Update: Read my full Royal Brunei Business Class A320 Kuala Lumpur To Bandar Seri Begawan review.
Hello from Brunei! I just flew Royal Brunei for the quick 2hr5min flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bandar Seri Begawan. The flight was operated by an A320, so it’s not as exciting as the 787 they fly, but I still figured I’d share my general impressions.
Royal Brunei’s A320 features a total of 12 business class seats, spread across three rows in a 2-2 configuration. The legroom is a bit more than you’d find on a U.S. airline, and the seats have legrests. However, the seats do look a bit outdated.
While the seats don’t have built-in IFE, the crew distributed iPads after takeoff, which had several movies and TV shows on them.
There was a hot meal on the flight, which was decent enough, though not great. To start there was chicken with pesto.
Then there were three choices for the main course — I chose green curry with chicken.
Lastly, for dessert there was pumpkin cheesecake, which was really good.
Royal Brunei is a dry airline, though unlike some other dry airlines, I appreciate that they put some effort into their beverage selection. They at least have interesting non-alcoholic drinks, including proper sparkling water, iced coffee, teh tarik, a huge tea selection, etc.
Royal Brunei’s A320 business class is a pretty average product all around, though what really impressed me was the service. The two flight attendants working business class were phenomenal. Before departure the cabin service officer personally introduced himself, his colleague, and the captain (who was British, by the way), informed me of the flight time, and explained the meal that would be served.
He was extremely attentive, and after lunch when I ordered a teh tarik his face lit up. He was excited to make one, and said it was his specialty — it was indeed very good.
Per his insistence I also tried an iced coffee, which was also excellent.
The views on approach into Brunei were fantastic, as the coastline is gorgeous.
It was also cool to see the Sultan’s palace on final approach.
All around Royal Brunei is a fun little airline. While their A320s are just average in terms of the hard product and even the food, the service and drink selection (for a dry airline) impressed me.
I’m excited to experience their service on the 787 on my connecting flight.
Hey Lucky, was the pilots name Tim?
I was lucky to fly RB during the good old days on a 757, gold plated sinks in First, a fold down leather seat cover over the toilet in the enlarged lavs, as well as gold platting on the overhead locker buttons.
BSB also proved to be one of the most interesting and boring places on earth. Free amusement park in the jungle that was empty, teenage boys racing around town in their modified...
I was lucky to fly RB during the good old days on a 757, gold plated sinks in First, a fold down leather seat cover over the toilet in the enlarged lavs, as well as gold platting on the overhead locker buttons.
BSB also proved to be one of the most interesting and boring places on earth. Free amusement park in the jungle that was empty, teenage boys racing around town in their modified Japanese cars, pictures of the Sultan and his two wives dripping in jewels adorning every room in town. And of course the separate palaces for each wife to make sure they were equal as required in Islam.
And strangely, the fishing village still on stilts right in the middle of town where people lived in worked. Yet surrounded by crazy wealth and indulgence.
@Rohit, you can book RB using Asia Miles.
@Nick
You sound jealous. And bitter.
Hey Lucky, you should try a trip where you only fly A350s or only 787s. That could be quite interesting. Just a suggestion though.
You made a great point about beverage selection Lucky: it's great to have on any airline, but a bad beverage selection is particularly acute on a dry airline.
I believe it is Bandar Seri Begawan.
Looking forward to the 787 report!
No. It's not totally a dry airline. In regional flights, yes they don't serve alcohol. In long-haul flights on the 787, they do serve alcohol but by request. You can ask them on your next flight.
So, was the obviously male FA a twink? I bet you were giving him the eye to see if he was closeted. I'm guessing two things: (1) Being cabin crew on the national airline in a country like this is really prestigious and political job for not-so-smart, well-connected kids with good looks and (2) the crew are more socially liberal and tolerant than their country's dominating culture.
BTW, this looks better than first-class on an...
So, was the obviously male FA a twink? I bet you were giving him the eye to see if he was closeted. I'm guessing two things: (1) Being cabin crew on the national airline in a country like this is really prestigious and political job for not-so-smart, well-connected kids with good looks and (2) the crew are more socially liberal and tolerant than their country's dominating culture.
BTW, this looks better than first-class on an American-flagged airline flying an A-320 domestically. It looks better than my experience on Hawaiian's "international business-class" on a 767.
Hey Ben did you book this and the 787 leg as an award? If you did, which airlines can you book royal Brunei through? Or which transfer programs transfer to RB? Or did you simply pay cash for it?
Ewww, soap dodging pommies flying the planes. Count me out.
Some should not comment... Like betterbub and Gary; but I get that people in trailer parks get lonely..
@Scott is an Anglophobe. The best pilots come from the land of the free.
Any reason why the pilot being "British" needs to be pointed out?
@ Scott -- I mention that for all airlines when I notice it. As a kid I wanted to be a pilot, ideally for a foreign carrier, so I'm always fascinated by which airlines have ex-pat pilots. Not sure what you're suggesting my agenda is?
@Gary Royal Brunei will happily pour your duty free booze for you & even tip in a mixer from their bar if required.
Two things:
1 - About being Gay - the remark about being shot in a nightclub was uncalled for. Yes, it happen/happens. But totally different than being wrong across a total society as mentioned above.
2 - Dry airline - no thanks. On our recent RTW trip, I actually made a list of airlines to avoid. We did 8 others and enjoyed our drinks in biz/first.
Looking forward to hearing your other observations on Brunei. It was a great place to visit last year.
@MarkD: exactly right ... or shot in an airport baggage claim area, for that matter
@MarkP
. . .what, as opposed to living in the USA where you can just be randomly shot for it in a nightclub?
Brunei seems lovely. Time for everyone to visit, even though they don't like gays. If you dont visit that means gay haters win. So go, especially if you are gay.
I acknowledge that you have a different opinion on the topic, but I couldn't even imagine traveling to somewhere where being gay is punishable by the death penalty. Stay safe!