Royal Brunei Airlines to and from London

[Dalescott]

I will be in Brunei at the end of June, and will have a trip report posted.

 

[joyvee]

If you need to go outside airport you must pay $5 Brunei for visa. Taxi into town will cost $20 -25. There is some transport from across car park in airport - sort of dark blue-ish purple bus which is very inexpensive.Not sure about the timetable. Ask on Lonely Planet forum. We stayed at Radisson 'cos it had a pool and was a 15 minute walk to everything except the museums.
Singapore and Brunei dollars are used interchangeably in Brunei but all coins are in Brunei coinage. From memory the Brunei hotel is reasonable and has the bus station just behind it and so getting back to airport is easy. Bruneians speak English so it is easy to find your way around. It is very small. There is a market across road from Brunei Hotel. I read the hotel has been refurbished. I would stay there if I had a short stop over.

Alternatively you can opt to stay at the accommodation on airside. It is nothing flash but adequate and has only a double bed and en -suite shower and toilet to each room. Think availability is on first come first served. Google it as have seen photos of it. The SC rooms aredownstairs and I spoke to the concierge, or more realistically, the bloke in charge, and I think he said it was available in 6 hour blocks depending on demand.
I wanted to leave my luggage behind but was told there was no left luggage facilities. RB is building a new airport which I am sure will be fantastic.

 

[joyvee]

You need to check out the type of plane you are flying on. Flew 777 to Bandar seri Begawan, went in Y and husband in J. Plenty of space and the In Flight Entertainment was up to date with latest movies. think they are now positively marketing their airline and definitely improving their product. The inflight magazine was modern and up market. Will see if I can find the trip report I wrote. Just from point of rank amateur flyer. Several Friends have flown MEL to LHR in last 2 years and say it is very good for the price. Husband enjoyed J class and likes 11A for his long legs. You have to request it as it is often blocked for VIP passengers. Flew on smaller plane to BKK .
Look at seatguru.com and I think Expert flyer says it shows you seat availability in real time. Good luck.

 

[joyvee]

here is trip report I wrote in March 2013
Trip Report on Royal Brunei flight Melbourne to Bangkok Economy class return March 2013
This was my first flight on this airline and I was really interested to see what it would be like. I brought my economy ticket during their January sale earlier this year. It was cheaper than a low cost carrier by the time one added in all the extras LCC ask you to pay.
I wanted to check out the qualitative difference as well. Would my expectation of superior seating, meals and service be met?
Check in was fast , cheerful and efficient. Check in person was most helpful and acceded to my request for an aisle seat in middle section, preferably with a vacant seat in the middle. Luckily it was not a full flight and she was able to provide such a seat.
My husband needed a wheel chair which was provided and we were taken to the gate lounge and would have been taken to the door of the aircraft but he felt he could manage that short distance with his walking stick.
He left me at the door as he needed the extra comfort and almost flat bed that was available in Business Class. He was very impressed with the level of service, food and comfort there. He sat in sea 11A which gave him all the extra leg room he needed but meant the video screen was too far away for him to see. He had taken a book and his sodoku just in case.
A selection of newspapers was on a stand prior to plane entry door. One local Melbourne paper, the Borneo Times, and another in Bahasa Malay. this was available for all passengers.
A sincere welcome aboard and direction to the furthest aisle in economy section. Took my seat and was immediately asked if I would prefer my hand luggage stowed in the locker above but I chose to keep it with me.

