Category: Travel

Kuwait Airways just won an APEX Five-Star award for outstanding passenger experience. That may come as a surprise, depending on how you feel about them, but according to APEX this was based on “neutral, third-party passenger feedback and insights.” So not one of those awards you can buy just for PR purposes.

Etihad Airways and Gulf Air were two other airlines from the region that won an APEX Five-Star award. Qatar Airways and Emirates were strangely were not listed. Not sure why, but both did win APEX Best awards:

‎Best Entertainment: Emirates
‎Best Cabin Service: Korean Air
‎Best Food & Beverage: Qatar Airways
‎Best Seat Comfort: Eva Air
‎Best Wi-Fi: Delta Air Lines

APEX stands for Airline Passenger Experience Association and they were the first airline rating program to based solely on certified passenger feedback. The last time Kuwait Airways won an APEX Five-Star award was in 2021.

I’m currently still on vacation in LA but trying to get back into the habit of posting so figured I’d write about my experience using Waymo. Waymo for those of you who don’t know is exactly like Uber, except the cars are driverless. It’s really cool in theory and in reality it’s even cooler.

It’s not available yet in all of Los Angeles, but it was available in the downtown area which is where I decided to try it out. I had my rental parked in one area of downtown but needed to go to another part but didn’t want to take my car. So I called a Waymo and it came and picked me up.

When the car first arrives you need to unlock the doors through the app, that’s how the car knows it’s you or you know you got the right Waymo. Once you get in you are required to put your seatbelts on, generally I wouldn’t want to but in this case because its a driverless car and this whole thing is still in testing it makes sense to do so. The car obviously knew where I was going and once I clicked on start driving on the rear screen the car took off. I had my Spotify connected in the Waymo app so once we started moving it started playing my music. I could control the music from the rear screen which also had other commands like if I wanted the car to pull over to drop me off early.

The ride was actually pretty smooth, and the car smelled fresh and was comfortable. They use modified Jaguar electric cars and because there isn’t a driver, both front seats are pushed forward so the rear passengers get a lot of legroom. It’s a very weird and futuristic feeling being in a car without a driver. Like it’s hard to believe we are in that point of time where such a thing is possible.

The only negative thing was the fact I had to wait 20 minutes to get a Waymo. They don’t have a lot of cars yet so it’s understandable. It’s actually because of this 20 minute wait I ended up finding out that Paddy’s Pub from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was near where I was and got to pass by it before the cab came.

The ride fare was cheaper than Uber and the overall experience much better. Not sure if the Waymo car can leave me a rating but if I could rate it I would have given it a 5 star.

LA as a whole I generally find behind in tech compared to Europe, but this trip feels the other way around, I think mostly because of the driverless cars, the fact everyone seems to have a Cyber Truck here and also because of robots that go around delivering food to people (which are super cute btw).

I just read that Kuwait Airways now has self check-in that includes boarding pass issuance AND baggage weighing. Previously you could on self check-in if you didn’t have any luggage just carryon but now it seems you can also drop off your bag yourself. source

@VisitKuwait posted the 4 different categories that were recently introduced for the Kuwait tourist visa. source

The cost of the tourist visa is just KD 3 so around $10. source

Jazeera Airways just kicked off their Mega Sale that starts today and lasts till July 31st.

100,000 seats are up for grabs starting at just KD 14 one way. The offer covers a wide range of destinations across the Middle East, Central and South Asia, Africa, and Europe. The travel window is from August 1 to September 30, making it perfect for an end-of-summer escape or a quick weekend trip somewhere new.

This offer is only for a few days and just 100,000 seats so if you want to take advantage of the deal book through their application or head to jazeeraairways.com

A couple of weeks ago I went to Berlin for the very first time and I ended up loving the city. There were no direct flights from Kuwait, so I flew Kuwait Airways to Munich, spent the night, and then drove to Berlin the next day. I could’ve taken the train or flown via Qatar Airways or Emirates, but the timings didn’t work for me. The city is huge but here’s my list of spots to add to your Berlin itinerary if you ever decide to head there:

Eat
Remi is a stylish spot. I didn’t have a reservation, but they were able to accommodate me, and the place had a relaxed vibe. Ripieno is an Italian spot I ended up at by mistake on my way to another restaurant. The atmosphere was great and they had delicious fresh pasta. While in Berlin, I had Vietnamese food three times, probably to balance out all the schnitzel I was having. The best beef pho I had was at Madame NGO. I also had delicious seafood and a great experience at FunkyFisch.

Drink
My go-to spot every morning was Acid. They had great coffee, a good cheese and butter sandwich, and delicious pastries. SOFI also had good coffee, but also the best lemon poppy seed cake I’ve ever had. Aera was another good spot with a nice courtyard to chill in.

See
If you like beautiful objects visit Kunstgewerbemuseum and Bauhaus Dessau. HAY has a store in Berlin which was great since I need to get one of their dog beds. Dregeno for wooden crafts, Fotoimpex for analog photography and Breathe if you’re into independent perfumers. Luiban and R.S.V.P. for unique stationery, and YUN for cool Korean eyewear. If you’re there on a Sunday visit Mauerpark for the flea market and to chill in the park.

Sleep
I stayed at Locke East Side Gallery, which turned out to be a great choice. The room was spacious and had a beautiful view of the river. It was also conveniently located at the Berlin Wall and near both overground and underground stations. Plan B was Chateau Royal.

For my previous travel guides, click here.

