Hello from Bahrain! As part of my current review trip, I flew Austrian’s 777 business class across the Atlantic, and then continued east on Gulf Air’s Airbus A321LR, flying between Rome and Bahrain. I was really looking forward to this flight — Gulf Air is reinventing itself, between a completely overhauled fleet, and an all…
Continue reading: Gulf Air A321LR Business Class: Almost Great
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
As someone who lived in Abu Dhabi for several years, I know several LGBT expats who lived in the region.
Even friends from my country Sweden, who are gay, travels to Dubai and Doha time to time
It is off course illegal there but as long as you keep it private and not show publicly, nobody is gonna chase after you
It's a lot of unecessary duplication for both author and reader. Ben basically writes the same thing twice (the teaser and then the full review).
The reader is then less likely to read the full review both because they already read a neat summary of the flight previously and they feel like they are rereading some of what they have already read.
Ben, is it possible you just had a bad crew? All the bad things you mention seem to be the fault of the crew -- not necessarily a policy or decision by the airline as such. Like if you had an attentive crew it seems basically all your criticisms would go away.
That was my thought too. But I suspect airlines like Emirates and Qatar provide more concrete direction to crew about service flow.
I love Gulf Air and would rather travel Gulf than any other airline in this region. I love the friendliness and hospitality. Food has always being good and there is always good variety. I have had a few horrendous flights on Emirates with rude crew which is why I am a Gulf Air fan.
If my mother had wheels she'd be a bicycle.
If Ben had a better crew, he'd have a different review, but he didn't, so this is his review.
Dear John!
It’s airline faulty not grooming employees/Crew no excuses & Operation part ! flights regularly basis rescheduled/baggage mishandling ect!
From a reader perspective, what's the duplication? Nobody makes you read this, nor the full review - so if you don't want read both, don't?
As a reader I like having the option to read both, or one or the other.
I personally have always liked this, back to when he used to to "_____ in ten pictures" as a teaser then posts a detailed review later on. I do read both, but nobody is forcing you to read both or any of them.
It is like this in many places: if it's not seen then it didn't happen. Since you can't really identify most of us on the street we don't exist. What goes on behind *private doors* is private ... but only if you keep it that way.
I flew BAH-FRA and vice versa last summer on the A321LR in business class. I concur with your impressions.
Your comments on the service aspects are spot on, as I also experienced similar issues on the much longer Dreamliner flights SIN-BAH and vice versa as well. The flights were not full, and the type of service lapses should not have happened, especially in business class. In one case, I had asked for red wine with my meal, which arrived only after I had almost finished my main course, despite a reminder earlier during the meal. Another time, I was served something other than what I had ordered.
This was typical of the service quality on 3 of the 4 sectors I flew on Gulf Air. There was something just a bit off to make the experience less than great.
It seems consistently like this nowadays. Having flown them several times the past year, the service is not up to scratch and takes a long time. From London it took an hour to receive a drink, and lunch much longer after that. The crew were sitting in the front galley eating. We took off with me holding the arabic coffee cup and towel. Pyjamas offered but no blankets. No menus, just the crew holding a piece of paper with a photo of the meal. No tablecloths. My wine was not served until I had actually finished the main course. Ben is right, getting a drink on Gulf Air is a nightmare. And they do not actively top up, just remove the glass. Flight was 6 hours - after 4 hours 20 the dessert trolley showed up and asked if cheese and dessert could be served on the same plate, which looks like what happened to Ben. It should be separate. And with a selection of cheeses, she gave one cracker as it was all that was left and she obviously couldnt be bothered going to the galley to refresh. If you were in the bathroom during tea and coffee or the afternoon tea service, forget it, no one asked if you would like anything. I try to avoid Gulf Air now because it doesnt seem to be getting any better.
I pretty much agree with your review. But feel Gulf Air has a very long way to go with customer service. Not Long ago I flew business from BKK-BAH-IST and requested the mileage points to be awarded to my Air Canada Aeroplan account. They were not awarded so I emailed them (no response) and called their customer service who refused to help other than to tell me to email the program's department. Again no response. Weeks before the scheduled departure date I requested information about a fly and stay hotel offer. Their email response arrived weeks after my departure date had passed. Gulf Air has terrible customer service and clumsy onboard service!
Gulf air spot on , friendly and helpful staff Qatar voted best airline rude, unhelpful,and not bothered attitude, gulf air gets my vote every time.keep up the good work.
Beware, I flew on Gulf Air today in business class from Frankfurt to Bahrain. It was as Ben described, but they enforced a 9 kilo limit for carry on bags - in business class. Made me check my bag, which will be a problem for a tight connection in Singapore on a separate ticket. Super nice cabin crew but I think I'm done with this airline.