Saudia 

Consumers and travellers need to be very wary of this airline. They cancelled a whole route to South Korea with very little notice, inconveniencing thousands of passengers that have booked flights and they are refusing to pay compensation even though this contravenes their own laws at Article 12 of the General Authority of Civil Aviation Passenger Rights Protection Regulations. Their customer relations have been extremely unhelpful and even lied to me at one point stating that my flights had been cancelled due to “weather conditions” which is bizarre as they have cancelled all future flights to Seoul so it most definitely is not as a result of weather conditions. Their customer services have just sent me round in circles and are now forcing me to take legal action to ensure my passenger rights. I would have expected more from a national carrier and their shameful disregard for their customers and their own laws sullies the great nation of Saudia Arabia.

They lost my baggage and still unresolved after 7 months. They gave websites to view and track my claim which does not work. Then they gave me email address to send emails that no one receives. After much battle I pushed my solicitors on them and then they decided to speak. They are claiming they can only give me compensation of £300. The battle is not over. This has been an emotional battle with unprofessional rude people.

Booked flight later they changes flight instead of putting us on less time stopover flight they put us on 7 hours stopover flight, knowing that we have two kids, and funny thing same day another flight comes but they didn't put us on that flight what a joke, and when requested they refused to give any lounge where we can put kids to sleep, never again

Schedule flight leave Manchester 22/11/21 1619 hrs.
SV 124 ( 2 hrs 19mins late) No reason other than don’t worry pilot will arrive at Jeddah in time for connecting flight to Bangkok.
Arrival Jeddah 0139 connecting flight SV 844 departed 0145 hrs 22/11/23.
Next available flight SV 848 1145 hrs 22/11/23 arrival Bangkok 2320 hrs.
To be fair I was given hotel only after poor treatment by ground staff with unsigned issue of boarding card resulting in having to pass through security 3 time’s.
I then had to spend nightime cancelling pre booked flight from Bangkok to Ko Samui and rebook at considerable expense having to telephone Bangkok.
On arrival Bangkok Airport 22/11/23 2320 hrs had to wait 7 hrs until 1st available flight to Ko Samui. 0700 hrs 23/11/23.
So my journey from Manchester to Bangkok took 33 hours and to my ultimate destination of Ko Samui total 42 hrs.
My advice is don’t complain or make contact with Saudia Airline and Customer Service as they will not respond .
As a final note my return journey on the 23/04/24 was excellent.
Strange how this airline has asked for comments on this return journey but not asked for review on flights in November.

One number plate Saudi airline best travel

I've had the displeasure of flying with Saudia for the first (and by my experience, the last) time ever.

I flew 3 July late evening from Kuwait to Riyadh, had a two-hour layover in Riyadh to take my very early morning Riyadh - London flight.

The experience at Riyadh Airport wasn't great but that's hardly the airline's fault.

What was unacceptable was that even though I was able to comfortably make my two-hour connection, Saudia managed that my luggage didn't.

I have flown connecting flights dozens of times before. I've had connections far shorter than two hours; in some cases, my incoming flight arrivigin very late to require me to run through transit to catch my connecting flight. My luggage has always made it through.

On this first ever flight with Saudia, this wasn't the case.

I arrived in London at 7:30 in the morning of 4 July at Heathrow Airport.

Upon finding out my luggage hadn't arrived, I checked in with the Saudia associated luggage services. I was told that my luggage would be transferred that afternoon to Heathrow Airport with the next Riyadh - London flight, arriving at around 4pm. It would then be delivered to me either evening of 4 July or morning of 5 July, depending on working hours of the delivery services.

Nothing arrive evening of 4 July or morning of 5 July.

I called the delivery company early afternoon of 5 July to get an update. I was told that the luggage was only cleared customs in the morning of 5 July, suggesting, it was probably not even delivered with the 4 July afternoon flight.

I received my luggage late night on 5 July -- about 39 hours after my arrival to London.

I hope to never having to fly Saudia again.

Flight Delayed by almost 4 hours with no customer updates and token refreshments provided only after customers became increasingly agitated.

No further attempts to remedy the inconvenience.

