During our family vacation to Japan and Singapore, my daughter and I flew back to Washington D.C. on Saudi Arabia Airlines on a mixed cabin ticket. We flew Saudia First Class from Singapore to Jeddah, and Saudia Business Class from Jeddah to Washington D.C. Our Saudi Arabia Airlines review shares details on food, service, seats, entertainment and more so you know exactly what to expect when flying Saudia Business Class.

Saudi Arabia Airlines Review: Saudia Business Class

**Our WTA score represents our own views based on our personal experience with the entity being reviewed.

Saudia Business Class Lounge in Jeddah

Since our flight from Jeddah to Washington D.C. was the second leg of our journey, we had already checked our luggage and received our boarding passes in Singapore. We had a long layover in Jeddah and were able to use the Saudia Business Class lounge to get some sleep and food before the next flight. The lounge had a buffet station with several hot dishes, soup, bread, yogurt, and beverages. We snuggled up on a couch until it was time to board our Saudia Business Class flight to Washington D.C.

Saudia Business Class Welcome

We made our way to our business class seats and settled in before receiving welcome drinks. The flight attendant offered a selection of juice, lemonade, and date smoothies. My daughter chose a glass of lemonade and I had the date smoothie which was creamy and delicious. It was so good I asked for another one later during the flight. I knew by this point that Saudi Arabia Airlines is a dry airline so didn’t ask for any champagne. Read my post What to know before boarding a Saudia Airplane for more information about the alcohol policy, Saudia Arabia dress code required to board the plane, and prohibited items in Saudi Arabia.

We also received a choice of hot or cold scented hand towels to freshen up before the flight. The flight attendants walked down the aisle with a pot of Arabic coffee and tray of dates to welcome guests to the flight after departure. An Islamic prayer also played over the intercom at the beginning of the flight. I was able to snap this shot of the screen which translated the Arabic prayer into English.

Saudia Business Class Seats

Our Saudia Business Class seats from Jeddah to Washington D.C. felt nicer than our Saudia First Class seats on our earlier flight. The seats were arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration on this Boeing 777 Saudia Airplane. We were fortunate to fly on a newer airplane for this flight so the cabin was much more updated. We had seats in the middle at the front of the cabin. My daughter was really excited about her little area, which friends joked looked like a cubicle. There was definitely more privacy than in our first class seats from Singapore, with a sliding panel between our seats and no one directly to the side of our seats.

The seats were comfortable and fully reclined so we were able to sleep for part of the flight. A blanket and pillow waited in each seat. Unlike business class flights we’ve flown on other airlines, the flight attendants did not make our beds for us or provide mattresses or duvets. Nonetheless, we found the seats comfortable and spacious with a lot of space for writing (or coloring) on the tables. Below each table was storage space, USB ports, and power outlets which came in handy for keeping my phone and our iPads charged.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Family Luxury Travel Hackers (@worldtraveladventurers) on Oct 17, 2018 at 8:20am PDT

Amenity kits in Saudia Business Class

I received a Salvatore Ferragamo amenity kit on my flight, which was the same as the one I received in First Class. It included lip balm, hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, mouth wash, ear plugs, sleep mask, lotion, and eau de toilette. My daughter did not receive an amenity kit but did get a children’s Tsum Tsum bag with colored pencils, a coloring book, and stickers.

Saudia 777 Business Class Lavatories

The bathrooms for Saudia 777 Business Class were clean and stocked with bath amenities by Culti for shared use, including hand lotion and eau de toilette. Two red roses wrapped in cellophane decorated the bathroom. It was a nice thought but strangely executed with the cellophane, which I was surprised wasn’t removed.

Saudi Arabia Airlines Business Class Menu

The menu for Saudia Business Class included beverages, dinner, snacks, and breakfast. The menu states that meals and snacks can be served throughout the flight to allow passengers to manage their time flexibly. The Saudia Business Class menu included both Western and Saudi Arabia food selections, which was nice to have options. My daughter opted for what she knew and went with Western choices. I love Middle Eastern food so was excited to enjoy those flavorful dishes.

