Saudi Air

OK, first and foremost, there are no peanuts served on board ;(

There was a slight delay departing from KLIA.

There are no individual LCD screen to while away the time - bad after being pampered by MAS services.

There was a choice of meals - chicken or chicken. This however, gets better on the way back with a choice of either fish, chicken or beef.

Briefing or scheduling or information relayed to passengers were seriously lacking. On the way to Madinah from KLIA, we were told by the agent that the plane will make a stop over in Jeddah first. This was misleading as it stopped in Madinah first and matters were made worse by the unintelligible on board announcements. It was only after someone realised that the surrounding hills looked more like Madinah then Jeddah that our group start to frantically leave the plane - after the locals have all taken their time to get off. On the way back, all of us were under the impression that it was a direct flight to KLIA, yet another misinformation as the plane was bound for Riyadh first. The billboard thus only shows the ETD and Riyadh as destination. No mention of Kuala Lumpur, causing some concerns especially to those not used to air travel. To make matters worse, at both ends, passengers were herded like cows into the plane. No calls whatsoever for the elderly or women and children to board first or even the courtesy to board by row numbers. It was one of the larger planes and it was full. Real mayhem.

The saving grace for me at least came in the form of Anne - on the way out and Amal - on the way in. Sweet stewardess tirelessly smiling at our whims and fancies. They certainly made it bearable... heh heh heh.