Review: Kuwait Airways First Class Boeing 777 (KWI-BKK)

For the next portion of my Allegris round the world journey, I flew Kuwait Airways’ Boeing 777-300ER first class on the 6hr5min flight from Kuwait City (KWI) to Bangkok (BKK). Kuwait Airways actually markets this as “Royal Class,” which seems… aspirational.

While I didn’t have particularly high expectations, I was very much looking forward to this flight, as it was one of the last first class products in the world that I hadn’t yet flown.

I was hoping I might be pleasantly surprised by the experience, but unfortunately that didn’t end up being the case. On the plus side, Kuwait Airways’ first class suites are spacious and private, and the crew was quite friendly. However, the food and drinks left a lot to be desired, the entertainment was limited, and the Wi-Fi was broken. This is definitely one of the weaker first class products in service today.

How I booked my Kuwait Airways first class ticket

Kuwait Airways doesn’t belong to any of the major alliances, and doesn’t even have many airline partnerships. There’s no practical way to redeem partner miles for travel on Kuwait Airways, so I instead booked an attractive first class fare. That’s the whole reason I positioned to Cairo during this trip, since the airport is known for its good premium fares.

I booked the following ticket in first class for $2,042:

5/03 KU546 Cairo to Kuwait departing 11:20AM arriving 2:00PM
5/04 KU413 Kuwait to Bangkok departing 2:40PM arriving 1:40AM (+1 day)

I actually indirectly redeemed points for this. I used Amex Pay With Points, so since I have the Amex Business Platinum, this ended up costing me 132,730 Amex Membership Rewards points, with no cash out of pocket. While not the world’s greatest deal, I figured this would be as good as it gets, if I wanted to review Kuwait Airways first class.

In a previous installment, I reviewed Kuwait Airways’ A330 first class from the first sector of the journey.

Kuwait Airways first class lounge & boarding

I’ve already reviewed the Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge, which is the carrier’s lounge for first class passengers. Boarding was scheduled for 1:40PM, an hour before departure, from gate D1.

This gate had a bunch of security equipment that passengers could simply walk past, as it wasn’t needed for this flight (I imagine this is for flights to New York and maybe some destinations in Europe, where gate security is required). This caused some confusion, since many people thought they weren’t allowed to enter the gate area due to the lack of security staff, and there was no airline representative there to usher people in.

The crew only showed up around 1:45PM, and then boarding started at 2:10PM, 30 minutes before departure. There was no priority boarding, but rather it was a free for all, with everyone being invited to board at the same time.

Kuwait Airways 777 first class cabin & seats

I boarded through the forward door, where I was greeted by the crew, and pointed left toward my seat. Kuwait Airways’ 777s have eight first class seats, spread across two rows, in a 1-2-1 configuration. While there are perhaps more innovative first class hard products out there, this is excellent nonetheless, as the seats are very spacious and private.

Those traveling together may want to assign the center seats, to be able to enjoy the flight together. In case you end up in the center pair of seats but are traveling alone, there’s a partition that can be raised for privacy.

Meanwhile solo travelers will prefer the window seats. I selected seat 2A, the window seat on the left side in the second row.

Each seat has a privacy door, which can be manually closed.

The seat is incredibly comfortable, given how wide it is.

The seat has a large television at the front of the suite. Underneath that is an ottoman, which can double as a buddy seat, should you want to dine face-to-face with someone else.

The ottoman can also be opened, and is a huge storage compartment.

The tray table can be raised from the side of the seat, and is very heavy, so it can take some effort to move it around.

At the front of the suite there’s also a (non-refrigerated) minibar, which had some nuts, a bottle of water, and a few cans of soda.

Then there’s a wardrobe by the door, so that you can hang up any clothes you don’t want to wear during the flight.

Closer to where you’re sitting, you’ll find a control panel on the window-side of the seat, which allows you to adjust the position of your seat, lighting, etc.

Immediately underneath that is an entertainment controller.

Near that you’ll also find the headphone jack, plus the seat’s charging features, including an AC power outlet, plus two USB-A outlets. There’s no USB-C charging at the seat.

At the far back corner of the seat there’s yet another storage compartment, so there’s no shortage of storage opportunities at the seat.

I also love how the seat has an air nozzle near the suite door, so that you can have a good amount of airflow in the suite.

In terms of hard product, Kuwait Airways first class is competitive. Design-wise, I do think the cabin is a bit boring with the finishes, as everything is just cream colored. I’m not saying Kuwait Airways should go as far as Emirates with bling, but I think a bit of pizzaz would enhance the cabin.

