Wide Open: EgyptAir 787 Business Class Awards To/From Washington

Exciting & refreshing news to me (an expat lady based in the Gulf) while QR blockade situation still feels quite painful. Often go to Cairo, will look into revenue biz ticket CAI to DC, btw it’d be great if MS places these B787 for the routes to either HKG or RUH.

I can't get over that video. That's a classic.

That plane handles a lot like a helicopter. Impressive!

MS is a dry airline? And don't the cabins reek of cigarette smoke from the pilots?

You can have my seat, thanks.

Doesn't look like LifeMiles has access to this space?

Isn't transiting through CAI the most stressful thing for the average traveler?

Which other airline programs would allow us to transit north Africa on our way to Europe? Does LifeMiles allow this?

Can you BYOB?

Glad to see STOL ops making a comeback.

Can anyone confirm it the pilots (or otherwise) still smoke on this carrier?

As an archaeologist who specialized in Egypt's 18th Dynasty, I worked on and off for several decades at a number of archaeological sites in Upper Egypt. I love that country so much! But over the past few years I've begun to feel unsafe there; partly because I'm American, but also because I'm gay. Currently I have no plans to return to Egypt, which saddens me greatly. I hope the situation improves, but I'm not very optimistic.

So it would take a lot more than the introduction of a 787 to tempt to fly to Cairo. (And when I *was* traveling regularly to Egypt I avoided Egyptair - with its dirty aircraft, poor food and indifferent service - whenever possible.)

@ Super VC10 -- You should consider returning. I've been here for the past week or so, and there hasn't been anywhere that has felt actively unsafe; much different from a couple of years ago, though of course I'm sure our exposure is much more limited given we're here as tourists. We've also had several flights on EgyptAir, and yes the 777 we flew on was ancient, but the newer planes (including the regional jets) have been tidy, and the crews have all been friendly and helpful.

To follow-up on my previous comment - it seems like only Aeroplan has access to the J award seats (at least online)?

I can see Y award seats when searching through other Star Alliance carriers (e.g. UA, OZ, TG, SK) but no J availability shows up.

And LifeMiles can't see any award seats in either cabin.

Does it take some time for availability on new routes to propagate through different systems? I don't understand how that would explain availability showing up for Y but not J, however.

“Many programs charge based on your origin and destination, even if you transit a more expensive zone” - this isn’t true for AAdvantage, right? Doesn’t it just block you from transiting through more expensive zones? Sorry for the unrelated question.

@ Alex -- It's not necessarily that AAdvantage blocks you from transiting more expensive zones per se, they don't allow many third-zone routings even when they are less expensive.

@ AG -- United.com sometimes has issues with seeing I space on EgyptAir, but it should (usually) be there if you call.

I have tried so many dates in July CAI-IAD however I am unable to see any availability. Is there a specific place I should be looking for the availability?

"This is possible because many programs charge based on your origin and destination, even if you transit a more expensive zone." Is it possible to book to Greece but jump off in Egypt? I know some airlines are getting really pissy about that.

Does the availability extend into Jan 2020? I’m looking for 3 one way seats CAI-IAD around 1/5. I’m based in SFO, so preferably w/o stops. It looks like only availability in January is to YYZ on the old 773 (which Aeroplan still has on that route while they display IAD, JFK on 789).

@Tiffany

I appreciate your comments, Tiffany, and am glad you've enjoyed your time in Egypt. Being there as a tourist, however, is quite unlike working in the country. Tourists travel to an area (often the well-trod sites at Luxor, Edfu, Esna, Kom Ombo and Aswan) and soon move-on, mostly traveling in a bubble of protection provided by Egyptian security forces. Living in a small Egyptian town or village for months at a time, where one's daily routine is observed and noted, is quite a different experience...

Booked IAD - ATH for 57.5k Aeroplan, peak season June. .03 per mile, wishing for more but will take it.

Looks like JFK was on 787 now back to 777.

Hi. About to do Cairo-IAD-Cairo in 10 days on the 787. Might be able to get pics and comments for you!

Anyone know if you will need to pick up and recheck bags changing from Egypt Air to Aegean in Cairo?

Flew CAI-IAD last week, and it exceeded my expectations! Seats were comfortable, service was great.

Definitely worth 57.5k Aeroplan miles, and a fun way to get home from Greece with a 23 hour layover in CAI 🙂

I see it's now back on JFK/CAI starting in Late OCT 2019!

I was wondering the same thing as Bill. I have read the same thing about airlines cracking down on the practice & I also wonder about checked baggage. Is the only option a <24 hr layover like AG was sharing about for that pricing? There aren't any stopover options that would work with Cairo being in a more distant region than Greece, are there?