The service was fantastic. Unobtrusive but constant. Fruit juice was plentiful as was water. When I explained that I always drank a lot on flights, a large bottle was provided although I had brought my own small water bottle to be refilled. Although Royal Brunei does not serve alcohol , if you bring a smaller than 100 ml container of spirits or wine, they will pour it for you and add ice if you can't survive without a drink!
A small packet of roasted peanuts was provided with second drink run. I asked for, and was given a second packet as I was starting to feel peckish.
Just over an hour and a half after take off, we were served lunch. This was good timing as it was about lunch time at our destination and all the articles on Jet Lag suggest it is better to get your body time clock into sync with your destination. The choice was lamb and roast potatoes and beans or Chicken Bryani with rice.
I thought I would try the lamb and it was delicious . I was pleasantly surprised. It was accompanied with a small potato and vegetable salad. Cheese and biscuits. More juice or water. Also tea or coffee. Ice cream in a paper cup was served later as dessert.
The plane seating and interior was on a par with Thai airlines when I last flew them 8 months ago, adequate but not squeaky new. Royal Brunei's seating colours varied between two different colours which may prove jarring to those who prefer the same all over colour scheme. Serviceable rather than current. I found the seat has a spacious 34 inch pitch and was comfortable , even had the folding wings that go either side of your head if you need them. Foot rests are good too if you are the right size to use them. Blanket and a pillow were also provided.
Toilets were clean and tooth brushes and toothpaste provided. One of the toilets was larger and would be suitable if you needed to transfer with a narrow wheel chair which is great for accessibility.
There was a travel prayer included in the first page of the Inflight information guide. I found it interesting to read and reassuring for nervous travellers. I especially liked the words: "O Allah, You are our companion on this journey and the Protector for the family we leave behind." There was a prayer said at the beginning of the return segments from Brunei to MEL.
As I was travelling outside holiday time there were plenty of spare seats and staff were happy for passengers to choose alternative seats once doors were closed and all had boarded. I find noise cancelling headphones useful as they enable me to listen to music in stereo and can also plug into my android Tablet as well as aircraft connection.
IMPIAN is the name of Royal Brunei Airlines' in flight entertainment guide. It had a modern design feel and excellent layout and graphics. I was pleasantly surprised with the selection of current films offered such as Life of Pi, Anna Karenya (sp?) nd the latest James Bond film.
There was also a broad selection of TV programs. Many were in English, others often had English subtitles. There was also an extensive audio selection from which to choose.
Page 36 of the Impian magazine has very clear detailed instructions on how to use the hand set and navigation guide. The best I have seen. The screen size is quite small about 15 cms but has clear definition.
At Bandar Seri Begawan there was a short one hour stop over in Brunei's very small airport: before we transferred into a smaller plane for the remaining 2 hours of our journey to Bangkok. Similar standard of comfort to that of our larger domestic carrier in Australia. Excellent service. Food not quite as delicious.Zillion time better than Jetstar.
Had stop over in Brunei and had to buy Visa. Five Brunei dollars. Singapore and Brunei dollars are interchangeable in Brunei. Useful if you are shopping at airport.
Airport also has a small stop over area downstairs where you can hire a room with a bed and shower and toilet for $30 for three hours and up to 8 hours for $40 – longer time subject to availability. Toilets downstairs adequate and the last one was western style rather than squat. Another room had 2 basic shower areas. Maybe you could hire towels? Notice they are building a new terminal.
In summary, the level of service is excellent, the food was great and I was comfortable throughout the trip. The plane took off on time and arrived early in Brunei and Bangkok. What more can you ask for? Royal Brunei offers good value and they have a sale on economy seats until April 30 – see their web site.
During the last 12 months I have flown with Qatar and Thai airlines in economy. My first trip with Royal Brunei has shown me that I will have no hesitation in flying with Royal Brunei airlines to Bangkok again. My friends tempt me with good tales of similiar great service to London. With RB you get great service and real value for your money. Arrived home in Melbourne 10 mins early.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

thanks for the report joyvee! really interesting reading.

 

[UP4014]

. We fly with a different airline every year, after having used EK for a number of years.

Hmm, so you don't use a different airline every year. Sorry I had to say it.:mrgreen:

 

[Dalescott]

Got a deal (<$3900) otherwise it would have been China Southern or Air China or Asiana and so on. But one of the reasons is that we are having a stop over, we want to have a look around.
Also having bagged EK for the last 3 or so years I will be flying to Istanbul this year with them. I'm getting worse than Julia Gillard, talk about going back on my promises.
Never mind think of all the booze I will drink on the EK flight.
Did I mention that Alcohol is bad for you in my Trip report????
Julia would be proud of me.

 

[Welsh-Kiwi]

Great trip report.

W-K