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Rating : 1.0 [very poor] to 5.0 [excellent] |
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Royal Brunei Airlines review - by S McGee
9 October 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

Just flown Perth to Heathrow - first flight I had no complaints, food good and service and
entertainment system. Got to Brunei and changed planes and very disappointed no entertainment from
Brunei to Heathrow - not only myself but half the plane. Flying with my son of 12 so wasn't happy.
Entertainment makes the long journey slightly easier and this was just awful so even though cheaper )
wouldn't do again - I would pay extra. Dreading flight back home. Also people who had bought duty free
booze in Perth it was taken of you in Brunei.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by T Sweetman
9 October 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

Economy class Perth to London (stopped Brunei). We had a terrific flight!! Only one leg where one of
the screens only had the tv programs running, no movies. Had minimal waiting times in transit,
basically hopped off plane, walked to transit lounge and used toilet facilities etc, walked around
small shops and then had to board ongoing flight. Food was great, and heaps of it, also staff often
walking about offering juice or water. The planes were full all legs. Considering the money we saved
by using Royal Brunei, we would use again. Hopefully we will have the same good experience on our
return to Australia - fingers crossed!
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by F McCallum
5 October 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

I booked an economy return flight to Darwin from Heathrow with a weeks stop over in Brunei. The
outward leg from Heathrow had only about 30 passengers at the departure gate and they simply cancelled
the flight. They offered me a flight with Malaysia Airlines to Kuala Lumpur I accepted and I had a
lovely flight and spent a week in Malaysia. It took Royal Brunei 36 hours to get my bags to me even
though they had 4 hours at Heathrow to transfer to Malaysia Airlines. I got to Brunei under my own
steam using Air Asia since Royal Brunei abandoned me when I reached KL. Royal Brunei check in staff
tried to refuse me boarding on the Brunei to Darwin leg on the basis that I had voided the onward legs
by not taking the original flight to Brunei even though they had put me on the Malaysia Airlines
flight. On getting on the plane it was virtually empty and I had three seats to myself and slept the
whole way. The flight back to Brunei was also almost empty and I slept across three seats. The flights
from Brunei to London via Dubai was average although the transfer at Dubai was chaotic again due to
Royal Brunei staff virtually abandoning transfer passengers. Other airlines had staff escorting
transfer passengers. On balance the planes are old but clean, seats old but comfortable, food is
reasonable. The cabin staff are good but the second you step off the plane during transfers you are
somebody elses problem. The company itself is chaotic. If you have loads of time and dont stress
easily they will get you to your destination. Bottom line I got all the flights for a week in Malaysia
and a week in Australia for £620.00 I am on balance happy but must caution anybody with expectations
of a timely, organised flight to use another carrier. If you are adventurous and adaptive in my case
having a week in Malaysia rather than Brunei then this very good value.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by M Draper
23 September 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-Dubai-BWN Business class We arrived from an overnight flight from Washington DC hoping to
connect to Royal Brunei. The lounge at Heathrow is run by SAS and quite nice. We were
boarded about an hour late at 10:50am. Rolled out to the tarmac, and waited and waited. Mechanical
problem. About 2 hours later, we came back to the terminal. We returned to the lounge, with the
idea that we would reboard at about 2:30. Instead we were give a meal voucher. Finally at 4:30,
the flight was cancelled, and chaos ensued. Royal Brunei only has three ground staff at Heathrow,
so trying to just get information about what to do was very trying. To make a long story short, we
finally got to the hotel at 8pm. We left the following morning. The cabin was very worn, but the
inflight entertainment worked and the food was fine. Would I fly it again? Only if I needed to get
to Brunei again, but even then I would probably consider getting to Singapore on Singapore Airlines
and only taking Royal Brunei from there.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by D Spencer
23 September 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-DRW Business class. Still using a rather tired old 767 to Brunei and Airbus 320 to Darwin. All
sectors outbound and return were more or less on time. In fact at both Dubai and Heathrow on the
return we arrived early but then had to keep circling to await our landing slot. Food adequate rather
than exceptional and we found being on the last row of business class, we had our orders taken after
everyone else and by then some items had run out. Our seating position, also meant we had to step
across others in the middle of the plane to reach the single business class toilet, which incidentally
sometimes ran out of loo roll. Its suggested that you can dine at anytime you like during the flight
but the feeling we got was that they preferred to serve everyone at the same time. Had heard horror
stories about the IFE never working but have to say apart from 30 mins after taking off from LHR when
it was unavailable, there were no further problems. However after a few hours on each sector, the in-
flight map charting the plane's progress started flickering and was never re-set. Most of the staff
friendly but on the Darwin-Brunei leg when we had only 13 passengers on board in total, the chief
steward chose to spend most of the time sat down at the back of business class coughing and sneezing.
