After an incredible family vacation that took us through Japan and Singapore, we decided to divide and conquer for our flight home. Bertaut and our son flew on Singapore Business Class to Frankfurt and Singapore Business Class to NYC.  My daughter and I flew to Washington D.C. on Saudia First Class. We started off with a bad first impression when I was told I’d have to change my clothes in order to board the flight since my legs and arms were not covered. Once onboard, we experienced slow and inattentive service, wifi that would not connect, and a malfunctioning seat that would not fully recline. Here’s our review of Saudia First Class on the Boeing 777 from Singapore to Jeddah.

Saudia Airlines Review: Saudia First Class on Boeing 777 from Singapore to Jeddah

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

Our Saudia Booking

We made our Saudia Airlines reservation using the American Express Travel Portal, earning 5 times the points by charging the airfare to our American Express Business Platinum card. Saudia First Class tickets were reasonable compared to first class on other carriers. We decided to give them a try since we hadn’t flown with them yet and wanted to review them. Bertaut flew home with our son on Singapore Business Class, and booked tickets for me and my daughter on Saudia First Class. The Saudia flights averaged around $2,000 between my daughter and I, which is surprisingly affordable for a first class ticket from Singapore to Washington D.C. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for, which rang true on the flight.

Saudia Check-in at Singapore

As explained in detail in my post about 3 things to know when flying Saudi Arabia Airlines, we arrived to the Saudia check-in counter in short-sleeved knee-length dresses. The Saudia flight crew explained that I’d need to change my clothes since my legs and arms were exposed. This is forbidden in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and therefore forbidden on Saudi Arabia Airlines, aka Saudia Airlines. Thankfully I had a change of clothes in my carry-on, but was surprised by the strict dress code to board the flight, not just to enter Saudi Arabia.

Saudia Baggage Allowance

Since we haven’t mastered the art of packing light yet, we were grateful for the generous Saudia baggage allowance. First class passengers are allowed 2 bags weighing up to 32kg each, and 2 carry-on items weighing no more than 9kg total. We checked our bags and headed to security. Make sure to read our post about what to know when flying Saudia Airlines to make sure you have not packed any forbidden items in Saudi Arabia, which include religious books and items, alcohol or any products containing alcohol, medication, drugs, pork, pornography, and more. Forbidden items will be confiscated in Saudi Arabia if found and passengers could face prison time or even risk being beheaded (for bringing drugs into the Kingdom).

Saudia First Class lounge in Singapore

Saudia Airlines does not have its own first class lounge in Singapore at Changi Airport. Passengers flying first class on Saudia are able to use the SATS Premier Lounge. The lounge had a nice selection of food and drinks, including alcohol. However, compared to the Emirates first class lounge in Dubai, Etihad premium lounge in Abu Dhabi, and Lufthansa First Class Lounge in Frankfurt, it paled in comparison.

Nonetheless, I had a light meal and a glass of wine, not realizing that it was the last alcohol I’d see until I got home. I appreciated the spacious restrooms where I was able to change into my jeans and sweater before the flight.

Welcome drinks in Saudia First Class

After a quick stop in the lounge, we headed to the gate and boarded the Saudia Airplane. We made our way to our seats and settled in before our flight crew offered us a welcome drink. They offered us either a hot or cold scented towel to wash our hands prior to take-off.  The welcome drink selection included fresh juice and lemonade. I opted for fresh melon juice and my daughter had lemonade.

I was wondering why they didn’t offer champagne like every first class flight I’ve flown before, not knowing that Saudia Airlines is a dry airline and does not serve any alcohol. When I asked about getting a glass of champagne, I was informed about the no alcohol policy. I discovered after the flight that Saudia offers mocktails, but my flight attendants never explained that this was available. Mocktails were not listed on the menu either, so I did not get the opportunity to try one of their virgin cocktails.

Shortly after takeoff, the flight attendants walked through the cabin offering Arabic coffee and dates. This is a welcoming gesture in the Middle East and the flight attendants were smiling and friendly while welcoming us to our flight. I don’t normally drink coffee but had a small cup, which seemed like the polite thing to do, and loved the sweet dates. An Islamic prayer also played over the intercom system in Arabic at the start of the flight.

Saudia Airline First Class seats

We flew on the Boeing 777, which unfortunately did not have the new Saudia First class cabin. There were 24 first class seats arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration. We had the first row next to the window on the right side of the cabin. Our seats were leather and had a small storage bin under the TV screen. The seats were supposed to fully recline into a bed, but unfortunately my daughter’s seat malfunctioned and would not fully recline. I asked the flight attendants for assistance and they tried to make it go flat but couldn’t get it to work. In hindsight, I wish I had asked to move to different seats because my daughter wasn’t able to sleep as well with her seat not fully reclined. Flat beds are one of the main perks of flying first class on a long-haul flight, especially with a young child.

My first impression of the Saudia first class seats was that they seemed outdated compared to Japan Airlines First Class, Emirates A380 First Class, Emirates Boeing 777 First Class, and Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 First Class. Bertaut had booked our flights thinking we’d be flying in the new first class cabin, which was not the case. I had high expectations since he said the cabin would be new and really luxurious, so the old cabin was somewhat underwhelming.