The automated responses from their guest relations to the complaint raised on return has served to highlight their lack of interest in passenger experiences.

Will not be using this airline again unless I have no other choice.

After reading the TrustPilot reviews, we were initially concerned about flying with Saudi Airlines. However, our experience turned out to be excellent. The flight went smoothly, and the cabin crew were exceptionally friendly and accommodating. We wouldn’t hesitate to fly with this airline again in the future.

1. Poor Customer Service: From the moment I checked in, the staff was unhelpful and rude. They seemed uninterested in addressing any concerns and provided minimal assistance.

2. Flight Delays and Cancellations: My flight was significantly delayed without any proper explanation or timely updates. This caused a great deal of inconvenience and disrupted my travel plans.

3. Uncomfortable Seating: The seats were extremely uncomfortable with very limited legroom. The cabin was cramped and did not meet the basic standards of comfort for a long-haul flight.

4. Inadequate In-Flight Services: The in-flight entertainment system was outdated and malfunctioning. Additionally, the quality of the food served was poor, and the options were very limited.

5. Luggage Handling Issues: Upon arrival, I discovered that my luggage was mishandled, resulting in damaged items. The process to file a claim for compensation was unnecessarily complicated and frustrating.

Overall, my experience with Saudia Airlines was extremely disappointing. I strongly advise other travelers to consider alternative airlines to avoid the stress and discomfort I endured. Saudia Airlines needs to make significant improvements in their services to meet even the basic expectations of their passengers.

I am going to post my e-Mail to one of their executives about my experience. Bits where personal information was involved has been redacted. As expected, there is no reply since 16/03/24.

Dear Sir,

My name is Dr Ahmad Badri. I would like to complain against Saudia about my recent travels from Gatwick to Kuala Lumpur, return. I had to take a few days before e-mailing you about my treatment by the staff at King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah and to certain extent Saudia in order not to let my emotions cloud my intention.
On the 29/2/24, I flew from London Gatwick as a business class passenger. The problems started when I arrived in Jeddah. My connecting flight was on the 01/03/24 at 02:10 Saudi time to Kuala Lumpur. I left Al-Fursan lounge at 01:30 heading to the gate. I reached the gate at 01:47 I was told the gate was closed was not allowed to board. The gate still showed it was open and as a business passenger, I thought I can board at any time. Despite my efforts including begging and to ask the captain, I was still refused. At no time getting to the gate was there a final call or passenger call was heard, as the norm. There was also no announcement that the gate was to close early. Not sure if this is Saudia’s protocol but on subsequent flights, I noticed passengers were let on up to 10 minutes before departures.
The gate staff then shoo-ed me to the nearest customer service counter. I asked to be directed to Saudia service counter to change my flights, they said there were none available at the airport and explained that the only way for me to continue my journey was to buy a new ticket. I had to find the cheapest ticket online to do so. The manners of the staff were brusque and rude. Barking orders and answers when questions were asked.
My misery did not stop there. On the return journey, I was informed that my return flight ticket was cancelled. Upon talking to the airport staff, it is a common occurrence when passengers have issues in Jeddah. Again, I had to fork out money to complete my journey. Unfortunately, I had to choose Saudia because I planned a stop over in Saudi to do Umrah. I literally had to pay money to fly economy on the same flights I was supposed to fly business in. Also, between the 01/03 to my return flight on the 9th, I received no communication from Saudia about the cancellation.
Now please indulge me to tell you how this experience made me feel. I felt and still am very angry and humiliated by my treatment by the airport staff in Jeddah. They were rude, gave me the wrong instruction and not helpful. There was also the lack of Saudia customer service at the airport which I found perplexing. In my 30 years of flying I have never been treated this unfairly and shabbily by an airline. Needless to say, I will never fly Saudia again. You call us your ‘guest’. No civilised people would treat their guest as how you and the Jeddah airport treated me.
Here are my flight details and the amount of money I spent being your ‘customer’.