We've used Brunei before and probably would again as their business class is more affordable but
there's certainly room for improvement. Also believe there is little benefit in flying the Darwin-
Brunei sector in business class.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by J Davis
18 September 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

Heathrow to Darwin Business Class. Thank goodness for Business Class Lounge to avoid crowds at
Heathrow! All connecting flights were on time. Staff friendly and courteous, especially on the first
London-Dubai leg. Cabin dreary. Anyone who thinks it should all be in grey is in serious need of a bit
of livening up! I thought the food was pretty good although it is not a mix of Asian and European as
described. It was pretty European including scones and jam!! The really bad part however was the
dreadful aircraft from Brunei to Darwin. Shabby, worn out and the worst cabin staff who disapeared
shortly after take off and did not emerge until we were nearing landing. I noticed there were only
about 40 people travelling in Economy and they were all able to stretch out whereas our seats hardly
inclined at all and we got no extra benefits. If I do it again I shall stop off for a day or two in
Brunei and continue that leg in Economy. It will work out cheaper and a better use of my money!
Return trip much the same.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by G McDonald
6 September 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-DXB-BWN. Check-in a joke in London T3 and had the same problems with the entertainment system on
board the plane, with stops and breaks. Plenty of room on outboard flight which meant that I could
change seats. Cabin staff friendly and helpful, but working under bad conditions.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Trish McKinnon
28 August 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

Sydney to London via Brunei. A smooth and efficient service. All flights on time, or nearly ; food
generally fine, with a couple of outstanding offerings. Seats and overall condition of the planes (two
different 767s for the trip) was quite satisfactory. And the in-flight entertainment worked for both
of us all the way!
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by G Trainor
15 August 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

AKL to LHR with transfer at Brunei. Both old, weary 767s with overhead screens. One set of headphone
jacks didn't work and my daughter's seat cushion kept sliding forward so arranged a seat change at
Brunei to the front of a row. Again, only one headphone jack worked. Return was later model planes
with personal TV, except they couldn't show movies, just the same looping tv 'entertainment' channel
(low-grade Hollywood celebrity pap & RBA promotional videos) as the out-bound journey. 25 hours in the
air without a single movie to help pass the time! How RBA have the cheek to put a copy of their movie
schedule in the seat pocket amazes me when, having read comments below, this is clearly a frequent
occurrence. In short, RBA - never again!
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Greg Carpenter
10 August 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

Return SIN-BWN-LHR economy class. I booked Royal Brunei because of its 4-star rating and competitive
price, but my expectations were not met. While service and food were good, the Boeing 767 seats were
the most uncomfortable I have experienced in a long time. The aisle seats had very limited legroom,
because there was some sort of plastic box under the seat in front, which meant I had to compete with
my neighbour in the window seat for space. Also, the headrests were not in good shape and would slide
down all the time (I 'fixed' the problem by stuffing something between the headrest and the back of the seat).
Inflight entertainment was OK, although as always the personal screens were installed at such an angle
that the contrast was bad (typical problem if you are tall and squeezed into an economy class seat).
It seemed to me that the plane was not up to the standard of a long-distance (10hr+) flight.
To summarize, the whole flight from London to Singapore felt like three consecutive budget airline flights.