Saudia Airline First Class bathroom

The bathrooms on the Saudia first class Boeing 777 cabin were small but typical of airline bathrooms. Emirates A380 Spa bathrooms spoiled me for life, as no airline bathroom can ever compare to that. However, the bathrooms were clean which is important and had nice hand lotion and hand sanitizer.

Amenity kits in Air Saudia First Class

The women’s amenity kits in Saudia First Class were by Salvatore Ferragamo. The kit included hand cream, lip balm, eau de toilette, socks, hairbrush, sleeping mask, toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, mirror, and nail file. I received an amenity kit but my daughter did not. I asked for one for my daughter, but they said that because she was a child she could not receive one. They gave her a small bag instead with a coloring book, 3 colored pencils, and some stickers. Although her kiddy bag was appreciated, I thought that she should’ve received an amenity kit with inflight essentials like toothbrush and sleep mask.

Inflight entertainment on Saudia Airlines First Class

Wifi is free for first class passengers on Saudia Airlines and is activated with a code on the ticket. I was unable to successfully activate my free wifi the entire flight from Singapore to Jeddah. I asked multiple different flight attendants for help, and none of them could get it to work. The supervisor also tried to get it to work unsuccessfully, so gave me a complaint card to fill out. I never heard any follow-up from Saudia Airlines in regard to my complaint. I was hoping to get some work done during the long flight, but without wifi was unable to accomplish much.

The entertainment system in Saudia First Class includes videos, audio stations, and video games in addition to the air show to chart flight progress. There’s also a forward-facing and downward-facing camera to give a bird’s eye view of the flight, which was interesting.

Saudia First Class Menu

The Saudia First Class Menu offered a selection of juices, soft drinks, tea and coffee, light snacks, and a main meal. The first class cabin offers meal on demand, so you can dine at any time prior to one hour thirty minutes before landing. The menu was less extensive than other first class menus we’ve seen so far. I thought it was strange that the menu didn’t specify the selection of juices, soft drinks, and tea options. We flew another airline that had an entire section of the menu with premium tea options for premium cabin passengers.

Saudi Arabian Airlines First Class Food

The food on Saudi First Class was good with Middle Eastern options and Western options. I love Middle Eastern food so was excited to see some of my favorites on the menu, including chicken shawarma. I selected the Arabic mezze appetizer, butternut squash soup, chicken kabli, and assorted sweets. My daughter had the Western appetizer, tenderloin of Angus beef, and ice cream. I also had a chicken shawarma for a snack.

Saudia First Class Service

Now for the last and in my opinion, the most important aspect of flying first class, the service. The service that we experienced on Saudia First class was extremely disappointing. Service was slow and not as attentive as expected for first class. First of all, we waited awhile before being offered any drinks. We’ve experienced exceptional service in first class on other carriers where the flight attendants offered us welcome drinks almost as soon as we found our seats. This was not the case in Saudia First Class.

Second, we did not receive any inflight amenities until well into the flight. Typically headphones, eye shades, and slippers or socks are distributed at the start of the flight. After an hour into the flight, I asked for headphones so my daughter could hear the movie she was watching. They brought her basic earbuds from economy cabin, which was fine but I thought was strange since first class flights normally offer noise-cancelling headphones. They didn’t bring me any headphones until much later, after asking 2 or 3 more times. I received a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, and asked if my daughter could get the same quality of headphones. They brought them eventually, but every request seemed to take much longer than typical in a first class cabin.

Third, the flight attendants did not go above and beyond like we’ve experienced on other first class flights. When it was time to sleep, I asked the flight attendant if she could make our beds which is customary from all of our experiences in First Class cabin. She informed me that they do not make beds, and that there are no mattresses. We received a blanket and pillow for our beds, which as I mentioned before, did not fully recline even though it was supposed to. Upon reading their website after the flight, I read that long-haul first class flights are supposed to provide pajamas, which we did not receive.

Finally, I felt that the female flight attendants were unable to fully answer questions or resolve problems without deferring to their male supervisor, who was extremely slow to respond. I waited about an hour for him to show up to help with the wifi. I wondered too if my subpar service had anything to do with the fact that I was a female traveling alone with a female child. If Bertaut had been with me, I wonder if the service may have been better. However, after reading several other Saudia Airline reviews from male travelers describing poor service in first class and business class, it seems to be a problem consistently.

As you read this, you may think we are knit-picking but we strive to be as thorough as possible in our reviews. Had we been flying in economy cabin, we would have had different expectations. However, since we paid for the First Class tickets, we had higher expectations and they simply were not met. If this had been our first time flying First Class, we may not have noticed any lapses in service; however since we’ve flown First Class on multiple airlines, we were able to compare Saudia to our other experiences.

Last Words on Saudia First Class

Saudia First Class was disappointing due to inattentive and slow service, malfunctioning seats and wifi, an outdated cabin, bad first impression with having to change my clothes in order to board, and limited beverage options. Strangely, we had a much better experience on Saudia Business Class on our next flight from Jeddah to Washington D.C. That review will be coming next on the blog, so check back soon.

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