Nonstop Dan has uploaded one last video related to his experience flying Kuwait Airways, this time the video is regarding the responses he got from Kuwait Airways (and a member of the royal family?). Video thankfully isn’t 30 minutes long but if you want to skip the intro just jump to minute 3:30.

In summary if you don’t want to watch the videos. He got three emails, 2 from Kuwait Airways, and 1 supposedly from a member of the royal family. The emails were apologetic, friendly and wanted to make it up to Dan. So the saga is over, Dan and Kuwait Airways are friends again.

Dan just published part two of his review where he goes into details about what happened with Kuwait Airways.

I don’t watch his videos so not sure if they’re all like this but god he drags things for sooo long. This video could easily have been 5-10mins long instead of 26mins.

In short, nothing surprising for anyone living in Kuwait. Basically he was told he can’t record video onboard and publish it without permission from Kuwait Airways. Obviously that’s not true and the people involved were most likely all old school crew. He was threatened that he would be sued if he did which again is such a normal thing for us to hear, or at least I’m used to this. Eventually when he landed the cops came and spoke to him and obviously nothing came out of it because he hadn’t done anything wrong. Just normal Kuwait drama.

Anyway, that was all of it. It didn’t need a part 2 video, and definitely didn’t need to be longer than an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

The airline YouTuber Nonstop Dan recently flew Kuwait Airways and just published his part 1 of 2 review. The review goes as expected, nice first class seats, but subpar service and poor amenities. But, supposedly he was threatened not to publish the review and police got involved once he landed in Kuwait. He’s publishing the dramatic second half of the review after tomorrow so we will have to see what happens.

Nowadays I don’t believe anything I watch online since everyone is just trying to grab headlines. I don’t know anything really about Dan’s credibility so I don’t know how dramatic he usually is. I’ll have to watch his second video to see if things were lost in translation, or if the police did get involved etc. I guess he’ll be getting my views.

Turns out Pret A Manger also opened in Terminal 4 of Kuwait Airport. They opened two weeks ago and took over the previous seating area for Shake Shack, on the ground floor of the departure area.

Thanks Yousef

Kuwait Flour Mills & Bakeries opened their Kuwait Airport branch in Terminal 4 this morning. I had a friend flying out and managed to take some photos which he shared with me. It’s pretty smart that they’re selling their coffee and baked goods there, but also a bit odd that they’re selling dry pasta and flour?

Anyway, Kuwait Flour Mills ran into a bit of controversy with their affordable 750fils latte and 500fils Americanos and Espressos back in April. I’m pretty sure the coffee shops at T4 aren’t going to be too excited about them opening up next to them. @kfmkuwait

Thanks Zaydoun!

OLE Coffee, the local independent coffee roasters, just opened their 45th branch at Kuwait Airport’s Terminal 4.

The terminal was long overdue for a specialty coffee spot, so I’m glad that OLE Coffee stepped in. They’re known for using high-grade beans that are freshly roasted in Kuwait and ethically sourced directly from farmers. They’re also committed to sustainability. On top of that, they also serve exceptional ceremonial-grade matcha imported from Japan.

The new OLE Coffee branch is located near the arrivals area at T4, so you can grab a coffee before checking in or while waiting for someone to land. Find out more over at @theolecoffee.

This news is a few weeks old but it just popped up on my Linkedin feed now and it bothered me.

Emirates and Kuwait Airways have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to progress with an interline agreement, enabling more flight choices for customers travelling to Dubai and beyond.

Can someone tell me what the benefit of this is? Emirates already flies to Kuwait so I can just book flights with them instead of going through Kuwait Airways. Couldn’t Kuwait Airways sign a deal with Lufthansa, or British Airways, or maybe even United Airlines. Imagine being able to fly to Kuwait – New York – LA…

I just read a review about the first class lounge where the guy called it the least beautiful in the world. The funny part is, I was looking at the photos thinking, wow, that actually looks like a nice lounge. Probably because I recently experienced the Kuwait Airways business class lounge at T4, which has to be the worst lounge I’ve ever been to.

The lounge was so bad I actually went and sat outside near my gate because I found that more comfortable. The lounge was dark with no daylight, it was long and narrow with most of the seats just facing the wall. It was a claustrophobic and uncomfortable place to be in.

If you want to check out his review of the first class lounge, click here.

Both Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways just launched new summer routes, so I put together a list of all the new spots, their launch dates, and the cheapest ticket prices I could find. Check them out below:

Kuwait Airways

Alexandria
Flights from July 1 starting at KD 122

Antalya
Flights from June 2 starting at KD 135

Bodrum
Flights from June 2 starting at KD 152

Luxor
Flights from July 2 starting at KD 86

Malaga
Flights from June 5 starting at KD 197

Salalah
Flights from June 2 starting at KD 83

Sarajevo
Flights from June 5 starting at KD 130

Sharm El Sheikh
Flights from June 4 starting at KD 120

Trabzon
Flights from June 1 starting at KD 188

Vienna Flights
Flights from June 1 starting at KD 216

Jazeera Airways

Budapest
Flights from June 5 starting at KD 119

Hurghada
Flights from June 28 starting at KD 106

Krakow
Flights from June 6 starting at KD 141

Prague
Flights from June 5 starting at KD 140

Rize
Flights already started, starting at KD 000*

Sarajevo
Flights already started, starting at KD 90

Sochi
Flights from June 4 starting at KD 101

Yerevan
Flights from June 1 starting at KD 92

*Couldn’t find the destination on their website even though the press release says they’ve already started flying there.