AZADPAKISTAN2009
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2009
- Messages
- 37,669
- Reaction score
- 68
- Country
- Location
**Review is by third party
PROS
PIA's business-class product renamed and repriced as a premium economy, and the amenity kit was well-stocked.
Cabin + Seat
Amenities + IFE
Food + Beverage
Criticism
> Traveller reported would be nice if boarding was more organized
> The Handles on seats were not in tip-top shape as he documented uncleaned handles
Flight Cleaning company, also wear and tear on handles was visible
> He pictured a seat which had some damage
> Flyer felt cabin crew was not very social but passengers were very social with him
[Foreigner complained, no alcohol was old on the flight so he was grumpy]
Booking
PIA flies to several location in Europe including Barcelona (BCN), Copenhagen (CPH) and Paris (CDG) as well as three destinations in the U.K.: London (LHR), Manchester (MAN) and Birmingham (BHX) from their various bases in Pakistan, including Islamabad (ISB), Lahore (LHE) and Karachi (KHI).
The airline does not belong to any global alliance, nor can you use any major mileage currencies to book seats. So I looked at revenue fares, which were not even displayed on major flight search platforms like Google Flights, forcing me to search on the airline’s own website instead.
It’s surprisingly difficult to book a flight with PIA in any class. If the route does not operate daily and you search on a day the flight doesn’t operate, it is likely to indicate the route does not exist, as it does not suggest alternate days when the flight may operate and/or have seats for sale.
When I did manage to find seats for sale on a particular date, I discovered that PIA had renamed its business class “Executive Economy” on several routes. While the airline doesn’t offer a traditional premium economy product like British Airways or Virgin Atlantic, it seems that the airline simply rebranded its business-class product as a premium economy one on certain flights.
While still considerably more expensive than economy seats on the same flight, round-trip fares in Executive Economy from the U.K. to Pakistan start from around $1,500, which is slightly more than British Airways World Traveller Plus (premium economy) fares to Pakistan and around 40% cheaper than their competitors in proper business class on the likes of leading carriers like Etihad and Oman Air. I played around with fares, routes, dates and prices (no easy feat on PIA’s awful website) and discovered the lowest price was a one-way fare from Lahore to London for around $610. A one-way fare in the other direction was significantly more expensive. We paid for this card with The Platinum Card® from American Express, which earns 5x points on airfare booked directly through the airline or Amex Travel.
From what I could gather, while PIA had changed the name of their most premium product from “business class” to “Executive Economy,” everything else about the experience appeared to be the carrier’s “proper” business class. This was an intriguing concept: Was I about to score a really cheap business-class fare or an outdated and comparatively expensive premium economy fare?
Departure
08h 13m
Duration
Online check-in was not available for this flight, though PIA advised me by email that I should arrive at least four hours before departure because of queues and security checks. This filled me with fear at the thought of a horrendous airport experience with hours spent in line, though I had observed when landing at Lahore Airport a few days earlier that, for inbound passengers at least, it was a small and surprisingly efficient airport that I sailed through quickly. Thinking four hours for an outbound journey was excessive, I hedged my bets and made sure I arrived around two and a half hours before departure.
Although Lahore Airport is an older design, I thought the style was charming.
The city’s sole airport has surprisingly few flights each day despite having a population of around 11 million people.
There were plenty of people milling around outside, perhaps because only ticketed passengers were allowed inside.
Here began the first of a seemingly never-ending routine of security and boarding-pass checks that became increasingly frustrating. First was a check of my itinerary to even enter the terminal, which is not unusual for airports in this part of the world. Next was an X-ray scan of all bags before they were even checked in, and all passengers had to walk through a metal detector, again common in this part of the world. Then came another check of my itinerary, barely 10 yards after the last one. Then there was a physical check of all bags — not just those that were flagged by the X-ray, this was a completely separate section.
After those four checks, I was finally through to the check-in area. The checks were only just beginning.
PIA had separate check-in desks for each flight, and I quickly located my desk for London.
There was no separate line for Executive Economy passengers, but I was quickly helped by a friendly check-in agent.
Though he printed a boarding pass for me that said “Executive Economy” on it, he kept talking about how I was in business class, which excited me, as I began to think that the experience would be closer to business class than premium economy.
I asked him about lounge access — this would be expected with a business-class product, but only a handful of airlines offer lounge access with a premium economy ticket. I was pleased when he confirmed I could access the lounge.
I then headed toward passport control, where there was another check of my boarding pass and itinerary before I could even get to the immigration queue. The immigration officer was chatty and eager to hear all about my experience in Pakistan in a friendly and curious way — he wasn’t grilling me from a security perspective.
