best airline DC-Cairo?
June 16, 2018 1:49 PM Subscribe
What is your recommendation for a round-trip flight from DC to Cairo? I'm leaving for a week's trip in October, with daughter and son-in-law; have never been there before. Any advice, airlines or otherwise?
Best answer: Unless I'm missing something, there are no direct flights. If I were focused solely on cost, I would take either Air France via Paris. If I wanted a comfortable, reliable, fast service, I would take Lufthansa via Frankfurt/Munich.
For random dates in October, Air France is half the price, but Lufthansa is a faster journey (by about 6 hours). Lufthansa is also a slightly better airline in my experience, and is the operator of both legs of this itinerary. Air France delegates the Paris to Cairo leg to their budget airline Joon. It's all one ticket, so it should be fine, but these budget airlines can be a little less reliable than the major carriers, and the seat and service on the plane is often less comfortable.
If you're interested taking a longer journey, and seeing Istanbul, Turkish Airlines is a good airline (at least as good as any US airline), and they offer a free stopover night (you'll get about 24 hours in the city, and a free hotel).
If for some reason you want to fly an American airline (they're more expensive and the food/seat/service is usually worse, so you'd probably only do this if you were a frequent flier with one of them) then it looks like United is an option. If you go this route, don't connect at Heathrow if you can help it.
Use Google flights to search/book. If you're not an experienced traveler, don't get clever and book two separate tickets. This should all be on a single ticket.
posted by caek at 4:48 PM on June 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
For random dates in October, Air France is half the price, but Lufthansa is a faster journey (by about 6 hours). Lufthansa is also a slightly better airline in my experience, and is the operator of both legs of this itinerary. Air France delegates the Paris to Cairo leg to their budget airline Joon. It's all one ticket, so it should be fine, but these budget airlines can be a little less reliable than the major carriers, and the seat and service on the plane is often less comfortable.
If you're interested taking a longer journey, and seeing Istanbul, Turkish Airlines is a good airline (at least as good as any US airline), and they offer a free stopover night (you'll get about 24 hours in the city, and a free hotel).
If for some reason you want to fly an American airline (they're more expensive and the food/seat/service is usually worse, so you'd probably only do this if you were a frequent flier with one of them) then it looks like United is an option. If you go this route, don't connect at Heathrow if you can help it.
Use Google flights to search/book. If you're not an experienced traveler, don't get clever and book two separate tickets. This should all be on a single ticket.
posted by caek at 4:48 PM on June 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
Turkish is a nice option for anywhere near that part of the world.
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:33 PM on June 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:33 PM on June 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
The problem with Turkish is Istanbul Airport. Think JFK but lots worse. If you can stand the price, I recommend Lufthansa, and go thru Munich if possible—much nicer than Frankfurt.
posted by Logophiliac at 1:18 AM on June 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Logophiliac at 1:18 AM on June 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
You could also fly Etihad Airways, consistently rated among the best airlines in the world, with a three-hour layover in Abu Dhabi.
And at a fraction of what you’d pay on a Lufthansa flight at that period.
posted by Kwadeng at 8:50 AM on June 17, 2018
And at a fraction of what you’d pay on a Lufthansa flight at that period.
posted by Kwadeng at 8:50 AM on June 17, 2018
Here's everywhere you can fly from Dulles. BWI's only transatlantic flight is to London Heathrow on British Airways.
It's sort of tricky to pick a 'best' airline - what's important to you? The cheapest fares? Miles and points? An interesting (or short?) layover? Just about every large European airline will do this route with a connection at one of their hubs. Perhaps check out YouTube for something like "[airline] trip report [aircraft] economy" for a glimpse at what you might experience on board.
The one argument for flying via the EU on an EU carrier instead of, say, Washington-New York-Cairo, is that you'd have the protection of the European Union's EC261/2004 law, which provides for a pretty good delay/cancellation compensation structure on any EU-carrier operated flight to the EU, and any flight leaving it. It's not a replacement for travel insurance, but nice to have and an incentive for airlines to not just cancel things arbitrarily. If you flew from Dulles, you could choose Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, Air France/KLM, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Scandinavian, Virgin Atlantic, or Austrian and you'd be covered. (Avoid Swiss if you care about this: Switzerland is not in the EU and picks/chooses bits of EU law).
Turkish are fine and have great economy-class food if you/your fellow travellers can handle a very busy airport; it's hard to find a seat at peak times, but transit security is easy and the single terminal is pretty compact. Consider it only if the layover is in the 2-3 hour range and if you would find the freneticism invigorating rather than scary or frustration - more than that and you'll be annoyed, less than that and you'll be quite rushed. For layover food you can't beat Simit Sarayi. It's also the only airport where I look at the departure board and wonder where half the places even are.
Also, Munich is a much, much nicer experience for connecting passengers than Frankfurt is for Lufthansa.
posted by mdonley at 10:44 PM on June 17, 2018
It's sort of tricky to pick a 'best' airline - what's important to you? The cheapest fares? Miles and points? An interesting (or short?) layover? Just about every large European airline will do this route with a connection at one of their hubs. Perhaps check out YouTube for something like "[airline] trip report [aircraft] economy" for a glimpse at what you might experience on board.
The one argument for flying via the EU on an EU carrier instead of, say, Washington-New York-Cairo, is that you'd have the protection of the European Union's EC261/2004 law, which provides for a pretty good delay/cancellation compensation structure on any EU-carrier operated flight to the EU, and any flight leaving it. It's not a replacement for travel insurance, but nice to have and an incentive for airlines to not just cancel things arbitrarily. If you flew from Dulles, you could choose Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, Air France/KLM, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Scandinavian, Virgin Atlantic, or Austrian and you'd be covered. (Avoid Swiss if you care about this: Switzerland is not in the EU and picks/chooses bits of EU law).
Turkish are fine and have great economy-class food if you/your fellow travellers can handle a very busy airport; it's hard to find a seat at peak times, but transit security is easy and the single terminal is pretty compact. Consider it only if the layover is in the 2-3 hour range and if you would find the freneticism invigorating rather than scary or frustration - more than that and you'll be annoyed, less than that and you'll be quite rushed. For layover food you can't beat Simit Sarayi. It's also the only airport where I look at the departure board and wonder where half the places even are.
Also, Munich is a much, much nicer experience for connecting passengers than Frankfurt is for Lufthansa.
posted by mdonley at 10:44 PM on June 17, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
I'd strongly recommend against trying out low budget airlines like Wow, as they have a reputation for losing things and canceling flights.
posted by k8t at 2:52 PM on June 16, 2018