Booking Sri Lankan Airlines?

[bagman]

Hi there.
Has anyone booked direct with this airline?
If so any issues or suggestions ?
Is it better to book direct or with a travel agent in respect to Sri Lankan ?
We will be flying Business Class. Has anyone flown with them recently ? I’d be interested to hear your experience.
Many thanks in advance for your replies.
Cheers

 

[Austman]

I have always booked direct.

I last flew on Srilankan 6 months ago. MEL-LHR, return all in business class. So 4 x long haul flights.

The on-board product is fine, especially on the A330s. Ground services can be a bit hit-or-miss. Colombo airport is no great shakes but it's not too bad.

 

[Cynicor]

Booking direct is mostly fine. Business is nice, esp for the price usually

 

[bagman]

Thanks so much for your quick replies. Much appreciated.

 

[jrfsp]

unfortunately UL are not the airline they use to be, long delays and cancellations due to tech issues are commonplace, something to bare in mind if you’re booking.

 

[leadman]

Taking my fourth trip to Europe with them in September. I always book through their website, although there is a little trick to getting the airport into the search form. I travelled with them when Sri Lanka was a mess, and although we had a hotel room, there was no petrol to take us there. We spent 2 x 12 hours in the lounge. As they had problems in the country, we had to fly to India on both legs to refuel. Even with the 12 hours in the lounge, you could not complain as people in the country were struggling to feed their families at the time.

 

[Austman]

On my 4 x long-haul flights, 6 months ago, there were no long delays or cancellations. All flights were on time.

 

[doctorstrangelove]

I've flown on UL in the past 6 months and thought they had a great soft product and OK hard product in J (IFE selection was very poor especially - bring a book or pre-load shows on your own device). The main downside was that both of my flights were delayed. One delay was just 20 minutes but the other was 4 hours. If delayed the UL lounge in Colombo is pretty decent however with a good selection of food and beverages.

I have a Sri Lankan friend who flies home on SQ because he views UL as too unreliable with regard to delays.

 

[bagman]

Thanks again everyone for your replies. So I’m getting the impression that if you want the most direct flight to Sri Lanka you go via Sri Lankan Airlines. But if you want a more reliable and a more nicer serviced flight you use SIA ?
Going over with them is pretty good time wise but the flight back to Singapore leaves around midnight (like most airlines) but as it’s only 4 hours you body clock surely would be out of wack ?
So an airport hotel stopover and a daylight flight back to Sydney might be the go ?

Apologies if I’m being a pain in seeking answers.

 

[aaa99]

Currently half way through a Sri Lankan Airlines itinerary.
Impacted by severe delays 6 hours each way on MEL-CMB/CMB-MEL.

I had a 7.5 hour original transit at CMB on the return. But due to the initial delay of 4 hours, it became 11.5 hours. However, they wouldn't provide any accommodation. Their policy states transit booking needs to be >8 hours.

About 6 hours into my transit, my flight got delayed by another 2 hours. This made the overall delay 6 hours and transit 13.5 hours!!! Still, they wouldn't provide me a transit hotel. The reasoning was that 6 hours is not enough for immigration to be allowed to go outside. I had to get the inside transit hotel. They claimed it is only available for guests that can't get SL on arrival visa and have 8 + hours of transit.

So many hoops to jump through. I wonder if it was really worth the cheap fares booking UL. And the Qantas points earn are quite low anyway.

 

[Austman]

So many hoops to jump through.

Even if you got a land-side transit hotel, there's a lot of mucking around with transport etc. that can take up quite a bit of time. And they are not always good hotels. A bit hit or miss.

There's an air-side transit hotel that's not too expensive (from about USD $80 for 6 hours). It's a bit hit or miss too but it's certainly convenient.

 

[Cynicor]

I wouldn’t expect a hotel provided no matter what the transit length. And not for 6 hours of delay.
Seems reasonable, it’s what TI is for

 

[muppet]

I wouldn’t expect a hotel provided no matter what the transit length. And not for 6 hours of delay.
Seems reasonable, it’s what TI is for

Many airlines that primarily deliver connecting traffic offer STPC programs, however as @aaa99 notes the threshold for a free transit hotel is usually 8 hours (along with a minimum fare requirement for economy pax).

With a 7.5 hour transit I think the OP should have made arrangements in advance, CMB is not an airport where you can easily while away 7 hours!

 

[Cynicor]

Many airlines that primarily deliver connecting traffic offer STPC programs, however as @aaa99 notes the threshold for a free transit hotel is usually 8 hours (along with a minimum fare requirement for economy pax).

With a 7.5 hour transit I think the OP should have made arrangements in advance, CMB is not an airport where you can easily while away 7 hours!

I understand they do, but it’s still not something that one should expect regardless, esp if booked transit doesn’t meet criteria.

Delays are a fact of air travel

 

[leadman]

I booked with Sri Lankan from KTM > CMB > MAA on 8/12 as I had to pick up a flight on the 9th to KUL. It's a long story/multi-itinerary, but in J for $360, it's too good to be true. I received an e-mail and SMS advising me that the CMB>MAA leg was cancelled and to contact them. Three calls in three days until finally, they saw it in their system. The Help team was pleasant and efficient, putting me on Air India via DEL with no fuss. AI fare for the trip is over $1,000, so I certainly cannot complain.

 

[aaa99]

Not expecting anything and I understand delays are part of every airline. But constant 4+ hour delays on both Melbourne and Sydney routes this week certainly makes it unreliable.

I got the beep at the gate and got an involuntary gate upgrade as a OWE, but still doesn't entice me to try them again until they sort out their delays.