I felt he would have happily talked to me all day if I had not had a flight to catch, and he finally bade me farewell by saying, “Tell your friends to come to Pakistan!”
After immigration was a standard security check of hand luggage, followed by yet another check of my boarding pass and passport just several feet after the last one.
I was then through to the airside area of the fairly spacious terminal and hunted around for the PIA lounge, which the signs indicated was upstairs.
There are two lounges at the airport: one for PIA passengers and another for other airlines and Priority Pass passengers. They are next to each other upstairs.
The PIA lounge was one fairly small room that didn’t feel much like a lounge at all.
For starters, there was no check-in or customer-service desk at the entrance nor any staff in the room as I entered. I looked around confused for a minute or so, wondering if I was in the right place, and then a staff member eventually appeared me asking to see my boarding pass. I showed it to him, found a seat, and he asked me if I would like tea or coffee. I asked for coffee, which he brought to me soon after.
There was a very limited amount of food in the lounge: a few cakes and cookies with a couple of sandwiches.
While the lounge did have bathrooms, they were grim.
Note: People need to understand foreigners expect 100% clean washroom even the drainage area
The lounge was deathly quiet the entire time I was there and didn’t have the sort of bustling activity you would expect at a busy international airport. It felt a lot more like a waiting room in a funeral home. While a lounge is always better than no lounge, it was very basic and not something I would recommend arriving early for. I was glad I didn’t follow the airline’s advice to arrive at least four hours before the flight departed, as it would have meant spending hours in this room.
I headed to the gate around 80 minutes before departure. My gate was in an enclosed area and required another check of my boarding pass and passport, a physical check of my hand luggage and yet another check of my boarding pass and passport just a few yards after the last one, before I could even enter the gate area.
Boarding was called around 40 minutes before departure. The boarding process was a complete and utter mess. There were no designated roped areas, so people crowded around the gate while numerous passengers in wheelchairs, forced through the crowd by ground crew members, were slammed into people standing in front of them. I heard numerous cries of pain from passengers as their calves and ankles were hit.
My boarding pass and passport were checked again. At this point, they actually scanned the boarding pass and ripped off a part of it. We then walked farther toward the jetbridge and were yelled at by a ground agent to stop and line up again in the middle of a hallway. Boarding passes and passports were then again checked at the top of the jetbridge, and then checked again at the bottom before we stepped onto the plane.
I had really lost count of the number of times my boarding pass had been checked by this stage.
PROS
PIA's business-class product renamed and repriced as a premium economy, and the amenity kit was well-stocked.
Cabin + Seat
Amenities + IFE
Food + Beverage
Criticism
> Traveller reported would be nice if boarding was more organized
> The Handles on seats were not in tip-top shape as he documented uncleaned handles
Flight Cleaning company, also wear and tear on handles was visible
> He pictured a seat which had some damage
> Flyer felt cabin crew was not very social but passengers were very social with him
[Foreigner complained, no alcohol was old on the flight so he was grumpy]
Booking
PIA flies to several location in Europe including Barcelona (BCN), Copenhagen (CPH) and Paris (CDG) as well as three destinations in the U.K.: London (LHR), Manchester (MAN) and Birmingham (BHX) from their various bases in Pakistan, including Islamabad (ISB), Lahore (LHE) and Karachi (KHI).
The airline does not belong to any global alliance, nor can you use any major mileage currencies to book seats. So I looked at revenue fares, which were not even displayed on major flight search platforms like Google Flights, forcing me to search on the airline’s own website instead.
It’s surprisingly difficult to book a flight with PIA in any class. If the route does not operate daily and you search on a day the flight doesn’t operate, it is likely to indicate the route does not exist, as it does not suggest alternate days when the flight may operate and/or have seats for sale.
When I did manage to find seats for sale on a particular date, I discovered that PIA had renamed its business class “Executive Economy” on several routes. While the airline doesn’t offer a traditional premium economy product like British Airways or Virgin Atlantic, it seems that the airline simply rebranded its business-class product as a premium economy one on certain flights.
While still considerably more expensive than economy seats on the same flight, round-trip fares in Executive Economy from the U.K. to Pakistan start from around $1,500, which is slightly more than British Airways World Traveller Plus (premium economy) fares to Pakistan and around 40% cheaper than their competitors in proper business class on the likes of leading carriers like Etihad and Oman Air. I played around with fares, routes, dates and prices (no easy feat on PIA’s awful website) and discovered the lowest price was a one-way fare from Lahore to London for around $610. A one-way fare in the other direction was significantly more expensive. We paid for this card with The Platinum Card® from American Express, which earns 5x points on airfare booked directly through the airline or Amex Travel.
