $30.00 for people that were in the business class section.

Right.

And that meal voucher, of course, was to be used in the terminal at the airport that exact day.

You couldn’t keep it, save it, do anything like that.

21:47

So we had some money to spend that we bought for snacks because again, we were in the lounge beforehand.

We knew we were going to eat food on the plane.

So we really didn’t want to get like food, but we brought snacks with us to Egypt and use those funds.

So that was actually a really nice touch that they did do that.

22:03

We also inquired about the price point of the business class seats on the way home from Cairo back to JFK, but they were a few $100 more and we in our heads already had a number in mind that we were willing to pay and it was above that number.

So we did not fly business class and unfortunately had to sit in economy.

22:21

Yeah.

And honestly, if they told us that price point and it was on the 787, I may have jumped on it, right.

Not that we have flown on Egypt’s AIRS 787, but I Googled it, saw the photos.

Everyone knows that it’s better if aviation is your thing and you’re, you know, doing your research on it, you would know that.

22:38

So I would have done it at that price point for a different business class product that they would offer, but for the same one on the 777200 more dollars than what we paid going per person 200.

And $50.

More so, it’d been 500 total more for both of us.

22:54

Didn’t really think it was worth it then at that point.

At that point, we just trooped it out in economy.

Well, Squatty’s, we actually have other reviews for other business class products that we’ve used with Singapore Airlines and KLM.

And we also have episodes reviewing some of our premium economy experiences as well with Cathay Pacific in Singapore Airlines so be sure to check those out.

And thanks for tuning in to Just The Tip!