Astraeus advice LGW to Egypt

[UniFoxOs]

The GF has just found (and booked) a cheap holiday involving flying Astraeus from LGW to Egypt. Anybody got any advice to offer - is the upgrade to "Star class" available on this route and is it worth paying for? Anything to watch out for at Taba(?) airport, and anybody know anything about the Taba Marriott hotel?

Thanks in advance
UFO

[skr80]

tripadvisor.com will give you some good reviews on the hotel.

[Sl4yer]

Don't know much about Astraeus (except that Bruce Dickinson used to fly for them) but they're almost certainly the same as other charter carriers. The flight to Taba is a long one, so take something to occupy yourself! It's no fun if you're 6'3" like I am.

Taba Airport is a dump, to put it nicely. It's an old military field in a demilitarized zone, so nothing much goes on there. The terminal is VERY basic, full of 'employees' begging for / demanding tips. Just pray you don't get delayed at the single departure gate on the way home! At least the 12000' runways give a good safety margin...

We stayed at the Taba Heights Radisson. The area is lovely, and I'm sure the Marriot will be great. Just remember to treat the staff as you would wish to be treated, and they'll look after you.

[c.r.m what is it]

Bruce Dickinson still fly's for Astraeus, in fact i belive he is now Cpt Dickinson.

You will fly on a B757, flight time usually around 4.45
seat pitch in economy 31 ins, star class 36ins and leather seats
only 201 seats on their 757's so much better then most charter airlines.

Do get an upgraded meal in star class as well as unlimited free drinks and snacks, can only be booked through the tour agent Peltours, who charter the aircraft.

if you want pm me with the details on when you are going!

have a great holiday

[Big Harvey]

We did this trip last year as our honeymoon.

The plane was a bit of an old crate, and nothing special at all, but it got us there and back safely, and reasonably punctually, which is about all I ask of a cheap flight.

The hotel was fine, although no way would it be considered 5-star by Western standards. We already knew from reading reviews on Tripadvisor and elsewhere not to expect it to be 5-star, and we were very happy with what we got considering how little we paid!

The room was large and spotless. The bathroom was equally spotless, although a little small for a place billed as 5-star.

Food consisted of a buffet. The choice was excellent, and did change just about sufficiently over the course of the week not to get boring. The Egyptian/Middle Eastern stuff was excellent, the Western-style dishes a bit more hit-and miss. I never heard of anyone getting ill from it while we were there, unlike an establishment just up the road, whose guests suffered a high incidence of something quite nasty! I think there were a couple of premium restaurants where you could pay extra, and order from a menu, but we were quite content with the buffet.

Taba is set in stunningly beautiful surroundings, but the only problem (for people like my wife and I who don't normally do package holidays) was that literally all there is in Taba is a few resort hotels and a golf course. There's none of the 'real Egypt'. We had a fantastic, relaxing time, the beach was clean and lovely, the snorkelling was way better than either of us had expected, and we even enjoyed the excursion we took to Petra in Jordan, despite the fact that we normally do our sightseeing independently.

The hotel staff were friendly, obviously well trained, and professional. We generally felt very well looked after during our stay.

A week was just about the right length of time for us though. Any longer, and we would have felt the urge to don our backpacks and go off into the sunset, exploring the 'real' Middle East.