Gulf Air

✅ Trip Verified | Bangalore to Amman via Bahrain. We reached the counter at 1 am. First the staff at the counter started asking me why I was going to Jordan and wanted to see my return tickets. I asked them why as neither were they immigration officers nor visa authorities. They refused to give me the boarding pass. My friends who were joining me for the holiday trip (two with US Passport) and 2 of us with Indian passport were subjected to the same questions. They wanted to see all the hotel bookings in Jordan, needed an explanation of why we had not booked the return tickets from Amman. Our travel was to Turkey after Jordan and not back to India. By then another Gulf Air staff said if you go to Jordan you will have to book tickets to and fro by Gulf. I told him no such thing was written in the policies of Visa Jordan or while booking Gulf Air. According to him Jordan visa on arrival can deport many Indians and Gulf airlines have to bring them back. I told him that by sheer chance if Jordan believes in deporting 4 ladies holidaying in Jordan then we have sufficient funds to buy tickets and come back. He also asked us how much money we were carrying? Whether we have a copy of our bank balance. We spent more than 1.5 hours arguing with this staff of Gulf Air, in this era and times. Later we realised that his issue was that he wanted us to book the ticket from Gulf Air. When we reached Jordan, the immigration officials didn't ask all the 4 of us a single question our visas were stamped in seconds.

✅ Trip Verified | After having an amazing discovery of Oman Air, I wanted to try Gulf Air’s business class as it was basically the same aircraft, same type of seats and additionally it had a Sky Chef on board. I was expecting even better service than Oman Air. Gulf Air has the same type of aircraft 787 and same type of seats. The seats are just amazing. Specially the window seats are private suites. This is where the good part ends with Gulf Air experience I had for the 4 business class trips I just completed. First of all no Champagne was served for the welcome drinks which is a standard for any airline on business class. I had to request it. With a strange look on her face, FA did bring me a glass. Then the food order came and I had to inform the sky chef I had ordered a special meal. He didn’t have on his manifesto. No one greeted or mentioned any passenger by name. Almost everyone had special meals and they all got mixed up. Sky Chef plus a purser plus 3 FA for 6 passenger (most of the seats were empty). They couldn’t figure out who and what. There isn’t a wine list. They ask you white or red. Italian or French. I requested Italian red and my partner French red. FA brought one bottle to everyone :)) and served. When I asked for a glass of water (a water glass was on my food tray yet empty) the old purser indicated a bottled water next to my bed. I informed him I rather use it if I wake up during the flight thirsty. He brought me another bottle. worse part comes before the landing. I requested just coffee no breakfast. Same for all other 5 passengers except one. The old male purser informed us that they closed the kitchen (60 min before landing?). Yet he did open a service and served a Bahraini customer. This is when it all went wrong as one passenger demanded breakfast as well. Purser was so rude that he informed us that this passenger was their special guest as he is a frequent traveller. Entertainment is a joke. There is just a few movies, few series - all very old. You must beg to get anything done. I had to demand for a pajamas and mattress for all my flights although this was what they have been advertising. Amenity kit is very cheap. After 4 flights which all had same issues, my advice is to use Oman Air as they also have similar price offers. I will never fly Gulf Air again. Avoid this airline by any means.

✅ Trip Verified | Bengaluru to Paris via Bahrain. Extremely unprofessional, incompetent staff. They held my husband up at Bahrain Airport on Sept 14 2018 during our transfer to Paris without giving any reason. There were no immigration or travel document problem or even luggage security. They just held him without telling him any reason. After being held up for about 7 hours at Bahrain Airport, he was cleared to board the next flight to Paris that night. Again, no reason was given when we asked why he was held. We were treated like criminals. They did not show us any official communication mentioning any reason as to why were being held up. We lost an entire day of our trip because of this. I have filed multiple complaints, no adequate response from them. I even emailed their CCO, but got no satisfactory response. They wouldn't tell us the reason and wouldn't respond. Pathetic customer care service. Do not fly with this airline ever.

✅ Trip Verified | Kuwait to Bangkok via Bahrain in March 2019(Business Class and was really impressed with their fantastic Boeing 787-9 (Bahrain - Bangkok) , though there were some poor service issues. I compromised it with the marvelous window seat of the B787-9 with the super privacy. Last month when I decided to fly in the same sector, I got a good deal on Gulf Air Business Class, same sector & same aircraft. This time what I noticed much was the Cabin Crew services has improved much better than the earlier flight but the food need to be improved. The Passenger announcement made was with crystal clear voice.