A Badri

Business Class:
PCN: U2PQ78
E-Ticket: 0652156762965
Cost: USD 2352.32

Jed-Kul:
PCN: RE3Q8S
E-ticket: 0653419367439
Cost: GBP 664.99

Kul-Jed-LGW
PCN: NSMAA8
E-Ticket: 0652162345616
Cost: RM 4157.00

I have booked the flights from jeddah to dubai.
I arrived at the airport to check in and they have cancelled my flights which i booked and paid for. I have paid £85 extra for my check in luggage which they have took at the time and when I arrived at the airport on the day, they send me from one counter to another counter and eventually said they have cancelled all my flights as i did not take the first flight from abu dhabi to jeddah , and its airlines policy to then cancel the other flights. So if you book and pay 2 way flight and you miss the first flight for whatever the reason, they will cancel all other flights booked with them. Without informing you by email or text. Meanwhile they will take the money for extras like seats , luggage etc and when you will turn up at the airport, they will tell you to book and pay for another flight and keep the money for your other flight and make you pay for the new flight. In my case they wanted me to pay £800 on the day to book the new flight to go from jeddah to dubai where i had a flight booked to come back home to bhx. Staff was not even helpful at the airport, very annoying. Definitely felt like i got scammed by the airline !! I had booked with another airline which was so good and didn’t cost arm and a leg but still £400 for a 3 hour flight which would cost 1/4 of that if id have known and booked few days back !!! Just Avoid this Airline.

Good flight but no hope getting through to them if there's an issue. Flight home was rescheduled by w days with zero offer of compensation

Had booked flights from London to Dar es salaam in July 2024. At the time of booking we had alternatives but chose Saudia due to timing and attractive price. They cancelled the flights and to rebook same dates, had to pay lot more since trip in 8 weeks. Cost me £2k more.

Raised a complaint with them and there is a standard response sent. Avoid if can!

Flight REF (jmfk3w) Poor customer service with flight booking , poor cabin crew managment and timings or distributing meals . The worst happened when we were trying to change our flight dates , we cancel one of our passenger and instead of refunding our money to our credit card , they change it into useless voutcher and took $150 of our paid ticket which will only be used if we had to book a new flight only , not with anything else , not even with change of flight . Secondly i was trying to change my flight date and the reservation office in Islamabad where nobody is seroius , they don't pick up calls , i went all the way there and they gave me super high flight change compare to what i found online simply they seems to be curroupt . Then i barely able to change the flight details online but again the payment wasn't going through , giving me errors , i tried multiple time with low fare but nothing happens , i complained about it , and the next day customer service called me with another high price quote instead of what i orginally trying to book with , so simply they are playing games , trying to jacked up the prices . Don't fly with them and avoid them at all cost . Cheap airline .

I will never fly with saudi arline again and advise against flying with them. They are unreachable and work with 3rd parties who are totally unreachable. I have been waiting almost 2 months for my bag and I get no answer from both dnata the person who handles the bags and in the soudis.

They seem luxurious but they are not friendly and helpful! It is my worst experience with flying in 15 years.

The crew was very rude, I am diabetic and asked for the water couple of times so the airhostes didn't even come to serve me. When they serving the food and when they reached to my seat they said food is finished. What a shame, not enough food to serve the guests.
Very rude staff no manners or respect for the guests. Treating very badly, the saudi staff at the airport was very rude, because they broke my bag and stole the IPhone and chocolate from it. When I asked at the airport from the saudi staff they tried to ignore me. When I start shouting then they came and gave a piece of paper with saudi Airlines complaint email and website which I checked later was totally wrong. They didn't even try to help me. In saudi Arabia at the airport the one of the staff member took 50 riyal bribe from for zam zam water to take, even I went for umra. I paid 12.50 riyal for water and then on the counter 50 riyal just to take the water. Really disappointing I wouldn't recommend Saudi Airlines.