It's impossible to catch any sleep on any of the three legs of the trip, so I arrived tired. At least I
learned that next time I will definitely book a direct flight. Oh, and I will avoid Heathrow - the
new '1 piece of hand luggage' rule means that, even if you have two tiny pieces of hand luggage
(laptop bag and documents bag) you will have to try to stuff one into the other: absolutely
ludicrous.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Edmund Carew
9 August 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

Singapore to Brunei, with a tired 767 Brunei to leg after a five hour stopover. The first flight was
on time; the second was 20 minutes late into Sydney. While the airline staff were pleasant enough,
the 767 was dated, with tatty carpet in places and an inedible croissant breakfast served on the
Sydney leg. When boarding the Sydney leg, airport staff confiscated all duty free even though this
was all purchased in SIN, DXB and so on. Of the 15 to 20 passengers affected, nearly all argued with
the airport police and other staff, who refused point blank to hand back the duty free and who claimed
that the bottles would be broken. The airport staff also refused to place the duty free together in
the hold, suitably wrapped to prevent smashing of glass bottles. Some passengers had their own
theories: either lovely private parties in this Islamic state, or a lucrative trade in on-selling
litre bottles of spirits. After arrival in Sydney, I spoke with the crew, one of whom confirmed that
there was trouble with some of the airport staff but that there was no memo suggesting that duty free
would be confiscated at the boarding gate. If this scam affects you, write to RBA and request
compensation.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Mark Welker
3 August 2007 Customer Trip Rating :

Beginning of July 2007 my partner and I boarded the RBA plane off to London, with the familiar
stopover in Brunei, and stop in Dubai. I quickly noticed that nothing had changed since 2000, meaning
it seemed to be the exact same plane I flew in 2000, with same 80s decor, temperamental headphone
jacks, tired seats and grubby seat covers. In 7 years even the overhead TV screens don't seem to have
been updated. We change in Brunei and get a slightly newer plane with PTV screens. Super, if only my
screen actually worked - it didn't, and with no spare seats I had to ride out the 15 hour trip with no
entertainment at all. Several other people around me experienced the same thing. My partners screen
worked, so I watched her movies in silence (only one set of headphones can jack in) and then 6 hours
before touching down in London, her screen stopped working. Things got worse on the return flight - my
headphone outputs don't work, and touching down in Dubai at 3am for 1hr stop we are informed that due
to operational issues the flight won't be leaving again till 1.30pm in the afternoon. A 10hr wait.
We are filed off the plane, with no information about what is about to happen, but assured by the
staff that our connecting flights from Brunei to Australia are aware of this delay and will be waiting
for us. "They will not leave without you" was the exact phrase. Many people get told different
stories, and we go from line to line, checking boarding passes numerous times until all of a sudden we
are going through immigration and they take our passports off us altogether (without explaining why)
and give us a small tab of a boarding card with a number on it to identify us. We are taken to a
hotel for the day (it's 6am by this stage). The hotel is good, but while we are all ushered there in
a bus, people at the back of the line are eventually told that there are in fact no rooms available.
Eventually arrive Brunei at 3.30am. To our surprise there's no announcement as we touch down about
connecting flights. We get to the transit lounge and there's is no one to meet us. Staff seem
ignorant to our Dubai delay and explain to us in a patronising way that our plane left 10 hours ago.
When asked when the next flight to Perth is they say 5pm that day, but the flight is full and we're
told the next flight is 2 days later. The staff, management, airport security want nothing to do with
us, but as there are 60 of us we refuse to leave the counter until they come up with an acceptable
solution that doesn't involve us waiting almost three days for our flight home. Miraculously after
about 4 hours of this, all 60 of us are put onto the very next flights to Australia leaving that day,
with 33 of us put on the supposedly full flight to Perth at 5pm that afternoon. The most disappointing
facet of this trip was not delays, as you come to expect some delays in airports, but the lack of
communication and compassion for customers. Many passengers had children travelling with them but
throughout the whole 40 hour transit, we never had access to anything but hand luggage. The strength
of an airline is in it's ability to deal with you when things go wrong. I would never fly them again,
and would advise anyone else to avoid them at all costs. Many would have been like me, and had never
had any problems with the airline before, to those people I would say either wait and see, or play it
safe and avoid.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Susan Frampton
23 July 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
We were travelling Brisbane to Brunei, with a stop over for 3 nights and
then on to London, Business Class for the entire journey, back to
Brisbane 6 weeks later. The saga started the night before we were
leaving when we had a message on our answer machine telling us our Royal
Brunei trip would not be leaving as scheduled at 11.30 am next day , but
at 2.30 am the following morning! Who wants to start a holiday in the
middle of the night? How are you supposed to get to an airport at that
time anyway. No help was offered on that problem and no compensation
offered for the pre paid night at the 6 star Empire Hotel . Well the
plane did leave at 2.30 am and a tired old plane it was, no individual
TV or anything up to date but the old 1st class seats were roomy and
comfortable. The second leg of the journey was good with sky dreamer
seats and our own TVs all the way to London. Coming back was another
story. The first leg from Heathrow to Dubai we were back to the old 1st
class seats, no individual TV screens, food was pretty poor the entire
trip and not a single seat spare. Little did we realise worse was to
come. We overnighted in Dubai and when we went to check in next day
there was no business class queue to check in at. Only one Royal Brunei
employee was trying to check all passengers and an Arab with 15
passports and hundreds of suitcases managed to push his way to the
front of the queue. After an hour of this charade we discovered Business
Class could check in at a totally different desk at the airport for
Business Class for all airlines. There has to be a 1st for everything!