Not Verified | I flew economy class on B787-9 from Manila to Bahrain. The food was delicious though they don't offer you a menu as the variety of meals is low. There is a chance if you don't fly in the B787-9 then you don't get IFE content at all and if IFE is available it has outdated content and they do not update it quite frequently. There is a lack of focus on content and simple things they should do like updating their IFE frequently, Adding more variety of options in food, meals and snacks and making their staff more hospitable as they don't even smile or greet / welcome you upon entering of exiting the aircraft. The B787-9 is new as the seats, the leg-room is plenty as I am a tall male and I could fit my legs comfortably. Although, the support for your back isn't great even with a pillow. You'll feel like there is a lack of padding to support your lower back or maybe I am just very tall.

✅ Trip Verified | Paris to Colombo via Bahrain and I was extremely impressed with Gulf Air flights, cabin crew and onboard food and beverage service. Food was very tasty and they have a very good choice of alcoholic and non alcoholic beverage selection. A320-200 flights were pretty old and their entertainment systems were outdated, and on the Colombo sector all Hollywood movies are blocked for some unknown reason. On 787 flights pretty good entertainment system. Cabin crew were very friendly and happy to assist you on your requests, Only complain I have is when landing in night time, they do not dim the cabin lights, this is not a good practice.

✅ Trip Verified | Kozhikode to Bahrain. I chose to fly Gulf Air business class since it had been many years since I last flew with them. I upgraded my tickets to Business Class to avail the extra baggage and smooth check in services at Bahrain Airport. The flight was disappointing in many ways. There was no Movies available on the Entertainment system, just old TV series that were quite boring. The food was good but nothing outstanding. The seats are old and don't really go all the way back and the food rest is quite hard to pull out. Also they didn't let us board first for some reason.

✅ Trip Verified | London to Abu Dhabi via Bahrain. The cabins are not cleaned properly. I had biscuit crumbs on my seat belt and gum on the food tray from the previous passenger. You are not given a menu card. Cabin crew pass by and ask if you want chicken or lamb. If you are asleep or distracted while you watch your movie, they simply walk past unless you wave to them. On short-haul flights, you are given a cold chicken sandwich. Lack of coke is also unacceptable. Onboard entertainment system also seems lacklustre. There are a handful of Hollywood or Bollywood movies and nothing else to watch. The cabin crew hardly smile or want to talk to you. Significant overhaul is required. Avoid if you can.

✅ Trip Verified | Flying from Moscow to Dubai via Bahrain on 9 May, back on 13 May and the experience was very mediocre. The flight from MOW do Dubai- onboard staff was impolite even rude to passengers, meals were under average, during a 5h flight drinks were offered only once, entertainment system did not work at all. Seats were very uncomfortable and space between the rows smaller than usual. The flight had a delay of one hour so I missed my connecting Gulf Air flight from Bahrain to Dubai. When dealing with the Gulf Air ground personnel in Bahrain- chaotic, incompetent, talking to 3-4 customers at once, simply a disaster. They suggested me to wait at the airport in the middle of the night for 5 hours for the next flight, then put me on an Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi when I asked them to (which was 1h late too btw.). They also issued a confirmation of the delay for me and advised to ask for an upgrade when flying back in 4 days. From Dubai to Moscow I was unexpectedly (I only found out when boarding in Bahrain) upgraded to the business class for the leg Bahrain-Moscow. Again- the entertainment system did not work, the seat was broken as the leg support did not work properly. At least this one was on time. I fly on average ca. 20 flights a year for the last 15 years and this was certainly not the worst experience (Ukrainian Airlines was) but one of those below the average. I was especially disappointed by the staff behaviour in the economic class on the leg from Moscow to Bahrain.

✅ Trip Verified | London to Dhaka via Bahrain. Customer service is absolutely appalling. They will extort every single penny from you. Plane dirty, food ridiculous. Timetable non existent. Too many faults to mention so I'll leave it there as I've had enough of this airline. For a middle Eastern airline this is shameful as your neighbours are doing an exceptional job than you.