Asif2000

Has anyone traveled from USA to Pakistan on Gulf Air recently?

Uncle Stalker

travelled quite a lot on gulf air - not recently though
it was a pretty decent airline - last trip was in 2004

not sure if its still the same

Khumar

oh god yes! sooo didn't have a great experience with it. i had my return flight booked for feb 25th. I get a call about a week before that they cancelled my flight back. And here I am...freaking out, since I had to get back on that flight, otherwise i would have missed an exam. They didn't have a back up flight for me when they cancelled. My mom had to spend almost the whole day @ the head office, which was goodness knows where in Lahore, just so she could get me a return ticket, booked for a couple of days later. And this time around, I had stopovers @ 3 different places. also, forget 2-3 wait time between flights, I had either an hour between flights, or like 9 hours.

err...this is from Canada to Pakistan though.

Uncle Stalker

well
for me it was fine
every airline has its own bad days once in a while
I will stick to my statement

HSK

I have travelled on Gulf Air to Pakistan just 6 months ago, infact it seems all I've done this year is travel. But my Gulf Air experience has been from Toronto-Karachi. But that does not matter as GulfAir has either Air Canada or American Airlines fly you to London depending which side of north america you live in.

You'll fly to London by American Airlines. It'll be hohum. You'll arrive at Heathrow in the stupid lounge, and then have to make your way into the old terminals. The ones that look like portables. Who cares anyway, London sucks.

From there usually to Bahrain ...but always on Gulf Air. This will be your best leg as they use their latest airplanes and best looking air hostesses for the european crowd. Enjoy it while you can, because the next trek will be horrible. If your stay is long, you'll be given a voucher for a meal at the tiny airport's restaraunt. It's nothing special, but after a long trek it's nice to hear you'll be taken care of in that puny airport. It really is small - very small. If you smoke, light a cigarette because they'll let you. Otherwise carry a rag to cover your face. I for one actually love layovers, so whenever Im at bahrain I find things to do.

And then on to Karachi on Gulf Air again. This will be your worst leg possible. I travel this trek alot and seeing the labourers that have built those tall skyscrappers in Bahrain is really sad. They literally have their laggage tied to a stick, hung over their shoulder. You'll sit next to them, or you can upgrade for a few pennies into the vacant business class. It's never packed, infact I'm usually one of the few people in it. The planes for this leg are old, and the airhostesses are often new or...very old. Bring up a conversation with the hostess, and you'll learn they dont enjoy going to Pakistan because of the crowd.

Once you get off the airplane, welcome to Pakistan.

Overall, the service really varies. The airline is new and it has problems with consistency. While the staff are always nice and hospitable, the quality of the airplanes is simply luck. The london - bahrain journey uses the latest fleet, and trust me - it's nice even for economy class. I was always delighted by this trek. The Bahrian-Karachi trek though is another story,you'll only enjoy it if you're the purists who prefer their planes jerky and seats mouldy.

Asif2000

Thanks for the great review of the airline hskhan!!!

Does anyone have any experience flying to Pakistan from USA via franfurt?

Zainab Ahmed

Zainab Ahmed

_Lahore_Ka_Cheetah

Not recently, but travelled on it in 2004. Frankfurt to Muscat. Then from Muscat to Lahore. The service was crap on the second flight.

amana

Like someone else said, the service is horrible on the Bahrain to KHI leg, and the airport in Bahrain is one of the most boring in the world. The flight was delayed by several hours and I was stuck in the lounge watching some old American film over and over again.

I have heard that they have Sky Nannies to help out with the kids on all long-haul flights, so I am looking forward to checking these out some time. The plus is that it's probably the cheapest airline to upgrade your ticket to business on.

Ruiner

not bad from london to abu dhabi, but abu dhabi to lahore, it is the worst. it is like they are catering to the labourers there, by giving parathas and oily salins for your friggin dinner. not to mention the fact that you have to sit in the friggin crappy airport for hours waiting for the next flight!

amana

^ I agree. The food is the worst I have ever eaten on a plane, and that's saying a lot. My hubby had the chicken and I had the gosht, but they looked and tasted pretty much the same - yuck. My 11 year old makes better salan than their caterers.

gujmon

Well they are always looking for cabin chefs

gujmon

This true but not specifically with gulf,same is the treatment by almost all arabian airlines even british airways treat lesser on the second half of journey(from London to islamabad than from canada to England). I have observed with emirates,kuwait and Qatar also, their services on the last section are very poor( Sasta ticket lein tu phir Bardasht karna parta hae)
Honestly if we have PiA flying from Montreal, then we never try those airlines.

Asif2000

Well, I have finally booked my tickets for end of december using Gulf Air. Trust me its not cheap at this time of the year when none (I repeat, NONE) of the other airlines even have any availability. Everything is SOLD out.
Anyway, I am flying from Dallas -> Frankfurt -> Bahrain -> Karachi. I am coming back from Karachi -> Masqat -> Frankfurt -> Dallas.

On the return flight the stopover in Masqat is 10 hours and according to the travel agent, all passengers connecting the next flight to Frankfurt will be provided with the stay in a hotel neat Masqat airport. I have yet to speak to a rep from Gul Air to confirm this but it sounds a bit hard to believe. Has anyone has any similar experience doing that? Also, how safe is Masqat to go around the places? Will they provide transit visa? Can you easily get by speaking english or do you have to know Arabic? Please advice!

gujmon

Asslam oalikum Asif Bhai.
Yep i have traveled from Montreal the same way and donna worry Gulf is very generous regarding hotel stays and flight delays. They will take you to Hotel Majan and donna worry about language, the hotel is operated by Indians and from the reception to even from Airport you will be able to speak urdu. Well i am not sure about where to go in Muscat cause when i was there temperature was 47 and i never dare to leave the hotel. Be sure you have enough necessaties handy cause muscat duty free is very expensive. A pack of 4 gilette razors cost me 19dollars and a calling card for pakistan 13 dollars . Visa and other problems never matter. ALLAH BLESS YOU WITH YOUR STAY.

Mr Fraudia

the last time i felw gulf was in 1998 from London to Karachi. It was by far the worst flight I have ever had. I am not sure what the deal was with the plane but there as no legroom, I know it sounds strange but you could not sluch at all, my knees were firmly pressed against the seat ahead of me. same for my bros, now all three of us are in the 6' 2- 6'3" range so economy seats are always a little tight but this was horrible.

I have not been to Pak since then anyways, and next time I am taking emirates or someone else, I have had better experiences. family members have taken itehad recently and they like that as well.

I may even pick PIA ahead of gulf

HSK

^ After PIA revamped its entire fleet with 777s, its become an amazing option for North Americans, especially us in Toronto. A flight to Karachi has been cut down to 14 hours, thats nonstop. PIA also charges one of the lowest prices for their business class product.

Gulf though has improved drastically since 1998.