For those curious about Kuwait Airways’ 777 business class, the airline has Collins Aerospace Diamond seats there, in a 2-2-2 configuration. Below is a picture of the mini-cabin behind first class, right in front of the second set of doors. It’s not exactly an impressive hard product for a flagship, long haul business class.

Kuwait Airways first class amenities

So, what are amenities like in Kuwait Airways first class? For one, there were a pair of noise canceling headphones at each seat, which were decent quality, and in a nice case.

There was also a good amount of bedding, including a large pillow, a mattress pad, and a duvet.

Shortly after settling in, I was presented with the menu for the flight.

During the boarding process, I was offered a pre-departure drink, with the choice of fresh orange juice or lemon mint juice. I selected the latter, which was served with a warm towel, plus a ramekin of nuts.

Later in the boarding process, I was offered Arabic coffee, plus a selection of sweets.

I thought the pre-departure service was super thoughtful, and shows how a little effort can go a long way. Unfortunately the airline doesn’t put the same level of effort into its soft product once airborne.

I did find it a bit surprising that there was no amenity kit or slippers. I get this isn’t the longest flight in the world, but it’s first class, and the flight arrives in the early morning hours of the night, so you’d think you could at least have some basic amenities.

Kuwait Airways first class entertainment & Wi-Fi

Kuwait Airways’ 777 first class has a high definition monitor, and the system as such is easy to use. Unfortunately that’s where the good news ends. Kuwait Airways’ entertainment selection is incredibly limited — there were around 60 movies and around 40 TV shows, and that includes options in both English and Arabic.

I ended up watching an episode of “Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby.” It was an episode I hadn’t seen before, and I very much enjoyed that.

Besides that, options were so limited that I ended up watching a show called “My Greek Odyssey,” which has to be one of the lowest budget travel shows I’ve ever seen. It was so bad that it was good.

In addition to the movies and TV shows, the 777 also has a map feature, plus a forward camera, so I enjoyed keeping an eye on those throughout the flight.

Now, Kuwait Airways’ 777s are supposed to have Wi-Fi, but somehow this was broken for the entire flight. The crew suggested that it should be working, but it never did work. Obviously there are sometimes tech glitches, but it’s interesting how there seems to be a correlation between airline quality and Wi-Fi actually functioning.

Kuwait Airways 777 departure from Kuwait

The boarding process was pretty efficient, thanks to the flight not being full, and the main cabin door closed at 2:40PM, right on schedule. For what it’s worth, there were two other passengers in first class, which was a mother and her young son in the first row. Business class seemed to be about half full.

At 2:45PM we began our pushback, at which point the pre-departure prayer and safety video were screened.

We started our taxi at 2:50PM, and made our way to runway 33L. It was cool to see quite a few Kuwait Airways jets at gates, and in particular, I noticed how so few planes had been repainted in the new livery (the old livery feels very outdated, in my opinion).

We taxied out past Jazeera Airways’ terminal, which was quite busy. For those not familiar, Jazeera Airways is a Kuwaiti low cost carrier. The airline is growing quickly, and will soon likely be bigger than Kuwait Airways.

We also passed the new Terminal 2, which seems to be nearing completion.

When we made it out to runway 33L, we had to wait for about five minutes, as two jets were landing.

It was finally our turn to depart at 3:05PM, at which point we rocketed off, and started a pretty steep climb.

I very much enjoyed the views on departure, including of Failaka Island, which I can’t help but be intrigued by.

The seatbelt sign was turned off around five minutes after takeoff.

Kuwait Airways first class meal service

After takeoff, one of the flight attendants came around to ask if I was ready to eat. I figured I might as well have my main meal right away. You can find the Kuwait Airways first class menu and drink list below (Kuwait Airways is a dry airline, which is why there’s no alcohol on the drink list).

I was curious to see what the meal service would be like. If you look at Kuwait Airways’ website, you’ll see all kinds of amazing-looking dishes pictured, from lobster, to incredible desserts. Unfortunately I quickly found out that those meals bear no resemblance to what’s served onboard.

I’m not sure if it was because I was the only person in first class eating, or what, but the crew went ahead and just served me all the appetizer options. This included a mesclun salad with lettuce, cucumber, and carrots, an Arabic mezze with hummus, grapevine leaves, and lamb and beetroot kibbeh, and honey sriracha salmon with avocado cream.

To drink, I had a Diet Coke and some still water.

Next up, I was served a cream of mushroom soup with croutons.

For the main course, I had chicken Singapore noodles with Thai chili sauce.

Lastly, for dessert I was offered a fruit plate and a mango coconut entremet.

