In March 2023 a client asked me to travel to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for them, so I started looking at the requirements. First of all, I needed a visa, which was sorted for me by the client. Then I looked at booking options. There are quite a few routes to Riyadh, even a number of options flying within the One World Network. BA fly direct, but you could also fly indirect with Qatar or Royal Jordanian.
As my time was limited, I chose to fly with BA, booking myself into Premium Economy and then using Avios points to upgrade my return flight into Business class. The return trip was at 1am, landing at 5am, so I really wanted to a bed for that bit!
Outbound – upgrade options
A few days before flying the option to upgrade appeared on my flight. It was around £650, which for a 6-hour daytime flight I didn’t feel was a great deal, so I turned it down. When I arrived at check-in, I was again offered an upgrade, this time for over £700. Again, I turned it down, I did ask if there was an Avios equivalent option, but I was told no.
The flight information screens gave no indication of which gates the flight was leaving from, so I headed to the information desk who assured me it would be B gates, so I headed over to the B-gates lounge, using my BA Exec Club Silver status to get in.
The B-gates lounge was as quiet as usual, given it was around 11am, I arrived just in the transition from breakfast to lunch food. There was a choice of champagne options, so I indulged, given this would be my last drink for a while as Saudi Arabia is a dry country!
When the flight was called, I headed down to the gate. Unfortunately, the cleaning was overrunning, so they delayed boarding. Oddly enough they had a large holding area past the check points in the gate area, so they asked all Group 1 and Group 2 passengers to pass through to this area. From there we could see the plane and the cleaners truck attached to the plane. After a 20min wait there, we boarded.
There were pre-flight orange juices offered and I settled in to watching a film. The aircraft was one of the newly refurbished 777’s with Club Suites in business and new seats throughout. The new Premium Economy seat has an additional leg support that comes up under your legs, as well as the newer IFE screens which are bigger and have much better touch sensitivity. After take-off we were given food menus and hot towels.
The food offering in Premium is essentially a business class meal and then an economy snack before landing.
I opted for the leg of lamb, which was delicious. It came with a starter, bread roll, dessert and cheese & biscuits. Plus, plenty of visits from the bar trolley. However, they have to open all alcohol and they collect all bottles in well before landing to comply with Saudi law.
The flight was very pleasant, crew were attentive and kept us well fed and watered. About an hour before landing, we were given the snack, a Fajita Chicken pastry, which was a nice little snack, but I’d have preferred something a little more substantial.
After landing there were long queues to get through passport control. Which was odd given when I got there the lady processing me didn’t say a word, she simply took my fingerprints, photo and stamped my passport.
After that, a taxi to the hotel was easy to find and a very reasonable price.
I spent a week in the city before heading back to the airport, quite late at night for my 1am flight home.
A little surprise for an aviation geek in Riyadh
I had a little spare time at the end of my trip, so I looked up things to do and found there was an air museum up the road. A quick Uber ride later I was exploring the Saqer-Aljazirah Aviation Museum (Royal Saudi Air Force Museum). There was quite a nice selection of aircraft to see, I’ve included some photos I took below.
Return - A Club Suite overnight
I arrived at Riyadh airport at around 9:30pm to check in for my 1am departure. I was worried that there wouldn’t be a lounge to wait in as the One World website and BA customer service had both said it was closed. However, when I checked in I was directed to the Premium Plaza lounge that was very near my gate.
The lounge was basic, simple food options and a range of soft drinks and coffee. It was also a noisy lounge, whilst it was on an upper level, it was open to the terminal ceiling that was reflecting the sound from the rest of terminal.
When it came time to board, they had quite a semi-chaotic setup. If you were group 1 or 2 you were put in the seating area for the gate next door. Everyone else was kept in the main seating area. After what felt like a long time, they allowed us to board.
As I’d upgrade myself to business class for this leg, I was in one of the new Club Suites. I had chosen a seat very near the front as on this configuration of 777 there are 3 rows of Club Suites right behind First at the front and the rest are behind the loading doors in a massive, long cabin. This small area behind First is a great little area as it feels more intimate and exclusive.
The flight was an early morning flight, so there was no full meal service, just a light snack if you were peckish, the assumption is everyone will sleep. I asked for some popcorn and Sprite while I relaxed. I also asked for some Champagne to be brought over as soon as we cleared Saudi airspace, which they were more than happy to do for me. After about an hour and a night cap of Champagne, I converted the seat into bed mode and settled down to sleep. Before I slept the crew had asked me if I wanted waking for breakfast or be allowed to sleep until just before landing, I opted to sleep.
I slept very well, the new beds and bedding are really comfy. I woke up just as breakfast was ending and I was offered a drink before landing.
The Arrivals Lounge
After landing I headed straight through passport control to baggage reclaim, Heathrow was not working well that morning and it was over an hour wait for my bag. When it did finally arrive, I headed out through customs to the BA arrivals lounge.
I’ve put my experience of this into another report, read it here.
Bottom line
A lot of the Middle-East flights to London leave in the very small hours and land early at Heathrow. I will always be trying to get those lie flat beds to sleep in using my points to upgrade from now on. And with that access to the arrivals lounge to freshen up upon arrival, well worth it. Don’t forget to read about that experience here.
