Saudi Arabian Airlines

Terrible service on SV121 RUH-LHR on 19/8/14. Flight left on time. This was a morning/lunchtime flight. The crew served a breakfast which was pathetic in content and size. They then insisted that all the window blinds be closed - surprising since that this flight was not so early in the day that people would need to sleep. Passengers were treated like children - fed and put to sleep. The explanation appeared to be that the crew wanted to and did completely disappeared for several hours. About 90 minutes before landing there was another so-called food service (an awful sandwich). Passengers left this 6.5 hour flight hungry. In complete contrast on the flight to Riyadh they served two proper meals.

Mumbai to Washington. The flight timing was absolutely right - 9.30 pm. Most other international flights depart Mumbai at ungodly hours and we were quite happy not to have to wait some extra hours for that. The check in staff were courteous and the process was smooth though with a little wait for a computer glitch. We had some odd seats but the onboard staff were nice enough to accommodate us in the rear double seat which were empty. The first halt to Jeddha was only 2.30 hrs away. The food service started quite early and we were served a tasty and sumptuous dinner onboard. Inflight entertainment had good variety but the touch screen in front of me was not responding to touch so I had to make do with my wife's screen who promptly went to sleep. This was a tolerable glitch. The Jeddha halt was for 6 hrs. Immediately on reaching Jeddha we were quite surprisingly given meal coupons (approximately worth $20 each). There was however only one restaurant where the coupon was valid and the options were only between veg/non-veg. The food was indeed very good and sufficient in quantity. The airport is small and quite cramped though clean and with sufficient seating arrangement. The seats are good enough for a short wait but no place to take a nap on. The toilets were clean but watery and wet all over. This is primarily due to the reason that local people are in the habit of washing their feet in the washbasins. Next leg of our journey lasting 15 hrs was also excellent and enjoyable. The inflight crew was nice and polite and were in good attendance. We are now awaiting our return flight middle of Sept. '14 and hopefully will have the same experience as on the outbound.

I flew JED-LHR-JED. Aircraft very comfortable and plenty of leg room. Boeing 777. However service was very poor. Flights were less than 25% full and staff paid no attention they allowed phones to be used whilst taxing and during takeoff and exerted no control over passengers. Pilot didn't tell us we were about to land he just switched on seat belt signs. Food was poor my meal was dry and tasteless. I won't fly again unless only option.

Attractive price and on-time every time made me buy DAC-WAS-DAC tickets for the fourth time. I travel twice a year to Washington and in spite of the long transit it is worth it. However during my last trip I was very disappointed to find that I could not use the ALFURSAN lounge with my priority pass even when I offered to pay for the lounge they refused. I spent 16 hours in the airport without a transit visa I could not go to the Terminal 3 where I was told my priority pass could be used also I could not check into a hotel. Overall it is a wonderful airline but some arrangements should be made for passengers on long transits.

Cairo-Manila transit in Dammam on Airbus flight was fine. Seat in Emergency Exit was good and food was good as well. From Dammam it was a Boeing 747-400 it was fine but the seat was not that big service was good and crew provided what you wanted and entertainment was fine. Going back from Manila to Riyadh my flight was delayed 13 hours they provided a hotel to us during this period and the hotel was good. I'll strongly recommend Saudi.

MAN-JED-DXB-JED-MAN. Overall a very pleasant experience. Food was plenty on all sectors. All four sectors were fully booked. Inflight entertainment was good. Both my children were served children's meal as requested. Activity bags were given on all four sectors for kids. All flights on time and comfortable. My only disappointment was Jeddah airport because I had 5 hours transit on my way back to Manchester. Most of the security staff at Jeddah airport did not speak English which made it so difficult to explain. We were given a dinner voucher for our 5 hours transit which was plenty. Jeddah airport is ok for short transit but being a single father and two sleeping kids I had a bit of nightmare at the airport for 5 hours but I can not rate the airline bad because of Jeddah airport. I would not mind flying with SV again. A good experience.