When we got on the plane an old 767, we were dismayed to find our seats
were the same as economy class, all they had done was remove 1 row of
seats to give a little more leg room. My seat was broken, the footrest
did not come up. This was the plane we had all the way back to
Australia, no individual TV screens, not even screens for those sitting
on the sides. The food was pretty tragic too, who wants red onion in a
breadroll on a flight? We will never fly with this airline again and I
can assure you that all of us on that flight thought the same. I felt
sorry for staff who were lovely, friendly people who were doing their
best under very trying circumstances. I forgot to mention I changed
seats after a row at Brunei from 11a to 9a and that seat was broken too,
only this time we had less leg room as we were front row on the side and
could not even see the TV screen. We've had more leg room in economy on
other airlines. Don't travel with this airline, pay a bit more and get
some value for your money.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by E Wallace
4 July 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
SYD-LHR Return in Economy. The flight over was acceptable, we did
encounter a few problems with our TV but we were so tired we didn't
realy care. The return flight was terrible, Our TV wasn't working on the
first leg between LHR-Brunei. Although cabin crew attemped to fix it,
when this failed we were offered no compensation e.g changing seats.
Brunei to SYD we got one of the '"old" planes. poor inflight
entertainment and a hard lumpy seat, i was not at all impressed. Other
than that the trip was OK, the food wasn't that great and airport
security at Brunei seemed a bit excessive. Cabin crew were polite and
helpful.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by N Dalton
14 June 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
We have never been so disappointed with an airline as Royal Brunei.
The retrofit is retro-bucket, half the time the IFE wouldn't work, it
took me 4 hours to watch a 90 min movie as the crew had to re-set the
movie 3 times. The seats are shabby and unclean. Brunei to Brisbane was
an old plane. If you advertise the "new sleeper cell" then get rid of
the old buckets. I cannot see me flying with them again, I don't care
how much money you save.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Bill Plan
22 May 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
Economy class from Sydney to Heathrow and have no major complaints.
The food was good, exceeding expectations, hot food was hot and it was
sufficient. The seats for economy were as good as Qantas and service was
attentive. It was very good value. We did a tour in Brunei each way,
Bandar Splendour on way out which was excellent and minimised jet lag as
it fitted in with our sleeping times. On the way back we did the
countryside tour and it was good but it was in the afternoon of a 12
hour stay in Brunei and we were tired by the time we started it. The
down sides of the trip were the 12 hour gap in Brunei, too long with a
6.5hr time to Sydney they should fly out the same day to meet the night
curfew. Our opinion on this may be coloured by the fact that we were
diverted because of fog to Brisbane and instead of getting off at 6.00am
we finally got off at 11.00am. During this time the communication was
abysmal from the staff ranging from incorrect to completely absent. They
also did not cater for breakfast so we had virtually nothing to eat in
the morning. I appreciate the diversion was not Royal Brunei's fault but
they need to tell their passengers what is going on. The other down side
is that they always seem to delay takeoff for late arriving passengers
and this is inconsiderate for those on the plane on time.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Jerome Pearce
20 May 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
We fly Royal Brunei Business class every year from Sydney to London and
back. We started by getting a good deal, and now we fly because it is
the cheapest business class we can find. We find everything is fine. The
only complaint is sometimes the IFE does not work (maybe 1 in 6
journeys) but that is not uncommon. Food is good, service is fine,
although we find the male staff better then the female. Brunei is a bit
boring unless you take a tour, but all transglobe flights will
inevitable have a few hours delay, and we eat and sleep there in the
lounge. I kind of miss the 2 flight journey of JAL (and the free stop-
over in the hotel), but the 3 leg journey at least keeps you moving
about. Sitting in one chair for 12 hours has got to be bad, however
comfortable it may be. All in all we must have been lucky the last 3
years as we have always had the retro-fitted planes (sometimes a bit
shabby, but it is ex-first class). We have never had a delay, and never
been down-graded (I would just bitch and threaten till I got what I paid
for, but as we are Silver members of their miles club, I suspect it
would not happen).All in all we are very pleased, and will continue to
use them unless we get significant problems. The price is not too bad,
too and there are often cheap deals.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by W Moore
10 May 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
Darwin to London with Brunei and a poor experience. We had 8 hours in
Brunei so took a city tour, only to get back to the airport and there
