Dream standby flight

Standby flight

Having slept around 2200 last night, I stirred around 0400 and got out of bed around 0630, an hour before my alarm.  I made it to the 0800 from KL Sentral which got me to Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 1 at 0900 (it got to Terminal 2 at 0845).

When things go that smoothly, there’s really no need for me to take the train at over 3x the price.

At the airport, I found that the counter for the Malaysia Airlines flight to Jeddah hadn’t opened.  I found out that staff are provided with their dedicated standby counter and headed there, only to find that Jeddah and Medina flights need to be done at the regular counter.

Back at the regular counter, the staff waved to me who had been waiting unobtrusively in the distance, as they opened at 0930.  I was the first.  I was going to say, first in line, but there was no queue.  However, I noticed stacks of passports were being processed by the staff, handled by a pilgrimage agent.

I learnt that there were only 41 passengers onboard my flight with perhaps 70 on the later flight this evening.  It’s a good day to fly standby!  I was surprised the two flights weren’t combined but sometimes the return legs may be very full.

Knowing the light load, I asked if I could take my cabin wheelie onboard, but the check-in staff said it was over 9kg, which is 2kg over the limit.  I could have easily said “no luggage” and gotten away with it today.  I would have to throw away a couple of items that couldn’t fit into my rather full LAG bag.

Flying to Jeddah

After a couple of hours in the new Travel Club lounge, I went to the gate to await boarding the Malaysia Airlines A330-200.  Unfortunately, it is one of several in the fleet with no wifi.

Most of the Malay men were in long Arab robes whereas were in their usual conservative outfits.  In contrast, the Arab couple on the flight … she had nothing covering her hair and he was in shorts.

The female cabin crew weren’t in their iconic kebaya but in suit pants, complete with a headscarf.  I learnt later that they are dedicated to the Jeddah and Medina flights but do have a standard uniform for the occasional flight to other destinations.

An amenity kit was distributed with a prayer mat, ablution bottle, tasbih watch, face mask, etc.  Separately a bottle of water and a couple of dates were also provided.

Nearly all passengers were squeezed into the rear of the aircraft.  Once airborne, we were allowed to redistribute ourselves within the rear cabin.  One of the crew invited me to sit in midship which was nearly completely empty.  I think she was wary that I might find it more comfortable as people might be getting up and down to pray during the flight.

I noticed that the crew didn’t stop people from praying when the fasten seat belt signs were on.

A second meal was served about 90 mins before we landed. An announcement was made in plenty of time to warn of the miqat, which is the boundary at which pilgrims must have prepared themselves.  Amongst other things, they need to have performed their ablution and for men, changed into white wraps.

As usual, Malaysia Airlines crew were awesome.  Friendly and chatty with a sense of humour not just to passengers but amongst themselves.  Upon landing while the final announcement was being made by inflight supervisor who spoke with a posh English accent, two of the crew giggled and imitated the exceptions to his English accent.  They mimic’ed his pronunciation of “mask” and “passport” with an IPA “æ” when one would have expected an IPA “ɑ”.

Arrival in Jeddah

We landed in Jeddah on time at 1740. Immigration had short but slow queues.  With all counters open, I got through 45 mins after landing.

Our passport stamps were checked independently before being let through into the baggage claim area.  Our hand-carried items were then scanned.  My checked-in bag was waiting for me at the carousel, presumably having been scanned already.

The public area was a bit crowded but looked glorious with a large cylindrical aquarium that went down to the floor below, where taxis and rideshares were waiting.

I went down by escalator to find the grates pulled down, making the kerbside inaccessible.  I had to return upstairs to take the elevator down to the other side of the area.

I summoned an Uber to Hotel Siti Zone Amam near the airport.  The ride took only 10 mins and I got to the hotel a little after 1900.  The Egyptian receptionist spoke good English but I tried my best to revive my Arabic skills.

Upstairs, I was offered a choice of two rooms so I chose the one with one big bed.  It was lit in ghastly pink but I soon realised that each flick of the light switch changes the colour.

I took a brief walk outside on the main road but there was no food and nothing interesting.  The place is good for a quick nightstop.  I retired around 2100.