I always attempt to fly out of my comfort zone and entrust my flight experience to the local
carrier. Who better to prepare me for the Egyptian culture than Egypt Air, or so I thought. So, I
arrive at John F Kennedy three hours in advance just as I was prompted. I had done my due
diligence and called the airline before hand to ensure I would not have an issue with my
luggage. I was bringing a very large, very heavy suitcase to Nairobi filled with school supplies,
and to be honest I had no idea how much it weighed. I was informed I was only allowed one
checked bag, and if it was over weight I would have to pay a $75 fee. I found this to be
reasonable. My plan B was to put my clothes in a larger bag and move items between the two to
keep the weight down, but I was ensured I would not have an issue. However, this was the first
issue I had upon arriving. My bag was 76 pounds and I was immediately told I would have to BUY additional luggage and paying extra was not an option.
I am sure at this point you can imagine my confusion and frustration. I told her plan A as well as B and she informed me she did not care what I had been told earlier. Please keep in mind there was not a stand around selling suitcases. Eventually, a gentleman working for the airline walks over and advises the
women to allow me to pay for the oversized piece of luggage. A relief I thought, until she showed him an error message on her screen that she would not show me. He then began to ask for the card I used to purchase the ticket. I have multiple cards and when I asked for the last four digits of the card he told me for security reasons he could not tell. This is also the excuse he gave me as to why he could not show me the message prompting him to ask for my card. He told me there had been a lot of scams going on with ticket sales and the company was making a habit of verifying payment information. I proceeded to ask, “if there was an issue why didn’t the airline or my bank reach out to me”. He told me they had, yet as I sat there in front of him filling with rage, scanning through my emails, I did not have an email as he
suggested.
I proceeded to tell him I do not travel with all of my cards, but I believe I had paid with my American Express. He took one glance at the card and said “no, not this card.” I told
him the only other card I would have used would be at home. He asked me to call someone to
get the card. So I called my father, but he was out and unable to help me. The gentleman walked
away when I made the phone call (he asked me to make), then told me he was unable to help
me, because he was then assisting someone else when I told him that I was off the phone.
At this point I demanded a manager because I was not only upset, but also bothered that I was
on the verge of being unable to board the plane. Before the manager came I was told that I
could rebuy the ticket but I wasn’t informed whether the previous ticket purchased would be
refunded on that card or would I be paying twice for the same seat. The manager comes over
and ensured me everything would be fine, but at that point I was already worked up because I
did not understand why I was being asked for items, when I had no notice in advance. The
manager told the check-in clerk to pull up my receipts for my ticket, so that we could figure out
what the last four digits of my credit card was that was used to purchase the ticket. He asked
me if I had something with my name on it so I provide him with my passport, my state drivers
license, and two credit cards. When verifying the number of the card on the receipt, we
discovered that the card in fact was the same American Express card that I had originally given
the first gentleman; however, he had not taken the time to look at it. Even after the manager
solved the issue the initial gentlemen I was working with never came over to offer an apology.
This was by far the worse customer service experience I have ever experienced and once I
return from Nairobi I will never fly with Air Egypt again………………………………………
Okay, OKAY, so lets fast forward eight months. I am on my “go to” flight site (Kayak.com)
scanning prices for my return to Nairobi and catch a really good price, so I buy. Literally two
weeks before embarking on this recently booked “low cost trip” (by low I mean $995.00), I had
just returned from Southeast Asia flying with Qatar Airways and I was actually excited about
using them on my Nairobi trip, or so I thought lol. I looked at my ticket to confirm my arrival time
and there it was in bold font New York – JFK to Nairobi -NBO with EGYPTAIR
#ShakingMyHead. I prayed and did my best to remain optimistic. The flight itself from JFK-CAO
lacked any errors, however the reason the flight was so cheap was because there was a ten
hour layover in Cairo. No Issue I thought, a Sheraton branded hotel is adjacent from the airport
and surely I had enough points to stay for a “night”. So I booked the room the night before
departure.
The issue arose five minutes before landing when a brief video played that instructed
passengers what they should do after landing, for example: How to obtain a visa; and going through immigration. Information like this I found to be common practice, but then a 30 second
portion aired telling passengers if their layover was longer than four hours report to a certain
counter, in order to receive vouchers for hotels and food. I got excited, because who doesn’t like
free. So I disembark the plane, skip right over to the counter to discover because I am in fact not
a last minute person and had a room for my layover, I was in fact offered NOTHING.
My two-month journey had just started and it was already starting off on the wrong foot. I check into the
hotel and a staff member informs me that they provide rooms free of charge to passages with
extended layovers, IF the airline provides a voucher (I received no voucher). I get settled in my
room then went to one of the restaurants and again was asked about a voucher for lunch, there
was special setting for EgyptAir passengers, but you can guess. I had been provided with no
voucher. I love communication and feel it is necessary when running any type of business. If
this type of service is provided why would applicable passengers not receive an email before
hand letting them know resources that are available? I watched passengers who had not
planned ahead get rooms and free meals. I then saw people like myself, who planned ahead
receive nothing. A bad experience once? It happens (I guess) but twice, absolutely not. I have
already booked my 2019 return to Nairobi and I will not be flying with EgyptAir.
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