Mumbai-Riyadh-Bahrain. Mumbai to Riyadh was Boeing 777-200. 90% of passengers were Indian blue-collared workers. The FA's were welcoming to everyone alike. Everyone was greeted with a smiling face. Mango/orange juice was served and the lunch service began. Food was hot (had to wait for 5 minutes for it to cool down). Inflight entertainment was fairly good. Unfortunately our row's computers weren't responding. Stopover at Riyadh was 4 hours. The airport had charging points and many cafe's with affordable drinks and eatables - gets boring if you dont have personal entertainment. Riyadh to Bahrain was an Embraer 35 seater. The scheduled duration was 1 hour 10 minutes but the actual time taken was just 50 minutes. 10 minutes after takeoff lunch was served (goes without mentioning it was piping hot) the meal was filling with salad dessert and a main course. The trays were taken back within 20 minutes. In short the entire 10 hours journey was pleasing and worth the cost. I should mention that I got the ticket for 1/5th the original price because of a special offer. Worth every penny and I wouldn't mind paying the whole fare as well.

Flew JED-JNB. Jeddah airport is a nightmare though the Saudia terminal has quite a nice Duty Free shop. Flight announcements are made very unprofessionally and rudely. Taken from the terminal to plane in a bus which took approximately 10 minutes. I really hope that they install airbridges in the new airport. Boeing 777-200 is used on this route. Cabin is quite clean and the prayer facility is a bonus. Meals have got to be even worse than Egyptair. Toilets are well stocked and inflight entertainment is sufficient and up to date. Seat is quite comfortable but the headrest is like a rock. Managed to pull about an hours sleep. 97% of the flight attendants just do their job without a smile while the other 3% are slightly better. All in all I will fly with them again.

I flew business class from Toronto to Chennai with a stop over for 3 hours in Jeddah. The flight from Toronto (SV 60) was about 80% occupied which was surprising because just prior to take-off the Saudia website showed only 35% occupancy in business class. This means that passengers were upgraded on points or people paid a small surcharge to get upgraded at the airport. I was a bit disappointed with the state of the business class section. The aircraft obviously had seen better days and everything from the carpets to the seats needed to be refurbished. The seats are angled lie flat seats which is not so bad. However the seats themselves were very hard and not as comfortable because the middle section was lumpy with the joint digging into one's back. The pillow and blanket were fine and the amenity kit was also standard nothing to write home about but at the same time wasn't cheap. The food was quite good. Service began with dates and Arabic coffee on take-off and then moved into freshly squeezed juices. They also gave us menus and we could choose between three types of mezze (tapas) - Arabic international and vegetarian - which was followed by a choice of two soups (arabic and international). The main course was also a choice between arabic (fish sayyadi) or lamb in gravy (quite tasty) and chicken or vegetarian choice. This was followed by cakes pastries middle-eastern dessert and ice-cream. Coffee tea and espresso was also offered. Breakfast just before landing in Jeddah was also quite good and wholesome. The service itself was quite well done by a friendly crew who were willing to oblige. They were pleasant and responsive but not overly stylish. The crew itself was international. All in all a decent flight but nothing to write home about. If Saudia improves their cabin interiors and changes their angled lie flat seats by making them softer it will be a much better experience. The flight from Jeddah to Chennai (SV 768) was not very good. The crew were friendly but the food wasn't up to the mark. The service was spotty. No pillows or blankets were given - nor were the business class amenity kits handed out - and many people were allowed in business class either as upgrades or last minute surcharge passengers - not a great practice. The most disappointing aspect of the flight was that the Airbus 330-300 was old and the seats were like the old business class seats. They only had a 45 degree recline which was not very good for a 5.30 hour flight. It is puzzling that Saudia isn't changing its business class seats to angled lie flat as in the Toronto to Jeddah sector.

Delayed for 22 hours Milan to KLIA via Dubai. Re-routed with Emirates in the end no information or help received at all. Return leg no inflight entertainment due to malfunction and rude passengers no chicken meal available. I certainly wasn't going to move either for the clinically obese passenger who would of struggled to fit into 2 seats so he could have an aisle of 3 to himself. Ironically whilst in transit I found Saudi people lovely welcoming and friendly. Our transit in Jeddah was great free meal and excellent duty free stores even a smoking room albeit tiny.