was a 5 hour or so delay on our flight - the last thing you need on a
journey that was already scheduled to take about 34 hours. This meant
that we would miss our connecting flight out of London (not booked with
Brunei). I spoke to the staff at the airport and the best they could
offer was letting me use their phone to call ahead. Most helpful. When
we got to London we had to then go and spend another $800 getting
flights to the north. Coming back, we settled down to watch a film,
only for the screen to stutter and go off after about an hour - both our
screens that is. We called the cabin crew and they said they would reset
it for us and we should wait 15 minutes. 15 minutes later, we start
watching and it crashes after about 5 minutes. This routine is repeated
a couple of times before we ask to change seats. However, due to the
ridiculous seat allocation system, there were no empty seats. The plane
was either a 2-3-2 or 2-4-2 configuration - can't remember but it's not
important. We (a couple) had been allocated 2 seats on our own and
single travellers had been given the 3 or 4 seats to themselves in the
middle. On such a long flight, they did what we would all do and
stretched out to sleep. Hence a flight with probably 40 passengers less
than capacity had no spare seats. This kind of attitude to those of us
who have no choice but to fly cattle class is unacceptable.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by M Bown
8 May 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
LHR to Brunei via Dubai in business class. We couldn't fault the
service. The new retro fitted business class cabin was excellent along
with the food. Cabin staff very friendly and professional. We were on
board for approx 16 hours in total and we had working IFE systems all
the way without fault. Would fly Royal Brunei again.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Charles Lacey
5 May 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
BWN-LHR-BWN in Economy. Over the last 2 years I have flown this route 8
times in Economy and once in Business class. There has been a marked and
steady deterioration in standards of timekeeping, reliability and
service. I cannot understand a supposedly reputable airline still using
planes with no seat back inflight entertainment on a 16 hr flight. Even
on the planes that do have seat back screens, the inflight entertainment
rarely functions properly. In March I flew this route, and sat in seat
32A. Predictably the screen would not function, and neither would the
screen next to me. I personally was not too worried, but my neighbour
was and asked to be moved. This was not possible, presumably because
there were so many other screens not working. 9 days later, I flew back
from London to Bandar, and by chance I was in the same seat. Again both
screens were not working. I feel sorry for the cabin crew who have to
deal with the constant complaints about the in flight entertainment, and
it is obvious that they are becoming inured to the problem, since now
they generally don't bother to pretend that the problems are solvable.
In addition to the in flight entertainment problems, this route is
subject to frequent delays, usually due to mechanical faults. Out of the
8 flights I have experienced a 4 hr delay at Bandar, due to a problem
with the in flight catering equipment, a 4hr delay at Dubai due to
problems with the flaps, a 2hr delay in Dubai as a new starter was
fitted to one engine, during which time we had to remain in the plane,
and a 3 hr delay at Heathrow for an unspecified reason. The flight has
not yet arrived in Heathrow on time and Bandar only once. In addition to
the grumbles above, I am now on the receiving end of the most incredible
piece of daylight robbery I have ever encountered. I booked four return
flights from Hong Kong to Bandar for my family, who were coming to visit
me in April, and were travelling via Hong Kong. Unfortunately the flight
from London to Hong Kong was delayed, and it was obvious that my family
would not make the connection. I went to the RBA head office to inform
RBA of this and try and arrange an alternative flight on the next day. I
was told this would be expensive, which I expected, and then informed
that all the flights from Hong Kong to Bandar were full for the next
week. Obviously I had to make alternative arrangements, which I did by
booking one way tickets on Singapore Airlines. When my family came to
use the return leg of their tickets to Hong Kong, RBA refused to honour
the return leg because the first leg had not been taken. They would only
let my family board once they had purchased new tickets to Hong Kong,
thereby forcing me to pay twice for the same flight. Despite my
protestations to the management, and their written admission that this
should have been pointed out to me when I was in their offices advising
them of an imminent no show, they have refused to refund me in any way.
Please hurry up Air Asia and get those nice new airbus planes, and then
I won't have to use this mickey mouse airline any more.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Olaf Handrick
28 April 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
On suggestion of my travel agent I used Royal Brunei Airlines for my
flight to Bali. It was marketed as the cheaper option in economy for
getting from Auckland to Bali, with one stopover each way in Brunei.