From what I could gather, while PIA had changed the name of their most premium product from “business class” to “Executive Economy,” everything else about the experience appeared to be the carrier’s “proper” business class. This was an intriguing concept: Was I about to score a really cheap business-class fare or an outdated and comparatively expensive premium economy fare?
Departure
08h 13m
Duration
Online check-in was not available for this flight, though PIA advised me by email that I should arrive at least four hours before departure because of queues and security checks. This filled me with fear at the thought of a horrendous airport experience with hours spent in line, though I had observed when landing at Lahore Airport a few days earlier that, for inbound passengers at least, it was a small and surprisingly efficient airport that I sailed through quickly. Thinking four hours for an outbound journey was excessive, I hedged my bets and made sure I arrived around two and a half hours before departure.
Although Lahore Airport is an older design, I thought the style was charming.
The city’s sole airport has surprisingly few flights each day despite having a population of around 11 million people.
There were plenty of people milling around outside, perhaps because only ticketed passengers were allowed inside.
Here began the first of a seemingly never-ending routine of security and boarding-pass checks that became increasingly frustrating. First was a check of my itinerary to even enter the terminal, which is not unusual for airports in this part of the world. Next was an X-ray scan of all bags before they were even checked in, and all passengers had to walk through a metal detector, again common in this part of the world. Then came another check of my itinerary, barely 10 yards after the last one. Then there was a physical check of all bags — not just those that were flagged by the X-ray, this was a completely separate section.
After those four checks, I was finally through to the check-in area. The checks were only just beginning.
PIA had separate check-in desks for each flight, and I quickly located my desk for London.
There was no separate line for Executive Economy passengers, but I was quickly helped by a friendly check-in agent.
Though he printed a boarding pass for me that said “Executive Economy” on it, he kept talking about how I was in business class, which excited me, as I began to think that the experience would be closer to business class than premium economy.
I asked him about lounge access — this would be expected with a business-class product, but only a handful of airlines offer lounge access with a premium economy ticket. I was pleased when he confirmed I could access the lounge.
I then headed toward passport control, where there was another check of my boarding pass and itinerary before I could even get to the immigration queue. The immigration officer was chatty and eager to hear all about my experience in Pakistan in a friendly and curious way — he wasn’t grilling me from a security perspective.
I felt he would have happily talked to me all day if I had not had a flight to catch, and he finally bade me farewell by saying, “Tell your friends to come to Pakistan!”
After immigration was a standard security check of hand luggage, followed by yet another check of my boarding pass and passport just several feet after the last one.
I was then through to the airside area of the fairly spacious terminal and hunted around for the PIA lounge, which the signs indicated was upstairs.
There are two lounges at the airport: one for PIA passengers and another for other airlines and Priority Pass passengers. They are next to each other upstairs.
The PIA lounge was one fairly small room that didn’t feel much like a lounge at all.
For starters, there was no check-in or customer-service desk at the entrance nor any staff in the room as I entered. I looked around confused for a minute or so, wondering if I was in the right place, and then a staff member eventually appeared me asking to see my boarding pass. I showed it to him, found a seat, and he asked me if I would like tea or coffee. I asked for coffee, which he brought to me soon after.
There was a very limited amount of food in the lounge: a few cakes and cookies with a couple of sandwiches.
While the lounge did have bathrooms, they were grim.
Note: People need to understand foreigners expect 100% clean washroom even the drainage area
The lounge was deathly quiet the entire time I was there and didn’t have the sort of bustling activity you would expect at a busy international airport. It felt a lot more like a waiting room in a funeral home. While a lounge is always better than no lounge, it was very basic and not something I would recommend arriving early for. I was glad I didn’t follow the airline’s advice to arrive at least four hours before the flight departed, as it would have meant spending hours in this room.
I headed to the gate around 80 minutes before departure. My gate was in an enclosed area and required another check of my boarding pass and passport, a physical check of my hand luggage and yet another check of my boarding pass and passport just a few yards after the last one, before I could even enter the gate area.
Boarding was called around 40 minutes before departure. The boarding process was a complete and utter mess. There were no designated roped areas, so people crowded around the gate while numerous passengers in wheelchairs, forced through the crowd by ground crew members, were slammed into people standing in front of them. I heard numerous cries of pain from passengers as their calves and ankles were hit.
My boarding pass and passport were checked again. At this point, they actually scanned the boarding pass and ripped off a part of it. We then walked farther toward the jetbridge and were yelled at by a ground agent to stop and line up again in the middle of a hallway. Boarding passes and passports were then again checked at the top of the jetbridge, and then checked again at the bottom before we stepped onto the plane.
I had really lost count of the number of times my boarding pass had been checked by this stage.
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