Food on Saudi Arabia Airlines

I chose the Arabic mezze appetizer and lamb biryani, which were well-prepared and full of flavor. My daughter opted for the Western appetizer of grilled shrimp and the stuffed chicken main course and only ate a few bites. I didn’t try hers so can’t speak to how it tasted. We both received a small side salad and bread. For a snack I tried the toasted chicken sandwich and prawn Caesar salad, which was good but not exceptional. For dessert, I had the pistachio and sour cherries gateau but wasn’t a big fan. I’m partial to chocolate. My daughter went for Baskin Robbins strawberry ice cream, which of course she loved. You can never go wrong with ice cream.

For breakfast we had the egg fritata, fruit, and cheese. I apologize for the poor quality of the food photos. I wasn’t able to get out of my seat to take a better photo of her food due to turbulence, and was too tired to care at that point. I also forgot to snap a photo of my lamb biryani before I started eating, so it doesn’t look very appealing but was indeed tasty.

Inflight entertainment in Saudia Business Class

Inflight entertainment was a big letdown during this long-haul flight. My mixed cabin ticket included free wifi in Saudia Business Class. However, just as during my first class flight, I was unable to get the Wifi to work despite many attempts to get help from the flight attendants. Since I couldn’t work once again, I tried to watch a movie. They had a selection of Western movies, TV shows, and music.

Unfortunately the entertainment system in my seat kept malfunctioning. My movie would suddenly switch languages without me pressing any control buttons, and then would not allow me to switch it back to English. The flight attendants told me to restart the movie, which I did but then had to either watch from the beginning again or risk fast forwarding and running into another glitch. This happened 3 times before I became too frustrated and gave up with the inflight movie. My daughter’s seat fortunately had a working entertainment system so she was able to watch some cartoons to keep her happy. Since I wasn’t able to watch movies or have working wifi, I had a good excuse to sleep.

Saudia Business Class Service

After a disappointing Saudia First Class flight from Singapore to Jeddah with slow and inattentive service, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of service for this flight. However, the service was better on this flight, which is surprising since it was Business Class instead of First Class. The flight attendants were friendlier and more attentive, although still not at the level that we experienced on Etihad Business Class or Singapore Airlines Business Class. I think that since my expectations after the first flight were so low, I felt more satisfied with this flight. From many of the Saudi Arabian Airlines reviews that I’ve read, service tends to be poor compared to other airlines, especially for premium cabins.

Last Words on Saudia Business Class B777 Jeddah to Washington D.C.

Saudia Business Class on Boeing 777 from Jeddah to Washington D.C. was surprisingly better than Saudia First Class from Singapore to Jeddah. The seats were comfortable and fully reclined into beds. We had more privacy with the way the cabin was designed. The service was more attentive and faster, although not nearly as impressive as Singapore Airlines Business Class or Etihad Business Class.

We did experience some issues, however, with my wifi not working and my TV malfunctioning so I wasn’t able to watch any movies. I was disappointed that we didn’t have First Class seats on this flight, since those seats looked much nicer than the first class seats we had on our flight to Jeddah. I tried to upgrade our seats on the flight, but didn’t get around it on time. I was told that we would’ve needed to do that prior to boarding the flight. That was a let down since Bertaut purchased our tickets as First Class, but there was no availability left in that cabin for the second flight by the time he booked it, so we had mixed tickets.

All in all, Saudia Airlines was an affordable way to fly premium from Singapore to Washington D.C at about $2,000 per person for both flights. However, it was the least impressive experience we’ve had in a premium cabin so far. I don’t plan to fly with Saudi Arabia Airlines anytime soon again.

If you liked this post, please share or pin for later. Sign up for our email list to receive our free Travel Hacking Checklist to help you travel the world for free or cheap on points and miles.