[ad_1]
I flew a Bamboo Airways A321neo business class from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and then a Bamboo Airways Boeing 787-9 business class from Hanoi to Frankfurt. It wasn’t amazing, it wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t boring. For better or for worse, you can’t do shambles or tricked puns. 😉
In fact, I left the flight with an overall positive impression. There are some oddities, but overall this is a professional airline. I will do a full review of this flight shortly after.
Bamboo Airways business class is quirky
Bamboo Airlines’ 787 business class flight to Frankfurt was more than just a flight. why? Well, because the airline says so. When the (Dutch) captain welcomed us on board, he said, “Welcome to Bamboo Airways…more than just a flight.”
As the Chief Flight Attendant welcomed us on board, he reminded us that it was “more than just a flight.” There’s even a poster behind the cabin saying that flying with Bamboo Airways is “more than just a flight”.
And they’re not really wrong. Flying with Bamboo Airways is a sure experience. For example, the boarding music consisted of a repeat of ABBA’s “Happy New Year,” which I loved and now can’t get it out of my head.
It’s a perfect song not only for the New Year, but also for the lyrics. Her first three words in the song are “no more champagne”. This is appropriate as Bamboo Airways does not serve champagne.
It’s also strange because Bamboo Airways’ marketing video makes heavy use of champagne.
There were some very cute cabin details, like the giant orchid in the bathroom. I wanted to see bamboo, but…
Other airlines still don’t provide warm towels in business class, but for the second meal, towels were provided on four separate occasions. I don’t know if he just wanted to clean his hands.
Bamboo Airways 787 business class hardware products
Bamboo Airways’ Boeing 787 has the reverse herringbone seats that most people are familiar with. I really liked the cabin finish and found the seat padding to be excellent.
Bamboo Airways’ 787 has a Wi-Fi “dome”, but it’s not powered on, so there’s no Wi-Fi.
I was worried that the entertainment would be terrible, but to my surprise it wasn’t that bad. The comedy selection was decent.
As you can imagine, there were also some Vietnamese options. I watched “The Cougar Queen 2” and eventually got tired of reading the subtitles.
For me, just tracking the course of the flight was enough entertainment. You must like the routes that many flights use between Asia and Europe.
Overall, it was a solid, competitive hardware product.
Bamboo Airways Business Class Soft Products
Bamboo Airways’ business class soft product had its highs and lows. Let’s start with the positive. The food was actually pretty good and certainly plentiful. The first meal started with mixed nuts and a drink.
There were several starters and several mains to choose from. For starters, we enjoyed the lemongrass grilled chicken and Asian green salad. Bamboo Airways knows how to brand their service items — I found 7 Bamboo Airways logos on one tray.
For the main course I had snapper with ginger rice and braised vegetables.
Then a huge trolley with cheese, fruit and desserts was placed at each seat.
A hearty meal was also served before landing, including seafood soup, grilled chicken salad, fried noodles with vegetables and shrimp, and blueberry mouse.
I thought the amenity kit was cute too. As an average geek, I definitely put the pouch to good use thanks to the giant Bamboo Airways logo. Great for storing cables.
Some aspects of the soft product left a little to be desired. For example, the bedding was a warm, scratchy blanket and tiny pillows, not nice at all.
I asked for a second pillow, but the flight attendant apologized for not having an extra business class pillow. But she managed to grab me an inexpensive pillow.
There was a printed menu, but it wasn’t actually handed out to the passengers. While taking food orders, flight attendants briefly presented each passenger with a menu and asked for a choice.
It would have been nice to have a menu as communication is difficult at times. I tried to order coffee with milk (which was specifically listed on the menu), but the flight attendants couldn’t understand me. Lost in It was when I pointed to it on the menu that she understood.
The alcohol selection was also quite limited. There was no champagne, one white and one red wine.
Conclusion
I am very happy to finally have the opportunity to fly Bamboo Airways on long haul routes. As long-time OMAAT readers know, I love flying quirky, under-flyed airlines, and Bamboo Airways certainly fits that bill (and I’m glad I could redeem this for points!). Thanks to Aeroplan for making it possible).
Bamboo Airways does not yet offer a world-class product, but frankly, the experience exceeded my expectations, especially for an airline startup. Bamboo Airways offers comfortable seating, excellent entertainment and friendly service with good intentions.
There are some areas that could be easier to improve such as better bedding, practically handing out menus and expanding the beverage selection.With a little effort Bamboo Airways could offer a competitive product between Asia and Europe I think.
What are your thoughts on Bamboo Airlines’ Boeing 787 Business Class?
[ad_2]
Source link