At the conclusion of the meal, I ordered a cappuccino, though was advised that the frother was broken, so instead I settled for an americano with a little milk poured in.

The meal wrapped up around two hours after takeoff, and I was presented with a warm towel on a tray.

While the meal service was no doubt huge (I could only try a little bit of each dish), the quality was lacking. The dishes ranged in quality, but at best, the dishes were average for business class, rather than first class.

For example, the mezze and dessert were both good, while I thought the salad was particularly unimaginative, and the main course was just downright bizarre. The main course just didn’t make any sense. It was if someone prepared a chicken breast and two “cups” of noodles, and then just doused it in sauce. That’s not what Singapore chicken noodles are supposed to look like. And then there was the broken frother. If you’re not going to have alcohol, at least try to have a decent selection of non-alcoholic drinks, in my opinion.

Honestly, the highlight of the meal was the gorgeous views out the window over Iran…

Kuwait Airways 777 first class lavatories

At the conclusion of the meal, I checked out the lavatories. Kuwait Airways has two first class lavatories at the front of the cabin — one is on the left, while one is in the center, near the cockpit. The lavatories were spacious, and had some basic amenities, like dental kits, combs, and PAYOT toiletries.

Kuwait Airways 777 first class bed

At the conclusion of the meal, with around four hours remaining to Bangkok, I asked to have my bed made. It would be a long night, as I’d be landing in Bangkok at around 2AM, and would then be catching a 7AM flight to Tokyo, so I wasn’t going to have a bed for the night, and figured a nap would help.

The crew promptly took care of turndown service, which included placing the mattress pad on the seat, and laying out the pillow and blanket. It wasn’t exactly the most intricate turndown service, but I suspect the crew wasn’t sure if I was looking to sleep or relax.

I reclined my seat, fully made my bed, closed the window shades and door, and fell asleep right away.

I got over two hours of solid sleep, and then woke up just under two hours before landing.

The suite was comfortable, though I do think Kuwait Airways could improve the bedding. For one, the mattress pad really isn’t very thick, so the seat is hard in bed mode. Furthermore, it would be nice if the airline offered more than one pillow. That wasn’t an issue on this flight due to the empty cabin, since I could just take a pillow from the adjacent seat.

Kuwait Airways first class snack service

Kuwait Airways also offers a pre-landing snack on this flight. While I wasn’t hungry, since I just had a massive meal a couple of hours earlier, I figured I had to at least give it a try. You can find the snack menu below.

The pre-landing snack consisted of a cheese plate as a starter. Then there were two choices for the main course, and I selected the hot sandwiches, of which there were two — there was a roast beef sandwich, as well as a mushroom, tomato, and cheese sandwich.

Does this look like something you would expect to be served in an international first class cabin?

Kuwait Airways first class service

There were two ladies working first class, and they were both personable, friendly, and well intentioned. One flight attendant was Moroccan, and had been at the airline for nearly 25 years, which is an incredibly long amount of time. The other flight attendant was a bit more junior, and was Indian and Thai.

Now, I will say, there wasn’t really anything first class about the service, in the sense that I was never addressed by name, there was no formal greeting or offer to show the features of the seat, etc. Instead, I’d say it was just good business class service, with the caveat that the crew to passenger ratio was of course very good.

Kuwait Airways 777 arrival in Bangkok

At 12:15AM Bangkok time, the captain was on the PA to announce that we’d be descending in around 20 minutes, and would be landing in around 50 minutes.

Sure enough, that’s exactly the timeline with which things happened. As soon as we started our descent, the seatbelt sign was turned on, and the crew prepared the cabin for arrival.

I enjoyed watching the forward camera during approach, as the camera is surprisingly high definition, even at night.

We had a smooth touchdown at 1:05AM, and then a 10-minute taxi to our arrival gate, where we pulled in at 1:15AM.

I then prepared for a long night of lounge hopping, prior to my Thai Airways 777 first class flight to Tokyo the following morning.

Bottom line

I’m happy I finally had the chance to experience Kuwait Airways’ 777 first class, but for me it was definitely a “one and done” experience. On the plus side, Kuwait Airways’ 777 first class hard product is competitive, with spacious suites.

However, everything else about the airline is what you’d expect in an average business class, rather than in first class. On top of that, Kuwait Airways has lackluster entertainment, and the Wi-Fi was broken on this flight.

Ultimately Kuwait Airways often has pretty competitive first class pricing, so I guess all of this is fair enough. Just know that in Kuwait Airways first class you’re paying for the seat, and little else.

What’s your take on Kuwait Airways’ Boeing 777 first class?