Fahad A Mashi, the stupid arrogant security guy at Riyadh airport security checkout was very disrespectful to my 13 yrs old son and forced him to take his Kara off (Sikhs wear Kara on their wrist for religious reasons). The other security person let me and my husband through without having to take our Kara off and did some extra checks with the detector. Working at the airport Fahad needs to know about other religions and how to respect others religions. He was rude and mannerless. He was being bossy with a 13 yrs old kid. He wouldn’t even let me go through on the other side of the security gate to my son. He sent my son to another staff to speak to. There were other members of staff who suggested other ways to let my son through the security without having to take his Kara off but he was very adamant and wanted him to take it off. He spoke to me and my son very rudely and told him he can’t go until he takes it off. It wasn’t easy for him to take it off as it was small but he had to do take it off himself.
Fahad A Mashi if you are reading this message, just want to say shame on you for bossing around a 13 yrs old kid and being disrespectful towards my religion, even after me and my son tried to explain you the reason for him wearing Kara. I understand you have to follow the rules, but the rules should be same for an adult and for kids. You are a bully Fahad A Mashi.

I recently traveled with Saudi Airlines from Jeddah to Toronto on the 16th, and I must say it was a deeply disappointing experience. Despite paying an exorbitant airfare of 5890 Saudi Riyals (2144 CAD) for a one-way ticket, the facilities and services provided were far below expectations.

Firstly, the in-flight internet was unacceptable. The "free messaging" option was limited to just 5MB or 60 minutes with a maximum of 50MB for 20 USD. This is extremely restrictive—50MB is hardly enough for browsing emails, let alone streaming. I purchased the 20 USD package, but it did not work. Additionally, my personal screen was malfunctioning for the entire 12+ hour flight. It was a nightmare, especially considering other airlines like Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad offer unlimited browsing at reasonable prices.

In an era where 5G technology and advanced streaming services are the norms, Saudi Airlines' offering felt like a step back in time. The meals served were just okay and certainly not up to the mark for the price paid. The seats were uncomfortable, adding to the overall dissatisfaction. For long-haul flights, passengers expect to browse, watch movies, and stay entertained—unfortunately, Saudi Airlines failed miserably in this regard.

I genuinely do not understand how Saudi Airlines checks and prepares their flights before departure. Ensuring customer satisfaction should be their priority, yet my experience was anything but satisfactory. I will never travel with Saudi Airlines again and cannot recommend them to anyone.

I booked a flight online, thinking I could cancel within 24hrs and receive a refund as stated on their website under their refund policy. I tried to cancel within 24 hours online and then told I can't do it on their website, to contact a WhatsApp number. I contact the WhatsApp number, it tells me to download their app. Then guess what, their app has no info on cancelling, not even an option. I called customer service, they told me to email them. I emailed them, they told me to call customer service. Horrible, horrible, service. Will never book with this place again and hope you don't make the same mistake.

Dar-Jedda-Manchester 30th April 2024. First leg on A320, 2nd on newer B787-10 Dreamliner. Both flights on time, and luggage delivered finely at final destination. Airbridges provided throughout. The trip was the return legs to Europe and was a bargain promotional purchase: paid some 240 Euro which proved extremely good value for money. Preordered (and got) the seats onboard that I wanted without further pay due to status in Flying Blue. Check-in easy and quick, although a bit underwhelming. In Dar airport, Saudia uses the new Twiga lounge in T3, a 3rd party lounge which is nice but with a bit meagre catering compared to other ne lounges in Dar. Hot food was sparse, and only one of six wines, a red Californian, was acceptable. No draught beer. The Jedda lounge is Saudia’s own, Alfursan, which is impressive, top notch with professional baristas and good dining. However, no alcoholic drinks offered, and on the day, they ran out of water for showering.

Service onboard impeccable. Good, hot meal services provided every +/- 4 hours interval, more frequent coffee and drink rounds. Amenity kits were given on both legs. They were of very decent quality, nicely decorated in a colourful Arabic them. FAs exhibit extreme courtesy, willing to help if any issue; focusing on passengers’ wellbeing. Amble, large seat space, better than most other airlines in economy. Large toilets, prayer areas and open spaces onboard gives a very ambient “business class” feeling onboard. IFE modern and competitive, including free set of earphones provided.

Frequent Flyer and Skyteam Priority perks given throughout, including seatblock if space available. Flyer miles and tier point instated quickly. Very Islamic oriented airline, including prayers at take offs. Alcohol search at boarding; no alcoholic drinks offered apart from Lounge in Dar; but not an issue. Will use them again. The airline impresses me and improves for every trip; service level become more and more consistent and genuine.