Flying out from Auckland, Royal Brunei used a plane with the interior
reminiscent of distress look and very few entertainment screens. However
inflight staff very attentive and friendly and good food choices. In
Brunei no provision for transport from Airport to Hotel and return. Taxi
costs (50$). On the return trip the same, no possibility to check
laguage through to Auckland and 50$ taxi fare. In summary this airline
provides not a good value for money and the customer service on the
ground need some modification. I probably would not fly again with this
airline.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Ann Burrows
28 April 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
Heathrow to Brisbane, Business Class return. The positives outweighed
the negatives. Patient, willing service on all legs of the journey with
good food served. On the outward journey seats were the fully reclining
type, which made for comfort and some sleep, and individual screens
worked. My travelling companion required wheelchair assistance at each
airport and it was always ready. The only negatives on the outward trip
was a delay of approximately two hours at Dubai. Whilst accepting that
this was unavoidable, I cannot understand why no information was given.
A short announcement that there was a technical problem that might take
a couple of hours to fix would have made all the difference. Instead we
were left wondering what was going on and not knowing if there was even
time to pop to the toilet. At such times everyone gets restless, tense
and ill tempered. The return started badly because we learned at
Brisbane that the plane was cancelled that day. Obviously this was a
blow, but I was very impressed by the efforts of the staff at Brisbane
who organised solutions. We were informed at each point what was
happening and were transported to overnight accommodation, with the
promise of a seat the following day. This was confirmed to our hotel and
the return journey passed without problems. We had the older aircraft -
seats not as comfortable as the full recliners, there was nothing really
lacking in service or enjoyment. In Dubai we experience the personal
touch when the attendant organising the wheelchair recognised us from
the outward trip and asked if we had enjoyed the birthday party for my
brother! I consider we had good value for money and would use the
airline again. If the negative items were given attention I would give
an excellent rating.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by K McMahon
27 April 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
Business class from Heathrow to Perth stopping at Dubai (which we didn't
know about) and Brunei. Heathrow to Brunei was in retro fitted cabins
and they were fine,. IFE was good with a good collection of CDs. Brunei
to Perth was OK but it was slightly old fashioned with no individual
IFE. Food was OK, nothing special, and we had brought our own wine thank
goodness. Returning we flew from Sydney to Brunei in retro fitted
aircraft. It was fine. Unfortunately the schedule included an 8 hour
wait in Brunei. That was purgatory. Brunei airport is not conducive to
an 8 hour wait because there is simply nothing there. However it got
worse. The aircraft from Brunei to Heathrow was the oldest I have ever
seen. The business flight cabin was frankly a disgrace. The seats were
old worn and tatty. There was no personal IFE and the food was passable.
It was, at best, the equivalent of a BA economy-plus cabin - but not as
smart! You get what you pay for and the prices are reasonably
competitive. My advice though would be to shop around and if you can
find something that is only slightly dearer then take it.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Johnny Law
27 April 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
RBA Brisbane-Brunei-Kuala Lumpur and for the price it is acceptable. The
food is above average and servings rather good. The entertainment is ok.
I flew in one of the old 767 aircraft that meant that TV screens are
still not installed on each seats. I have a read through all the
comments that were posted here - all I can say if anyone planning to fly
with RBA it will never be as sophisticated like Singapore Airlines. The
only reason I flew with RBA is the price - if I can fly with a cheaper
airline to get me to my intended destination I would have forgo RBA.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by A Sal
26 April 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
RBA economy class from Singapore to Auckland, with stopovers at Brunei and Brisbane. The
2 hr flight from SIN-BWN was ok, since it was short, and breakfast was served quite fast. Stopover
at BWN for about 4 hours, there really wasnt anything to do at the airport except to catch up on
some sleep. BWN-BNE I didn't get the retrofitted planes so there weren't any personal TVs, and had
to watch the movies playing on the overhead screens. I was unlucky as my seat was directly below one
of the overhead screens, and the seat infront of me was blocking the view of the projection screen.
The movies were recent, but I had to watch the movies with discomfort, craning my neck. Lunch was
served, which I found was not bad. Legroom was good, could stretch quite a bit. Throughout the
journey, I only spotted 1 or 2 stewardesses, the rest were all stewards. Quite odd, but the stewards
did a good job in their service. I was served by a steward who was friendly and he chatted a bit, so
I guess it was a good experience flying with them. BNE-AKL it was the same plane and dinner was
served, which I also found was ok. Overall the long flight (10hrs minus stopover times) was alright,
though there's still some areas that RBA can improve on. But with the cheap price tag for the
flight, I'm not complaining. However, our return flight was cancelled, which gave me a shock! But
luckily we were put on the next available flight from AKL-SYD on AirNZ and from SYD-SIN on Singapore
Airlines. All in all, if you're looking for affordable flights, RBA is for you. Plus it also has a
good safety record. If not, if you have lots of money to burn, you could fly with other airlines.
