Egypt Air Business Class from Toronto to Cairo

Admittedly there are much more creative awards you can book with Aeroplan points, but this was still a very good value. Aeroplan points are easy to come by, as the program is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards. On top of that, there’s the Aeroplan® Credit Card (review) in the United States, which is phenomenal.

In the last installment I reviewed the three EgyptAir Lounges at Cairo Airport. Boarding for my 9:35AM flight was scheduled for 9:05AM, 30 minutes before departure. My flight was departing from gate F2, and there was a whole security checkpoint at the gate.

Even though there was a fast track sign at the entrance to the gate, there wasn’t actually a separate line. So I’m not sure if there isn’t fast track for premium passengers, or if you’re just supposed to cut the line on your own. I just waited.

The security process at the gate took forever, as the security agents were thorough, but also didn’t very clearly communicate what needed to be removed from bags. As a result, it seemed like every other bag got pulled aside for a secondary inspection.

I boarded through the second set of doors, and then turned left into the business class cabin. Business class takes up the entire space between doors one and two, and consists of 30 seats. EgyptAir has Collins Aerospace reverse herringbone seats on its 787s, all of which are flat beds with direct aisle access.

This is a product found on so many airlines (heck, I feel like I’ve spent half of the past couple of months in these kinds of seats), so it should look familiar. EgyptAir’s cabin finishes are pretty generic, and don’t contain many airline specific touches or branding.

I found their 787 business class to be competitive with most other airlines. It definitely wasn’t as nice as Qatar’s Qsuites, but the reverse herringbone seats were in a very familiar layout with enough storage and shelf space to accommodate my needs comfortably. Most importantly, I found my window seat to be plenty cozy to get a full night’s uninterrupted rest — and since every seat has direct aisle access in the 1-2-1 business class layout, I’m sure the same could be said by anyone else on my flight. I neither found the seats notable comfortable or uncomfortable — they were a solid “fine” that met expectations of any modern business class cabin.

One thing I liked was that the tray table folded out from the TV to create a really nice-size surface that was easy to use for working on my laptop (I did a bit of work before dinner).
During our 3 Cards 3 Continents Challenge, I flew from Washington, DC (IAD) to Cairo, Egypt (CAI) in Egyptair’s 787 business class and it was a lot nicer than I had previously expected Egyptair business class to be. While Egyptair’s catering probably won’t win any awards and nothing about the experience was industry-leading, the cabin layout and seats were as nice as most other airlines in business class and service was better than I expected based on reviews I had read in the past. I wouldn’t seek out Egyptair for the in-flight experience, but neither would I avoid them in the future when they offer an option that can meet my needs, particularly on their 787.

The Egyptair amenity kit was surprisingly extensive. Not only did it include standard stuff like an eye shade, socks, lip balm and lotion, but it also included a shoehorn and wooden brush along with hand sanitizer, a pen, a standard toothbrush kit, and ear plugs. That was far more than what was found in any of my other amenity kits this trip (Qatar had a nice box of Dyptique amenities, but no zip-up bag and it didn’t include things like the shoehorn and brush). I haven’t actually used the lotion / lip balm, so I can’t speak to the fragrance, but the bag became handy for collecting other lotions / toiletries from other stops and airlines on the trip. The bag is a nylon-type material with a fake leather bottom — it actually seems kind of durable if not the most stylish kit I’ve ever received.