Saudia

Useless Lounge in Jeddha – airport staff arrogant and not consumer friendly. Food in the lounge was useless – no choice.

Living as an expat in Saudi Arabia I fly Saudia quite frequently. Overall, the planes are usually clean and well kept, the legroom is acceptable (better than e.g. KLM or Air France), staff is commonly friendly and entertainment offering is sufficient (not as good as Emirates obviously). The food is good enough, but 99 out of 100 the same, chicken with rice…. A plus is that Saudia is typically on time, both in departure as arrival. Travelers on board are frequently hilarious, especially Saudi’s who believe they can get home before you by jumping up from their seats while still on the runway, grabbing their carry-on and pushing forward. Staff tries to get everyone seated again, but quickly gives up (I can understand). Saudi parents travelling with children (on long haul) do not manage their children very closely, or leave it to their domestic help, so sometimes that can be a bit of a drawback. In summary, I find it a pleasant airline.

Hi, firstly I would like to express my strong dissatisfaction and disappointment with Saudia’s service STARTING IN MADRID AIRPORT WHERE I HAD TO PAY 135EUROS FOR MY SURFBOARDS THAT didn’t arrive with me at my final destination. Unfortunately it wasn’t well specified in the main luggage page, only if you do a good search on the website. Unlucky I guess. A couple hours later I found out my flight was delayed, with no help or information from the stressed out team members at the airport. As this wasn’t enough when I got to my final destination my luggage and my surfboards were nowhere to be seen. (I wasn’t very surprised to be honest) At the airport I was told that my stuff should be delivered to me in a maximum of 2 days and I was handled 75$ so I could buy some basic stuff as the only thing I had were the cloths I was wearing. 2 days after my arrival I received a call from Saudia saying that the next flight that would bring my luggage would only be in 5 days! That would let me 7 days, a whole week of my holidays with absolutely nothing. Spending 20 euros a day with surfboards rental, when I had to pay 135 to travel with my own. After sending an massive complaint email I received a call from them saying that my luggage would be delivered in the next morning, less the 12 hours. So they were lying to me. There was a paper on my bag saying that my bag was sent to my final destination one day after my flight, but someone crossed with a pen and wrote the date I was informed by the company. So even with all the nightmare that it was flying with Saudia, they still lied to me, trying to leave me a whole week without anything, just to save some pennies. After all I asked a man called Lakmali Ranasinghe for a refund of the extra luggage I had to pay for my surfboards, I was told that the concerned department would call me to assist me with my claim. Surprise! I never got the call An absolutely disgrace, never flying with Saudia again! Ps. They also manage to break the nose of my surfboard.

Everything o.k. except Staff Behavior. The Boarding Pass Staff mostly misbehave talk proudly & shout. Air hostesses specially Russian and Filipino nationals misbehave treat in a bad way & insult the passengers. They do not attend passenger Calls, refuse the requirements. There was shortage of the blankets, the temperature was not o.k. (Too cold)

the short version: DO NOT FLY WITH SAUDIA AIRLINES.

I went to Paris with my wife and son for 15 days. flights themselves were not too bad, planes on the old side, flight attendants were ok…ish… the biggest problem is everything else!!

first of all, they lost our luggage… for a total of 12 days… on a 15 days trip!! i’m trying since then to get some reimbursement for the massive amount of money i had to spend to clothe up during my stay in France… of course no answer whatsoever. and we were attending a mariage… so you can imagine how much stress this all ordeal has been.

all the rest… choosing seats on the website doesn’t work… i tried many times, and saved and confirmed… but on every flights my family was asked to sit appart… how do you get a two years old to sit on his own 3 rows away from mum or dad?? how ridiculous is that? even worse, on the last flight, the flight attendant said “deal with it yourself!” can you believe that? of course i did, i moved 3 persons and got to sit with my wife and son… thanks for nothing flights attendants.
Jeddah and Riyad were both hell holes… Jeddah more i have to admit…
never ever fly with them