Flying with RBA has been a pretty good experience for me, for the amount I'm paying, and I will fly
with this airline in future if it keeps its affordable prices.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Mabelline Tan
25 April 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
I flew with Royal Brunei to Auckland with transits in Brunei and
Brisbane in Economy class. On short haul flights, planes were not fitted
with personal tv screens. The leg from Brunei to Brisbane had personal
tv screens in every seat. The choice of entertainment was good but the
entertainment system wasn't user friendly. The buttons on the remote
controller were hard to press and the system was lagging and slow.
Service wise it is not the best. Crew did not exceed expectations.
However, they did provided the basics of serving food, ensuring safety,
greeting passengers. I would give an average rating. 5/10
On my return flight I was informed that the flight had been cancelled
due to a failure on the plane's engine at Auckland airport. The RBA rep
compensated me with a food voucher of NZ$12. I was told that I will be
put on other flights. I was glad that RBA had put me on a flight on
AirNZ to Perth (7hours). I had a pleasant flight on AirNZ. They were way
better in service than RBA. Upon arrival to Perth, RBA had arranged me a
free 4 star hotel stay. I had to stay in Perth for 9 hours before I
could fly for my next flight from Perth to Brunei. I was given a room
and offered free dinner at the hotel dining lounge and was pleased with
that. I think RBA offers very competitive prices and it suits travellers
on the shoe string. But if you do have cash to boot, I recommend that
you fly with other airlines. Short haul flight is ok on RBA. Long haul
flights, forget about flying with RBA.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by E Jones
20 April 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
I had read some of the comments posted here before I flew out so I was
prepared for the worst! When I got on the plane I was grateful to see
that the plane had been refitted with the tv screens at the back of each
seat, but 15 minutes into the flight I realised (along with countless
other people on the plane) that the tv's were not working. After
complaining to the steward, he informed me that that they were not going
to operate the TV on demand on any of the personal screens and that they
were going to show a film on the drop down screens instead. The film
they showed was good and recent, and fine if you were sitting in the
right part of the plane that could see the screens. However after
putting on my headphones, I realised that one ear was in English, whilst
the other was German! Many other passengers on the plane also had the
same problem and after complaining again, we were told that the boss
(Whoever that is) would sort it out, which of course he didn't!
Food wasn't too bad. The choices were Salmon in a cream sauce or Beef
noodles with a waldorf salad for start and the usual fruit salad and
cheese and biscuits to finish. We were sitting at the back of the
plane where they preparing the food so were also one of the first to be
served so that had not run out of choices! The journey back from Dubai
was the same old story. My personal tv screen worked for all of 10
minutes and then nothing! The cabin crew kept trying to reset the
system which then caused other people's screens not to work. All in all
it was a bit of a lottery and you could tell that the fact that some
people's screens worked and some people's didn't was causing air rage
amongst some passengers! Worst of all because it was a night flight,
they did not show any films on the drop down screens so basically there
was nothing to do other than read a book and try and get some sleep!
For a 7 hour flight I could just about put up with it, but if I had been
one of the poor people that had flown from Australia or Brunei then I
would have gone stir crazy! My sum up is that I would only use this
airline again if it was substantially cheaper than Emirates/Virgin/BA
and there is no way on earth that I would fly any further than Dubai on
it!
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by D Ghirardi
12 April 2007 Customer Trip Rating : n/a
I travelled with Royal Brunei from Sydney to Dubai via Brunei on 2nd
April, back on the 8th. None of the flight was on time, average delay
1.5 hour. I was sitting pretty on the front, they run out of meal
choices. The plane from Sydney to Brunei was a museum worthy piece, with
an old overhead projector that was recently upgraded to colour. The
other planes had seat screens, but unfortunately in three occasions out
of three were temporary out of order. Only good note, since the airline
is so poor , I got plenty of space to sleep, the only entertainment
option I got! Briefly: never again.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Margaret Livesey
20 March 2007
I booked and paid in full in June 2006 for a Business seat from Heathrow
to Sydney. I checked the web site and had an e-mail confiming my flight,
and seat number in business class. I arrived at check-in only to be
told I had to travel economy class as my seat had been given to a
frequent flyer. (I assume I was a women travelling on my own and they
thought I would not make a fuss.) There was no other business class
seats until 2 weeks later. I was told I could have a bulkhead seat in
economy and they might be able to give me business class food - my
comment was I was not interested in the food ( which was pretty mediocre
anyway). I had booked business class to have a reasonably comfortable
seat for a long flight, as I have a back problem. All to no avail. I
travelled economy to Brunei, then they found me a business seat to
Sydney. I was given a cash compensation on leaving Heathrow, but only as
I was boarding - their comment being, they could not give it before in
case a seat became available- or was it that by then I could not argue
about the amount and their job was over? I travelled back on 6th March
from Darwin to Heathrow via Brunei and Dubai, the food again was just
about ok but they ran out of choice. IFE did not work and on mentioning
it to the crew they said they knew, and there was nothing they could do,
it keeps going wrong! They were apologetic and seemed embarassed that
passengers were complaining. Well I don't know how Royal Brunei expect
to get new customers if they bump them for there frequent flyers. This
was my 3rd & worst journey to Australia in 9yrs thanks to Royal Brunei
who I would never fly with again. My friends are still saying they have
heard of being upgraded but never downgraded!!
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Viola Berz
26 February 2007
Travelled to Germany from Australia last year flying with RBA, and
flight was great. The food was excellent and delightful to taste, and
seats were comfortable. Keep up the good work Brunei, you are doing a
good job!
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by D Eyre
26 February 2007
I had the misfortune to travel from Heathrow to Brunei and on to K.
Kinabalu with this airline. The aircraft was old and looked it. There
were no individual seat screens, so virtually unseen for the majority of
passengers. The seats were worn, small and uncomfortable, I would be
very surprised if the seat pitch was a full 32". The food was poor and
ran out of choices at times. The staff did a good job in the
circumstances. The return flight was a little better as was retro fit,
but the inflight entertainment did not work for any of the journey. The
seats were more comfortable, the food was the same.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by S Murphy
26 February 2007
My family and I travelled with Royal Brunei twice last year. Return to
Thailand (in July 06) and return to London from Brisbane (Sept 06). I
won't fly with them again. We are by no means fussy but the food was
terrible - they kept running out of anything else. And we were at the
front of the plane! We had to keep asking for water, etc. Luckily
because we were flying with children we had taken lots of snacks so were
able to manage on those. Out of all of our legs that we travelled I had
a TV screen that actually worked once only. After the Thailand flight
with no working screen I wasn't surprised when the same thing happened
on our London flight. When I asked if it could be fixed I was told that
it would be reset but I think that is the standard answer that they give
everyone. No fun when you are on a 22 hour flight and you are travelling
with children. After walking around the plane a few times and hearing
other passengers it was pretty clear that not many of them work at all.
On our return journey from London to Brisbane we were delayed in Brunei
for 30 hours- no explanation, no representative to tell us what was
going on. Lots of misinformation. One guy told us to take our luggage
with us another told us to leave it at the airport. We were bussed to a
nearby hotel and told we would meet someone from Royal Brunei at the
hotel. No one ever arrived. We were told we would be flying out at 6am
the following morning yet when we arrived at the hotel we were handed
breakfast vouchers. When I asked why we were given breakfast vouchers
when we were flying out at 6am I just got a funny look from the
receptionist. Clearly we werent flying out at 6am but no one told us
that, we just guessed. We were lucky enough to take a taxi back to the
airport for our flight. Even our taxi driver mentioned that Royal Brunei
were always delaying flights. Even though we were near the first to
arrive we were told that the flight was to full to accomodate our
request for window seats? This is because they pre allocate and print
boarding cards before you check in so they are very reluctant to fulfil
any requests. I have to feel sorry for all those people that were
elderly or were travelling with babies. They were given no assistance
whatsoever. I also know that a lot of those passengers that had
originally been on our flight from London were bumped of again and did
not reach Brisbane until 2 days after us. Not fun when you are meeting
family and are limited with your holiday time. We did write to RB when
we arrived back home but it took them 3 months to reply after much
chasing. Even with the price difference I won't fly with them again.
It's much too big a risk when you are limited with your holiday time.
The overall experience was poor and I would rather pay the extra to get
a decent flight.
Royal Brunei Airlines review - by Helen Homewood
15 February 2007
Heathrow - Auckland returning business class. Had refitted plane for
whole or return journey and First leg of outward journey. Was
disappointed by the standard of service on outward leg - staff reactive
not proactive and seemed to be very disorganised. Was aware of
strenuous complaints from Economy passengers re poor service. The
service from Auckland to Brunei on the return journey was superb (Brunei
to London - v good) and in retrospect I am cross about the outward
journey - the crew let their colleagues and their airline down and as a
result I would think twice about flying RBA again - at their best,
excellent but they appear to be inconsistent.
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